Over the course of his career, Mr. Ryffel has worked in technology sales, financial and sales leadership for IBM Corporation, A.G. Edwards (now Wells Fargo Advisors), Bank of America, Edward Jones, J.P. Morgan and First Bank – St. Louis. As a banker, he advised colleges and universities, hospitals, cities, states, airports, school districts and corporations on financings and capital structure and has led hundreds of financings. He also served as an institutional asset management advisor and a private banker and wealth manager. He recently left industry to serve as a fundraiser at a St. Louis based not-for-profit, Beyond Housing.
He is active on several not-for-profit boards, serves as a mentor to St. Louis’ 630 FinTech Venture Fund and is frequently quoted in the media as an expert in finance and wealth management.
He was named one of “50 Missourians You Should Know” in 2012 and the J.P. Morgan “Volunteer of the Year” and a National “Point of Light” award recipient in 2013. Other honors include the St. Louis Business Journal’s 2001 “40 Under 40” and 2003 “Who’s Who in Finance” awards. In 2019, he was awarded the St. Louis Business Journal’s “C-Suite Award” and in 2020, was awarded Washington University’s Gephardt Center “Gerry and Bob Virgil Ethic of Service Award”.
He is the co-founder and co-chair of the Brookings Institution’s Hutchins Center Municipal Finance Research Conference now in its 12th year, has presented at numerous professional conferences and has been published by Harvard Business School Publishing, the Municipal Finance Journal and the Journal of Public Budgeting and Finance. He is the founder of both Washington University’s Wealth and Asset Management Master’s program and its Wealth and Asset Management Research Conference, now in its 8th year.
He graduated from Tufts University, Magna Cum Laude, with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and from Boston University with an M.B.A. in Finance.
Don began his career in the Financial Services Industry in 1984. He serves as ACG's director of operations and prior to joining the firm, he was a Vice President with Walnut Street Securities where he developed their investment management and research divisions. Don also has significant experience trading fixed income securities and managing client relationships. Don is a member of Asset Consulting Group's Investment Committee, which establishes the framework for the firm's investment philosophy and oversees the internal processes used to ultimately make investment recommendations to clients. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance and a Doctor of Business Administration from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He is a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Society of St. Louis.
