Juan Carlos Artigas
Investment Research Manager
World Gold Council

Juan Carlos Artigas is an Investment Research Manager for the World Gold Council in New York, where he is in charge of writing strategic and research notes that put gold in the context of global financial markets. He also regularly presents the strategic case for investing in gold to institutional and private investors.

He has over 4 years of experience in financial markets, having worked for JPMorgan Securities as a US and Emerging Markets strategist, where he led the Latin American sovereign debt and Mexico local market strategy effort. He holds a BS in Actuarial Sciences from ITAM (Mexico), and an MBA and MS in Statistics from the University of Chicago.

Michael Beblo
Director of Private Equity
Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust

Michael serves as the Director of Private Equity for the Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust in Jacksonville, Florida. The Trust was established in 1936 after the death of Alfred duPont, and has the singular purpose of supporting The Nemours Foundation, one of the largest children’s healthcare entities in the country, with hospitals in Delaware, Maryland, and Florida. At year-end 2009, the Trust’s investment team as responsible for managing approximately $4.3 billion in assets.

Before joining the Trust, Michael was the Chief Financial Officer at Perennial Ventures, a venture capital firm in Seattle, where he was responsible for portfolio analytics, financial reporting and planning, investment due diligence, and the coordination and management of venture capital deal closings. Prior to joining Perennial Ventures, Michael was the Chief Financial Officer for Access Technology Partners, a late-stage venture capital fund managed by Hambrecht & Quist in San Francisco. Michael was also involved in sourcing and reviewing potential direct investments considered by the fund.

From 1996 to 1998, Michael was the Manager of Alternative Investments at the California Institute of Technology (“CalTech”), where he spearheaded CalTech’s renewed interest in investing in private equity by initiating and developing strong relationships with several top-tier venture capital and buyout funds. Before joining CalTech, Michael worked at the Frank Russell Company in Tacoma, WA as an Associate Client Executive within Russell's U.S. Consulting Group, with a particular focus on private equity.

Michael received an M.B.A. in Finance and Investments from Santa Clara University, an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Arizona, and a B.S. in Applied Mathematics and Statistics from SUNY at Stony Brook. Michael is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), and sits on the advisory boards of several private equity partnerships that the Trust has invested in.

John Dysland
Chief Financial Officer
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

John Dysland is Chief Financial Officer for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Center is a US Government Instrumentality which receives federally appropriated funds from the US Congress as well as having the authority to raise private funds including those for an endowment. Other organizations which are US Government Instrumentalities include the Smithsonian Institution, National Gallery of Art, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. John and his financial management team have responsibility for overseeing the entire financial operation of the Center from banking, providing reports to the federal government and its other constituents, and managing the Center’s modest endowment with the help of the Center’s Board of Trustees Investment Policy Committee.

Prior to joining the Woodrow Wilson Center in 1986, he spent eight years at the Smithsonian Institution where he held various positions in the Smithsonian’s Accounting and Budget offices. He is a member of the Association of Government Accountants and in 1996 was awarded the designation as a Certified Government Financial Manager. John has also served as treasurer of two non-profit volunteer organizations in the Washington, DC area. He is a 1976 graduate of the College of Business and Management of the University of Maryland at College Park.

Kenneth J. Frier
Chief Investment Officer 
Hewlett-Packard Company

Ken Frier’s global responsibilities include the investment of more than $30 billion of retirement plan assets for HP and its foreign subsidiaries. Under Ken’s leadership, HP was one of the first companies to fully-immunize its US defined benefit plan, moving entirely out of public equities and into a fixed income asset/overlay strategy near the stock market peak in 2007. Frier was previously responsible for corporate finance and foreign exchange for HP. During that time his teams raised more than $14B of funding in the term debt market, managed more than $30B in share repurchase spending (including three large structured transactions) and executed over $100B/year of derivatives transactions.

Prior to joining HP, Frier was Chief Financial Officer of firstsource.com, a business-to-business e-commerce company, from 1999 to 2000. Before that Frier spent nine years in the treasury group of The Walt Disney Company where he was in charge of financial risk management and the investment of $3B in pension fund assets. Before Disney, Ken spent two years as International Treasurer of Oracle Corporation, and four years as a financial consultant with Arthur Young & Company.

Frier has a BS in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was named an Arjay Miller Scholar.

Frier is a member of the CFA Society of San Francisco and serves on the Board of Directors of the Global Commercial Microfinance Consortium.

Timothy J. Gramatovich CFA
Chief Investment Officer
Peritus Asset Management

Mr. Gramatovich co-founded Peritus Asset Management, Inc.* in 1995. As the Chief Investment Officer, Mr. Gramatovich chairs the investment committee and is responsible for analyzing and monitoring existing and prospective investments, as well as developing investment strategies.

Prior to the founding of Peritus, Mr. Gramatovich was a Portfolio Manager with Smith Barney’s Asset Management pision in Los Angeles, where he managed high yield portfolios for high net worth inpiduals and institutions. Prior to joining Smith Barney, he was a Senior Vice President with Aegis Asset Management Inc. in Los Angeles managing high yield portfolios. He began his career with Drexel Burnham Lambert in 1984, working in both New York and Los Angeles, assisting in the development and marketing of high yield corporate cash management products.

Mr. Gramatovich is a Chartered Financial Analyst (“CFA”) charter holder and a member of the CFA Institute. Mr. Gramatovich serves and advises several local charitable groups. He is a graduate of the New York Institute of Finance.

*Peritus Asset Management, Inc. was founded in 1995 and continued in operation through April 2002. Certain assets of the company were then acquired and the name was changed to Core Wealth Management, LLC. The investment team remained at Core Wealth Management, until leaving to form Peritus I Asset Management, LLC in May 2004. The investment team and process remained the same through the various entities.

John Gruber 
Managing Director, Head of Global Product Management, Performance & Risk Analytics 
BNY Mellon Asset Servicing

John Gruber has more than 25 years experience in the financial services industry, including managing assets, sales and service for investment managers, and performance analysis for some of the largest institutional investors and asset managers in the world. He is currently Managing Director, Head of Global Product Management for the Performance & Risk Analytics product line at BNY Mellon. Before joining BNY Mellon, John was co-founder and managing principal of Hamersley Partners, LLC, a third-party marketing and research firm for specialized asset managers and hedge funds. Prior to that, he worked 10 years at State Street as senior vice president in charge of global client service and consulting.

Jorge Mariscal
Partner and Director of Investment Research
The Rohatyn Group

Jorge Mariscal is a Partner and Director of Investment Research at The Rohatyn Group, a New York-based asset management company focused on global emerging markets. He has over 23 years of experience in international financial markets, with 20 years specifically dedicated to emerging markets. His expertise is in fundamental research and portfolio strategy. Mr. Mariscal has served in senior positions on Wall Street with extensive experience in building and managing top-ranked investment research teams and advising portfolio managers.

Prior to joining The Rohatyn Group, Mr. Mariscal was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs in charge of coordinating the firm's global emerging markets research product and portfolio strategy. From 1992 to 2001, he and his team were frequently named to the prestigious “Institutional Investor Latin American Research Team" as well as other similar polls. While at Goldman Sachs, he also founded and directed the Latin America Equity Research Group. Prior to this, Mr. Mariscal held senior positions at The Nomura Research Institute where he led the Latin American economic and equity research effort. He also served as a Vice President on the sovereign debt restructuring desk of Manufacturers Hanover Trust and began his career at Merrill Lynch, working with the firm's Chief Economist.

Mr. Mariscal was born and raised in Mexico City. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from The Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from New York University.

Lisa Mazzocco
Chief Investment Officer
Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association

Lisa Mazzocco is the Chief Investment Officer for the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, a $32 billion fund. Lisa’s primary responsibilities include developing and recommending investment policies and risk management strategies to the Fund’s nine-member Board of Investments. Prior to becoming CIO, she directed the Fund’s domestic and international equity investments; this entailed developing and recommending composite structure, conducting investment manager searches, and monitoring manager portfolios.

Prior to joining LACERA in 1992, Lisa worked at Wilshire Associates and Security Pacific State Trust. Her educational background includes: Bachelor of Science Degree from San Diego State University and an MBA from California State Polytechnic University - Pomona.

Allen C. Meadors, Ph.D. FACHE
President
The University of Central Arkansas

Dr. Allen C. Meadors is the ninth president of the University of Central Arkansas. Dr. Meadors has a varied background that is deeply rooted in health care administration and education. As an Air Force officer from 1969-1973, he served in the Medical Service Corps as a health care administrator. After his service commitment, he was a health care administrator for Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Topeka, Kansas. Later, he served as the assistant director of Health for Kansas City, Missouri, and a health consultant involved in designing, developing, organizing, marketing and implementing health care programs in the Midwest and western United States.

In 1977, Meadors was assistant professor and program director for Southern Illinois University. He recruited students and faculty, served as the students’ counselor, coordinated with appropriate state and federal agencies and taught health management.

In 1982, Meadors became associate professor and director in the pision of Health Administration at the University of Texas at Galveston. He left that position several years later to become the first executive director of the Northwest Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute in his home state of Arkansas. It was his responsibility to build this free-standing radiation therapy facility from the ground up. In his first year, more than $3.5 million was raised, and eight months later, the facility was debt free.

Meadors returned to higher education as professor and chair of the Department of Health Administration at the University of Oklahoma, and later served as the dean of the College of Public Health at OU from 1989-90. In 1990, Meadors became the first dean of the College of Health, Social and Public Services at Eastern Washington University. He also held the faculty rank of professor.

Meadors then became the CEO and dean of Penn State Altoona. Under his leadership, enrollment increased, fundraising improved and intercollegiate sports revived. In fact, Penn State Altoona grew from the fifth-largest to the second-largest campus during his tenure.

In 1999, the University of North Carolina Board of Governors elected him Chancellor of University of North Carolina Pembroke. Under his leadership there, UNCP tripled its endowment; established an honors college; doubled the number of education majors; was granted full SACS accreditation; doubled its enrollment; significantly increased its international partners and international enrollment; raised the entering freshmen class average SAT scores and GPA to an all-time high; added nearly 200 new full-time, tenure-line faculty; received six outstanding financial audits; established six new endowed chairs; raised over $60 million in external funds; and over $170 million in new facilities and renovation projects.

Meadors earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Central Arkansas, and then went on to earn four master’s degrees, including an MBA, and received his PhD in administration and education from Southern Illinois University. One of his last academic endeavors was to enroll in a computer sciences program at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California, where he earned an associate’s degree. He has also earned certification as a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE), has written and spoken extensively on health care issues, and is a member of numerous professional and civic organizations.

Dr. Martin Murenbeeld, BSc., MSc., PhD
Chief Economist 
DundeeWealth Inc.

Martin Murenbeeld is the Chief Economist of DundeeWealth Inc. and head of DundeeWealth Economics, a pision of DundeeWealth Inc. that provides independent analysis and advice on economic and financial developments to both retail and institutional interests across North America and abroad.

Dr. Murenbeeld graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1972 with a PhD in international finance. He then joined the Faculty of Management Studies at the University of Toronto to develop the international business curriculum in the MBA program. He left the Faculty in 1978 to start M. Murenbeeld & Associates Inc. The company moved from Toronto to Victoria in 1989, where it continued to consult international clients on developments in the gold, foreign exchange and credit markets, and international economic trends before it was acquired by DundeeWealth Inc. in July, 2004.

The principals of DundeeWealth Economics have over 60 years of combined experience providing independent analysis and advice on economic and financial developments, with special emphasis on North American interest rate and currency market trends – and on trends in the gold market. Their reports include the Economic Monitor, which forecasts general economic trends occuring in North America and abroad, the Gold Monitor, which forecasts gold market trends, the Financial Monitor, which forecasts economic, interest rate and foreign exchange market trends, and the Bond and Stock Monitor, which assists with decisions related to asset allocation.

Frequently quoted in the financial press and a regular speaker at international precious metals and foreign exchange market conferences, Dr. Murenbeeld has over 30 years of independent consulting experience in the gold, currency and credit markets and is currently also an adjunct professor (international finance) in the Faculty of Business at the University of Victoria.

Robert Neal
Associate Professor of Finance - Kelley School of Business
Indiana University

Robert Neal is Associate Professor of Finance in the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in Indianapolis. Mr. Neal holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago. His current research focuses on asset allocation and risk management for endowments and institutions. Prior to joining Indiana University, Mr. Neal was a financial economist with the Federal Reserve Bank and worked extensively with the Securities and Exchange Commission on regulatory issues involving derivative markets. He has served as a consultant to numerous financial institutions and is a frequent commentator on financial markets.

Stuart Odell
Assistant Treasurer Director, Retirement Investments
Intel Corporation

Stuart Odell is Assistant Treasurer and Director of Retirement Investments at Intel Corporation. Stuart and his investment team oversee the asset allocation, manager selection and performance monitoring for Intel’s defined contribution and defined benefit plans. 

Intel’s retirement plans in the US cover approximately 50,000 participants and consist of a $3 billion employee directed 401(k) plan, a $4 billion employer directed profit sharing plan and a $300 million defined benefit plan.

Stuart received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Union College and his MBA from NYU and worked in investment banking and engineering prior to joining Intel in 2000.

Chris Palmeri
Reporter 
Bloomberg News

Chris currently works as a reporter covering state and municipal finance for Bloomberg News. Before that he worked as a general assignment reporter for BusinessWeek Magazine in Los Angeles for ten years and Forbes Magazine for thirteen years in New York, Chicago and Houston.

Jeffrey Scott
Chief Investment Officer
Alaska Permanent Fund

Jeffrey Scott is the Chief Investment Officer for the Alaska Permanent Fund’s $35 billion investment portfolio. He oversees 13 professionals, including the internal fixed income team. Over the last year he has lead the Fund in adopting a risk-factor approach to asset allocation, along with the development of risk-based investment policy.

For nine years, Mr. Scott was with Microsoft Corporation, where he was the Assistant Treasurer/Partner overseeing a $60 billion absolute return portfolio for the company. He managed the capital market activities and a group of 30 professionals. Jeff’s management responsibilities included $80 billion global investment portfolio, $10 billion foreign exchange hedging program, and $60 billion capital distribution plan. His team developed an extensive array of asset allocation and risk management models to set the strategic and tactical investment and hedging strategies, which produced $7 billion in value-add. The results were generated while adhering to significant investment and hedging constraints: high liquidity, low investment income volatility, GAAP accounting implications, and Sarbanes-Oxley 404 certification.

In 2005 Mr. Scott left to become CEO/CIO of Tahoma Capital, LLC, a $245 million global multi-strategy hedge fund for a group of private investors. In 2007, he launched JCS Advisors, LLC, a financial management and consulting business.

Mr. Scott holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Central Michigan University and a Bachelors Degree in Finance from the University of Idaho. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Geetha Thomas
Chief Financial Officer
Cal State Northridge Foundation

Geetha Thomas is the CFO of the California State Northridge Foundation since 2005. In that role she is responsible for all the endowment and non-endowment assets of the Foundation. Prior to coming CSUN Foundation, she held a similar position at Kent State University Foundation, Kent, OH for thirteen years.

Ms. Thomas received her Master of Business Administration degree from University of Akron , Ohio and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Lincoln K. Walworth
Director - Investments
AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah

Linc joined AAA NCNU in October, 2004 as Director of Investments. Located in Walnut Creek, California, CSAA provides auto and home insurance, roadside assistance, and travel services to Northern California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and several other mid-western states. Linc is responsible for the investment management and operations of four separate portfolios with assets totaling $5 billion. The portfolios support an insurance company, pension plan, 401(k) plan, and the assets of the Association. Prior to joining CSAA, Linc spent 17 years at McKesson Corporation in a variety of positions of increasing responsibility. Linc was VP Financial Services where he managed complex customer financings, distressed credit, and ran two captive insurance companies. Earlier, he was an Assistant Treasurer at McKesson, where he managed over $2 billion in benefit investments, corporate finance activities, and structured customer financing.

Linc is a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst), and has earned an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and BA in economics from Union College, Schenectady NY.

Johnny Wu
Managing Director, Head of Institutional Coverage Group, Investor Solutions Americas 
Barclays Capital

Johnny Wu is a Managing Director and Head of the Institutional Coverage Group within the Investor Solutions Americas team at Barclays Capital, based in New York. His team is responsible for creating solutions across asset classes for a wide range of institutional clients including pension funds, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, asset managers, hedge funds, and fund of funds.

Mr. Wu joined Barclays Capital in 2005 and was a key member in building out the firm’s equity derivative business. Previously, he was an equity derivative salesperson in the Structured Equity Group at Bear, Stearns & Co.

Mr. Wu earned his BA in Economics-Mathematics from Columbia College and his MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School.

Mark W. Yusko
Chief Executive Officer & Chief Investment Officer
Morgan Creek Capital Management, LLC

Mark W. Yusko is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Morgan Creek Capital Management, LLC, a registered investment adviser formed in July 2004 to provide investment management and advisory services based on the University Endowment Model of investing to wealthy families, inpiduals and institutional investors. Morgan Creek currently has $ 9.1 billion in assets under advisement in non-discretionary accounts, discretionary funds and joint ventures.

Morgan Creek provides an “Outsourced CIO” solution to clients in need of a comprehensive investment solution, as well as a suite of manager-of-manager products to assist clients in building investment programs based on the University Endowment Model. MCCM provides best-in-class thinking about Asset Allocation, Manager Selection and Portfolio Construction through advisory relationships and discretionary investment vehicles. Currently, Morgan Creek offers five discretionary funds: Morgan Creek Fund, Morgan Creek Partners, Morgan Creek Opportunity Fund, Morgan Creek Absolute Return Fund and Morgan Creek BRIC Plus Fund. Additionally, Morgan Creek has formed joint venture partnerships with Salient Partners and Hatteras Partners to provide comprehensive investment solutions through a series of SEC registered investment vehicles.

Prior to forming Morgan Creek, Mark served as the Chief Investment Officer for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) from 1998 to 2004. Mark, and his team, founded the UNC Management Company (UNCMC) in July of 2002 to provide comprehensive investment advisory services to the University including strategic and tactical asset allocation, investment manager selection, manager performance evaluation, spending policy management and performance reporting. The Management Company was also responsible for providing Cash Management and Planned Giving Management services as well as aiding in the commercialization of University technology and real estate development projects. UNCMC also provided outsourced investment management services to select schools within the UNC System. Total assets under management were $1.5 billion, $1.2 billion of Endowment and $300 million of University working capital.

Prior to joining UNC, Mark was the Senior Investment Director for the University of Notre Dame Investment Office, where he joined as the Assistant Investment Officer, in October of 1993. He worked with the Chief Investment Officer in all aspects of Endowment Management including asset allocation, investment manager selection, manager performance evaluation, spending policy management and reporting to the Board of Trustees. Mark was primarily responsible for portfolio construction and was actively involved in establishing and building strong programs in real estate, private equity and marketable alternatives.

At both Notre Dame and at UNC, Mark co-founded the Applied Investment Management course where a select group of students actively managed a live equity portfolio. The class focused on the integration of academic investment theory and the practical investment management process, and has enjoyed tremendous success since inception.

Mark received his Bachelor of Science Degree, with honors, in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame in 1985 and a Masters of Business Administration in Accounting and Finance from the University of Chicago in 1987.

Mark is an active speaker on investment topics ranging from asset allocation to manager selection, with a particular emphasis on the integration of alternative investments into traditional portfolios. Mark is an Advisory Board member of a number of private capital partnerships and alternative investment programs and has served as a consultant on alternative investments to a select group of institutions. He is currently a Board member of the MCNC Endowment, The Weaver Foundation and Carolina Meadows.

Betsy Zeidman
Director, Center for Emerging Domestic Markets Research Fellow 
Milken Institute

Betsy Zeidman is Director of the Center for Emerging Domestic Markets (CEDM) and a Research Fellow at the Milken Institute in Santa Monica, CA. A recognized leader in seeking innovative solutions to the capital gaps facing ethnic and low-income entrepreneurs and communities, she also manages the Institute’s work in mission-related investing, corporate governance and development finance. In this position, Zeidman works with institutional and inpidual investors, foundations, governments, entrepreneurs and policy markers. She has authored numerous reports and op-eds, and speaks frequently at industry conferences and to the media.

Zeidman is a member of the board of directors of the Social Investment Forum and CARAT (California Resources and Training), and sits on the advisory board of Wall Street Without Walls. She has served on the Investment Committee of the Shefa Fund’s Los Angeles TZEDEK Fund, and the Urban Policy Advisory Committee of the Obama/Biden campaign.

Prior to joining the Institute, Zeidman provided strategic management and marketing advisory services to clients in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, with a specialty in corporate responsibility and financial performance. She also played senior roles in finance and business affairs at several entertainment firms. She received both her bachelor’s degree, cum laude with distinction, and her MBA from Yale University.