SMIFC: 2018 SMIFC Conference Speakers

Charles K. Bobrinskoy

Vice Chairman, Head of Investment Group, Portfolio Manager, Ariel Investments

Charles Kellogg BobrinskoyCharles Kellogg Bobrinskoy serves as the Vice Chairman, Director of Research, and Portfolio Manager at Ariel Capital Management LLC. Additionally, he is a Portfolio Manager of Ariel Focus Fund. Mr. Bobrinskoy joined Ariel Capital in September 2004 and is instrumental in all firm wide strategic decisions. He is also a founding investor in the firm. Prior to joining the firm, he was employed in the Global Corporate and Investment Bank of Citigroup, Inc.

Bobrinskoy also served as a Managing Director and Head of North American Investment Banking Branch Offices, where he managed just fewer than 100 professionals across six North American branches, including Chicago. His investment banking career began in 1983 at Salomon Brothers, Inc. (a Citigroup predecessor company), where he held numerous leadership positions, including serving as the Head of Midwest investment banking for Salomon until 2000. Mr. Bobrinskoy has been an Independent Director of InnerWorkings Inc since August 2008.

He serves as a Trustee for the Museum of Science and Industry and the Chicago Urban League. Mr. Bobrinskoy is on the Board of Directors at La Rabida Children's Hospital, Big Shoulders Fund, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, Chicago Club, Lakeshore Athletic Club, Juvenile Protective Association and Duke University’s Library Board. He also teaches monthly stock market and investing classes at two of the Chicago inner-city schools. Mr. Bobrinskoy is an active member of the Commercial Club and the Economic Club of Chicago, as well as a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. He holds an A.B. degree in Economics from Duke University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.

Shannon J. Curley, CFA

Chief Executive Officer, CFA Society Chicago

Shannon CurleyShannon J. Curley, CFA, is the Chief Executive Officer of CFA Society Chicago since 2016, joining as Executive Director in 2014.  As Chief Executive, Curley is responsible for short and long term 

strategic planning, operational management, and external relations of the Society.  

Curley joins with more than 25 years of investment management and financial operational experience. He has been a Charterholder since 1997, and has been a member of the CFA Chicago since 2004. Previously, Curley worked at UBS O’Connor, LLC as a Director of the Long/Short Equity Hedge Fund, Portfolio Manager covering non-bank financials. He has held various financial and investment positions in New York, Houston and St. Louis before moving to Chicago. Curley has a MBA in Finance from Tulane University, a BA in Economics and BA minor in Mathematics from Fairfield University.

Joseph Cusick

Director of OIC Education and Business Development, The Options Industry Council

Joseph Cusick

Joseph Cusick is currently Director of Institutional Education & Business Development, The OIC/OCC. Joseph is tasked in his current role for OIC/OCC to passionately marry 23 years of diverse market experiences, drawing from his background as a former CBOE Market Maker, SVP of online brokers optionsXpress/brokersXpress & Charles Schwab, where he developed several risk-sensitive equity allocations and tactical derivative programs.

Joseph also has a frequent contributor to various media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Barron’s, CNBC, BNN, and Bloomberg.

Julie R. Dahlquist, Ph.D., CMT

President, Technical Analysis Educational Foundation, Associate Professor of Professional Practice, Neeley School of Business

Julie DahlquistJulie R. Dahlquist, Ph.D., received her B.B.A. in economics from University of Louisiana at Monroe, her M.A. in theology from St. Mary’s University, and her Ph.D. in economics from Texas A&M University. Dr. Dahlquist has taught at the collegiate level for three decades. Currently, she is an associate professor of professional practice in economics and finance at the M. J. Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University. Dr. Dahlquist is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences. She is the coauthor (with Richard Bauer) of Technical Market Indicators: Analysis and Performance (John Wiley & Sons) and Technical Analysis of Gaps (Pearson). Her research has appeared in Financial Analysts Journal, Journal of Technical Analysis, Managerial Finance, Applied Economics, Working Money, Financial Practice and Education, Active Trader, and the Journal of Financial Education. She is a recipient of the Charles H. Dow Award (2011) and the Epstein Award (2012). She serves on the Board of the Market Technicians Association Educational Foundation and as editor of the Journal of Technical Analysis. She and her husband, Richard Bauer, have two children, Katherine and Sepp.

Buff Dormeier, CMT

Managing Director, Investments, Senior PIM Portfolio Manager, Well Fargo Advisors, Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC

Buff Dormeier

Armed with research and investment programs, Buff Dormeier dynamically advises affluent individual and institutional clientele on strategies designed to help meet or exceed their specific investment objectives in what are often uncertain market conditions. This is accomplished by utilizing state of the art portfolio management strategies designed to grow and preserve wealth in a risk conscience manner.

Buff is featured in "Technical Analysis and Behavior Finance in Fund Management" – a European book comprised of interviews with 21 successful investment professionals. Buff is a double major graduate of Indiana State University participating in both varsity track and cross country as a student athlete.

John L. Emerson, CFA

Portfolio Manager, Columbia Wanger Asset Management, LLC

John Emerson

John Emerson is a portfolio manager of a mid-cap growth mutual fund at Columbia Wanger Asset Management, LLC. He is also a domestic equity analyst covering U.S. information technology and telecommunications stocks. Mr. Emerson joined Columbia Wanger in 2003 and has been a member of the investment community since 2002.

Prior to joining Columbia Wanger, Mr. Emerson was an equity research analyst for Spin-off Advisors. His experience also includes employment at Edward Jones as a senior accountant and as a senior associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Mr. Emerson earned a B.S. from the University of Missouri and an MBA from the University of Chicago. In addition, he holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Garrett Glawe, CFA

Director, Asset Owners Channel at S&P Dow Jones Indices

Garrett Glawe CFAGarrett Glawe, CFA, is a director in the Asset Owners group at S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI). S&P DJI is the world’s largest resource for index-based innovation, data and research. Glawe builds and develops relationships with retirement plan sponsors, endowments, and foundations throughout the central US and Montreal, Canada. He currently manages relationships with 65 organizations that are responsible for $1.9 trillion in assets.

Glawe regularly presents S&P’s latest research and index innovations to his clients. His work touches on a wide range of topics including active vs. passive management, factor investing, the importance of benchmarks across asset classes, and environmental, social, and governance considerations. Glawe co-authored a research paper called “Big Things Come in Small Packages” that explores why the S&P SmallCap 600 has outperformed the Russell 2000 by 2% annualized since inception.

Prior to his current role, Glawe worked at MSCI from 2011-2015 and Ziegler Capital Management from 2008-2011. He began his career in the equipment finance industry from 2002-2006. Glawe earned his MBA from DePaul University in 2008, and bachelor’s degree in finance and MIS from Miami University in 2002. Glawe is a CFA charterholder and an active member of CFA Society Chicago. He began volunteering with the Society in 2010 and served as the co-chair of the Education Advisory Group from 2015-2017.

Jeff Kernagis, CFA

Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager, Investpro PowerShares Capital Management LLC

Jeff KernagisJeff Kernagis, CFA is a vice president, portfolio manager for Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC, a registered investment company that advises and sponsors the PowerShares family of Intelligent ETFs, a new generation of exchange-traded fund products. In his role, Jeff manages the Buy-Write and taxable fixed-income portfolios. Prior to joining Invesco PowerShares, Jeff was a portfolio manager at Claymore Securities, Inc. from 2005 to 2007. Prior to that, Jeff was a senior trader at Mid-States Corporate Federal Credit Union from 2004 to 2005 and a vice president of institutional futures sales at ABN Amro, Inc. from 1994 to 2003.

Jeff is a CFA charterholder and holds the Series 7 registration. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from DePaul University and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Notre Dame.

Dr. Majed R. Muhtaseb, CFA, CAIA

Professor of Finance, California State Polytechnic University

Majed MuhtasebDr. Muhtaseb is a Professor of Finance at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA with extensive experience in investment management research and and training. He claims global experience working in academia, industry and government.   His primary research interest is securities markets and portfolio management especially hedge funds performance, activism and manager fraud. He published more than 40 research articles  in leading refereed journals such as Journal of Financial Crime, Journal of Investing, Managerial Finance and the Financial Times, among others.

For two years ending in 2016, Dr. Muhtaseb served as a Senior Adviser at Securities & Commodities Authority in the United Arab Emirates, equivalent to US Securities and Exchange Commission. Earlier in his tenure, he worked as Research Director for Global Fund Analysis, a fund of hedge funds house in London, England.  Dr. Muhtaseb’s favorite hobby is travel. He visited more than 35 countries. Recently he was appointed Director of Global Leadership Initiative in the College of Business Administration.

Brad Nave

Director of Trader Services, TD Ameritrade

Brad NaveBrad Nave earned his degree from University of Nebraska at Kearney in Finance and Economics.  He started career as an intern in an interesting environment, working as an intern in overnight money markets and foreign exchange in Dublin Ireland for the summer of 2008. Brad started working with TD Ameritrade as a stock broker and has worked in numerous areas of TD Ameritrade, especially in the derivatives space. He moved closer to technology/operations and product management in 2013. Currently he is responsible for managing the support and operations of the middle office for the advanced trading customers for TD Ameritrade as well as the director of TradeWise Advisors.

Brien N. Smith

Dean, Scott College of Business, Indiana State University

Brien Smith

Smith attained his PhD in industrial/organizational psychology in 1989 from Auburn University. He has over 25 years of administrative experience in higher education and has actively participated in university governance. Smith previously worked at Ball State University where he served a number of roles including associate dean, chair for the Department of Marketing and Management, and director of business graduate programs.

While at Indiana State, the college of business has experienced marked growth in undergraduate and graduate enrollments. Dean Smith has secured nearly 10 million dollars in grant funding for new and existing programs in the college. Under his direction the college developed the Student Managed Investment Consortium with over 30 university affiliates. The college continues to be recognized as a thought leader in insurance and risk management, hosting the Insurance Public Policy Summit in Washington, D.C. each year. Smith has published numerous articles in refereed proceedings and journals, including many of the most highly acclaimed journals in his field: Journal of Applied Psychology, European Journal of Operational Research, Journal of Business and Psychology, and Journal of Applied Social Psychology. He has delivered presentations and speeches at national and international conferences.

Dr. Smith has a strong interest in psychological applications to the workplace, and draws heavily from his organizational psychology background. His 2004 article, “Transformational and Servant Leadership: Content and Contextual Comparisons” in the Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies has been cited hundreds of times in journal articles, periodicals, and books.

Robert Stein

Deputy Chief Economist, First Trust Advisors L.P.

Robert SteinRobert Stein is Deputy Chief Economist at First Trust Advisors L.P. a financial services firm based in Wheaton, Illinois. At First Trust, Mr. Stein is responsible for forecasting and analyzing economic indicators as well as writing economic commentaries.

Immediately prior to joining First Trust, Mr. Stein was Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the U.S. Treasury Department. At the Treasury Department, Mr. Stein was responsible for briefing the Secretary of the Treasury on U.S. macroeconomic developments and formulating policy proposals. Day to day, Mr. Stein was responsible for leading a team of twenty economists conducting in-depth economic analysis and research.

Between 1996 and 2002 Mr. Stein was chief economist for the Senate Budget Committee on Capitol Hill and an economist for the Senate Banking Committee and Joint Economic Committee. Prior to his tenure on Capitol Hill and the Treasury Department, Bob was a journalist for Investor’s Business Daily, where he covered the economy and authored many front page stories.

Originally from New Jersey, Mr. Stein received a B.A. in both Economics and Government from Georgetown University. He is also a CFA Charter holder.

Daniel G. Sullivan

Executive Vice President and Director of Research, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Daniel G. SullivanDaniel G. Sullivan is director of research and an executive vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. He oversees the Bank's research in monetary policy, banking and financial markets, microeconomics and regional economics. In addition, he has supervisory responsibility for the Bank's community development and policy studies division and the public affairs department. Sullivan also attends meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the group responsible for formulating national monetary policy.

Prior to joining the Chicago Fed, Sullivan was an assistant professor of economics at Northwestern University and also taught at Princeton University. In addition he is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy. His research is in the area of labor economics, especially issues related to displaced workers and alternative work arrangements.  He has published articles in leading academic journals including the American Economic Review, Econometrica,  the Journal of Political Economy and the Quarterly Journal of Economics.

Sullivan received a B.A. in mathematics and statistics from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University.

Marie Winters, CFA, CAIA

Senior Vice President, Team Leader and Senior Research Analyst, Northern Trust Asset Management

Marie WintersMarie Winters, CFA, is a senior vice president, team leader and senior research analyst for Northern Trust Asset Management’s taxable fixed income group with over $350 billion AUM. She is responsible for credit research and investment recommendations for high yield and investment grade credits in the telecommunications and technology sectors as well as managing a team of senior research analysts covering other industrial sectors. Winters was appointed to Northern Trust’s Asset Management Credit & Liquidity Risk Management Committee, which directs credit policy and procedures, and the Credit Strategy Committee, an economic forecasting group which advises Northern Trust fixed income portfolio managers. Winters received the Chairman’s Absolute Quality Award for her work performed on distressed investments in financial institutions. She began at Northern Trust in 1998 and helped launch the firm’s high yield mutual fund product which now ranks as one of the largest in the U.S.

Prior to Northern Trust, Winters held a variety of credit-related assignments in high yield securities, distressed investments, corporate finance, and credit risk management at First Chicago (now JPMorgan Chase). For two years, she also served as the credit officer and managed a team of ten analysts who were responsible for the credit underwriting for a communications and media commercial loan portfolio with $3.7 billion in loan outstandings, the second largest C&I loan portfolio for First Chicago. For more than four years, she traveled around the world to six continents as part of a high profile group that were the “eyes and ears” of the Board of Directors, assessing credit quality and loan portfolio risks. Winters also led the credit due diligence for First Chicago’s two largest community bank acquisitions.

Winters has an MBA with a specialization in finance and economics from Washington University where she received the Quantitative Business Analysis award for her class. She also holds a BA in mathematics from Knox College. She is a CFA Charterholder, a CAIA Charterholder (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst) and is a Chapter Executive for CAIA in Chicago. Winters is a board member of Chicago Finance Exchange, an invitation-only organization comprised of the top 200+ women leaders in finance. In 2013, she became a member of the Executive Committee for Washington University’s newly formed Chicago Professionals Network. Additionally, Winters is a member of the Comer Development Board at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital.

Tarek Zaher

Professor of finance, Scott College of Business, Indiana State University

Tarek ZaherTarek Zaher has held a number of professional positions with the industry and provided consulting services to a number of international institutions including the World Bank, the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan, and the Academy for Educational Development in the United States and the Ministry of Work in Dubai. He has also offered a number of seminars in investment and international financial management at a number of institutions around the world.

Dr. Zaher is the supervisor of the investment club at Indiana State University. He also manages and supervises other international portfolios for individuals and institutions. Dr. Zaher’s research has been published in numerous prestigious professional and scholarly journals, including the Journal of Financial Research and Journal of Banking and Finance. Dr. Zaher received three research awards from professional conferences and one research certificate of excellence. He was also recognized by the Scott College of Business as the winner of the faculty research award in 2002 and the winner of the exemplary service award in 2004.

Student Managed Investment Fund Consortium (SMIFC)