CFA DFW Charterholder Chatter

Episode #39 – the Diverse and Competitive Interests of Elizabeth Burton – History, Economics, Math, Politics, Solving Problems, and Ice Skating.

You most likely have seen this episode's guest on CNBC and Bloomberg or followed her insights in various industry publications. Elizabeth Burton is currently a Managing Director and Client Investment Strategist at Goldman Sachs, where she advises institutional clients on their investment strategy. Previously, she was CIO of the Employees' Retirement System of Hawaii, where she oversaw $19 billion in pension assets. Prior to joining Hawaii, Elizabeth served as Managing Director of the Quantitative Strategies Group at the Maryland State Retirement Agency. Her background also includes owning a strategic advisory practice, serving as a senior economist, consultant, and holding roles with a fund of hedge funds.

Elizabeth received her bachelor's degree in political science and French, from Washington and Lee University, and her MBA in Finance, Econometrics & Statistics from the University of Chicago. She earned the CAIA designation and has been recognized for her work by CIO Magazine. On today's episode, she shares more about her diverse background, mostly tied to a passion for solving problems, importance of networking, and advice for young women entering our industry.

Many people experience a "fork in the road" moment in their career. In Martha Delgado's case, a combination of education, luck, timing, valuable mentorship, and pursuit of the CFA charter have contributed to a successful pivot from analyst to business development and client relationship, serving clients globally.

Martha is currently the head of business development for Allspring Global Investments, responsible for Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America. She previously served in senior sales and relationship management roles at Tortoise and State Street Global Advisors, while having experience early in her career as an equity research analyst. Martha earned a BS in Economics and International Affairs at Florida State and MBA at Emory. She is a CFA Charterholder as well.

On today's podcast, Martha shares her personal and professional journey, interest in international business development, and the importance of career pivoting.

Before he committed to real estate investing, Phil Copulsky was a competitive chess player and college basketball player, both instilling the necessary discipline to read like Buffett, focus on developing long-term relationships, and follow the lead of great mentors. On today's episode, Phil shares his unique professional and personal journey, the opportunities and challenges investing in direct real estate deals, and his key talking points to future graduates having an interest in finance.

Phil is current a Director, Private Capital at Westmount Realty Capital where he supports new equity capital raising initiatives and individual deal fundraising campaigns. He has over 10 years of experience in financial services, starting his career at Goldman Sachs. He has degrees from Hobart and Williams Smith Colleges and the University of Texas at Austin and is a CFA charterholder.

Today's conversation will motivate and inspire you to put the time and effort into what matters most in your professional life, including spending time to give back and lead. Lauren Minch currently serves as the first CEO of the CFA Society of Dallas/Fort Worth after spending a career in accounting and finance, two areas she is very proud of and encourages others to follow their own path. She shares more about her amazing journey, her passion for volunteering, and her excitement to lead the local CFA society and community.

Leading an organization with big goals and many stakeholders, Marg Franklin is the President and CEO of the CFA Institute, globally responsible for promoting the highest standards of education, ethics, and professional excellence in the investment profession. Google her name and you will find plenty of articles and podcasts; however, this episode is more about her personal and professional journey, including proudest and humbling moments, and what excites her the most about the future of our industry.

Prior to joining CFAI in 2019, Marg served as chair of the CFA Institute Board of Governors and is a former president of the CFA Society Toronto Board. She is a founding member of the CFA Institute Women in Investment Initiative, a past recipient of the Alfred C. Morley Distinguished Service Award, and a member of its Future of Finance Content Council.

Finding finance as the perfect intersection of psychology and math, recognizing the dispersion of public/private return potential, and transitioning to a role of doing vs. talking summarizes the unique journey of Chris Schelling. With degrees in psychology, business, and finance, Chris is an expert at incorporating insights from behavioral finance into investment decision making. During his 20+ year tenure in the investment industry building portfolios, mostly focused on alternatives, Chris has met with over 3,500 managers and allocated roughly $7 billion, generating top quartile to top decile returns across hedge funds, real assets, private credit, and private equity. He currently serves on several investment committees and previously was a Director of Private Equity at Texas Municipal Retirement, Deputy CIO at Kentucky Retirement Systems and Senior Associate, Hedge Fund Research at Mercer. He is also the author of Better than Alpha: Three Steps to Capturing Excess Returns in a Changing World and is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst.

On our podcast, Chris shares more about his professional journey, the transition from public pension plans to wealth management, and the future for private investments within an individual's portfolio.

How often do we have an opportunity to hear the personal and professional story of an investor and leader who happens to play a significant role in one of the country's largest pension plans? Dan O'Grady is the Assistant Vice President – Investment Management for AT&T and is responsible for overseeing public equity and hedge fund programs across the company's nearly $100B in investment assets. Before his current position at AT&T and its predecessors, Dan was responsible for strategic allocations as well as risk management and served as Manager – Capital Reporting; In addition, he was a Financial Analyst for Wilson Sporting Goods; and Senior Accountant for GATX.

Dan is a Chartered Financial Analyst, Certified Public Accountant, and Charted Alternative Investment Analyst and has a BA from University of Notre Dame, master's in accounting from University of Missouri, and an MBA from DePaul University. He serves his community as Assistant Treasurer of the AT&T Foundation and on the investment committee at the Dallas Museum of Art. Dan has been recognized for numerous industry awards, all of which he never mentioned in previous conversations.

On this episode, Dan shares more details about his personal and professional journey, building a team, proud moments, and commitment to financial literacy.

Right now, you might be in the gym, driving to work or in your office wondering how the heck we are going to keep you interested over the course of 20 minutes talking about bonds. Guess what, I was wondering the same thing before I was connected to our special guest, David Carlson, who is President and Chief Investment Officer at NY-based Lucid Management, a specialized fixed income manager focused on short duration portfolios and cash equivalents.

David has been engaged in the fixed income markets for 30 years as a trader, risk manager, structurer, senior coverage officer and business developer at several global banks and broker dealers. He has managed fixed income portfolios and collateralized transactions through multiple market cycles while overseeing the front-to-back risks and developing portfolio solutions.

He began his fixed income career trading floating rate notes, corporate bonds, and asset-backed securities at UBS and structuring mortgage-backed securities at Goldman Sachs.

David graduated from Harvard University with an MBA in Finance and University of Maryland with High Honors in Economics and General Honors Program.

On today's chat, David shares his professional journey, why the focus on fixed income over the course of 30 years, learning moments from 2022, proudest moments, and excitement for the future.

Jennifer Hutchins' love of math and summer internship ultimately led her to a career in finance. Today, she is the manager of the Portfolio Management Group at Avantax and oversees the planning, execution and success of this group and various portfolios. Jennifer started her career in financial planning and wealth management in 2004 as an advisor with A.G Edwards & Sons. She joined Avantax® as an internal support specialist for a business model that partners CPA firms with experienced financial advisors, from 2007–2008 and returned in 2017 after eight years at H. Beck, Inc., where she held various roles including Senior Product Specialist, Investment Analyst and Vice President of Investments.

Jennifer received her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and economics from Christendom College. She has attained the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation and is a member of the CFA Society of Dallas-Ft. Worth.

On today's episode, Jennifer shares more about her professional journey, advice for those uncertain about their career purpose, formula for staying calm during uncertain times, and why tax smart investing is important with portfolio design.

Sanjay Chandra has over 30 years of experience as a successful entrepreneur and an active private investor and serves as a principal and managing partner at Trinity Investors and its affiliated companies. In addition to his day-to-day role at Trinity, Sanjay serves as a board member for American Leather, which he co-founded in 1990, and where he was formerly president and CFO. He also serves as a board member at a variety of companies. Further, Sanjay serves as an Advisory Board member for the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.

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Before co-founding American Leather, Sanjay was employed with Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting,), where he specialized in computer integrated manufacturing systems, and business systems development. Sanjay also worked with the George Group as director of systems design, where he specialized in cycle-time reduction and other business and manufacturing productivity improvements.

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Sanjay graduated with highest honors from the University of Texas at Austin, earning a Bachelor of Science in electrical and computer engineering. He is a CFA charterholder and member of the CFA Institute.

On today's episode, Sanjay walks us through his professional and personal journey, approach to investing, proud moments, and the dedication and honor of being an eagle scout.