2022: Lisa Emsbo-Mattingly
Lisa Emsbo-Mattingly received a Master of Arts in Economics from Boston University in 1996, after taking courses in econometrics, industrial organization, and labor. Catching the early wave of opportunity in finance, she began her career at DRI/McGraw-Hill (now IHS Global Insight) and worked at the Eastern Research Group before joining Fidelity Investment as an economic analyst in the international forecasting division. At Fidelity, she was promoted to become Director of Economics Research and then advanced again to become Director of Research, Global Asset Allocation. In this role she leads the development of asset allocation and macro investment recommendations for Fidelity’s portfolio managers and investment groups. Doing this well entails constructing models and conducting fundamental economic research, and effectively communicating results.
Lisa is a sought-after speaker at academic and business meetings because of her wide expertise in macroeconomics and financial markets. She is especially known as an active scholar and spokesperson on China and its role in trade and international growth. She is also a regular speaker on issues related to women, having spoken recently at the Boston Women in Finance group. She is also the only one of our Distinguished Alumni awardees who is a listed inventor on four pending and active patent applications for software related to portfolio management across seasonal and cyclical markets.
Lisa views herself as a “business” economist and is a former President of both the National Association for Business Economics and the Boston Economic Club. For those unfamiliar with what it means to be a “business economist” she emphasizes that “business economists are not members of the high church of academic orthodoxy”. Instead, they are economists with a “tool kit” consisting of “research functions, such as business cycle analysis, demographics research, data analytics, primary research, diversity of thought, and client research”. This tool kit “also includes personal skills that should be cultivated and practiced, such as curiosity, maintaining a nonpartisan view, humility, courage, and effective communication.”
In her spare time, Lisa is a regular participant in the annual Pan-Mass Challenge, in which she bicycles long distances to raise money for cancer treatment and prevention.