During the past few years, Ron D’Vari rode the roller coaster of structured finance. Armed with a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, he rose through the ranks at State Street Research and Management Co. When the mutual fund firm was sold to BlackRock in 2004, he joined the New York–based money management colossus. Within three years, he had personally structured and marketed 15 collateralized debt obligations, and his 13-person team was responsible for $90 billion in assets, ranging from government-guaranteed Fannie Mae mortgages to triple-B commercial mortgage-backed securities.

Then structured finance imploded in the first half of 2007. D’Vari quickly shifted gears, building an advisory practice that handled one of BlackRock’s highest-profile assignments: helping the U.S. Federal Reserve Board value Bear Stearns Cos.’ troubled mortgage assets. BlackRock was rewarded for the work with a lucrative mandate to oversee Bear’s multibillion-dollar mortgage portfolio. But D’Vari wasn’t as...