Michael Coolbaugh is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Strom Capital Management LLC. In addition to his role at Strom Capital, Mr. Coolbaugh is also the Founder and Chief Strategist at Element Macro Research, a macro research firm he launched in July of 2019.

Prior to founding Element Macro, Mr. Coolbaugh spent three years at K2 Advisors, LLC, a hedge fund-of-funds subsidiary of Franklin Templeton Investments. Michael was on a small team responsible for the research and implementation of direct trading strategies on portfolios ranging in size from $5 million to $500 million. He was regularly involved with the management of the firm’s ‘Conditional Risk Overlay’ program and was responsible for producing macroeconomic research to be presented to the firm’s Investment Committee.

Mr. Coolbaugh spent the first three years of his career at the New York Stock Exchange where he was responsible for analyzing the financial condition and ongoing viability of listed companies. Following the NYSE, Michael was an Analyst at Paloma Partners Management Company where he supported three portfolio managers on a Merger Arbitrage/Special Situations trading desk. Michael then moved on to proprietary trading firm, Koyote Capital, where he was a discretionary global macro trader managing partner capital.

Mr. Coolbaugh earned his BA in Financial Economics from University of Rochester in 2010 and his MS in Finance from William E. Simon Graduate School of Business - University of Rochester in 2012. Upon graduation from business school, Michael was selected to be a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the exclusive honor society for business schools.