Brian Beargie, CFA

Global Head of Investment Grade Research, Legal & General Investment Management

Brian joined LGIMA in 2007 and was promoted to Director of Research in 2010. He was appointed Global Head of Investment Grade Research in 2014. Brian oversees the Research team while focusing on the energy, basic materials and manufacturing sectors.

Prior to joining LGIMA, Brian held other senior research positions in the fund management and brokerage industries. Most recently, he was a Senior Credit Research Analyst at Allstate Investments. Prior to that, Brian was a sell-side Senior Credit Research Analyst at JP Morgan Chase and Bank One.
Brian is a CFA charter holder and graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in Economics and History.

Charles K. Bobrinskoy

Vice Chairman, Director of Research​, Ariel Investments

Charles 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.

Robert Carey, CFA

Chief Market Strategist, First Trust Advisors

Mr. Carey has over 3 decades of experience as an Equity and Fixed-Income Analyst and is a recipient of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana with a B.S. in Physics. He is also a member of the CFA Society of Chicago and the CFA Institute. Mr. Carey is Chief Market Strategist at First Trust Advisors L.P., which manages or supervises approximately $130 billion in assets as of July 31, 2018.

Mr. Carey has appeared throughout the United States and Canada as a guest on television and radio programs. These programs include: Bloomberg TV, CNBC and on Chicago’s WBBM Newsradio 780’s Noon Business Hour. He has been quoted by several publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Wall Street Reporter, Bloomberg News Service, and Registered Rep.

Alex Coffey

Co-Host of Fast Market on the TD Ameritrade Network and a Senior Specialist, TD Ameritrade’s Trader Group

Alex Coffey is the Co-Host of Fast Market on the TD Ameritrade Network and a Senior Specialist in TD Ameritrade’s Trader Group. Alex has a background in financial markets, primarily equities & options, and market structure. Having been with TD Ameritrade since 2014, he was previously a Senior Specialist on the Retail Trade Desk and Client Services departments. Coffey graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a double major in Finance and Accounting and a double minor in Math and Economics. He holds his Series 7, 63, 3, and 34 U.S. securities industry licenses.

Shannon J. Curley, CFA

Chief Executive Officer, CFA Society Chicago

Shannon 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.

Dr. Mahmoud M. Haddad

Professor of Finance at The University of Tennessee at Martin

Dr. Haddad received a B.A. and M.B.A. in Accounting from Minnesota State University, and a Ph.D. in Finance from The University of Alabama. He has taught finance at Wayne State University, The University of Tennessee at Martin, University of Alabama, Arab American University-Jenin, American University of Armenia, American University of Beirut, Al-Quds University, Eastern Michigan University and Minnesota State University. He is also certified in e-teaching and learning and he has broad experience in distance and online teaching at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Dr. Haddad has published over 30 papers which have been published in leading refereed journals.

Dr. Haddad was the Financial and Accounting Manager at the American Family Insurance Co., the Executive Director of Research at the Palestinian Monetary Authority, the Vice President for Administrative and Financial Affairs and Dean of College of Business and Financial Sciences at Arab American University, and a Research Scholar and Head of Economic and Social Studies Division at the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research. He is the co-director of the UT Martin Tennessee Valley Authority Investment Challenge program and a UDAID Visiting Scholar. The Board of Trustees of the Economic Research Forum of the Arab Countries, Iran, and Turkey awarded Dr. Haddad a life membership as an ERF Research Fellow.

Ted Krischak

Executive Account Manager, McGraw-Hill Education

Ted is currently Executive Account Manager with McGraw Hill Education, managing institutional partnerships and supporting the implementation of McGraw Hill Digital and Adaptive Learning products in Indiana. 

Ted has over 15 years experience in the Education industry, and has helped develop award winning Digital, Adaptive Learning, and Print products.   Among Ted’s accomplishments are multiple Product Team Member of the Year and Top Sales Performer Awards. 

C. Jack Maynard

Interim Dean, Scott College of Business, Indiana State University

C. Jack Maynard became interim dean to the Scott College of Business on June 1, 2019. Jack is no stranger to senior roles at Indiana State, he is also the director of the MBA in Education Leadership program. Previously, he has served as dean of the college of education and provost and vice president for Academic Affairs (2003-2013).

Randall K. Minas, CFP®

Director/Investments, Stifel | Minas Sabau Porterfield Group

Randy Minas, CFP®, Director/Investments, Stifel, specializes in managed money, investment and retirement planning, and issues surrounding estate planning; as well as municipal bonds.  He began investment industry career in 1976 and holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) professional certification, Series 4, 6, 7, 24, 63, and 65 licenses, and life and variable insurance licenses. 

Randy earned a B.S. in Management from Indiana State University and is an active alumnus, serving on the university's Board of Trustees, the Indiana State University Foundation Board and the Investment Committee.  He is also the Head Varsity Softball Coach at Culver Academies.

Michael Miranda

Managing Director, BMO Family Office

Michael Miranda is a Managing Director with BMO Family Office, an integrated wealth management provider that serves ultra-affluent individuals, families and family offices across their tax, estate, investment, philanthropic, risk and family capital needs. Mike joined BMO Family Office in 2018 and brings nearly 20 years of experience running investment businesses, teams and portfolios.  As head of investments, he leads the wealth management team responsible for managing bespoke investment strategies for ultra-high net worth families.

He also directly manages several client relationships within BMO Family Office.  As a member of the investment leadership of BMO Wealth Management, Mike sits on the asset allocation committee, responsible for setting investment strategy for BMO in the U.S.  Prior to joining BMO, Mike served as Senior Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer at Mesirow Financial, where he oversaw a team of portfolio managers, traders and research professionals in the Currency Management group.  Previously, he served as a Senior Portfolio Manager overseeing multi-billion dollar fixed income portfolios for both Calamos Investments and Northern Trust.

Mike graduated from Northwestern University with degrees in both economics and music performance.  He earned his MBA with honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.   As a CFA Charterholder, Mike was honored to serve on the Budget Committee in 2018 for CFA Society Chicago.

Dr. Michael Phillips

Professor of Finance, Austin Peay State University

Michael Phillips serves as a Professor of Finance in the College of Business at Austin Peay State University.  He earned his D.B.A. in Finance at Mississippi State University in 1992.  Mike has developed and teaches courses in investments, corporate finance, real estate, and equity valuation.

Mike’s industry experience includes banking, financial services, and real estate investment and development.  He currently is a licensed real estate broker and serves as the principal broker for the firm.

Mike has extensive business consulting experience.  He and his partners were retained by a Fortune 500 firm to design a systemwide business literacy training initiative for its workforce.  The plan was executed and recognized by Training magazine as an excellent example of workforce training.  The initiative's structure became a model for other training initiatives at the firm.

Mike has received awards and recognition for his work as a teacher, student organization advisor, and researcher.  He recently was honored to be named as the inaugural recipient of the A.J. Taylor Distinguished Professorship awarded to a faculty member each year who has demonstrated exceptional scholarly work or innovative teaching practices.  Mike is also the current holder of the APSU Foundation Chair of Excellence in Free Enterprise.

Mike's passion is teaching and engaging students in real-world experiences and networking activities that assist them in discovering their love and exploring business models beyond the textbook.  These experiences include five years of study abroad in London in addition to multiple student trips to Chicago, New York, and other cities.

Mike also enjoys publishing.  His research tends to be interdisciplinary with a recent focus on best practices in instructional design.  His most recent manuscript appears in Managerial Finance and describes a pedagogy based on fundamental analysis and targeted for use in a student-managed investment fund course.

Elisha D. Porterfield, CFP®

Financial Advisor, Stifel | Minas Sabau Porterfield Group

Elisha Porterfield, CFP®, Financial Advisor, specializes in retirement planning, investment & insurance planning, and especially likes helping millennials get a jump on saving for retirement.  She began her investment industry career in 2003 and holds Series 7, 24, 63, and 66 licenses, as well as life, health, and variable insurance licenses (including long-term care). 

Elisha is a graduate of Butler University, where she earned a B.S. in Finance.  In her spare time, she chairs the Finance Committee at Valparaiso First United Methodist Church and serves as President of the Valparaiso Lions Club.

Kristan Rowland, CFA

Global Investment Team, William Blair

Kristan Rowland, CFA is a member of the Global investment team at William Blair covering the financials sector. Prior to joining William Blair in 2011 as a financial advisor, she was a buy-side research analyst at Mesirow Financial where she had primary coverage of the financials sector. Earlier, Kristan was an equity analyst at Morningstar where she analyzed, built financial models and published reports on business services stocks. She earned a BA from the University of Notre Dame in Economics and French and an MBA from the University of Chicago in Finance, Accounting and Economics. She holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Chicago. Kristan served as co-Chair of the CFA Society of Chicago’s Annual Dinner Committee over the last three years. Kristan serves as member of steering committee for William Blair’s Women’s Alliance.

Dr. Terry Rumker

Assistant Professor of Finance, Dauch College of Business and Economics, Ashland University

Terry Rumker, is a CFP (Certified Financial Planner), Director of Eagle Investment Group (1.5 million dollar student run investment fund), and an Assistant Professor of Finance at Ashland University, where he earned his Masters of Business Administration.  Developed and the coordinator for our partnership with private university SENAC in Brazil sending myself (at least one time per year since 2012) and other faculty to Brazil to provide a capstone symposium for their MBA program.  The program is now being offered in 7 different locations around the state of Santa Catarina. Also developed a semester abroad for our business students with a state university UDESC also in Brazil.  Have also done workshops at UDESC.

Terry has taken a group of MBA students to China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, faculty member for MBA students to Spain and Portugal, mission trip with AU students to Dominican Republic.

For more than twenty years, Terry has been helping others achieve their financial goals as a financial planner.  He has also been teaching in the areas of personal finance, investments and corporate finance.  In addition, he has a partner and sole proprietor of two companies that work with organizations nationally in the area of financial literacy and life skills.  He is a co-author of two books as well as a developer of interactive financial and life skills software.  Prior to joining the university faculty in 1989, he worked for Fidelity Investments and was a general manager for Bob Evans restaurants.

Shawn A. Sabau, CFP®

Senior Vice President/Investments, Stifel | Minas Sabau Porterfield Group

Shawn Sabau, CFP®, Senior Vice President/Investments, is experienced in various areas of focus that include retirement planning, estate planning, insurance planning, liability management, personal financial planning, and portfolio construction. He also oversees the Team’s Investment Committee which is responsible for portfolio creation and analysis. He began his industry career in 1998 and holds the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) professional certification, Series 6, 7, 63, and 66 licenses, and life and variable insurance licenses.

Shawn graduated from Purdue University with a B.S in Business Management and a Finance Minor. He also completed the Certificate Program in Financial Planning at DePaul University. Shawn enjoys spending time with his family, and is actively involved in youth sports.

William A. Strauss CBE

Senior Economist and Economic Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

William A. Strauss is a Senior Economist and Economic Advisor in the Economic Research Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, which he joined in 1982.  His chief responsibilities include analyzing the current performance of both the Midwest economy and the manufacturing sector for use in monetary policy.  He organizes the Bank's Economic Outlook Symposium and Automotive Outlook Symposium. In addition, he conducts industrial and manufacturing roundtables throughout the year.

Mr. Strauss earned a B.A. in economics and geography from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and an M.A. in economics from Northwestern University.  Mr. Strauss is a Certified Business Economist™ (CBE), the certification in business economics and data analytics developed by the National Association for Business Economics.  It documents a professional’s accomplishment, experience, abilities, and demonstrates mastery of the body of knowledge critical for a successful career in the field of economics and data analytics.

He has taught as an adjunct faculty member at Loyola University Chicago and Webster University in Chicago.  He currently teaches at DePaul University Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, and at the University of Chicago Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies.  At the latter institution, he was named winner of the 2010 Excellence in Teaching Award in the Business and Professional Programs.  He was recognized by the University at Buffalo as a Distinguished Alumni in 2012. Strauss was named a Fellow of the National Association for Business Economics in 2017.

His research papers include analysis of the manufacturing sector, the automotive sector, the Midwest regional economy, the trade-weighted dollar, business cycles, and Federal Reserve payments operations.

Mr. Strauss has been interviewed on numerous television and radio shows and quoted in the major business magazines and newspapers. He has also provided testimony concerning manufacturing issues to the U.S. Senate.

He is a past president of the Chicago Association of Business Economists; a past board member for the National Association for Business Economics; a member of the National Business Economics Issues Council; a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the University at Buffalo; a member of the Advisory Board for the Center of Excellence on Human Capital, Technology Transfer, & Economic Growth and Development, a member of the Advisory Council for the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Center for Economic Education; a member of the Economic Advisory Committee for the Council on Competitiveness; an advisory council member of the Global Interdependence Center; and a member of the Council of Great Lakes Governors Maritime Advisory Committee.

Tarek Zaher

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

Tarek 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.