Keynote Speakers

Allan Emkin, Managing Director, Pension Consulting Alliance, Inc. (PCA)

Allan Emkin founded Pension Consulting Alliance, Inc. in 1988, with offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, and Portland, Oregon.

Long a member of the consulting community, Mr. Emkin has twenty five years of general consulting experience emphasizing public plan administration and investment policy, as well as international, global, and real estate investments. 

Mr. Emkin was a Vice President at Wilshire Associates before forming PCA in 1988. Prior to his work in the consulting field, Mr. Emkin worked in the California Governor’s office in the Pension Investment Unit.  Before joining the Brown administration, he was a registered lobbyist for ten years specializing in affordable housing and other matters affecting low-income families.

Mr. Emkin is a frequent speaker at various conferences and educational seminars and has long standing relationships with Liberty Hill Foundation in Santa Monica, California as well as The Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard University.

Thomas E. Flanigan, Board Member, Orange County Employees Retirement System, Founding & Former Chief Investment Officer, CalSTRS

EXPERIENCE & ACCOMPLISHMENTS

2006 – PRESENT   THOMAS E. FLANIGAN, INC. Sacramento, CA
President – Pension and investment advisor.

2001- 2005 ORANGE COUNTY EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT SYSTEMS, Santa Ana, CA
Chief Investment Officer - a public pension fund with assets currently valued at approximately $6.5 billion. 

2001 - 2002 AMERICAN GENERAL INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT GROUP (AIG), New York, NY. Senior Vice-President - AIG is the largest capital Insurance and asset management company of its kind in the world with total assets under management in excess of $1 trillion dollars.  

2000 - 2001 STATE OF CONNECTICUT PENSION FUND, Hartford, CT
Chief Investment Officer - A defined benefit plan valued at $20 Billion dollars.

1997 - 2000 THOMAS E. FLANIGAN, INC. Sacramento, CA
President – Pension and investment advisor.

1985 - 1997 CALIFORNIA STATE TEACHERS’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM, Sacramento, CA
Chief Investment Officer - Recruited by California State Treasurer Jesse Unruh to become thefirst permanent Chief Investment Officer of CalSTRS; the second largest public pension fund in the country with assets valued at approximately $75 billion.

• Strategy recommendations resulted in CalSTRS ranking in the top 20% of Trust Universe Comparison System (TUCS) for the 10 year period ending 12/31/95 (top 5% on a risk-adjusted basis) and increased the funding level to 100% by June 1997 as compared to 55% in 1985 (15 years) ahead of previous anticipated actuarial assumptions since 1985.

1975 - 1985 NEW YORK STATE COMMON RETIREMENT FUND, Division of Investment and Cash Management, Albany, NY
Senior Investment Officer - Recruited by NY State Comptroller Arthur Levitt (Sole Trustee) to manageassets; at the time the NY State Common Retirement Fund was the largest pool of defined benefit pension assets in the United States.

• Managed and traded $11 billion fixed income portion of $22 billion portfolio, including U.S. Treasury obligations, corporate bonds, as well as, mortgage pass-through securities and municipals bonds.

• Managed and traded short-term investment portfolio of New York Common Retirement Fund as well as assets of 15 - 20 other State Trust funds and Operating accounts totalling between $20-$30 billion

• Recommended to NY State Comptroller Arthur Levitt in 1982 the fund invest its entire annualcontribution into U.S. Treasury Zero Coupon bonds resulting in high double digit returns for approximately $30 billion of the fixed-income portfolio for a guaranteed period of 25 years; a recommendation he followed.  Traded and managed the implementation of this investment strategy.

Stephen L. Nesbitt, CEO, Cliffwater LLC

Steve is CEO and CIO of Cliffwater LLC, an investment consulting firm specializing in alternative investments, including hedge funds, private equity, and real assets.  Cliffwater has 35 investment professionals with locations in New York and Los Angeles.  Its clients include endowments, foundations, and pension plans with over $15 billion in alternative assets.

Prior to forming Cliffwater in 2004, Steve was a Partner at Wilshire Associates where he founded and managed their consulting, hedge fund and private equity groups from 1990 to 2004.  He began his career at Wells Fargo Investment Advisors as a portfolio manager within the index fund group.  Steve is a frequent industry speaker and his published articles have appeared in The Financial Analysts Journal, The Journal of Portfolio Management, The Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, and other periodicals on topics such as performance fees, currency hedging, private equity, asset-liability management, and corporate governance. 

Steve has an MBA from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. A. Gary Shilling, President, A. Gary Shilling & Company, Inc.

Dr. Shilling is President of A. Gary Shilling & Co. Inc., economic consultants and investment advisors, managing individual and institutional accounts.  The firm also publishes INSIGHT, a monthly report of economic forecasts and investment strategy.  He has been a Forbes magazine columnist since 1983 and writes the “Financial Strategy” column.

He received his bachelor’s degree in physics, magna cum laude, from Amherst College where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi.  Earlier, as a high school senior, he ranked twelfth in the nation in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search.  Dr. Shilling earned his Master’s degree and Doctorate in Economics at Stanford University.  While on the West Coast he served on the staffs of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the Bank of America.

Before establishing his own firm in 1978, Dr. Shilling was Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of White, Weld & Co., Inc.  Earlier, at age 29, he set up the Economics Department at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith and served as the firm’s chief economist.  Prior to Merrill Lynch, he was with Standard Oil Company – NJ (now ExxonMobil) where he was in charge of U.S. and Canadian economic analysis and forecasting.

A frequent contributor to the financial press in addition to his regular Forbes column, he is a member of The Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Japan Economic Journal) Board of Economists and of the Investment Advisors magazine panel of investment strategists.  He appears frequently on radio and television business shows.  Recognized as an effective and dynamic speaker, he often addresses national and international business groups including the Young Presidents’ Organization and the Bohemian Grove in a Lakeside Talk.

Dr. Shilling has published numerous articles on the business outlook and techniques of economic analysis and forecasting.  He serves as Associate Editor of Business Economics, the journal of the National Association of Business Economics.  His fourth book, Deflation – Why it’s Coming, Whether it’s Good or Bad, and How it Will Affect Your Investments, Business and Personal Affairs, was published in June 1998.  Korean and Chinese editions were also been published.  Its sequel, Deflation:  How to Survive and Thrive in the Coming Wave of Deflation, was published by McGraw Hill in July 1999 and were translated for a Chinese edition.  His latest book is Letting Off Steam – A Collection of Commentaries on Matters Great and Small, Complex and Mundane, Serious and Frivolous.  He is also the creator of “The Deflation Game”, a board game that illustrates and reinforces his long-term forecast that deflation is a greater likelihood than a return to high inflation.  Twice a poll of financial institutions conducted by the Institutional Investor magazine rated Dr. Shilling as Wall Street’s top economist.  Futures Magazine ranked him the country’s number one Commodity Trading Advisor.  In 2003, MoneySense Magazine named him the third best stock market forecaster in the world, right behind Warren Buffett.

Dr. Shilling’s outlook for 2008 was extremely accurate, and all 13 of his investment strategies published in his January 2008 INSIGHT worked.  The random odds of batting 13 for 13 are one in 8,192.

Dr. Shilling is on the Board of Directors of the American Productivity and Quality Center, Palm Harbor Homes, the Episcopal Preaching Foundation, Inc., of which he is Chairman, Advisory Director of Austin Trust Company and a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts.  In 1999 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Law by Tiffin University and in 2006, an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Church Divinity School of the Pacific.  In 2008, Dr. Shilling was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, and in 2009 an honorary Doctor of Canon Law from the University of the South (Sewanee).

He is a former member of the New York Stock Exchange, former Director of the American Republic Life Insurance Co. of New York, the Henry H. Kessler Foundation, Inc., The Episcopal Church Foundation, Kent Place School, National Life of Vermont, Aim Packaging, Inc., and was a Trustee and Treasurer of the General Theological Seminary (Episcopal), and a former Chairman and Trustee of the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, a former Trustee of Bates College, a former Director of the Heartland family of mutual funds and former Chairman of the New Jersey State Revenue Forecasting Advisory Commission.  He was formerly a member of the National Commission on Jobs and Small Business.  Dr. Shilling has served as an informal economic advisor to President George Bush and as Executive in Residence at the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, Dartmouth College.  He has testified before various Congressional Committees including the Joint Economic Committee and the House Banking Committee.

He is also an avid beekeeper.

Featured Speaker

Neil Record, Chairman, CEO, Record Currency Management Limited

Neil Record graduated with an MA from Balliol College, Oxford, and with an MSc (with distinction) from University College, London.  He started his career at the Bank of England, then spent five years at Mars’s UK subsidiary.  He left Mars in 1983 to establish Record Currency Management and has been principal shareholder and chairman ever since.  He is the author of Currency overlay (2003) and numerous articles, a frequent speaker at conferences, and one of the leading industry figures.  He is a Visiting Fellow and Investment Committee member of Nuffield College, Oxford, and a Trustee of the Institute of Economic Affairs.

Featured Panel Speakers

Timothy R. Barron, President & CEO, Rogerscasey

Tim Barron is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Rogerscasey, responsible for the strategic direction and management of the firm.  Rogerscasey is a leading provider of investment solutions through platforms created to deliver leading edge advice, multi manager products, and technology.

Tim joined Rogerscasey in 2002 with over 25 years of experience in the investment industry.  Most recently, he was employed at Muzinich & Co., a high yield bond investment specialist firm, where he was Director of U.S. Institutional Client Development.  Prior to that, he was a principal at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Investment Management.  Before joining Morgan Stanley, Tim was a Managing Director and Senior Consultant at BARRA RogersCasey, where he led a team providing consulting services to a variety of clients.  Tim was also a Senior Consultant with Wyatt Asset Services, the Chief Investment Officer for the Virginia Retirement System, and the Executive Director of the City of Richmond Retirement System.  He began his career in the Investment Department of Connecticut National Bank.

Tim graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy from Emory University.  He also received an M.B.A. in Finance from Georgia State University.

Lourdes Canlas, Managing Director, Courtland Partners, Ltd.

Lourdes “Lou” S. Canlas is Managing Director for Courtland Partners Ltd., a real estate consulting firm. Prior to joining Courtland, Lou was Senior Investment Officer for Real Estate and Timber for the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management (MassPrim) Board and was responsible for the oversight of its $4.5 billion real estate portfolio and $1.5 billion timber investments. Before joining MassPrim, Lou served as Senior Investment Officer-Real Estate for the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund, Asset Manager for the Ohio School Employees Retirement System, Property Manager for Linclay Development Corporation and Senior Consultant/Appraiser for Laventhol and Horwath.

Lou received her MBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio and her BSBA from the University of the Philippines. Lou is a member of the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) and served as Vice chairman of its Plan Sponsor Executive Council.

Jonathan Choslovsky, Partner, Senior Strategy Analyst, Albourne America LLC

Mr. Choslovsky is a partner at Albourne Partners. He has been the senior strategy analyst responsible for global coverage of event driven hedge fund strategies since joining the firm in 2004. From 2000 through 2004, Mr. Choslovsky was a portfolio manager at two different hedge funds: Blackfin Capital in New York followed by Tresckow Partners in San Francisco. Mr. Choslovsky began his career as an attorney in the enforcement division of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. He received his law degree, with honors, from American University and his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California.

Bryan Decker, Managing Director, Chief Investment Strategist, Evaluation Associates, LLC

Current Responsibility
Bryan is a principal, managing director, and chief investment strategist at Evaluation Associates. He joined the firm in 1993. Bryan brings broad industry experience and proven leadership skills to the firm. He has overall responsibility for the management of Evaluation Associates, including client service, manager research, and business development. In his role as chief investment strategist, Bryan develops both short-term and long-term views of market opportunities. He is chair of the firm’s Executive Committee and is a member of the firm’s Asset Allocation Committee. Bryan is also part of Milliman’s Investment and Marketing Strategic Planning Groups.

Experience
Bryan first joined Evaluation Associates as an analyst covering alternative strategies for Evaluation Associates Capital Markets, and subsequently joined the consulting practice in 1997. While director of the firm’s research department, Bryan managed and coordinated activities across the various asset class teams, ensuring consistency in the firm’s investment manager due diligence process, market evaluation, and manager search process. As director of alternative research, Bryan oversaw Evaluation Associates’ efforts in the alternatives arena, including private equity, real estate, hedge funds (fund of funds), and commodities.

Affiliations

• Member, Government Finance Officers Association of Connecticut

Education

• MBA, Finance and International Business, New York University Stern School of Business
• BA, Physics and Economics, Vassar College

Gregory F. DeForrest, CFA, Senior Vice President, Consultant, Callan Associates

Greg F. DeForrest, CFA, is a Senior Vice President and Consultant in Callan’s San Francisco Consulting Office. Greg works with a variety of fund sponsor clients, including corporate and public defined benefit plans, corporate defined contribution plans, and endowments and foundations. His client responsibilities include strategic planning and implementation, investment manager review, performance evaluation, continuing education and the coordination of special projects. Greg is a shareholder of the firm and a member of Callan’s Management, Manager Search and Defined Contribution Committees.

Previously Greg was Senior Vice President and Manager of Callan’s Global Manager Research Department which provides fundamental and statistical research on investment managers. Greg was responsible for overseeing the quantitative and qualitative analysis of investment managers and the production of research and client reports. Greg joined Callan’s Global Manager Research as a fixed income specialty consultant in 2001 and became the manager of the group in 2007. Greg originally joined Callan Associates in 1998 as a member of the Client Report Services Group. As a Senior Analyst, he was responsible for streamlining investment measurement production, handling special client requests, integrating customized performance analysis, and monitoring new investment developments and their implications on the investment measurement service.

Greg earned a B.A. from Villanova University, and has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

George Diehr, Ph.D., Chairman of the Investment Committee, Vice President of the Board of Administration, CalPERS

Dr. George Diehr was first elected to the CalPERS Board in 2002, where he represents approximately 250,000 state employees. He was re-elected for a second 4-year term in 2006.  He presently serves as Vice President of the Board, Chair of the Investment Committee and Vice Chair of the Health Benefits Committee. He also serves on the Benefits and Program Administration Committee, the Subcommittee on Investment Policy, and the newly created ad hoc Risk Management committee.

Dr. Diehr represents CalPERS on several national and international committees including the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) where serves as a member of the ICGN’s Executive Remuneration Committee. In the area of health care, Dr. Diehr represents CalPERS as a member of the board of the National Coalition on Health Care.

Since 1990, Dr. Diehr has been on the faculty of the College of Business Administration at California State University, San Marcos. In addition to teaching, he has held several administrative positions including interim dean and chair of the university’s academic senate. He is also active in the faculty union, the California Faculty Association. His academic research and publications include textbooks and articles in professional journals on database management and applied statistics. Prior to joining the CSU faculty, Dr. Diehr taught at the University of Washington’s School of Business Administration in Seattle.

Professor Diehr received MBA and PhD degrees from the UCLA Graduate School of Management and Bachelor of Science degree from Harvey Mudd College.

Richard Faw, CFA, Principal, Senior Consultant, Mercer Investment Consulting

Richard Faw is a Principal in Mercer Investment Consulting's San Francisco office. He provides investment consulting services and asset/liability management expertise to corporate sponsors of US qualified and nonqualified defined benefit and defined contribution plans.  He is a member of Mercer’s Financial Strategies Group which is responsible for working with clients exclusively on pension finance and investment strategy.  Richard holds a BS in mathematics from the University of the South. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. He is also a CFA Charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of San Francisco and the CFA Institute.  He is also a Certified Financial Risk Manager through the Global Association of Risk Professionals and is a candidate for the Chartered Alternative Investments Analyst credential.   He is a member of the Society of Actuaries investment section council.

Jim Gamett, Managing Director & Head of Secondary Investments, StepStone Group LLC

James Gamett is a Managing Director of StepStone Group, LLC, an independent, private equity investment firm. Mr. Gamett oversees Secondary Investments and sits on the firm’s Investment Committee. Mr. Gamett is also a member of StepStone Group’s Research Team. He is primarily responsible for the identification, analysis, selection and diligence of secondary investments and new commitments to secondary fund managers.
 
Prior to joining StepStone, Mr. Gamett was Vice President of Secondary Investments at Portfolio Advisors. While at Portfolio Advisors, Mr. Gamett helped grow the secondary business from its inception to $800 million of invested capital. In addition, he worked with and advised Portfolio Advisors’ clients in committing billions of dollars to secondary fund managers and tailored secondary investments. During his tenure at the firm, Mr. Gamett sat on the advisory board of several fund sponsors and served as a supporting member of the primary and secondary investment committees.
 
Prior to this, Mr. Gamett was a Senior Associate with Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance where he worked with private companies to find solutions to their capital needs. On behalf of his clients, he interacted extensively with prospective purchasers/investors, including buyout, mezzanine and venture capital sponsors. Mr. Gamett was also a Senior Accountant with Deloitte & Touche where he worked as an auditor in the Financial Services group. His
clients included large corporate pension funds, global investment management companies and private equity firms.
 
Mr. Gamett received an MBA with a dual concentration in Finance and Economics from the Anderson School at UCLA and a BS in Accounting from Brigham Young University with University Honors. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a CFA charterholder. Mr. Gamett is a member of the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute and New York Society of Security Analysts.

Diana Greenstone, Principal, Senior Consultant, Mercer Investment Consulting

Diana R. Greenstone is a principal in Mercer Investment Consulting's San Francisco office. Diana works with a variety of plan sponsor clients across the western region, including public and corporate retirement plans, endowments and foundations.  She assists clients with all types of projects, including asset allocation and liability studies, plan investment structure, investment manager searches, development of performance evaluation reports, and investment policy statements.

Diana joined Mercer in 2009. Prior to Mercer, Diana was employed by Callan Associates, Inc. for seven years.  She also spent two years at Thomas Weisel Partners in equity research.

Diana attended the University of Virginia where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology. She is a member of the Discovery Council for the Bay Area Discovery Museum.

Cary Hally, Chief Investment Officer, Contra Costa County Employees’ Retirement Association

Cary is the primary liaison with all investment managers and the retained investment consultant for CCCERA.  Risk analysis, strategic planning and investment policy development are key facets of his duties.  As CCCERA's CIO, Cary is responsible for evaluating all of the various investments of the Association, including real estate, limited partnerships and other non-traditional investments.  He also monitors and ensures compliance of CCCERA's external money managers with the Board's investment policies and guidelines.  Other responsibilities include monitoring and projecting cash flow to anticipate expenditure requirements, monitoring the commission recapture program and overseeing that the proxy voting and shareholder activities are in compliance with proxy voting guidelines.

Cary has worked at CCCERA since October 2004.  Prior to joining CCCERA, Cary worked for Milliman (previously Dorn, Helliesen & Cottle) as a senior consultant providing investment consulting services to institutional plan sponsors.  As an investment consultant, Cary has performed a variety of services including development and implementation of strategic asset allocation policies, review and development of client investment policies and guidelines, and analyzing investment managers' portfolio characteristics.  Cary is a member of the CFA Institute (formerly AIMR), Security Analysts of San Francisco, and has served as a grader for the CFA Institute grading CFA exams annually from 2000 through 2004.

Rod June, Chief Investment Officer, State of Hawaii Employees’ Retirement System

Mr. June has worked in government service for close to 20 years. He is currently the Chief Investment Officer of the State of Hawai’i Employees’ Retirement System (HIERS), a $10 billion defined benefits plan serving over 100,000 members and beneficiaries.  He provides oversight, management, and policy formulation for plan assets, which include investments in domestic and non-US equity, global fixed income, private equity, real estate, and real assets.

Prior to joining HIERS in 2008, he spent nine years with the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System (LACERS) as an Investment Officer, where he managed the private equity and cash management programs. Prior to his tenure at LACERS, he spent eight years with the City of Los Angeles Housing Department as a departmental budget analyst, a federal housing grants administrator, and a multifamily-project finance development officer.  His experience in the private sector includes management consulting and bank lending.   He is founder and president of the LEAD Association, a non-profit organization serving the academic, career, and leadership needs of undergraduate students at his alma mater.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business-Finance from California State University, Long Beach and an MBA in Financial Management from Auburn University. 

R. David Kelly, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Mr. Kelly has more than 20 years of real estate experience, with over 10 years of direct experience with Federal housing entities and major banks engaged in Community Reinvestment Act investing.

For the past 15 years, Kelly has been the Development and Financial Advisory Partner of Carleton Residential Properties, a Dallas-based multi-family developer and general contractor.  The firm has developed or constructed over 12,000 units of housing in five states for clients ranging from Goldman Sachs to The Dutch Postal Retirement System.  Mr. Kelly has sourced over $100 million in federal funds for housing, and over $50 million of Community Reinvestment Act equity.  Since early 2009 he has also served as the President of The American Asset Investor subsidiary which targets opportunities in single-family REO and distressed credit

Mr. Kelly is a graduate of Harvard University (John Harvard Scholar, Economics) and completed a MBA at Stanford University Graduate School of Business Administration.

Mr. Kelly is the Chairman of the Texas Teachers Retirement system, and was the prior chairman of the Texas Public Finance Authority.

Greg Kulka, CFA, CAIA, Director- Private Equity & ETI Programs, New Mexico State Investment Council

Mr. Kulka is currently the Director – Private Equity & ETI Programs at the New Mexico State Investment Council (NMSIC) and has held that position for over eight years.  He currently oversees a National Private Equity Program with $2.4 billion in commitments and a New Mexico Private Equity Program with commitments of $370 million. These commitments are invested in a total of 140 different private equity and venture funds.

He also manages the New Mexico Film Investment Program which invests in projects that are filmed in New Mexico and hire New Mexicans as a majority of their production crew. This program has an allocation of $187 million and currently has outstanding investments of $129 million in ten film and television projects. Over the life of the film investment program, twenty-four projects totaling $244 million have been financed.

Mr. Kulka has a BA in physics from the University of Colorado and a Master’s in finance, accounting and economics from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He also holds the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA).

Dan McAllister, Treasurer-Tax Collector, San Diego County, Board Member, San Diego County Employees Retirement System, (SDCERA)

Dan McAllister was elected San Diego County’s Treasurer-Tax Collector in November 2002 and reelected for a second term in June 2006. Not only is he responsible for the collection of more than $4.6 billion in property taxes each year, but his office also manages the investment of approximately $6.3 billion in the County’s Investment Pool, ensuring that these funds are wisely invested and safeguarded for entities such as the school districts and cities in the County. Since assuming office, he has worked extensively to improve customer service, enhance communications and outreach initiatives, and has made numerous operational improvements. He is also a strong advocate for diversity. This is reflected in his staff, which encompasses professionals from all walks of life and backgrounds.

Dan also serves as a member of the San Diego County Employees Retirement Association, which manages an investment pool of approximately $6.2 billion. Additionally, he is a former chairman of the Board of Directors of the internationally recognized San Diego Convention Center Corporation. Prior to his election as San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector, Dan was a successful financial consultant
and investment broker.

Dan 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 is a participating member of the Board of Directors of the Jackie Robinson YMCA and Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County. He is also on the Board of Directors of the San Diego State University Diversity and Equity Council. McAllister’s service commitment dates back to his Peace Corps stint in the Western Pacific Country of Micronesia.

A second-generation San Diegan, Dan holds a Bachelor’s degree (BA) from California State University, Fresno, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from United States International University. He has also completed executive education programs in portfolio concepts and management at Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Pete Morin, Chairman, City of Austin Police Retirement System

Peter Morin has been a Trustee with the City of Austin Police Retirement System since January of 2000. He has served as the Chairman of the Board, for the last six years, and has been an active member on the Investment Committee and Goals and Objective Committee and the Disability Committee for the past eight years. Peter recently retired after a 28- year career with the Austin Police Department where he held the rank of Lieutenant. He is married, with three children and (believe it or not) three grandchildren.

Lee Partridge, CFA, CAIA, Chief Investment Officer, San Diego County Employees Retirement Association

Lee Partridge founded Integrity Capital, LLC (Integrity) to provide unbiased investment advisory services to institutional clients in North America. Integrity’s strategies span the spectrum of traditional and alternative investment vehicles and range from asset allocation and investment design to manager selection and implementation.

Prior to founding Integrity, he was the Deputy Chief Investment Officer at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) where he was responsible for global asset allocation, risk management, portfolio construction, external managers, hedge funds, derivative strategies, equity trading, futures trading and risk management. Lee also held several other positions at TRS, including Managing Director of Strategic Research and Risk Management, Director of Fixed Income, and Manager of the Fixed Income Portfolio.

Before joining TRS, Lee served as a Managing Director with U.S. Central Credit Union where he developed a risk management and investment advisory service for a group of banker’s banks with over $10 billion under advisement, and led the development of a multi-user risk system that became a standard tool for assessing capital adequacy for the credit union industry.  At AmVestors Investment Group in Topeka, Kansas, Lee ran several fixed income portfolios, and developed and implemented the investment strategy for the organization’s equity-indexed annuity products.

Lee has an MBA degree from Rice University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Houston. He holds both the CFA and CAIA desginations.

Carmen Racy-Choy, FSA, FCIA, MBA, Chief Investment Officer, San Jose Federated City Employees Retirement System and San Jose Police & Fire Department Retirement Plan

Carmen Racy-Choy is the Chief Investment Officer for the San Jose Federated City Employees Retirement System and the San Jose Police & Fire Department Retirement Plan.  Since her appointment in July 2008, she has made a significant contribution to the analysis of plans assets and liabilities, and spearheaded Trustee education in Alternative Investments.  In addition to her impressive educational credentials, she has extensive experience as an enrolled actuary and a pension plan investment consultant.

Prior to joining the City of San Jose, she was a Principal at Mercer Investment Consulting in Montreal, an Actuary and Director of Risk Management/Finance for Sunlife Financial, Associate Actuary for Manulife Financial and Manager of Investment & Product Risk Management for NN Financial (ING Group).

Carmen graduated with a MBA from INSEAD and a B.S. in Actuarial Mathematics from Concordia University.  She is a Fellow of both the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries.  

Al Scherlie, Senior Vice President, Aon Investment Consulting

Al Scherlie is a Senior Vice President for Aon Investment Consulting.  Al is responsible for all aspects of investment consulting services with his clients, including asset allocation and liability studies, risk budgeting analysis, manager evaluation, manager structure reviews, manager and custodial searches and performance monitoring.  

Al has over 30 years experience in financial management and investment consulting.  He has been responsible for treasury operations and the management of ERISA plans (DB & DC) while employed in corporations.  His investment consulting experience has included working with corporate DB & DC plans, endowments and foundations, public plans and Taft-Hartley plans. In addition to Al’s investment consulting responsibilities, he has also had responsibility for directing investment research activities at one of his employers, and he has served on the advisory committees of private equity firms.

Al holds a BS in finance and economics Summa Cum Laude from Metropolitan State College in Denver, CO and an MBA from the University of Denver.

James Slevin, Vice President, Uniformed Firefighters Association,  Trustee, New York City Fire Pension Fund

Jim Slevin is serving in his third term as the Vice-President of the Uniformed Firefighters Association.  He is also a trustee of the New York City Fire Department Pension Fund. In addition to his duties on the pension fund, he is the Legislative and Political Chairman for the UFA.  In this role he is actively involved in lobbying for improved pension benefits for Firefighters.  During his tenure several major pension benefits have become law because of his efforts.  These benefits include an expansion of the Cancer Presumption Law, passage of the Stroke Presumption Law and most importantly the passage of the 9/11 World Trade Center Disability and Death Benefit Law.  This monumental law allows Firefighters to receive disability benefits for their injuries and illnesses that are attributable to their exposures at the World Trade Center.  It also provides death benefits for their families should they succumb to those illnesses.  Retired members can now collect disability benefits even if they become sick after retirement.  He was recently named to The Capitol’s “40 under 40” and The Irish Voice Newspaper’s “Irish Legal 100.” He was appointed to the NYC Fire Department in 1995 and received his B.S. from Fairfield University and J.D. from CUNY School of Law.

Don Stracke, CFA, Senior Consultant, NEPC, LLC

Mr. Stracke joined NEPC in 2009 and has over twenty-four years of investment experience.  Don works out of our Redwood City, CA office and his consulting responsibilities include servicing endowments, foundations, public pension funds, insurance clients and corporate plans.

Prior to joining NEPC, Don was the Director of Marketing/Client Service at Shenkman Capital Management and Attalus Capital.  At both firms he was responsible for the overall management and execution of sales, marketing and client service, and was a member of the executive committee.  Prior to Attalus, Don spent seven years as the Director of Corporate Client Services for Dresdner RCM Global Investors in San Francisco.  At Dresdner, Mr. Stracke was the Head of the New York office charged with introducing a broad range of equity and fixed income products to East Coast corporate plan sponsors along direct client service coverage of 17 clients, and overall direction of sales and client service for US-based corporations.   Mr. Stracke’s previous work experience also includes serving as a Managing Director at Bankers Trust Company and an Assistant Manager of Performance Measurement at Citibank.

Don received his bachelor’s degree from Farleigh Dickinson University and his M.B.A. from Rutgers University.  In addition, he holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

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 and a VP of the Board of CFASF.

Chris Tobe, CFA, CAIA, Trustee, Kentucky Retirement Systems

Chris Tobe, CFA, CAIA has 23 years of institutional investment experience and has worked with Alternative Investments for 10 years. He is a Sr. Consultant for BCAP where he joined from being a Sr. Consultant at NEPC in early 2009.   He is a Trustee  for the $13 billion Kentucky Retirement Systems and has been an advocate on the board for increasing hedge fund and opportunistic investments.    He has spoken on alternatives in Public Pensions at several major conferences during 2009.    He started doing alternative education to plans as a consultant for Fund Evaluation Group in 1999. He has published articles in the Financial Analysts Journal, Journal of Investment Consulting, Journal of Performance Measurement, and Plan Sponsor Magazine. He holds an MBA in Finance and Accounting from Indiana University Bloomington and a BA in Economics from Tulane. He has the taught the MBA investment course at the University of Louisville, and was a 10-time grader for the CFA exam.

Micolyn Yalonis, Principal, Townsend Group

Ms. Yalonis is a Principal with The Townsend Group. Ms. Yalonis has been with Townsend since 1998 and is responsible for the management and oversight of the San Francisco office. Ms Yalonis is the consultant to various city/county and state pension plans ranging from $4 billion to $125 billion in total assets. Ms Yalonis has primary responsibility for Strategic Planning, Portfolio Analysis, Investment Planning, Manager and Fund due diligence, Performance Measurement and Client Relations. As the lead Principal on these accounts, Ms. Yalonis provides program structuring across a broad range of risk/return objectives, manager selection and oversight as well as performance analytics. Programs include a range of structures including separate accounts, commingled funds, and co-investments working with traditional and emerging managers as well as public companies.

Prior to The Townsend Group, Ms Yalonis was a founding member of the Real Estate Consulting Group at Callan Associates where, during her ten (10) year tenure, she provided similar consulting services to direct real estate as well as general consulting clients leaving Callan as the manager of real estate consulting services.

Ms. Yalonis is a member of the governing board of the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) and The Toigo Foundation and an active member of the State Association of County Employees' Retirement Systems (SACRS). She represents investors on various Advisory Committees and holds an Editorial Board seat for a number of industry publications. In addition, Ms. Yalonis has been a speaker at SACRS, PREA and numerous industry conferences.

Ms. Yalonis is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles.