Daniel Clifton, Partner & Head of Policy Research, Baird Strategas

Daniel Clifton professional headshot
Daniel Clifton Partner & Head of Policy Research, Baird Strategas

Daniel Clifton studies the interaction between policy, elections and financial markets. This includes analyzing trade, tax, healthcare, energy and other policy initiatives to determine how public policy changes impact the economy and financial markets for institutional investors. His work is widely cited in the media, and Daniel is a frequent guest on CNBC, Bloomberg and Fox Business.

Daniel leads Baird Strategas’  Washington policy research team, which has been ranked as one of the top policy research teams on Wall Street for 14 consecutive years according to Extel (formerly Institutional Investor). Mr. Clifton is currently ranked as the top Independent research analyst on Wall Street, across all research verticals as well as a top ranked analyst for Tax and Accounting policy.

Daniel’s research is the foundation for a number of policy-related investment portfolios, including Strategas Asset Management’s Policy Opportunities Portfolio, for which he serves as lead portfolio manager.

Prior to joining Baird Strategas, Daniel was Executive Director of the American Shareholders Association (ASA), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that analyzes public policy affecting shareholders. In this capacity, Daniel was part of a coalition that successfully worked toward several initiatives such as getting capital gains and dividend tax rates lowered to 15% in 2003, establishing a repatriation tax holiday on foreign source revenue in 2004 and reforming the nation’s private-sector pension system. Previously he was Federal Affairs Manager for Americans for Tax Reform and served as a senior staff member in two gubernatorial administrations working on economic and fiscal policy issues.

Daniel received both his B.A. in urban planning and his M.S. in public policy from Rutgers University, where he was a Fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics and a Harold Martin Fellow for Public Policy.