51 - 150 in alphabetical order of CVC unit: Russ Kliman, global head, SEI Ventures
Russ Kliman has been global head of SEI Ventures, the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of US-based financial services firm SEI Investments Company, since unit was formed at the start of 2019.
SEI Ventures seeks to invest in emergent and potentially disruptive technologies or business models that it believes will accelerate the launch of new platforms or drive new product development in existing and adjacent markets. The unit’s strategic mission is to enhance SEI’s ability to deliver innovative, comprehensive solutions to help its clients achieve lasting success.
Speaking to Global Corporate Venturing in early 2022, Kliman said: “SEI’s DNA has always been very innovative and comfortable with risk. We spend on average 8% to 10% of revenue on research and development. When you think about traditional financial services, that type of focus on innovation and comfort with experiments and risk is quite unusual.”
He added: “As a strategic investor we seek a balance, we want to ensure the financials are rational and you’re not going to drive off the cliff six months after we invest and we are also not singularly focused on the 10-times return.”
SEI Ventures’ current portfolio companies include wealth manager-focused intelligence service ForwardLane, bond market consolidated quote platform BondCliq and Bud Financial, a financial network leveraging APIs and data.
Kliman has been with SEI since 2001, having most recently worked as the firm’s head of strategic and innovation programmes. During his tenure at SEI, he has also led various strategic initiatives, including new business marketing, business development, product design and technology.
Kliman has a bachelor’s degree in information systems design from the College of Computing and Informatics at Drexel University.
