When Morgan Stanley executive director Jack Yuen was growing up in Hong Kong, his dad, a cargo ship captain, would go to sea for six to eight months at a time, giving Yuen and his siblings learning assignments for completion by his return. Believing his children would have better opportunities abroad, Yuen senior moved the family to the U.S. and ran a restaurant on Long Island. Yuen, 33, attended Columbia University, where he studied industrial engineering and operations research, before joining Citigroup’s New York office in the alternative-investments group. As a member of Citi’s fund-of-hedge-funds team, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania MBA specialized in managed futures. In 2009, when Citi sold a portion of its fund-of-funds unit to Morgan Stanley along with the rest of its wealth management business, Yuen’s group was part of the deal. Money managers praise his candor and deep knowledge of managed futures and hedge funds. They say he’s a quick study and willing to educate emerging managers: All that cramming in Hong Kong paid off.
