USA Funds Staff Profile: Managing Investments

Since researching and making his first stock purchase at the age of 8, Leonard Gurin has been focused on all things financial. No surprise, then, that he enjoys his job as manager of cash and investments at USA Funds^®.

"I like what I'm doing," Leonard says about the position he has held since 1991. "It's a challenge and always changing."

A full-time employee in USA Funds' Finance department, Leonard oversees banking relationships, cash and investments. Managing investments during a turbulent time for the bond and stock market might seem nerve-wracking, but Leonard says it's these times that allow him to do his best work.

"When everything is going smoothly in the bond and stock market, it's easy to look good," he says, "but it's challenges that bring out the best in people. We have worked to make sure that we have plans that protect us in a down market."

Such planning also benefits USA Funds' customers. Wise investing provides USA Funds with more resources to fund products and services that simplify the education-loan process for schools and lenders, and for the students and families they serve.

Born in Puerto Rico, Leonard boasts an extensive background of work in the financial arena. His family moved to the United States when he was 14, and even the summer jobs he held as a teenager centered around financial planning and managing investments. After graduating from high school in three years, he went on to receive a bachelor's degree in finance from Indiana University at Bloomington.

Today, it's not only USA Funds and its customers that benefit from Leonard's expertise in managing investments. He also owns a business that features a pizza restaurant, miniature-golf course and arcade. Additionally, he is active in a number of community organizations, assisting some of those groups in financial matters.

Leonard also is a member of USA Funds' volunteer committee, which has planned events such as a fund-raiser for school supplies and an ice-cream social to collect donations for a local food bank.

He points out that USA Funds' focus on helping others — through its mission of promoting access to education, and through assisting local community organizations — is one reason that he enjoys working for the company.

"It's always been very important to me to be involved in the community," he says. "At USA Funds, I get to manage money and help people at the same time — in a family atmosphere."