Ms. Burns’ financial career spans more than 30 years and includes roles as an institutional investment officer in New York City, financial officer at a New Mexico start-up company that became the largest publicly-traded company in the state, and Chief Lending Officer for a community bank.
Ms. Burns began her career as an investment officer for Mutual of New York from 1981-1988 and TIAA-CREF from 1988-1998. In these roles she honed her ability to determine key factors for business sustainability, profitability and growth in a wide variety of industries. During her investment career, she analyzed more than 3,000 businesses and invested more than $3 billion. During the 1990s, Ms. Burns developed expertise in structured finance and emerging market finance including project finance, asset-backed securitization, and infrastructure construction lending. Throughout her 17 year investment career in New York, Ms. Burns managed a portfolio of fixed-rate privately-placed debt, met with management of these companies on a regular basis, tracked financial performance, and monitored compliance.
Ms. Burns returned to extraordinary New Mexico, her birthplace, as a senior member of the initial team that developed an innovative lending platform at Thornburg Mortgage Inc. (TMA). Ms. Burns was responsible for all financing arrangements for TMA, issued over $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities, and managed TMA’s relationships with the rating agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, securities underwriters, warehouse lenders and securities investors. The Thornburg Mortgage origination and servicing platform had the lowest delinquency and default rates in the US.
Ms. Burns’ most recent corporate position was Senior Vice President and Chief Lending Officer of Kirtland Federal Credit Union. From 2012 to 2014, Ms. Burns provided management consulting services through her firm, Crystal River Advisors LLC.
An Albuquerque, New Mexico, native, Ms. Burns graduated from Albuquerque Academy. She earned a BA in Economics from Princeton University. As an undergraduate, Ms. Burns was a research analyst for Burton G. Malkiel, head of the Economics Department at Princeton and author of the New York Times best-selling book, “A Random Walk Down Wall Street.” Ms. Burns has also earned an Executive MBA in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business. Previously, Ms. Burns hosted her own radio show, “Business Dimensions – Expert Insights for Your Business,” on Sundays at 5 PM on 770 KKOB AM radio.