Queens College alumnus Ricardo Cortez received the Queens College President’s Medal — the college’s highest administrative honor — during a virtual Academic Excellence Awards ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 22.
Cortez, a financier and asset management specialist, is a 1972 cum laude graduate with a B.A. in mathematics. He went on to become certified as an investment Management Analyst (CIMA) at the Wharton School in 1993.
Today, Cortez is the co-chief executive officer of Broadmark Asset Management, where he is primarily responsible for business development as well as management of the firm’s sales and marketing efforts.
“I’m honored to present the first president’s medal of my tenure to alumnus Ricardo Cortez,” said Queens College President Frank Wu. “A great success story and valued member of the Queens College family, Cortez has accomplished a level of achievement and service to the community that makes us proud and which makes him a role model for our students.”
Cortez graduated from Bayside High School in 1967, and he was the first in his family to attend college, he said.
“I applied to three schools: Columbia University, St. Johns University, and Queens College,” Cortez said. “I was accepted at all three, but my parents, who did not have a lot of money, thought Queens College was by far the best choice. They turned out to be right.”
As Broadmark Asset Management co-CEO, Cortez shares in the oversight of the firm’s business operations. Additionally, he is a member of the investment team and serves as the firm’s chief risk officer. Cortez joined Broadmark in 2009 as president of global distribution and was named co-CEO in 2013.
Prior to Broadmark, Cortez was president of the private client group at Torrey Associates, LLC. He has held roles including vice president at Goldman Sachs as a product manager for the firm’s global multi-manager strategies program, and senior vice president at Prudential Investments overseeing product development and sales for the investment management services division.
Cortez joined the Queens College Business Advisory Board in 2009 and served for a time as its chairman. He has since stepped down as chairman but continues to serve on the board. Cortez has returned to campus multiple times as a guest lecturer in the Risk Management graduate program at Queens College.
An adjunct faculty member at Harvard University, Cortez has been a guest lecturer on investment policy and hedge funds at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Since 2014, he has volunteered his time and expertise to American Corporate Partners helping veterans make the transition to the private sector through mentor-mentee programs. In addition, he serves as an executive education mentor for the Money Management Institute.
A trained classical guitarist, Cortez performed on tours in the 1970s. He continues to play for pleasure and collects guitars.
Cortez is also interested in physics and philosophy. An essay he wrote highlighting his principles was referenced in the 2019 book by space philosopher and author Frank White, “The Cosma Hypothesis: Implications of the Overview Effect.” Cortez is also a long-time tennis fan.
