Investor Advisory Group Members

James Andrus

Vice President Sustainability Global Markets
Franklin Templeton

James Andrus has served as the Vice President, Sustainability Global Markets for Franklin Templeton since March 2023. In this role, he is responsible for developing and executing Franklin Templeton’s Global Sustainability Strategy. Mr. Andrus draws on prior experience as the leader of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System Sustainable Investing program and a corporate partner at the global law firm of K&L Gates. James has served as a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council and currently serves on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Market Risk Advisory Committee, and the IFRS Advisory Council. He is the 2022 recipient of the Excellence in Corporate Governance Award from the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) and currently serves on the ICGN Board. James graduated from West Point and the University of Texas School of Law.

Mary M. Bersot, CFA

CEO and Chief Investment Officer
Bersot Capital Management LLC

Mary Bersot, CFA, founded Bersot Capital Management LLC in 2006 to provide investment management services to high-net-worth individuals, families, foundations, and endowments.  Ms. Bersot was Co-Chief Investment Officer of Dresdner RCM’s Large Cap team where she was responsible for overseeing the investment management of $24 billion of institutional assets prior to founding Bersot Capital Management.

Mary has more than 30 years’ experience managing investment portfolios for clients. Her years working with individuals, trusts and families, her mutual fund management experience, and her role with major pension funds offers clients of Bersot Capital Management the depth and experience needed to manage their assets to achieve their investment goals. Ms. Bersot is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the San Francisco Security Analyst Society.

Ken Goldman

Mr. Goldman is the former President of Hillspire, a family office management company responsible for financial and administrative functions, along with real estate, aviation, and maritime activities. Goldman is the former chief financial officer of Yahoo. He joined Yahoo in 2012 and throughout his five-year tenure was responsible for Yahoo’s global finance functions, including financial planning and analysis, controllership, tax, treasury, and investor relations. During a professional career spanning over forty years, Mr. Goldman has served as CFO of multiple public and private companies and as CFO has helped take three companies public. Mr. Goldman holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. 

Jonathan Grabel

Chief Investment Officer
LACERA

Mr. Grabel manages the defined benefit pension fund on behalf of LACERA's active and retired members. He also oversees the investments for the LACERA-administered healthcare benefits program. Prior to LACERA, Mr. Grabel was the CIO for New Mexico PERA. Previously, he was a general partner at a private equity firm focused on growth-stage investments in technology, networking industries, and digital communications. Earlier in his career, Mr. Grabel was an investment banker and licensed CPA (inactive). He received his Bachelor of Science in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Steven R. Grey

Founder/Chief Investment Officer
Grey Value Management, LLC

Steven Grey is the founder and managing principal of Grey Value Management, LLC, a privately-held investment entity that oversees the Grey Value Opportunity Fund. Prior to launching the Fund, Steven served as the Chief Investment Officer of a private, family-controlled investment entity based in Alexandria, VA. Before that he was Managing Director of Risk at Albright Capital Management (“ACM”), a firm he helped launch with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Prior to ACM, Steven co-managed an event-driven hedge fund based in New York. Steven graduated from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business (MBA) in 1997, the Tulane University School of Law (JD) in 1995, and the University of Texas at Austin (BA - Honors) in 1990. He studied law in both the US and Japan, has testified as an expert witness in securities litigation, and has served as an investment conference panelist.

Tracy Sophia Harris

Current Independent Board Director

Tracy Sophia Harris is a former CFO and current independent board director with more than 30 years of operational, financial, and governance experience in highly regulated industries, including financial services, private equity, insurance, mutual funds, real estate, and technology. She serves on the Board of Directors of Bally’s Corporation, 1847 Holdings LLC, CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield, and the District of Columbia Retirement Board’s Board of Trustees. Ms. Harris received her MBA from St. Louis University, a M.P.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.S. in marketing from Fontbonne University. She also completed the General Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Satyam Khanna

President
Khanna Economic Strategies LLC

Satyam Khanna is the President of Khanna Economic Strategies, a financial regulatory and sustainability advisory firm. He most recently served as an architect of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund at the EPA as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Previously, he was appointed by the SEC Chair as the agency’s first-ever official dedicated to integrating sustainability considerations into the federal securities laws. Earlier, Satyam was Chief of Staff and Counsel to former SEC Commissioner Robert Jackson and a civil servant at the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Stability Oversight Council. He has served on the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee and held multiple academic appointments, including at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and the NYU Law Institute for Corporate Governance & Finance. Satyam began his legal career as an associate at McDermott Will & Emery LLP. He holds a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis and a J.D. from Columbia Law School.

Steven Lipiner

PIMCO

Steven Lipiner is currently an independent board member for various mutual funds and ETFs in the PIMCO Funds complex. He is formerly the executive vice president and chief operating officer / chief financial officer of State Street Global Advisors, the fourth largest global asset manager with $4.7 trillion in assets under management. Mr. Lipiner holds a B.A. in political science from State University of New York (Buffalo) and an M.B.A. in finance from City University of New York at Baruch College. He serves on the board of directors for several local not for profits including the Dimock Center and RIZE Massachusetts and is a member of the Simmons University Board of Trustees.

Jeffrey P. Mahoney, J.D., CPA

General Counsel
Council of Institutional Investors

Jeffrey P. Mahoney joined the Council of Institutional Investors (CII) as general counsel in 2006. His responsibilities include advocating the Council’s membership-approved policies before standard setters, regulators, members of Congress, and other policy makers. Prior to joining the Council, Mr. Mahoney was counsel to the chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). From 1996-2006, he advised FASB and its parent entity, the Financial Accounting Foundation, on a variety of research, technical and administrative matters, and was primarily responsible for FASB’s Washington, D.C. liaison activities. Prior to joining FASB, Mr. Mahoney was a corporate securities lawyer at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP; a law clerk to the Honorable James G. Exum Jr., chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court; and an auditor at Arthur Andersen LLP. Mr. Mahoney holds a J.D. degree, served on the North Carolina Law Review, and was named to the Order of the Coif. He also holds a B.B.A. degree and an A.A. degree.

Amy Copeland McGarrity, CFA

Chief Investment Officer
Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association

Amy McGarrity is the Chief Investment Officer/Chief Operating Officer of the Public Employees’ Retirement Association of Colorado (Colorado PERA). She is responsible for managing over $65 billion for the pension plan in accordance with the Board of Trustees policies and state statutes. Ms. McGarrity oversees portfolio and risk management for global equities, fixed income, real estate, private equity, and alternatives. She recommends investment policy to the Board of Trustees and contributes to strategic planning. As a member of the organization’s executive group, she also represents Colorado PERA to legislative bodies and other external entities. She has held previous investment positions at Buck Consultants, Prima Capital Holding, William M. Mercer Investment Consulting, and Caxton Corporation. Ms. McGarrity graduated from the University of Wyoming with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and earned her MBA at Rider University.

Paul O'Brien, Ph.D.

Wyoming Retirement System Board Member

Paul O’Brien most recently was Deputy Chief Investment Officer at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), where he helped lead both strategic and tactical asset allocation, portfolio construction, and research, as well as advising ADIA’s Investment Committee. He was also Head of Fixed Income Strategy. Previously, Paul was a global fixed income portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Investment Management in London and West Conshohocken, PA. Prior to that, he worked as an economist for Morgan Guaranty Trust Company in Paris and in London as Head of Morgan’s European economics team. Paul has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Minnesota. He attended the US Naval Academy and received his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Sandra J. Peters, CPA, CFA

Senior Head, Global Advocacy
CFA Institute

Sandra Peters leads the Financial Reporting Policy Group at CFA Institute where she oversees a team responsible for tracking all corporate disclosure, accounting, auditing, and ESG issues of interest to investors globally. Ms. Peters has an extensive and well-balanced background as a user advocate, preparer, and auditor. Most recently, she served as Vice President and Corporate Controller at MetLife Inc. Prior to joining MetLife, she was a partner at KPMG LLP providing audit services primarily for insurance and financial services companies. She has been a member of the IFRS Interpretation’s Committee (IFRS IC), the FASB’s Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council and the PCAOB’s Standing Advisory Group. Ms. Peters is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in New York, Texas, and Nebraska. She is a CFA and a member of CFA Society of New York. She holds a B.S./B.A. in accounting from the University of Nebraska and an MBA in finance from Indiana University.

Sanford (Sandy) Rich

Executive Director
New York City Board of Education Retirement System

Sanford “Sandy” Rich is the Executive Director of the NYC Board of Education Retirement System. Previously, Sandy was the Chief of Negotiations and Restructuring of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Sandy is an SEC audit committee financial expert having served on both public and private company boards as audit committee chairman. Sandy has served as CFO and CEO of both public and private companies. Sandy’s career includes roles as an analyst, trader, investment banker, and portfolio manager in the non-investment grade debt capital markets. Sandy’s expertise includes bankrupt security investment, credit analysis, angel investing, pension system analysis and management, and corporate governance.

Gina Sanchez

Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Chantico Global

Gina Sanchez is CEO of Chantico Global, a Los Angeles-based global consulting firm that advises global pension, foundation, and family office clients and as CEO of Chantico Technology, an investment risk management machine learning innovation platform. She also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Cedars Sinai Hospital. She previously served as the Director of Equity and Asset Allocation for Roubini Global Economics and Co-Lead Portfolio Manager for American Century’s Strategic Asset Allocation family of funds, where she was American Century’s youngest ever Portfolio Manager, managing over $6.5 billion in assets under management. Ms. Sanchez holds an A.B. in economics from Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges of Harvard University, and an M.A. in economic policy from Stanford University.

Nemit Shroff, Ph.D.

School of Management Distinguished Professor of Accounting
MIT Sloan School of Management

Nemit Shroff’s primary research interest concerns whether and why accounting disclosures affect the corporate financing and investing policies of public and private companies. His research also examines the reasons why corporate disclosure is regulated across the world and the economic consequences of regulating (or not regulating) disclosure. His research has been published in top accounting and finance journals and has received several awards. In addition, Shroff is an editor at the Journal of Accounting & Economics, one of the leading accounting research journals, and has won multiple awards for his peer-reviewing service. Born in India, Shroff earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Mumbai and his MBA from Amrita School of Business. He then came to the U.S. to pursue his doctoral degree at the University of Michigan.

Gary G. Walsh, CFA, CPA

Principal
Luther King Capital Management

Gary G. Walsh, CFA, CPA, is a Principal of Luther King Capital Management (LKCM). He joined the firm in 1994 and serves as a portfolio manager and the communication services analyst. Prior to joining LKCM, Mr. Walsh worked in corporate finance/mergers and acquisitions and served as an auditor for Arthur Andersen and he worked in corporate finance for Dexter Corporation. Mr. Walsh graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University and a Master of Business Administration from Texas Christian University.