Lara Magnusen is a Managing Director, Private Wealth Manager, and Portfolio Manager at Merrill Private Wealth Management. In her role, she advises and implements investment strategies for high-net-worth families, individuals, foundations, and privately held businesses. She also leads the team's investment committee.
Lara's professional experience includes positions at J.P. Morgan Private Bank as an investment specialist and Managing Director, as well as portfolio management roles focusing on alternative investment mutual funds at Altegris Advisors. Her career began in 1999, with roles as a junior portfolio manager for a credit hedge fund in Los Angeles and as an analyst at Goldman Sachs & Co. Lara holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation, a California insurance license, and is a member of several women's investment groups.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics with a minor in business administration from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, San Diego. Lara speaks English and Spanish. Outside of her professional responsibilities, she serves on the advisory board of the Unusual Suspects Theatre Company, a nonprofit supporting arts enrichment in underserved communities. She lives in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles with her husband, two children, and four dogs.