About
Joseph Alotta has proven to be one of the most qualified investment advisors operating today. Joe entered the world of investing at an early age. He remembers playing ball against the side of the Irving Trust Building on Wall Street and Broadway while waiting for his dad to leave his office. Perhaps the most important training he received was listening to his uncles, neighbors, friends, and relatives argue with his dad about investing.
(expand to continue reading, the biographer wrote a lot)
Joe went to the best business school on Wall Street, the New York University College of Business and Public Administration and the New York University Stern Graduate School of Business Administration, where he majored in Economics and Finance.
Upon graduation with honors, Joe went to work for a very prestigious London bank, J. Henry Schoeder & Company and then worked for a venture capital firm located on Wall Street. EDS, Ross Perot’s company, later hired Joe to be a senior financial analyst and trained him to be a systems engineer as well. He traveled around the country and overseas, troubleshooting financial systems, negotiating contracts, and developing financial models. Afterward, Joe was hired by a large trading firm owned by Steve Fossett, the famous balloonist, as director of trading systems. Joe developed an extremely complex arbitrage business that pioneered computerized trading and made a fortune for Mr. Fossett. The New York Institute of Finance textbook on computerized trading includes a chapter describing this. Later, the world’s largest options trading firm hired Joe to oversee risk management for all of its traders. After taking a position as quantitative manager developing derivative models for Banc One, Joe was promoted and became responsible for overseeing all positions and reporting statistics to senior management.
Hired away, Joe became director of risk management for Wachovia Corporation, one of the world’s largest banks. He was in charge of all traders and trading activity. He also directed a quantitative and research department with some of the brightest PhDs in finance, many renowned in the academia. He would present to the chairman and executive committee any noteworthy transactions or situations regarding their $80 billion investment portfolio. The position involved frequent private plane trips, negotiating mergers, speaking at national conventions, teaching seminars, and even addressing the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
After reaching the top of his profession in 17 years, having lived through crisis after crisis in different market segments, and having achieved his financial goals, Joe retired from corporate life to start his own investment firm, a firm he designed with the best interest of his clients in mind. In the last several years, Mr. Alotta has become a Military Family Life Counselor (MFLC), teaching classes and counsels on military bases. He feels he owes a debt of gratitude to service members and their families.
Qualifications include: Registered Investment Advisor, Certified Funds Specialist™, Certificate in Financial Planning (DePaul University), Certified Financial Planner™, Series 7, Series 65, Master of Business Administration (Finance), Bachelor of Science (Economics), Recipient of New York University’s Founders’ Day Award, Illinois Insurance Licenses, EDS Certified Systems Engineer.
Lei Duan, CPA, CFP®
Advisor
About
Lei is a licensed CPA in Illinois and Texas. He has 7 years of experience advising clients on complex mergers and acquisitions. In the past, he has worked for various large accounting firms, including one of the “big4” firms. Many of his clients were large private equity groups. Lei decided to graduate from his promising accounting career and devote his time to helping regular people succeed.
Being a first generation immigrant to the U.S., Lei understands the value of hard work and perseverance. He believes these qualities will lead to the continual betterment of not just his own life, but of others’ as well.
Lei has received his Master’s degree in accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, one of the nation’s best business schools.
Lei does not believe in writing long biographies.
Open Door Investment Advisors, Inc. 