Litvak & Co. | Our Story & Leadership

Litvak & Co. recaptures the traditional private banking values of high-touch service, global perspective, and client-driven innovation to meet the intricate objectives of our private clients.

Early Years

Litvak & Co. is built from a rich heritage in global banking and international finance. Ricardo Litvak Klein, the firm’s founder, was raised in a family of bankers and industrialists. His father's family, the Litvaks, were bankers and owners of Banco Israelita de Chile (BIDC est. 1944). His mother's family, the Kleins, were industrialists who owned mining and shipping operations in Chile. Ricardo was introduced at a young age to the day-to-day operations and boardroom strategies of BIDC and later Continental Trade Bank of Switzerland (est.1967). Although his family would exit the banking business by the 1980's, he established a lifelong passion for banking, capital markets and investments from his early exposure and insight into this exclusive world.

“Every act of entrepreneurship is revolutionary and rooted in the anarchist spirit. It strikes at the heart of the status quo. It dares to be dissatisfied with what is. It imagines something new and better.”
—Jeffrey Tucker

New York Years

Litvak began his Wall Street career in 1987 when legendary banker Edmond Safra recruited him to apprentice at Republic National Bank.

In the early 1990s, Litvak pioneered Latin American Derivatives at Bear Stearns and later at Salomon Brothers, a move that was instrumental in opening global capital flows to these and other emerging markets.

In 1999, Litvak returned to his roots in
private banking. At Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, he co-founded and managed the New York Latin America Group. Most recently, as a senior advisor, he built and managed a $4 billion global private banking business at Morgan Stanley.

Today and Tomorrow

More than a quarter-century after he arrived on Wall Street, and 70 years since the establishment of his family’s bank, Litvak established Litvak & Co. to bring traditional private banking back down to human scale. As a third-generation banker, he has founded his firm on the time-tested principles of portfolio management and the time-honored values of accessibility, responsiveness, and accountability.

Agustin Litvak, Manuel Litvak at the helm of BIDC – Santiago Chile, 1963.

Board of Directors of BIDC – Chile, 1961. The bank would be nationalized in 1970 when Salvador Allende came to power.

Francisco Klein, addressing mining employees – Vallenar Chile, 1954.

Manuel Litvak, Jose Klein, Francisco Klein – Santiago Chile, 1958. The Klein brothers, industrialists in the mining and shipping industry would join the Board of Directors of BIDC in 1959.

Francisco Klein-Santiago Chile,1960. By 1960, his mining operations produced 10% of the world’s iron ore. A board member of BIDC, he would later acquire Continental Trade Bank of Switzerland.

Golda Meir, Gisela Klein – Santiago Chile, 1966. In January 1966 Golda Meir retired from the Foreign Ministry. She would later become Prime Minister of Israel serving from 1969 to 1974.

Klein family with Chilean President Eduardo Frei Montalva (center) – Montreal Canada, 1970. His son Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle would later become President of Chile in 1994.

Agustin Litvak – Vice President and Senior Counsel of BIDC – Santiago Chile, 1968.

Francisco Klein overseeing mining operations – Vallenar Chile, 1953.

Jose Klein with Chilean miners – Vallenar Chile, 1953.

Francisco Klein – Vallenar Chile, 1954. In Chile, large scale mining of iron ore and copper was made possible through the new railway route. With British capital, Chile first laid tracks in 1851 linking mineral deposits with the coast.

Ricardo Litvak at the helm of Latin American Derivatives, Bear Stearns – New York, 1993. The 85 year old firm would fail 15 years later, one of the first casualties of the 2008 mortgage crisis.

Ricardo Litvak with Chairman & CEO of Morgan Stanley John Mack- Monterrey Mexico, 2009. John’s leadership would guide the firm through the financial crisis of 2008, rebuilding its capital and overseeing the firm’s conversion to a bank holding company.

Ricardo Litvak, addressing the Banco Edwards Investor Conference-Santiago Chile, 1999.

Ricardo Litvak on the floor of the NYSE – New York, 2001.

Ricardo Litvak, Salomon Brothers trading floor – New York, 1996. The building would be destroyed 5 years later in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Ricardo Litvak, Jack Kemp and Shimon Peres – Jerusalem Israel, 2004. Jack Kemp served as Housing Secretary for George H.W. Bush, after serving nine consecutive terms as a congressman. Shimon Peres was the 9th President of Israel and served twice as Prime Minister.

Jack Kemp, Ricardo Litvak – Washington DC, 2003. A friend and mentor, Jack was the architect of the 1981 Kemp-Roth tax cut considered by many the spark that lit the fuse of the Reagan recovery.

Ricardo Litvak – Stavanger Norway, 1986.

Ricardo Litvak with Chilean miners – Vallenar Chile, 2010.

Ricardo Litvak visiting client mining operations – Vallenar Chile, 2009.

Ricardo Litvak – Vallenar Chile 2009.

Looking Back to Move Forward.

Early Years

New York Years

Today and Tomorrow