Paul R. Knapp

DST Catalyst is a leading provider of automated trading systems, information technology services, and proprietary research and consulting. It is owned by DST Systems, a world leader in computer systems and processing for the financial services industry, and by the Chicago Stock Exchange.

Knapp is also Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Catalyst Institute, which he established in 1991 to support the development of international financial markets and to enhance their regulation. Since he founded the public policy research think tank, Knapp has developed Catalyst Institute into a world premier financial markets’ research, consulting, and advisory organization.

For three years before founding Catalyst Institute, Knapp was President and Chief Executive Officer of Kessler Asher Group, a leading-edge trading and clearing firm dealing in securities, options, and futures. Kessler Asher Group was an innovative firm that provided clearing services on all four Chicago exchanges—the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Board Options Exchange, and the Chicago Stock Exchange. Trading was conducted on all Chicago exchanges and on other U.S. options and securities exchanges.

Prior to that Knapp spent nearly 20 years in various capacities with Kemper Corporation. For the last decade at Kemper he was Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of Kemper Financial Services (KFS), a global investment management firm, and of the then newly formed Kemper Investors Life Insurance Company (KILICO) which offered investment-oriented fixed and variable annuities and life insurance. Both companies sold their products primarily through securities brokers, banks, and savings and loans institutions.

Knapp was responsible for all financial and administrative functions for both companies including strategic planning, corporate finance and accounting, actuarial services, human resources, facilities management, telecommunications, data processing, risk management, and government and community relations.

During his tenure as Chief Executive Officer, the annual income of both KFS and KILICO increased dramatically. KFS income rose 45-fold to $45 million (form$1 million) and KILICO’s rose from zero to $25 million. KFS assets under management grew ten times ($4 billion to $44 billion), as did the combined workforce of both companies (150 to 1,500).

Under Knapp’s management both Kessler Asher and the two Kemper companies were sophisticated users of leading-edge computers and processing technology. At Kemper, he managed the acquisition, modification, and installation of several large computer software systems and directed the development and installation of a highly successful investment portfolio accounting and reporting system.

Knapp began his career as a fire protection engineer with the Factory Insurance Association in San Francisco. He moved to the Kemper Corporation in 1969 as underwriting manager and then went on to direct Kemper’s state and federal government relations programs. He transferred from San Francisco to Illinois in 1975 to work on Kemper’s corporate planning and research. He was named assistant to the president in 1977 and two years later he was appointed Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of both KFS and KILICO.

Knapp holds directorships on the Berger Mutual Funds, Futures Industry Institute, and the U.S. National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC). He is also a member of the Foundation for Advanced Information and Research-Japan, the International Association of Financial Engineers, the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, the Japan American Society of Chicago, and the Executives Club of Chicago-International Committee.

Knapp earned a Bachelor of Science in industrial administration from the School of Engineering at California State University in 1967 and an MBA in finance (magna cum laude) from The University of Chicago in 1977.