- Seasoned investment executive with deep knowledge and experience developing and managing institutional and retail investment programs and products involving assets in excess of $50 billion.
- Consultant advising clients on investment program and product design, implementation, and management, including fiduciary and governance matters.
- Board member, CFA Society of Washington, DC; Finance Committee and Governance Committee member
Describe your industry experience:
- Over 35 years of institutional investment management experience across a range of industries, including the asset management and financial services industries, governments (supranational, national and local government entities), and consulting. Significant knowledge of business models, contacts and operations in these industries as a result of years of experience and the executive leadership positions held,
- Within the asset management and financial services industries, served for 18+ years on the senior leadership team of ICMA Retirement Corporation (ICMA-RC), a $50+ billion financial services firm, and managed all activities of the investment advisory subsidiary, Vantagepoint Investment Advisers, LLC, a $20+ billion asset manager of 30+ mutual funds.
- Within the government space, served as the Executive Director / Chief Investment Officer of the Montgomery County, MD Employees Retirement System for 8+ years, one of the largest county systems in the U.S.. Led significant program changes to enhance the county’s retirement programs, including cutting edge program and investment strategy changes.
- Within the consulting space, advises clients on best practices in investment management and governance.
Describe your functional experience:
- Financial / investment experience:
- Over 35 years’ experience developing and managing institutional and retail investment programs, strategies and products for organizations / clients. Over 18 years overseeing the investment advisory services of a $50+ Billion financial services and asset management corporation. Led numerous corporate strategic initiatives and innovative investment program enhancements that led to a tripling of assets and investment products under management, and top tier performance.
- Over 35 years’ experience in overseeing financial management activities, including financial analysis, financial statement oversight, contract negotiations and budgeting for corporations, mutual fund complexes, government entities, and not-for-profit organizations. Senior executive responsible for signing off on financial statements covering assets exceeding $20 billion, and revenues exceeding $80 million annually. Organizations’ annual budgets ranged from $1 million to $300+ million.
- Chartered Financial Analyst, a credential that demonstrates a broad range of knowledge across financial markets, securities, strategies, accounting, economics and portfolio management, as well as a commitment to ethics in the profession.
- Qualified to serve as a financial expert on boards’ audit committees.
- Management experience:
- Over 30 years’ experience in senior and executive management roles overseeing multiple investment management programs, retirement system programs, and teams of professionals to achieve goals.
- As ICMA-RC’s Managing Vice President of Investments, managed the day to day operations of investment advisory services provided to over 8,000 clients with over $50 billion in assets under administration.
- Over 30 years’ experience managing a wide range of programs and activities that were under the purview of governing boards, managing board communications and recommendations, and reporting directly to multiple boards of directors/trustees and governing committees.
- Strategy experience:
- Over 30 years’ experience serving in executive roles determining business strategies to achieve goals and leading corporate strategic initiatives relating to investment program development and corporate business development, and addressing regulation changes.
- Worked alongside C-Suite peers and/or directly with governing boards and committees to advance strategy development and oversight.
- An example includes development and oversight of a corporate strategic initiative to accelerate business / asset growth by expanding the product lineup to include innovative investment solutions that successfully grew to over $10 billion in assets over the subsequent ten years.
- Product Management/Development experience:
- Over 25 years’ experience in executive roles developing and managing products, primarily investment products offered to retirement plans and plan participants, including innovative and highly successful investment solutions in terms of asset growth and investment performance.
- In addition to the innovative investment solutions noted above that successfully met the needs of over 8,000 clients and 500,000+ plan participants, another product development success was the significant, innovative enhancement to the corporation’s flagship $5+ billion stable value fund that set the stage for best-in-class performance over all trailing year periods ended 2017.
- Developed and managed new, high profile retirement plan programs as alternatives to defined benefit plans that achieved stakeholders’ goals.
- Compliance experience:
- Over 18 years’ experience developing and overseeing investment compliance policies and programs for S.E.C.-registered investment adviser.
- Led compliance program development and activities prior to the establishment of a Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) role, and subsequently worked directly with CCO, General Counsel, other C-suite executives and senior investment staff to ensure that all investment advisory compliance needs were addressed, including the needs of the governing boards.
- Risk management / security / business continuity experience:
- Over 18 years’ experience as a senior executive establishing and maintaining business continuity plans, participating on senior management’s incident management team, and addressing a variety of risk management and risk mitigation needs.
- Examples include leading corporate Y2K investment risk mitigation team, leading senior management team addressing liquidity risk issues, and participating in senior management initiatives related to data security and cybersecurity.
- Operations experience:
- Over 35 years’ experience overseeing multiple vendors and other operational related activities in support of investment programs, including but not limited to custodian banks, pricing vendors, securities lending agents, data providers, etc.
- Served in senior liaison capacity with internal operations teams to achieve cross divisional business goals and numerous corporate strategic initiatives, e.g., the conversion of $20+ billion in assets from mutual funds to collective investment trusts.
- Marketing/Communications experience:
- 18 years’ experience partnering with corporate marketing and communications executives and personnel to achieve goals.
- Some of the many initiatives that successfully led to a significant business and asset growth included (1) co-leading an investment program rebranding initiative, working with CMO and marketing consultant to establish more effective messaging and communications to the corporation’s 8,000+ clients, and (2) leading an initiative to promote the corporation’s investment thought leadership through the development and publication of educational, thought-provoking research papers.
- HR/Talent Management experience:
- Over 30 years’ experience in talent management, leading and developing professional teams to ensure successful outcomes for individuals, teams, companies, clients and all stakeholders.
- Successfully re-tooled and re-staffed a corporate investment division to meet expanding service needs and ensure top-notch professional talent given competitive landscape; staff ultimately tripled in size to 35+ professionals by 2017.
- Sales/Business Development experience:
- 18 year’s experience partnering with sales executives and personnel for business development purposes.
- Involved in a broad array of sales activities ranging from “jumbo” client and prospect sales presentations to introducing sales team to national network of client prospects, and leading an initiative to enhance sales materials to improve competitiveness.
Describe your key business transactional experience:
- Led strategic conversion of corporation’s largest business subsidiary product – a $20+ billion mutual fund series involving 30+ products – to another affiliated entity with a different legal structure and regulatory requirements, achieving corporate goals of significantly improving business and asset growth opportunities, reducing legal and operational risk exposure as well as compliance requirements, and meaningfully reducing direct and indirect costs to the corporation and its 8,000+ clients.
- Led strategic conversion of large public retirement system to an alternative structure, creating a new, innovative defined contribution plan and enhancing the system’s $2+ billion defined benefit and deferred compensation plans. The conversion achieved significant cost/benefit improvements for employers and tax payers, and enhanced investment options and retirement prospects for over 3,000 employees.
What is the most important skill you bring to a corporate board?
Given decades of experience in executive positions working collaboratively with governing boards and committees, and having been in governance roles, I have an astute understanding of and appreciation for the responsibilities of governing boards, including corporate, not for profit, government, and other organizations.
In addition to my financial knowledge and experience, which qualifies me to be a financial expert on boards’ audit committees, my business acumen and strategic perspectives have proven to be value adds in C-suites and on boards.
Finally, my strong communication skills, inquisitive nature, astute judgment, and respectful demeanor are attributes that have led to successful outcomes in oversight roles.
