Guggenheim's Minerd Was a Wall Street Outsider Who Made It His Home

Scott Minerd was nothing like Wall Street.

His father was an insurance salesman in Pennsylvania. It's rare for a top executive in the industry to be openly gay. No other bond king could come close to bench-pressing 495 pounds 20 times over as he did in his prime.

Minerd's simpler attributes will be remembered by those who knew him best. There is a quirkiness in a 300-pound man. He shared a small, white, mixed-breed dog with his wife. The inability of anyone to keep him out of the public eye over alcohol.

He once explained that he doesn't like to do things half way.

Bill Gross was one of the people who paid tribute to Minerd, but he wasn't of Wall Street. He courted friends across the spectrum, from the president of Iceland to the actor and human rights activist Kerry Kennedy.

Body building was one of Minerd's favorite pastimes. He moved to California in his 30's in order to be closer to the scene of Venice Beach, which is famous for its Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. He excelled at the sport and competed in the over-40 division.

It was investing where he left the most marks. For the past decade, the Guggenheim Total Return Bond Fund has been the biggest fund in Minerd, but this year it stumbled along with many other fixed-income portfolios.

His market calls were rarely wishy-washy. He put his money where he said he would.

He often woke up between 11 and 2 a.m. to dump assets during the government shutdown.

The world was asleep to the risks of the Pandemic. He had real reasons to worry because more than 10% of his portfolio was tied to the airline industry.

He was able to react quickly. One of the biggest calls in his career was made on the morning of March 23 when he put $7 billion to work in a single day buying assets.

It was the beginning of a fierce bull market and Minerd made a lot of money.

His path to Wall Street began when he quit high school a year early to go to Philadelphia. He was able to get the University of Pennsylvania to let him take courses at the Wharton School.

After earning a degree in economics from Penn in 1980, he took classes at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. For the better part of a decade, he climbed Wall Street's ranks after he switched to investing.

Morgan Stanley got a big win when it traded Swedish bonds after the country raised its interest rate. He restructured Italy's debt in order to stave off a rescue by the International Monetary Fund. He ran the fixed-income trading group at Credit Suisse First Boston.

Minerd was shuttling between New York, London, and European capitals, but was tired of second-guessing and corporate intrigue. He moved to California to chase the sun, the food and the fitness culture.

He had been away from the business for two years when Mark Walter came to convince him to come back. He had to keep his independence and stay in California.

Liberty became Guggenheim Partners, a boutique asset manager, after merging with the family office of Meyer Guggenheim.

He began to cut back on his global travel in the last few years. He moved to Rancho Santa Fe with his husband, who was a Dodgers fan. He didn't like being in Miami in the summer because of the heat.

He was known for his charity work. They were regulars at the dinner hosted by the Kennedys.

According to Andy Bales, the president of the Union Rescue Mission, he donated millions of dollars to the charity. After the 2008 Wall Street financial crisis, the mission was able to open a new shelter thanks to the donations of minerd.

Bales said that he was the guardian angel of the rescue mission. He was the most compassionate person in the world.