Based in Europe, Nicholas is a widely recognized expert on exchange-traded funds and an accomplished investment expert. Nicholas has been a regular commentator on CNN International and Fox Business Network. He has also been cited in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Fox Business News, CBS MarketWatch, Yahoo Finance and MSN Money Central.
Here’s a little more about the journey that led him to you…
Growing up in Pittsburgh, Nicholas earned spending money by selling flavored ice cubes at Little League baseball games, delivering the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at 5:00 a.m. and shoveling snow during the harsh Pennsylvania winters.
For a kid from the Rust Belt who was a big Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers fan, he also lived a double life. He spent his summers studying in West Germany (before unification), France, Italy and communist Hungary on scholarships he diligently applied for while in high school.
I was lucky. My parents made me aware of opportunities other kids couldn’t even dream about. Every summer, I had the chance to dip into a completely different language, reality and culture. During the bad old days of the Cold War, not a lot of kids from the United States were spending their summers in Europe, let alone behind the Iron Curtain. It was as if I got to visit another planet each summer. And then I spent the school year back on planet earth.
Luckily, this was the kind of unusual background that top colleges were looking for.
Nicholas earned a B.A. in both economics and history and an M.A. in history in less than four years from Stanford University.
There, he discovered the work of free market economist Friedrich Hayek and wrote two theses on his work.
That work put him on track to win a Fulbright scholarship to the Karl Marx University of Economics in Budapest, making him one of the first Fulbright scholars to study behind the Iron Curtain.
Assuming his academic interests in the Soviet Union and centrally planned economies was a professional dead-end, he turned down an economics Ph.D scholarship to Oxford University and went on to attend Harvard Law School instead.
Truth be told, he wasn’t a big fan of the law. Compared with the exciting world of clashing economic ideals, law seemed pedestrian and boring. Harvard proved better fit for his classmates, including future president Barack Obama and good friend, now Supreme Court justice, Neil Gorsuch.
As luck would have it, the Berlin Wall came tumbling down before he graduated. Suddenly, Eastern Europe and Russia were open for business.
After Harvard, he joined the world’s largest law firm, which had just opened offices in Eastern Europe. His mission – as he put it then – was to “help dismantle centrally planned economies.”
For nearly four years, he worked on the privatizations of some of the leading banks, oil companies and telecom companies in the region, listing them on regional stock exchanges. It’s this work that first exposed him to the fascinating world of investing.
Nicholas then set out to learn all he could about finance and embarked on a successful and varied business career, including launching several investment funds in Europe, founding a London-based roundtable of leading investment experts like Steve Forbes and Nassim Taleb, and writing for Eagle Publishing’s The Global Guru for 12 years alongside four other investment advisory newsletters.
In January 2018, Nicholas became The Oxford Club’s first and only ETF strategist, writing for the daily Liberty Through Wealth e-letter (formerly Investment U) and our flagship newsletter, The Oxford Communiqué. He is also the Editor of the new ETF trading service, Oxford Wealth Accelerator.
Outside of work, Nicholas focuses on managing his personal investments and his growing family.
Articles by Nicholas
Don’t Invest in Silicon Valley’s Unicorns June 13, 2019- Unicorns are running amok across the globe. Before you put too much faith in their magic formula, read what Nicholas Vardy has to say about tech investing.
Why Henry Ford Was Wrong About History June 11, 2019- Successful investors and entrepreneurs may eschew history in favor of focusing on the present, but today Nicholas Vardy explains why that’s the wrong investment strategy.
Don’t Fall For the China Hustle June 6, 2019- Chinese investments can pay off if they’re well-timed, but don’t buy into the trade war hype about the China stock market. Nicholas Vardy debunks the myths.
Living a Life of Via Negativa: The Power of Negative Thinking June 4, 2019- Negative thinking may seem like a counterintuitive approach but, as Nicholas Vardy explains, it offers a helpful strategy to grow your wealth.
Practical Wisdom: Two More Mental Models for Investing May 30, 2019- Making better decisions is a skill that requires a diverse toolbox of mental models. Today, Nicholas Vardy provides two mental models for wealth creation.
Is Value Investing Dead? May 28, 2019- Many leading investors preach the gospel of value investing, but can this investment strategy stand the test of time?
My Three Favorite Mental Models of Investing May 23, 2019- Mental models are an excellent way to organize our thoughts and understand our world. Learn how three mental models can help you find the way to wealth.
Know When to Fold ‘Em: The Importance of Exits in Trading May 22, 2019- The market is unpredictable, and what you buy is only a small part of profitable trading. As part of your wealth-planning strategy, you must know your exit. 
Why Can’t the Smart Money Beat the Market? May 16, 2019- Over the past 10 years, hedge funds have underperformed the S&P 500. Nicholas Vardy explains why the same old investment strategies don’t work anymore. 
Should You Invest in Thematic ETFs? May 14, 2019- ETFs are hot right now. Thematic ETFs allow you to invest based on your social, political and demographic interests, but are they worth investing in?