Ramin Toloui

Ramin Toloui is Professor of the Practice of International Finance and the Tad and Dianne Taube Policy Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. His research and teaching are focused on global markets and international economic cooperation, prevention and management of financial crises, and the impact of technological change on economic and financial stability.

Prior to joining Stanford, Toloui had a two-decade career spanning investment management and public service. Most recently, he served as the Assistant Secretary for International Finance at the U.S. Treasury Department from 2014 through 2017, where he was responsible for international monetary affairs, global financial markets, coordination with the G-7/G-20, and regional and bilateral economic issues. During his tenure, Toloui played a key role in shaping the U.S. government’s approaches to navigating Ukraine’s financial crisis, sanctions on Russia, threats to Eurozone financial stability, Brexit, and China’s foreign exchange and market volatility. In addition to advising the Secretary of the Treasury and other senior U.S. officials, he served as an emissary during crises and negotiated agreements with foreign finance ministries, central banks, and international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund.  He also worked with Congress to successfully advance initiatives such as loan guarantees to promote U.S. foreign policy priorities in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Before joining the U.S. Treasury, Toloui served as Global Co-Head of Emerging Markets Portfolio Management at PIMCO, directing portfolio strategy and trading for $100 billion in emerging market investments at one of the world’s largest asset managers. Assets under management in PIMCO’s emerging market business doubled under his leadership. Toloui also chaired PIMCO’s Asia-Pacific Portfolio Committee and negotiated the firm’s entry into China’s onshore bond market. He served as a member of PIMCO’s Investment Committee in 2007-8 as the firm navigated the initial stages of the global financial crisis. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2006, Toloui started his career as a civil servant at the U.S. Treasury working for seven years on stabilization programs around the globe, including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, Turkey, and the Balkans.

Toloui received an A.B. summa cum laude in Economics from Harvard University and an M.Phil in International Relations from Balliol College at Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Focal Areas: Global Development and Trade, Innovation and Technology, Money and Finance