James Dondero’s well decorated Portfolio
James Dondero is the president and co-founder of Highland Capital Management L.O, an asset management firm based in Dallas. He co-founded the company in 1993, together with his partner Mark Okada. Highland Capital Management is a multibillion-dollar international investment firm with a group of listed investment advisors, several investment automobiles and a broker-dealer. James Dondero has developed the company from a small establishment that only dealt with high-yield credit to now focus on other areas such as private equity, real estate and other alternative areas.
James Dondero went to the University of Virginia, where he graduated with the highest honours with two majors in finance and accounting from the McIntyre School of commerce. He is also a Certified Public Accountant and has a chartered financial analyst title. He has over three decades of experience in the credit markets. Before co-founding Highlands’s Capital Management, he worked at GIC, a subsidiary of Protective Life as a chief investment officer. Under his leadership, he helped the company grow from concept to a 2 billion dollar business in 5 years.
James Dondero is not only a dedicated leader; he is also a philanthropist who aggressively backs initiatives in public policy, veterans’ concerns and education. He is also a member of the George W. Bush Presidential Center Executive Advisory Council.
His portfolio in management experience includes leveraged bank loans, real estate, emerging markets debt, preferred and common stocks, high yield bonds and investment-grade corporates. James Dondero worked as a portfolio manager and a corporate bond analyst at American Express from 1985-1989, where he was tasked to managing around USD 1 billion in secure income funds.
Currently, Jim Dondero holds director positions in companies in different industries such as real estate, healthcare and financial services. He is on the board of Jernigan Capital, Inc. and MGM Holdings Inc. He is also the chairman of NexBank Capital.