Scott Brown, Principal, Ennis Knupp & Associates
Mr. Brown, principal, serves as a primary consultant and manages consulting assignments for a select number of EnnisKnupp retainer and project clients. Scott also co-heads the firm’s real estate research group and the firm’s real estate Advisory Council.
Scott has 19 years of real estate investment and consulting experience. Prior to joining the firm in 2006, Scott spent eight years as the senior department head and Vice President of The PrivateEdge Group at State Street Corporation.
Scott holds an M.S. degree in real estate development from Columbia University as well as a B.A. degree in economics from the University of Massachusetts. He is a CFA charterholder, a member of CFA Institute, and a member of CFA Institute’s IPC Private Equity Subcommittee. He is also an invited member of CFA Institute’s CIPM Expert Examination Review Panel and Pension Real Estate Associations Valuation and Reporting Committee. Scott has served as the Chair of the Performance Measurement Committee for the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries and currently serves as a Real Estate Information Standards Council Member.
Eric Busay, Portfolio Manager, Currency and International Fixed Income,
CalPERS
Portfolio Manager, CalPERS, Currency Overlay and International Fixed Income, overseeing CalPERS’ multi billion U.S. Dollar Currency Overlay program consisting of internal passive and active programs, external managers active program and the externally managed International (non USD) Fixed Income program.
Before joining CalPERS Eric held positions as a proprietary currency and fixed income trader at Koch Industries, Inc., responsible for the multi billion-dollar company-wide currency exposures and a wide variety of trading, sales and management positions with the Toronto Dominion Bank,
Eric has several published papers and presented at numerous seminars. He has earned the CFA charter and is on the CFA Institute’s FAS Board of Regents. He earned degrees in economics from The University of British Columbia and McGill University, with studies at the University Of California, Davis.
Dennis Chu, Managing Director, Cambridge Associates
Mr. Chu is a Managing Director and hedge fund specialist of Cambridge Associates and joined the firm in 2000. He provides hedge fund advisory services to over twenty private and institutional clients, representing over $10 billion in hedge fund assets. His responsibilities include the design, implementation and oversight of custom hedge fund portfolios as well as the identification and evaluation of new and established hedge funds.
Prior to joining Cambridge Associates, Mr. Chu analyzed merger and acquisition transactions and special situations at Paulson & Co’s event arbitrage fund. Prior to Paulson, Mr. Chu worked on mergers and acquisitions, public offerings and strategic alliance transactions at Salomon Smith Barney’s corporate finance department. Mr. Chu has also served in Barclays de Zoete’s U.S. Treasury bond trading desk, Hambrecht & Quist’s Asia Pacific venture capital group and Goldman Sachs’ real estate and mortgage backed securities departments. Mr. Chu developed the firm’s internal hedge fund analytical model and is a frequent speaker at hedge fund industry conferences.
Mr. Chu has a BS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Bud Conrad, Individual Investor
Bud Conrad is a well-known and popular speaker at investment groups. He thoroughly researches market areas and
looks beyond stocks for investment opportunities. Provocative and outspoken, Bud Conrad brings a wealth of charts to
illustrate economic projections. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Yale and an MBA from Harvard.
He has held positions with IBM, CDC, Amdahl, and Tandem. He serves as a local board member of the National Association of Business Economics and teaches graduate courses in investing at Golden Gate University. Bud Conrad has been a futures investor for 25 years and a full-time investor for a decade.
Glenn Ezard, Senior Consultant, SEGAL ADVISORS
Current Position/History with Segal – Mr. Ezard joined Segal Advisors, Inc. as a Senior Consultant in 2003. He is responsible for client service and business development for the West Region.
Industry Involvement – Mr. Ezard has more than 19 years of experience in investment management and investment consulting. He has managed both fixed income and equity portfolios. Prior to coming to Segal Advisors, Mr. Ezard was Senior Vice President and Director of Equities, with responsibility for trust service delivery in the western United States, for Amalgamated Bank. Mr. Ezard began his career as a securities analyst at J.P. Morgan in New York.
Mr. Ezard has a wide range of client service responsibilities in the western United States, providing assistance with the deployment of assets in retirement and health benefit plans. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and financial industry gatherings.
Education – Mr. Ezard graduated magna cum laude with a BA in Political Science from Temple University. He also earned a Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in Public Finance from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service.
Steven Glass, Head, PLEXUS GROUP
Steven Glass joined Plexus in 1996. He heads up all client servicing and product development for plan sponsors including: due diligence monitoring, transition management, construction of prudent directed brokerage programs, soft dollar audits, manager searches and terminations, and assistance to trading desks. In December 1999, his Division was named Consultant of the Year by Plan Sponsor Magazine.
Prior to joining Plexus, he served as General Counsel to the District of Columbia Retirement Board, where he provided fiduciary guidance on investment management issues, and developed the Board’s Transaction Cost Monitoring Program.Steve received his Juris Doctorate from Drake University Law School and has a Master’s Degree in Law from Antioch Law School.
He has written and spoken on trading costs, manager transitions and plan sponsor fiduciary obligations. Two articles (published in The Journal of Investment Consulting) have been cited as “seminal reading” for any plan sponsor concerned about transaction costs. In addition, an article on the fiduciary responsibilities of plan sponsors when implementing transitions (published in Institutional Investor’s 2003 Investment Guide), was selected by The Practicing Law Institute for inclusion in its "ERISA 2004 Course Handbook."
L. Darryl Gray, Chairman, Board of Retirement for ALAMEDA COUNTY EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION
In 1989 L. Darryl Gray was first elected to the Alamenda County Employees' Retirement Association and served for 7 years on the $4 billion public pension fund until 1996. In 2004, Mr. Gray returned for a third term on the Board and is currently the chair. Mr. Gray also serves on the ACERA Investment Committee.
Mr. Gray is an assistant planning director for the Alameda County Community Development Agency (CDA) and has over 25 years of experience in the preparation and review of urban design and environmental planning projects. Before becoming a senior manager with the CDA, he served as the hearing officer for County zoning for several years. Mr. Gray has also been an active member of SEIU Local 616 since 1987, including three years as Executive Board secretary and 10 years as Shop Steward.
A graduate of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Mr. Gray holds a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture and completed the Institutional Asset Management Program at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and the Master Trustee Program under IFEBP.
Milbrey "Casey" Jones, Trustee from MARIN COUNTY EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION
Mr. Jones is a Trustee on the Marin County Retirement System, where he chairs the Investment Committee. Casey is a member of SACRS and is the former President. SACRS (State Association of County Retirement Systems) has twenty counties as members and some $70 billion pension fund assets all located in the State of California. He has been a featured speaker on hedge funds, issues of defined benefit pension plans, and alternative investments at numerous pension fund conferences.
Mr. Jones is a partner of Salus Capital Management, an investment firm specializing in a long/short market neutral strategy. Prior to joining Salus, Casey was a vice pres- in charge of Marketing and Client Servicing for Alliance Capital Management. He joined Alliance through the 1993 merger with Equitable Capital Management.
He spent six years as a Senior Vice President and Director of Marketing for Siebel Capital Management specializing in Taft-Hartley and public fund pension fund assets.
In 1979 Mr. Jones started his career as head of marketing and senior vice president of McMorgan & Company, a firm that specializes in managing the assets of Taft-Hartley pension plans.
He is currently a member of CALAPRS, the CFA Institute, the Investment Management Consulting Association, San Francisco Society of Analysts, and the Olympic Club of San Francisco. Mr. Jones is a patron of the arts and a collector of rare wines.
Mr. Jones graduated from San Jose State University receiving a B.S. in Industrial Management. He was the recipient of the Wall Street Journal Award his senior year at SJSU. He also completed courses in Advanced Money Management from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Entering the United States Military, Casey worked on saving the world for democracy. However, that was before he started his business career and is another story.
Dan McAllister, Treasurer, SAN DIEGO COUNTY
Dan McAllister was elected San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector by nearly 60% in November 2002. In June 2006, he was re-elected to a second term by 100% of the vote. As San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector, he has shaped his office into a strong regional fiscal resource and taken a number of steps to make his office a catalyst for innovation, transparency and best practices.
He is responsible for investing and managing more than $6.2 billion of public funds, which includes the San Diego County investment pool and other dedicated portfolios. His management of the County’s investment pool has earned the highest credit quality rating (AAAf/S1) from Standard & Poor’s.
McAllister also has a wide variety of public debt issuance experience. He serves as paying agent for 99 school district general obligation (GO) bond issues, as well as assists all 42 public school districts within San Diego County with their bond transactions. As an essential member of the County’s Debt Advisory Committee, he participates in the oversight of all San Diego County related debt issuances including the County’s GOs, pension obligation bonds, tobacco securitization bonds, and certificates of participation. The County’s current outstanding debt portfolio size is approximately $1.2 billion.
Under his leadership, the number of San Diego County Pool participants has increased as a direct result of his outreach efforts. He has led numerous forums and workshops covering debt, investment and public finance. Additionally, his innovative Community Banking Initiative has provided strong yields to San Diego County Investment Pool participants while also providing capital for local economic expansion. For the past three and one half years, McAllister has served as a Board Trustee for the San Diego County Employees Retirement Association (“SDCERA”), a $7.5 billion public employee pension fund. Under his leadership as the Board Chair from May 2003 to June 2005, SDCERA recorded strong investment returns and was recognized as one of the best performing pension funds in its peer group nationwide.
McAllister is also responsible for collecting over $3.6 billion dollars in San Diego County property taxes each year. His efforts to streamline the tax collection process, implement cost-effective technologies, and cross-train customer service staff have resulted in net cost savings, improved customer service, and greater financial controls over County funds.
Prior to his election, he was a successful and respected financial consultant and investment broker with a major national brokerage firm. He recently completed a six-year term on the Board of Directors of the San Diego Convention Center Corporation, the agency that operates the region’s major convention facility. During his tenure on the Board, the Convention Center doubled in size and increased its annual revenues significantly. McAllister served as Board Chair and Treasurer.
McAllister contributes considerable time and resources to community service, such as serving as Chair of the San Diego Unified School District’s Special Audit and Finance Committee and participating as a member of the Boards of Directors of the Jackie Robinson YMCA and Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County. He also serves as a member of the President’s Council on Diversity and Equity at San Diego State University.
McAllister holds a BA from California State University Fresno, a MBA from United States International University, and has completed executive educational programs in portfolio concepts and management at Stanford University and at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
Leon Shahinian, Senior Investment Officer, Alternative Investment Management (AIM) Program, CalPERS
Leon Shahinian is the Senior Investment Officer for the CalPERS Alternative Investment Management (AIM) Program, a $30 billion private equity portfolio that is considered one of the largest in the world. The AIM program is one of four major asset classes that comprise CalPERS $200 billion investment portfolio.
Shahinian leads a 12-person senior private equity team that invests in the full spectrum of private equity investments, including venture capital, buyouts, international and special situations investments. He also helps manage a $2.5 billion hedge fund program.
Shahinian joined CalPERS in August 1998 with investment and credit analysis experience. He co-managed a $1.5 billion fixed income portfolio for Foundation Health Systems, one of the largest publicly traded health care companies in the nation. He gained corporate lending experience working as a Senior Credit Analyst for Sacramento Commercial Bank, where he focused on small to mid-size company financings.
Shahinian earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from California State University, Sacramento and is a CFA charterholder.
Satish Swamy, CFA, Senior Portfolio Manager, Regents of the University of California
Satish Swamy is a fixed income portfolio manager in the Treasurer's Office of the Regents of the University of California. The Treasurer's office manages over $68B in total assets (equity and fixed income) for the Regents and Satish is a senior member of a team of professionals that manage the fixed income assets for the pension, endowment and 403(b) portfolios.
Currently, the fixed income team manages $25B and Satish has direct responsibility for all securitized assets. Satish has a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Bangalore in India, Masters Degree in Computer Science/Engineering from the University of Houston and an MBA from the University of Southern California. Satish is also a CFA charterholder. He is the San Francisco Regional Director for GARP (Global Association of Risk Professionals) and a Board Member of the CFA society of San Francisco.
