Arthur Bass, W’73, had been involved with the Wharton Club of New York for a number of years, but his involvement substantially increased when he joined a team to revive the Joseph Wharton Awards Dinner as a premier business event in New York City.

Arthur served on the Awards Committee for the first dinner, and was instrumental in developing the awards categories and criteria. He has served as the Chairman of the Awards Committee for each subsequent dinner — and this year marks the ninth year of Arthur’s involvement.

Arthur also serves on the Board of Directors of the WCNY, and has become involved in two WCNY affinity groups, the Wharton Hedge Fund Network and the Wharton Angel Network. Arthur is active as a Penn alumni, and this year, interviewed applicants for the undergraduate school.

What challenges did you face with the first Joseph Wharton Awards Dinner?

Our first task was to re-establish the credibility that this would again be a premier event. An important step in that process was an introduction to Geoff Boisi, WG’71, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Roundtable Investment Partners LLC, that I obtained through a close friend and business associate of my wife. Geoff agreed to support the dinner as Honorary Chairman, and in addition to Geoff, we had a stellar list of award winners. That dinner, held at the Rainbow Room, was a huge success, and the momentum has grown with each subsequent dinner. Given the attendance and our list of award winners, I am very proud of our efforts in making the dinner a success.

What motivated you to get involved with the dinner and the Club?

I had a favorable experience a number of years before attending WCNY leads events, and had participated a couple of times telephoning New York-area Wharton alumni for membership in the Club. I was looking to get involved in a deeper manner to give something back for the opportunities that attending Wharton provided me. Ken Beck proposed reviving the Joseph Wharton Awards Dinner, and the idea of Awards Committee intrigued me. My participation in the Club has grown over the years to the point that I am now a member of the Board of Directors.

What opportunities are there for alumni to get involved?

The WCNY has grown dramatically in the past 10 years, both in size and the diversity of activities it provides, and I give Ken Beck a lot of credit for promoting these efforts.

Alumni can get involved by participating in the activities they are interested in or, on a deeper level, by volunteering to work with or sponsor an event. The key is providing a forum for alumni to network and share experiences to enable continued personal and career growth. Alumni can also choose the level in which they would like to participate — attending activities they are interested in, or volunteering. As you know, this is a group where, if you have an idea and submit it in an organized manner, it will be taken seriously. The other area I would encourage alumni to participate is to “take the call” from other Wharton alumni.

What do you do?

I am a Managing Director and Co-Head of Financial Futures and Options in New York City for Newedge, which this year became a wholly owned subsidiary of Société Générale. Newedge is the largest futures broker in the world, and is also active in fixed income securities and derivatives. I and my group structure relative value and arbitrage strategies for hedge funds and large investor accounts, and the accounts we deal with are among the largest in the
world.

I have been with my firm for 18 years, and have an extensive background in the financial markets. Newedge is in the midst of being integrated into Société Générale, which is expanding our ability to do swaps and other derivative structures.