John Trefethen

Director and Co-Founder

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John Trefethen co-founded HedgeStar (formerly DerivActiv) in 2004.  John has 30 years of experience in capital markets where he has held various positions related to institutional debt issuance, executing hedging strategies, and designing and implementing derivative reporting solutions.  John has presented to numerous industry groups on various topics related to hedging financial risk, and accounting for derivatives.

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Since co-founding HedgeStar, John has held many roles including overseeing the operations, sales, IT, and accounting efforts of the company. Currently he leads the company’s business development efforts and manages key relationships across HedgeStar’s network of solution partners.  John also led the company’s expansion into Latin America.

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Prior to co-founding HedgeStar, John worked for two different nationally recognized capital advisory firms. While with those organizations he was responsible for advising institutional borrowers on the issuance of various forms of debt, implementing hedging strategies, designing derivative accounting solutions, and reinvesting bond proceeds for institutional borrowers.

 

John is an active angel investor and mentor for early stage companies.  He is active with the Twin Cities Angels investment network and a limited partner in the Syndicate Fund – both early stage investment funds.  He serves on the board of directors for a medical device company and is on their capital raising and executive compensation committees.  John is a retired officer from the United States Air Force (USAF) where he spent 23 years in a combination of active duty and reserve assignments.  His last assignment was with the admissions department at the United States Air Force Academy.  

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Education

John holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Minnesota.

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