LUIS RUIZ-DANA

Published September 22, 2005, 2:00 a.m. EDT

Updated August 25, 2007, 12:59 a.m. EDT

2 Min Read

Luis Ruiz-Dana, who was a senior vice president at Kinsell, Newcomb & De Dios Inc., died from cancer Saturday at the age of 58.

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Mr. Ruiz-Dana was at Kinsell, Newcomb & De Dios for only a year, but during that time, he was in charge of starting up a new firm called Alta Vista Financial Inc., a Hispanic-owned and operated full-service brokerage firm with an emphasis on public finance. The firm, which will be based in San Diego, is awaiting regulatory approval from the NASD before it can begin operating. Kinsell, Newcomb & De Dios will own a minority stake in Alta Vista.

Mr. Ruiz-Dana was born and raised in Mexico City. He was educated at the prestigious Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, where he graduated with a degree in biochemical engineering.

Mr. Ruiz-Dana's professional career did not begin in public finance. His first job was helping his father, who was a general in the Spanish Civil War, manage the family's vast business interests, which included the large import-export firm Grupo Santa Fe and a cannery business that operated under the name Iberia Cannery. Shortly after his father's death, both businesses were dissolved, and Mr. Ruiz-Dana moved to the United States at the age of 38 to begin a career in the securities industry.

Before working at Kinsell Newcomb, Mr. Ruiz-Dana enjoyed a distinguished career in public finance. Prior to joining the firm, he worked in the public finance offices of Wedbush Morgan Securities, USA Capital Inc., Arka Securities, and the International Securities Group. Colleagues estimated that over the span of his career, he had worked on more than $500 million in tax-exempt financing structures.

Gary Cabello, a senior vice president of Kinsell Newcomb and principal of Alta Vista Financial Inc. who worked with Mr. Ruiz-Dana for 15 years, called him "a fantastic friend and a supremely intelligent partner."

Mr. Ruiz-Dana's public finance experience also included ongoing consulting services to a wide range of California local government agencies as well as assisting Mexican state governments in the exploration and creation of new avenues in their public finance strategies. Mr. Ruiz-Dana was a Municipal Securities Principal and an NASD National Commodities Futures Principal.