About Us
Valkyrie Investments is a leading financial services firm at the intersection of traditional finance and the emerging digital asset sector. Headquartered in Nashville, Valkyrie’s team combines deep technical expertise in the blockchain economy with robust experience launching investment vehicles across the traditional markets. Valkyrie is led by financial industry veterans with an extensive background across firms including Guggenheim Partners, UBS, JP Morgan, Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and The World Bank.
Our leaders
The Valkyrie team has deep expertise in traditional asset management with extensive backgrounds in building, launching, and scaling financial products with major financial firms. We aim to be the experts across the universe of investment management and digital assets.
Leah Wald
Chief Executive Officer
Leah Wald is an economist with an expertise in asset management focusing on value investing. As a direct report to the CEO of Vital Financial, Wald spearheaded investment strategies for multi-billion dollar asset managers on global macro strategy.
Read BioLeah Wald
Chief Executive Officer
Leah Wald is an economist with an expertise in asset management focusing on value investing. As a direct report to the CEO of Vital Financial, Ms. Wald spearheaded investment strategies for multi-billion dollar asset managers on global macro strategy.
Prior, Ms. Wald was a Partner at Lucid Investment Strategies, an asset management firm specializing in cryptocurrency investments. Ms. Wald worked at the World Bank Group and co-founded Veterati, a mentorship platform assisting unemployed and transitioning US veterans to secure meaningful employment.
Ms. Wald is a contributing writer for Forbes and co-authored the book Hyperwave Theory: The Rogue Waves of Financial Markets. Ms. Wald has a BA in International Political Economy and a MSc in Management specialized in International Business from IE Business School.
She studied at University of Beijing, University of Haifa, and served as a research assistant to the Director of University of Cambridge's Lauterpacht Centre for International Law where she researched and coded algorithms for a dataset examining the role of arbitrator background for outcomes in international investment arbitration.
Steven McClurg
Chief Investment Officer
Steven McClurg has considerable traditional finance and Fintech experience, ranging from insurtech and payments to blockchain. Previously, Mr. McClurg was a Managing Director at Guggenheim Partners, where he was a...
Read BioSteven McClurg
Chief Investment Officer
Steven McClurg has considerable traditional finance and Fintech experience, ranging from insurtech and payments to blockchain.
Previously, Mr. McClurg was a Managing Director at Guggenheim Partners, where he was a portfolio manager and responsible for portfolio construction and strategy for fixed income and private equity. Most recently, Mr. McClurg founded Theseus Capital, a blockchain-powered asset management platform which was acquired by a merchant bank, Galaxy Digital, where he continued as Managing Director, building their asset management and public funds businesses. He also co-founded payments company, Paydrop. He also has experience in leadership roles in technology companies such as Electronic Arts and Crowdfunder. Mr. McClurg holds a Master of Science and an MBA from Pepperdine University, where he has served as an adjunct professor.
Lori Tiernan
Chief Strategy Officer
Lori Tiernan brings over a decade of experience launching and growing financial brands. Since 2013, she has run Innovative Asset Growth where she served in an outsourced CMO capacity to several emerging and niche asset managers and FinTech brands. She was an early employee...
Read BioLori Tiernan
Chief Strategy Officer
Lori Tiernan brings over a decade of experience launching and growing financial brands. Since 2013, she has run Innovative Asset Growth where she served in an outsourced CMO capacity to several emerging and niche asset managers and FinTech brands.
Prior to launching her own firm, Ms. Tiernan ran Marketing and Investor Relations for a long only equity hedge fund. She was an early employee in Institutional Distribution and Marketing at Guggenheim investments and helped the firm expand their footprint globally and raise billions in new assets.
Ms. Tiernan is a speaker and advocate for women in the technology and financial services sector and runs a non profit in New Hampshire that provides Pro Bono marketing service to local businesses. She is a graduate of the University of Richmond.
Bill Cannon
Head of Portfolio Management
Prior to joining Valkyrie, Bill Cannon was a Managing Director at Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, where he was member of the insurance portfolio management division responsible for $80 billion of assets under management. Before that, Mr. Cannon...
Read BioBill Cannon
Head of Portfolio Management
Prior to joining Valkyrie, Bill Cannon was a Managing Director at Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, where he was member of the insurance portfolio management division responsible for $80 billion of assets under management. Before that, Mr. Cannon worked at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board Of Options Exchange as a derivatives broker for equity index and interest rate futures and options. Mr. Cannon earned a BA in Chemistry from the University of Vermont and an MBA from the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University Chicago.
Nick Bonos
Head of Fund Operations
Nikolaos (Nick) Bonos has been in the financial services industry for more than 32 years. He has worked in various senior operational roles for State Street, JP Morgan Chase, Rydex Investments, Security Benefit Corp., Guggenheim Investments, and MUFG Investor Services (US), LLC.
Read BioNick Bonos
Head of Fund Operations
Nikolaos (Nick) Bonos has been in the financial services industry for more than 32 years. He has worked in various senior operational roles for State Street, JP Morgan Chase, Rydex Investments, Security Benefit Corp., Guggenheim Investments, and MUFG Investor Services (US), LLC. He also has held various senior officer roles for the Rydex Funds, Rydex ETF’s, Rydex Specialized Products LLC, Security Funds, Guggenheim Funds, and Guggenheim ETF’s throughout the years.
He also assisted in the transaction of Rydex Investments to Security Benefit Corporation in 2006.
He was President of Rydex Fund Services when it was sold to MUFG in 2016.
Nick graduated with a BSBA cum laude from Suffolk University in 1986.
John Key
Managing Director, Partnerships
John Key is a Managing Director responsible for Partnerships and Interim Head of Distribution at Valkyrie Investments. Prior to joining Valkyrie, John was the Principal/Founder of Key Strategic Advisors, LLC, a strategic advisory and consulting firm specializing in advising...
Read BioJohn Key
Managing Director, Partnerships
John Key is a Managing Director responsible for Partnerships and Interim Head of Distribution at Valkyrie Investments. Prior to joining Valkyrie, John was the Principal/Founder of Key Strategic Advisors, LLC, a strategic advisory and consulting firm specializing in advising asset managers on their growth strategies and corporate development initiatives. Most recently, John was a Senior Managing Director in UBS Investment Bank’s Global Financial Institutions Group focused primarily on working with asset management and related companies.
Ryan Gorman
Chief Communications Officer
Prior to joining Valkyrie, Ryan Gorman was an independent consultant to hedge funds and institutional service providers in the digital asset space. He brings a wealth of experience from both institutional and retail asset management at both UBS and Bank of NY Mellon, as a journalist...
Read BioRyan Gorman
Chief Communications Officer
Prior to joining Valkyrie, Ryan Gorman was an independent consultant to hedge funds and institutional service providers in the digital asset space. He brings a wealth of experience from both institutional and retail asset management at both UBS and Bank of NY Mellon, as a journalist at top media outlets including the NY Daily News and Business Insider, and as a communications and branding strategist to financial firms in both traditional and digital asset markets
Kristy-Leigh Minehan
Technical Advisor
Formerly of Core Scientific and Genesis Mining, Minehan has spent over twelve years building cryptocurrency infrastructure for multiple countries and companies; researching and writing about consensus algorithms and network incentives; and contributing to...
Read BioKristy-Leigh Minehan
Technical Advisor
Formerly of Core Scientific and Genesis Mining, Minehan has spent over twelve years building cryptocurrency infrastructure for multiple countries and companies; researching and writing about consensus algorithms and network incentives; and contributing to the design and implementation of various proof-of-work algorithms (including Ethereum’s controversial ProgPoW). She currently serves as a Technical Advisor for Merkle Standard and Valkyrie Investments.
Lluis Pedragosa
Managing Partner, Ventures
Lluis Pedragosa is the Managing Partner of Valkyrie Ventures. Prior to Valkyrie Ventures he was a Managing Partner and CFO of Team8, a cybersecurity, fintech, and enterprise software company creation platform and investment firm with offices in Tel Aviv and New York...
Read BioLluis Pedragosa
Managing Partner, Ventures
Lluis Pedragosa is the Managing Partner of Valkyrie Ventures. Prior to Valkyrie Ventures he was a Managing Partner and CFO of Team8, a cybersecurity, fintech, and enterprise software company creation platform and investment firm with offices in Tel Aviv and New York City. Previously, he was a Partner and Founding Team Member of Marker LLC, an early and growth stage firm investing in data-driven, B2B software companies in Israel and the United States. Before that he was a Vice President at Fredericks Michael & Co., a boutique investment bank where he focused on M&A and corporate finance. Prior to that he was a Consultant at Roland Berger in their Barcelona and Madrid offices. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in International Studies from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, and a BS from ESADE Business School in Spain. Until May of 2019, he also served as the Co-Chairman of New York City Venture Connection (NYCVC). He is also a guest lecturer at Cornell Tech, Columbia Business School, and Georgetown Law.
Wes Cowan
Managing Director, DeFi
In addition to his role as Managing Director of Decentralized Finance at Valkyrie, Wes Cowan is the co-founder of the Valkyrie On Chain DeFi Fund. Prior to working in the blockchain sector, Wes was a Principal at JPMorgan managing over $800 Million, before leaving to start his...
Read BioWes Cowan
Managing Director, DeFi
In addition to his role as Managing Director of Decentralized Finance at Valkyrie, Wes Cowan is the co-founder of the Valkyrie On Chain DeFi Fund. Prior to working in the blockchain sector, Wes was a Principal at JPMorgan managing over $800 Million, before leaving to start his own tech agency. He started mining Bitcoin out of his agency office in 2015 and has been deeply involved in the sector ever since. In 2020 he then co-founded On-Chain Partners and lead the development of DeFi Valuation & Yield aggregation software which was acquired through a merger by Valkyrie in 2021 to continue to scale and trade on the proprietary data. Wes graduated from New York University and is headquartered in Miami, FL. He currently holds his Series 3, the National Commodities Futures license administered by FINRA.
