MY JOURNEY
A Journey of Grit, Growth, and Conviction
From building roads and bridges in the U.S. to navigating the heart of the financial epicenter—New York City—my path has been anything but conventional.
Before any professional experience, I learned discipline and grit early on. My parents, with quiet determination, steered my siblings and me into cross-country skiing and biathlon. Sports gave me structure, purpose, and resilience. A professional career in athletics was within reach, but financial realities cut that path short. Still, life had other plans. When the opportunity came to move to the United States, I seized it with both hands.
I began in civil engineering—literally building foundations that connected people and places. Hammering, driving stakes, pouring concrete—none of it was foreign to me. It wasn’t glamorous work, but it taught me the value of precision, hard work, and always seeing the bigger picture. These became fundamental parts of my DNA.
Eventually, I traded steel and concrete for spreadsheets and market models. Before landing at Morgan Stanley, I pursued a degree in Business Administration at the University at Albany, where I was part of the Financial Analyst Honors Program and co-led the student-run investment group. My time at SUNY Albany was formative—it shaped my analytical mindset and fueled my passion for finance.
That journey led me to the heart of Manhattan, where I joined Morgan Stanley’s headquarters. As a junior analyst, I wore many hats across several rotations. My first role was with the unsecured funding team, managing daily financing operations for the firm. Later, I joined Capital Planning, where I worked on high-stakes regulatory submissions like the Federal Reserve’s annual stress tests. I was a small cog in a very large machine—but one that moved with intent and purpose. The people I worked with were brilliant, driven, and deeply inspiring. Their energy pushed me to raise my game every single day.
After several formative years in New York, I returned to Europe to take on a new challenge: managing part of Latvia’s pension assets at Swedbank. We weren’t just allocating capital—we were shaping futures. I had the privilege of diving into venture capital, private equity, and real estate, while also contributing to public market strategies. The role demanded both vision and precision, combining macroeconomic insight with a deep sense of fiduciary responsibility. It was humbling and exhilarating all at once.
Today, I’ve embraced a new challenge at Balcia Insurance. The portfolio is smaller, but the stakes are just as high. I manage a multi-asset portfolio and build investment strategies from the ground up—bringing with me the same mindset that New York instilled in me. The rigor, the conviction, the constant push for excellence—it all stays with me. Every asset I allocate is grounded in research, shaped by intuition, and driven by a desire to do things better. That’s my signature.
What sets me apart isn’t just what I’ve done—it’s the path I’ve walked. From Olympic torchbearer and biathlete to investment strategist and father, I’ve lived many lives in one. I know what it means to start over, to adapt, to struggle—and to push beyond limits that others don’t even see.
Finance can often feel cold and mechanical. I believe it doesn’t have to be. Creativity, discipline, and hustle can breathe life into this industry. And yes—luck is always part of the story. But as someone once said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” I believe in that with all my heart.
Krists Eiduks