Catherine E. Drake, CFA, is a senior managing director at PPM America, Inc., a US-based institutional asset manager. She is a member of the credit research team responsible for the investment grade utility sector within both public and private debt markets. She is also a member of the private placement credit committee which is responsible for approving investments across a variety of industries globally. At PPM, Drake has been actively involved in Diversity and Inclusion initiatives. Prior to joining PPM, Drake was a group vice president in the global power group at Duff & Phelps Credit Rating where she covered the utility sector and was a member of the utilities rating committee.

Drake has more than 30 years of experience as a financial analyst. Prior to joining Duff & Phelps, Drake spent ten years at Bank of America (previously Continental Bank) where she served as a vice president and team leader in commercial lending. Her responsibilities included lending to large and mid-sized transportation and retail companies as well as syndication of loans to other institutions. Drake holds a BA in French from Miami University, an MBA with a finance concentration from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MA in international studies from DePaul University. Additionally, Drake holds a Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University and the Certificate in ESG Investing from CFA Institute. She was awarded the professional designation of Chartered Financial Analyst in 2003 and is an active member of CFA Society Chicago and CFA Institute.

PPM America, Inc. | Chicago, IL

Jeremy Heer is a Managing Director at the University of Illinois Foundation. In his role he advances learning, research, and engagement activities within the Investment Office, leading and supporting the Foundation’s thesis-driven and outbound sourcing efforts. Jeremy has previously held investment management roles at the University of Chicago, Singer Partners, UBS, and Morgan Stanley, as well as other financial industry roles at Morgan Stanley and Cargill. Jeremy earned an MBA from New York University and a BS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a CFA and CAIA charterholder and an active volunteer for both of these communities.

University of Chicago’s Office of Investments | Chicago, IL

Chris Vincent, CFA, joined CFA Society Chicago as chief executive officer in May of 2020. The majority of his investment career was spent as a fixed income portfolio manager in Chicago with two firms, William Blair and Zurich Scudder. He was head of fixed income and a partner at William Blair Investment Management (2002-2019) where he managed bond mutual funds and separate accounts. At Zurich Scudder (the successor firm to Kemper Financial), Vincent was a managing director and senior portfolio manager for institutional clients (1988-2002). His roots in the money management industry are as a corporate plan sponsor with Nestle Purina in St. Louis (1983-1988).

Vincent has been a volunteer for CFA Society Chicago and CFA Institute since 2006. He previously served as chair of the Board of Directors for CFA Society Chicago (2014-2015) and has also volunteered for various CFA Institute groups and committees, notably as a member of the Annual Conference Advisory Committee (2012-2018).

Vincent earned his CFA charter in 1990, received his undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Missouri and holds an M.B.A. from Saint Louis University.

CFA Society Chicago | Chicago, IL

Katharine Wyatt, CFA, is the chief investment officer at Loyola University Chicago. Wyatt has over 18 years of experience in the investment industry and is a well-rounded asset allocator with experience managing large institutional portfolios and investing across public and private asset classes. At Loyola, Wyatt leads the University’s investment office, where she is responsible for investment policy and management of over $1 billion in endowment, operating reserves and defined benefit pension assets.

Prior to joining Loyola, she was director of investments for Abbott Laboratories retirement plans which included over $18 billion in Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution assets. At Abbott, she was responsible for oversight of investments, including selection, due diligence and monitoring of external managers and was instrumental in building the alternative investments program.

Wyatt started her career as a research analyst at a multi-family investment office covering hedge fund, private equity and private real asset investments. Wyatt holds both an MS and a BA in finance, investment and banking from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and was part of the Applied Security Analysis Program during her graduate studies. She is a CFA charterholder, and is a member of CFA Institute and CFA Society Chicago. She is a member of the Private Equity Women’s Investor Network, and has been a member and guest speaker for Women Investment Professionals.

Loyola University Chicago |Chicago, IL

William T. Fitzpatrick, CFA, is managing director and portfolio manager at Logan Capital Management. He is responsible for managing the Logan Concentrated Value (LCV) and Logan International ADR equity strategies. Fitzpatrick was formerly a director and senior global equity analyst at Manulife Asset Management and held similar positions at predecessor firms Optique Capital and Johnson Asset Management. He has an MBA from the University of Notre Dame and a BS in Business Administration from Villanova University. Fitzpatrick is a CFA charterholder and previously served as co-chair for the Society’s Professional Development Advisory Group (2017-2018) and served as judge for the local level of CFA Institute’s Research Challenge in 2018. He also serves on the Board of Directors at Maryville Academy.

Logan Capital Management | Chicago, IL

James Boudreault, CFA, serves as Global Head of Data Science at CME Group. He leads the department that
provides analytics relating to customer, product, and industry landscapes in which CME Group operates. He is
responsible for data science, enterprise information management, and developing client-facing tools. He has
expertise in data, analytics, cloud technologies, leadership, innovation, and economic thought leadership.

Boudreault previously held roles at CME Group in the Products & Services, Research & Product Development,
and Business Development areas. Prior to joining CME Group, he held various positions at Wellington
Management and State Street within their portfolio management, trading, and business development teams.

Boudreault holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He earned the Chartered
Financial Analyst® designation and has served on multiple advisory groups in the CFA Society Chicago including co-chair of the
finance committee. He is a board member of the Corporate Advisory Board of Southern Illinois University’s Pontikes Center for
Advanced Analytics and Artificial Intelligence. He is a retired captain in the United States Army and is an Iraq War veteran.

CME Group | Chicago, IL

As global head of distribution partnerships, Tiffany Greenhouse, CFA, is responsible for setting the strategy and managing the relationships with MSCI’s distribution partners across products. Greenhouse joined MSCI in 2008 where she has held a number of senior roles, including most recently head factor index products for the America’s as well as head of Midwest and West Coast Index Coverage teams.

Prior to joining MSCI, Greenhouse spent several years in the investment industry on the fixed income sales and trading desks at Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sacks, as well as trading and portfolio management at Citigroup Asset Management. Greenhouse is an active member of the investment community. She is currently on the board of the Chicago chapter of Women in ETFs and serves on the co-chair of the CFA Women’s Network for CFA Society Chicago. She received her BA from Tulane University and MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She is also a CFA charterholder.

MSCI | Chicago, IL

Sheri B. Hawkins, CFA, is the global head of product for Northern Trust Asset Management. She leads a diverse team responsible for product strategy, development and life cycle management across proprietary equity, fixed income, liquidity and multi-asset capabilities. Her remit includes integration of Sustainable Investing within the product platform. Hawkins serves on the Asset Management Executive Committee and is Executive Sponsor for Sustainable Investing.

Hawkins began her career in the investment business as an equity portfolio manager before moving on to hold business management roles spanning several functional areas of asset management. She has served as Chief Financial Officer of the asset management business unit, where she was responsible for forecasting, planning, analysis and management reporting for Northern Trust Asset Management. Prior to leading the finance team, she served as the Chief Administrative Officer of Investments, a newly developed leadership role reporting to the chief investment officer and responsible for business, financial and infrastructure initiatives for portfolio management and trading functions.

Hawkins has expertise in quantitative investment strategies, serving as an equity portfolio manager and leader of Northern Trust’s tax advantaged equity portfolio management team. She had responsibility for investment strategy, research, portfolio implementation, compliance and infrastructure. Under her leadership, tax advantaged equity assets more than tripled to $10 billion with the product offering and client base growing in number and diversity.

Hawkins joined Northern Trust in 1992 in the firm’s management development program. She received a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s degree in financial markets and trading from the Illinois Institute of Technology. She is a CFA® charterholder, a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Chicago, and she is an associated person of the National Futures Association. Hawkins is also a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow and serves on the board of trustees for Children’s Home and Aid Society. Hawkins resides in Evanston, IL with her husband and two children.

Northern Trust Asset Management | Chicago, IL

Aaron Meder, CFA, became chief executive officer at LGIM America in March 2017. Prior to this appointment, Meder was the head of investment for LGIM America’s UK affiliate, Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), where he led all investment teams across Solutions, Index, Active Fixed Income, Active Equity and MultiAsset. Meder has held the positions of global head of solutions for LGIM, as well as head of US pension solutions for LGIM America, where he started his career with the firm in 2010. Prior to joining LGIM America, Meder was a managing director and head of asset-liability investment solutions, Americas at UBS Global Asset Management.

He began his career as an actuary at Towers Perrin and Watson Wyatt Worldwide. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a member of The Economic Club of Chicago and sits on the CEO Leadership Council for The Financial Services Pipeline Initiative. He is a CFA charterholder. Meder earned a BS in actuarial science from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Northwestern University.

LGIM America | Chicago, IL

Matthew Morris, CFA, is the New York Metro and Midwest Division Head of the Portfolio Advisory Group (PAG), leading a regional team of experienced investment professionals dedicated to providing asset allocation, portfolio construction, and investment management guidance and education to UBS’ Ultra High Net Worth clients. Morris and his team specialize in developing multi-asset, customized investment strategies and portfolios for sophisticated individuals, families, and institutions.

Prior to joining PAG, Morris managed institutional client accounts for UBS Asset Management. Morris began his career at Morgan Stanley where he was a Consulting Group Analyst and a Portfolio Management Associate with Graystone Consulting, Morgan Stanley’s institutional consulting division.

Morris received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Oregon. He currently holds the Series 3, 7, and 66 registrations. Morris is a CFA charterholder, former co-chair of CFA Society Chicago’s Education Advisory Group, and a current member of CFA Society Chicago’s Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion committee.

UBS | Chicago, IL

Kweku Obed, CFA, CAIA is a managing director for Marquette Associates and serves on the firm’s board of directors. An owner of the firm, Obed has been with the company since 2014 and has 22 years of investment experience. He serves as the primary consultant on several client relationships. Obed chairs the firm’s defined contribution services committee and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences.

Obed joined the firm from Mercer Investment Consulting, where he served as a principal and senior investment consultant in their Chicago office. His responsibilities included working with defined benefit and defined contribution clients on asset allocation, performance measurement and analysis, investment manager search, and investment policy development. Prior to Mercer, Obed worked at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (now part of BlackRock) as an assistant vice president in theirtax-exempt fixed income research group.

Obed holds a B.S. with honors in economics from Queen Mary College, University of London, and an M.S. in development economics from SOAS, University of London. He is a recipient of the Bernard Corry Prize in Economics. Obed is a CFA charterholder and holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation. He is the author of The Stranded Fish: Decision-Making Through the Lens of a Fiduciary, published in December 2017, and has previously contributed to the official CAIA textbook, CAIA Level I: An Introduction to Core Topics in Alternative Investments, Second Edition. Additionally, he has contributed two chapters on asset allocation and defined contribution plans to the IFEPB’s Trustee Handbook. He is a member of the board of trustees for Everyone Reading Illinois and also sits on the board of trustees for Vibrant Emotional Health. Obed is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and sits on the investment committee for the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA).

Marquette Associates | Chicago, IL

Blake Pontius, CFA, is director of sustainable investing. In this role, he coordinates the firm’s integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in its investment processes and provides ESG research support to the global equity team. Pontius also leads the firm’s ESG Leadership Team. Previously at William Blair, Pontius was a global portfolio specialist and institutional client relationship manager.

Before joining William Blair in 2005, Pontius worked at UBS Asset Management and Mercer. He is a board member of Easterseals DuPage & Fox Valley, and a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society Chicago. In addition, he holds the SASB Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) credential and the CFA Certificate in ESG Investing. Pontius received a B.A. in economics, with honors, from Michigan State University and an M.B.A. in finance, with distinction, from DePaul University.

William Blair | Chicago, IL

Peeyush Shukla, CFA, is Heitman’s Chief Information and Technology Officer and a member of the Global Management Committee. In this role, he is directly responsible for leading Heitman’s Information Technology initiatives and Infrastructure Group in support of Heitman’s global investment management business. Working with the Executive Leadership team and business unit heads, Shukla defines and implements strategies that ensure the firm’s technology and systems are able to support the firm’s business objectives.

Prior to joining Heitman, Shukla was Managing Director, Data Strategy, Analytics and Multi-Asset Solutions Technology for Nuveen Investments, where he was responsible for creating the technology strategy and roadmap for a multi-year, multi-phase, cross-functional effort to develop Nuveen’s next generation cloud-based platform for data management, investment management, performance/risk measurement, reporting, and analytics across its multiple investment strategies and asset classes. In his career, he has also held senior technology roles with Mesirow Advanced Strategies, Inc. and Solo Cup and has served as a technology consultant for Cambridge Technology Partners and Fimat USA.

Shukla received a Master’s in computer science from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, India and an MBA in finance and strategy from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Financial Risk Manager.

Heitman | Chicago, IL

Carla Norfleet Taylor, is a Senior Director and Head of North American Corporates Research at Fitch Ratings. Her responsibilities include research strategy, monitoring research production, authoring thought leadership pieces, assisting with application of ratings criteria, and organizing analytical training.

Prior to her current role, Carla was a member of Fitch’s credit policy group’s Fitch Wire research team and in U.S. Corporates as a coverage analyst on the Retail and Consumer team. During her tenure in Fitch Wire, Carla collaborated with US Corporate and LATAM Corporate ratings analysts across various sectors to produce timely, opinionated and credit-focused commentaries and short-form research reports on thematic topical issues. In this role, Carla also worked closely with Group Credit Officers to produce research on key credit risks identified by Credit Policy.

As a coverage analyst on the Retail and Consumer team, her responsibilities included corporate credit analysis of high-yield and investment grade restaurants, grocery retailers, and commodity packaged food companies. She managed a portfolio of public and privately-rated issuers, by assigning and maintaining credit ratings, maintaining issuer relationships and interacting with investors. Carla also published issuer-specific and sector-focused research while leading or contributing to cross-sectional and global publications on topics such as activist investors and the protein industry.

Carla’s experience prior to joining Fitch includes buy-side equity analysis and investment product management. As a buy-side analyst, Carla worked at The Kenwood Group, where she recommended and an monitored a diversified portfolio of mid-cap value U.S. consumer, financial, and healthcare stocks, and at the Northern Trust, where she recommended and monitored large-cap growth consumer, media and telecommunications companies in Latin America. Her experience in product management focused on enhanced cash and structured investment products at The Northern Trust.

Carla earned a B.A. in Professional Options with an emphasis in Economics from The University of Chicago and a M.B.A. in finance and organizational behavior from The University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Carla holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation and she is an active member of the CFA Society of Chicago.

Fitch Ratings | Chicago, IL

Jennika Gold Thomas, CFA, FRM is a financial-services executive responsible for advancing Morningstar’s data offerings and maintaining Morningstar’s reputation as a provider of high-quality, timely, value-added data that help investors make sense of financial markets and instruments. As global head of data at Morningstar, Gold Thomas leads the global data organization of more than 1,500 data analysts, data scientists, technologists, team leaders, and product-development managers. Gold Thomas defines the data strategy roadmap to source and integrate value-added data into Morningstar’s product suite and drives commercial success.

Gold Thomas possesses an intimate knowledge of investment data and analytics, with experience managing large global teams, and the ability to think strategically, while driving process improvements, innovation, technological modernization and championing an inclusive, diverse culture. She leads talented people to add greater value to the organization as a creative thinker who employs a growth mindset and takes an analytical approach to problem-solving in a fast-paced environment while producing consistent, high-quality work.

In her previous roles as director of strategy and as vice president, Gold Thomas led the Fixed Income and Risk Analytics product suites at FactSet. After more than 19 years in the financial industry, Gold Thomas leads a global, cross-functional department and knows what truly drives high-performing teams. Passionate about leadership and the power of diverse ideas, Gold Thomas empowers employees to reach business and personal development goals.

Gold Thomas has steered the product integration of multiple acquisitions and spear-headed large-scale model developments and deployments across a wide client base. Gold Thomas steers corporate DEI strategy as a member of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Steering Committee at Morningstar.

Gold Thomas is a CFA charterholder and holds the FRM designation. She holds a Master of Science degree in computational finance from Carnegie Mellon and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Spelman College, graduating Summa Cum Laude with honors.

Morningstar | Chicago, IL

Dr. Sulin Ba is dean of the Driehaus College of Business at DePaul University Prior to joining DePaul in July 2022, she was the Treibick Family Endowed Chair at the University of Connecticut School of Business where she served as the school’s first Associate Dean of Academic and Research Support. In addition, she was also the Executive Director of the Connecticut Information Technology Institute from 2014 to 2019.
During her tenure at UConn, she successfully championed multiple cross- campus collaborations, worked with state and local governments and the corporate community, and represented the University of Connecticut in state-wide initiatives focusing on entrepreneurship and innovation. She was a founding member of the Board of Directors for Innovation Place Hartford, an initiative jointly funded by the State of Connecticut and other public and private sectors to catalyze technological innovation.

As Dean of Driehaus College of Business at DePaul University, she has spearheaded multiple initiatives to strengthen the connection between the university and the business community in Chicago and to build a diverse talent pipeline of students who are well-prepared for today’s business world. For example, under her leadership, the Driehaus College of Business recently launched the Lori Holland Initiative for Women which supports DePaul women students, alumni, and their allies who are interested in exploring and/or pursuing a career in finance. Participants will have the opportunity to explore, learn, network, and engage with all areas of the financial services industry.
An award-winning researcher who publishes frequently in leading academic journals, Dr. Ba started her academic career at the University of Southern California. She is an honorary distinguished professor at the School of Management at Fudan University in Shanghai, China. She also has previously served as a distinguished visiting professor at University of Mannheim in Germany. Her work on the institutional setup to help small businesses grow in the digital economy has been used as the basis for testimony before the Congressional House Committee on Small Business. She served as a Senior Editor for the flagship journal in the Management Information systems field MIS Quarterly from 2013 to 2017.

Born and raised in China, Dr. Ba came to the United States to pursue graduate education. She received her Master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.

Ben Johnson, CFA, is the head of client solutions, working with asset-management clients to leverage Morningstar’s capabilities in advancing our shared mission of empowering investor success. Prior to assuming his current role in 2022, Johnson was the director of global exchange-traded fund and passive strategies research within Morningstar’s manager research group. Earlier in his tenure in the manager research organization, he served as the director of ETF research for Europe and Asia. He also previously served as a senior equity analyst, covering the agriculture and chemicals industries. Before joining Morningstar in 2006, he worked as a financial advisor for Morgan Stanley. Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.

Ms. Maschmeyer has been associated with Columbia Wanger Asset Management as an investment professional since 2016. Ms. Maschmeyer heads the Investment Manager’s U.S. equity research efforts as the lead Portfolio Manager for the Acorn fund and has been a portfolio manager since 2018.  She is also directly responsible for analyst coverage in the consumer and financial sectors.  Prior to joining Columbia Threadneedle, Ms. Maschmeyer was a research analyst at Oak Ridge Investments (2013-2016) where she was responsible for U.S. consumer discretionary/staples investments.  She joined Robert W. Baird as an equity research analyst following the retail sector in 2006 and was promoted to senior analyst in 2009.  Ms. Maschmeyer began her investment career in 2001 at Zurich Financial Services.  She earned a B.A. from Denison University as Valedictorian in 2001 and an M.B.A with Honors from the University of Chicago in 2006.