
Daniel E. Schmerin
Daniel Schmerin brings to UOVO over 15 years of experience in business operations, finance and investing, and public policy, with expertise in capital allocation, corporate strategy, and organizational dynamics.
Mr. Schmerin most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Andover National Corporation, a long-term holding company that partners with small businesses providing essential services across the Southeastern United States.
Mr. Schmerin previously served as the Director of Investment Research at Fairholme Capital Management. In this capacity, he helped to execute the firm’s contrarian, value-oriented investment strategy across three public mutual funds and dozens of privately managed accounts. Mr. Schmerin had significant investment and operational responsibilities across the firm, which included managing multi-billion dollar credit and equity positions (primarily in the financial services, retail, and real estate sectors) and spearheading their special situations transactions.
Prior to joining Fairholme, Mr. Schmerin served in senior roles at the White House, State Department, and United States Treasury supporting Cabinet officials and other executive branch leaders on economic policy and national security affairs.
As Chief Operating Officer for the Public-Private Investment Program at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Mr. Schmerin was responsible for ensuring effective implementation and timely execution of an unprecedented $30 billion initiative designed to draw new private capital into the market for trouble real estate-related securities by providing government equity co-investment and attractive public financing. He also led the CIO Executive Committee, which advised the Chief Investment Officer on management and operational issues.
Before joining the Treasury, Mr. Schmerin served on the Homeland Security Council within the Executive Office of the President at the White House. As Director for Preparedness Policy, Mr. Schmerin was responsible for intra-White House and interagency policy development and coordination on initiatives related to critical infrastructure protection and energy security. He also chaired the interagency task force that developed the Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for Combating Terrorist Use of Explosives in the United States pursuant to Homeland Security Presidential Directive-19.
Before joining the White House staff, Mr. Schmerin was a Presidential Management Fellow in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. In that position, he assisted senior officials in the development and application of U.S. sanctions regulations against rogue states (i.e., Iran, North Korea, and Syria) as well as the implementation of foreign affairs policy related to countering the financing of terrorism.
Mr. Schmerin earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania, where he received the Norman D. Palmer Prize for best undergraduate thesis in international relations. He subsequently earned a Master of Science degree with distinction from the London School of Economics, and a Master of Arts degree with highest honors from Georgetown University. Mr. Schmerin is Vice President of the Board of Directors at the Miami Children’s Museum and a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations.