Michael Ashton
Michael Ashton, widely known as The Inflation Guy, is the Founder and Managing Principal of Enduring Investments, a specialty consulting and investment management boutique focused solely on inflation-linked markets. Since 2003, Ashton has played an integral role in developing the U.S. inflation derivatives market. He was primarily responsible for the creation of the CPI Futures contract that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange listed in February 2004 and was the lead market maker for that contract. Before founding Enduring Investments, he worked in research, sales, and trading for several large investment banks, including Bankers Trust, Barclays Capital, and J.P. Morgan.
Michael Ashton Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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Founder and Managing Principal
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Senior Advisor
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Associate Director
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Vice President
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Vice President
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Associate
Academic History
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B.A., Economics, Summa Cum Laude
INFLATION & EXPERTISE
Ashton is a leading inflation product and market expert recognized as a leader in developing the U.S. inflation derivatives market.
He represented about one-third of interbank swaps volume during his tenures at his previous firms.
He invented and was the sole market-maker for the CME CPI Futures contract.
He has played a pivotal role in developing new instruments and methods for accessing and hedging various inflation exposures.
He has written and spoken extensively about the use of inflation-indexed products for hedging real exposures, and has written more broadly in a commentary format about the rates markets and macroeconomy.
Ashton is considered the expert to the experts in the world of inflation.
EARLY CAREER
Prior to launching Enduring, he was involved in inflation trading and product development at Natixis, where he spearheaded innovation in inflation-linked products.
He was an Associate Director at Barclays Capital, where he managed the short-dated US Dollar interest rate options book and the US CPI book.
Before that, he served as Vice President at Deutsche Bank and Bankers Trust.
MEDIA & PUBLICATIONS
For many years, Ashton has written various market commentary. He frequently speaks in front of professional and retail audiences, both large and small.
He has been featured or quoted in Business Insider, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance, and Seeking Alpha.
He has written two books, most recently “What’s Wrong With Money? The Biggest Bubble of All” in 2016.
He also publishes a podcast, “Cents and Sensibility: the Inflation Guy podcast.
He has appeared as a guest on Real Vision.