Alberto Bernal is chief emerging markets and global strategist at XP Securities. Prior to this, he was head of research and partner at Bulltick, LLC and managing director of emerging fixed income research at Bear Stearns Inc. responsible for covering Latin America. Previously, he was head of Latin America economic research at IDEAglobal Inc., where he conducted in-depth economic analysis on the region. Bernal is a frequent contributor to financial television networks, Latin American press, and major newswires. He is a research scholar for Columbia University’s Chazen Institute and an adjunct professor at the University of Miami’s business school. Bernal received his bachelor's degree in economics from the University of New Orleans, and a master’s degree in macroeconomics from Germany’s Kiel Institute of World Economics. Bernal was named the most accurate economist of Colombia in 2006 by Revista Dinero, one of the top five future economists of Colombia by newspaper La República, one of the future top 40 executives under 40 years by the Latin American magazine Revista Poder, and one of 100 Latin American leaders under 40 by the Revista Gerente.