Dominic Savino: The Importance of a Well-Rounded Background

Dominic Savino is a founding partner of Ferry Farm Capital Management and currently the CEO and founding partner of STAC Capital Management. Mr. Savino graduated from Fordham University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Political Science. Prior to STAC Capital Management, Mr. Savino sold mortgage derivatives on Wall Street before migrating to the buy side of the financial markets. After the 2008 financial crisis, Mr. Savino leveraged his financial experience from Wall Street and began to focus on direct lending and real estate opportunities. At Ferry Farm Capital, Mr. Savino created a fund that provided investors access to short duration loans given to students attending coding schools. At STAC Capital Management, Mr. Savino is focused on a model lease back program where the fund purchases model homes from builders and leases them back until the new community is completed. ​

Mr. Savino explains that as he accumulated more professional experience, he realized that the divergence between finance and real estate was actually quite small; both businesses deal with the same decision-making process, but he believes real estate has a better risk/reward profile.


Mr. Savino believes his liberal arts education was a great foundation for his career in business and urges students to get a well-rounded education and not just focus solely on business classes while in school. Although Mr. Savino believes that getting an MBA may be beneficial, he believes that college students may be better served by obtaining a graduate degree in computer science or some other related field as this feature may distinguish oneself from the herd. He stresses the importance of learning how to effectively use Excel and Argus, as well as understanding the core essence of your business.


Mr. Savino is a strong proponent of always being factual in your statements and believes that the most important quality to possess is candor. He emphasizes the importance in business to be as direct and transparent as possible, as this will allow mistakes to be addressed quickly and maintain a practical outlook. Mr. Savino urges students to have realistic expectations about the future, persist through adversity, and diversify their interests and pursuits.