Katina Stefanova (born August 20, 1975) is an American businesswoman, investor, keynote speaker, founder Marto Capital and co-founder of AcordIQ.

She is known for her asset management and financial services who have served in investment and management roles at globally recognized companies including Bridgewater Associates, IBM, and AdRelevance.

Early life and education

Stefanova was born on August 20, 1975, in Sofia, Bulgaria, and then moved to the USA with her family, when she was 18. In 1998, she received a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Brigham Young University, followed by her MBA in business administration and management from Harvard Business School in 2005.

Career

During her bachelor’s, she began working at AdRelevance as director of international business development. In 1999, she left the company and joined the mergers and acquisitions associate services of Arthur Andersen.

Stefanova then joined IBM in 2000 and worked in its mergers and acquisitions practice for the EMEA region. In addition, she was also working as an advisor on investment funds at Berkeley Capital Partners in Russia.

In 2005, after graduating from HBS, she started working as a senior investment partner in account management at Bridgewater Associates. She was later promoted to the position of senior executive and management committee advisor. She served in critical investment and management roles and oversaw several departments including operations, back and middle office technology, fund accounting, recruiting and talent, tax, compliance, and legal. During her tenure, the firm grew from 250 to over 1400 employees and $ 20 billion to over $150 billion.

After serving for 9 years at Bridgewater Associates, Stefanova left the firm in May 2014 and co-founded AcordIQ, a firm that provides investment intelligence solutions and services to asset managers and private capitals.

In 2015, Stefanova founded an investment advisory and asset management firm, Marto Capital. The company provides long-term planning, consulting services, and new plans for investors. She has developed a framework named Disruption in Investment. She currently serves as the CEO and CIO of the firm. In addition, she is a board member of a charity organization named One Heart Bulgaria.

In January 2020, António Guterres, Secretary-General of United Nations, appointed her for one year term to serve as a member of the investment committee of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund.

Stefanova is a contributor to Forbes, the European Hedge Fund Journal, and a speaker at events around on topics including investing technology, asset management, and macro environment.