Speakers
DEBBY CHERNEY |
Chief Executive Officer | SBCERA
Debby Cherney is the Chief Executive Officer of the San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association (SBCERA), where she oversees day-to-day administrative operations in accordance with the policies established by the SBCERA Board of Retirement (Board). She advises and assists the Board in long range planning and development; ensuring SBCERA is providing the best service to our Members and secure retirements today and well into the future.
Prior to joining SBCERA in August 2018, Debby served as the Deputy General Manager at the Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD). During her time at EMWD, she was actively engaged on California water issues regarding infrastructure, ratepayer affordability and addressing the issue of failing water systems throughout the state. Prior to EMWD, Debby was the Executive Director of Finance and Administrative Services at Irvine Ranch Water District in Irvine, California and spent the first 15 years of her career in management consulting, working with public agencies and private companies.
Debby formerly served on the Executive Board of Directors of the Government Finance Officers Association of the U.S. and Canada, was the Chair of their advisory Committee on Retirement and Benefits Administration and was the Chair of the Women’s Public Finance Network. She also formerly served as a member of the Board of Public Utilities for the City of Riverside.
Debby is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in the State of California, and is an Accredited Fiduciary. She has a Bachelor’s degree from Claremont McKenna College and an MBA from the University of California, Irvine.
JEAN-RENE BASLE |
Board Chair | SBCERA
Jean-Rene Basle began his career in San Bernardino County government in 1989 as a Deputy County Counsel representing and litigating cases for Child Protective Services. He became the Assistant County Counsel in 2007 and the County Counsel in 2010. As County Counsel, Mr. Basle provided legal representation, advice, and counsel to the Board of Supervisors and the County CEO. His responsibilities also included the management of the Office of County Counsel and its $14 million budget.
Other major duties during Mr. Basle’s 28-year County career included being general counsel for the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority and the County Defined Contribution Committee, as well as providing legal representation and advice to the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center and the County Human Resources Department. He retired from County employment in 2018.
Mr. Basle received his Juris Doctorate (JD) from Seattle University School of Law in 1986, and his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington in 1983. He lives in the City of Chino Hills with his wife Kim, and they have two adult children, Nicole and Eric
JARED NEWCOMER |
Investment Committee Chair | SBCERA
Jared Newcomer is a Battalion Chief with the San Bernardino County Fire Department (SBCoFD). He is the elected San Bernardino County Employees Retirement Association (SBCERA) Board of Retirement alternate safety member trustee, effective January 2016.
Prior to his election to the Board of Retirement, Jared served as a Local 935 representative serving the SBCoFD professional firefighters. He earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of La Verne, and also holds a Bachelor’s Degree (BA) in the same field of study.
Jared has served the citizens of San Bernardino County as a public servant for the past 20 years, and looks forward to continuing this sense of duty through his position on the Retirement Board. He lives in Apple Valley with his wife and two daughters. As a family they love being active outdoors, camping and traveling any chance they get.
CANDICE TSE |
Managing Director, Global Head of Strategic Advisory Solutions | Goldman Sachs
Candice is a managing director in the Client Solutions Group within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and serves as global head of the Strategic Advisory Solutions team. She focuses on global capital market research, macroeconomic strategy and client engagement. In addition, Candice developed the firm’s EMPOWER the Investor framework, which guides Asian, Black, female, Hispanic/Latinx and LGBTQ+ investors toward greater financial success. She also serves as head of the New York and Jersey City chapter of the Asian Network and serves as the global sponsor of the Asset & Wealth Management Asian Network.
Prior to assuming her current role, Candice served as US head of Market Strategy and held positions in Fundamental Equity Product Management, Institutional Sales and Portfolio Administration. She joined Goldman Sachs as an analyst in 1998 and was named managing director in 2019.
Candice serves on the Board of Trustees for Rutgers University and is a founding board member of the Rutgers Business School’s Center for Women in Business. She is also a board member for Junior Achievement of New York. In 2021, Candice was named to the HERoes Role Model List, as a Top 100 Future Leader for her efforts in championing women in business and driving change for gender diversity in the workplace.
Candice earned a BS in Marketing, magna cum laude, from Rutgers University and an MBA in Finance and Management from Columbia Business School.
DONALD PIERCE |
Chief Investment Officer | SBCERA
Mr. Pierce serves as the Chief Investment Officer for the San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association (SBCERA), where he has been part of the investment team since 2001. He works directly with the Board on developing policy and investment goals, implementing investment objectives and the selection of investment managers, and is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the investment division.
During his tenure with SBCERA, Mr. Pierce introduced international private equity, emerging market debt, and option strategies into the plan’s mix. Additionally, he has spearheaded a new rebalancing methodology for the fund.
Mr. Pierce earned a Bachelors of Science Degree in Statistics from San Diego State and is a CFA charter holder. He is a member of the CFA Institute and has shared his professional expertise with various professional organizations.
LUTHER SNOKE |
Chief Executive Officer | San Bernardino County
Luther Snoke is the Chief Executive Officer of San Bernardino County. He believes County employees are Hungry and Humble, and they Hustle every day to make residents’ lives better. A strong advocate for data-driven decisions, trust, accountability, and strategic alignment, Luther has led major County projects while championing initiatives that value and empower employees. With experience in both public service and corporate leadership, he brings vision, results, and a commitment to making San Bernardino County stronger and more resilient.
SAM AUSTIN | Partner | NEPC
Sam Austin, based in San Francisco, California, manages NEPC’s Western Region public fund consulting activities. For 38 years, Sam has offered consulting advice to public fund, corporate, multi-employer, endowment and eleemosynary clients. Sam has served as Chair of NEPC’s Governing Board as well as Chair of NEPC’s Partner Nominating Committee.
Prior to joining the Partnership at NEPC in 2017, Sam was a Senior Vice President at FIS Group (now Xponance) for five years, where he advised pension clients on the portion of their asset allocation dedicated to emerging managers. Sam contributed to manager selection decisions as a Voting Member of the Investment Committee at FIS.
Previously, Sam worked for 10 years at Virtus Investment Partners where he held the position of Executive Managing Director. As a Member of the Virtus Executive Committee, reporting to the CEO, he was a key participant in the strategic planning and implementation for the spin-out of multiple boutique money management subsidiaries from Phoenix Insurance.
Earlier in his career, Sam was a Principal and Team Leader for the Public Fund and Taft-Hartley businesses at Barclays Global Investors (now BlackRock). He also served initially as a Portfolio Strategist for Quantitative Equities and later as Principal and Co-Head of Marketing at Bankers Trust Company (now Deutsche Bank).
Sam is the founder and CEO of the Investment Diversity Advisory Council (IDAC), a non-profit organization representing investment firms and allocators that either manage or advise on over $15 trillion of assets. Member firms are dedicated to working collaboratively to optimize Talent Maximization as a driver of Excellence throughout the financial services industry.
Sam earned his M.B.A. degree in Finance from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business and a Bachelor of Science degree from Boston University
THOMAS KIM |
Deputy Chief Investment Officer | SBCERA
Mr. Kim is an Investment Officer with the San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association (SBCERA). As a member of the investment team, Mr. Kim is responsible for the development and implementation of investment policy, selection of managers, and evaluation of investment opportunities.
Prior to joining SBCERA in 2020, Mr. Kim was a consultant for the investment chair of a hospital endowment and pension, where he assisted with asset allocation and manager research. Earlier in his career, he worked at multiple hedge funds, investing in equities across various sectors and strategies. Mr. Kim started his career in investment banking, with a focus on mergers and acquisitions in the technology sector.
Mr. Kim earned his MBA in Finance from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and holds a BA in Economics from Yale University.
BRYAN RUSH |
Managing Director | TPG
Bryan is the Co-Portfolio Manager of the TPG Essential Housing Funds, a dedicated land financing business for domestic homebuilders, and was a founding member of the TPG Essential Housing team and has been a member of the TPG Essential Housing Funds investment committee since platform launch in 2020. Bryan joined Angelo Gordon in 2008 (acquired by TPG in 2023) and is a Business Unit Partner within the Credit Solutions platform. Prior to the launch of Essential Housing, Bryan had primary sector coverage for private and public corporate credit investments in Homebuilding and other Real Estate adjacencies as a senior investments analyst for Credit Solutions, and continues to have ongoing direct involvement in homebuilding-related investments within the Credit Solutions portfolios. Bryan formerly served on the board of directors of Columbus, Ohio-based homebuilder Dominion Homes, a TPG Credit portfolio company, which was sold to PulteGroup in 2014. Before joining Angelo Gordon, Bryan spent three years in the Restructuring & Recapitalization group at Jefferies & Co. Bryan has a B.B.A. and a Master’s in Professional Accounting Degree from the University of Texas.
TOM CAPASSE |
Managing Partner & Co-Founder | Waterfall
Managed principal finance groups at Greenwich Capital, Nomura Securities and Macquarie Securities
With Jack Ross, was a pioneer in the development of the securitization market and founding member and manager of Merrill Lynch’s industry leading Asset Finance Group (1983-1994)
Began career as a fixed income analyst at Dean Witter and Bank of Boston
B.A. from Bowdoin College
JUSTIN GLEASON |
Managing Director | PGIM
Justin Gleason is a managing director at PGIM Real Estate and portfolio manager for PRISA II, PGIM Real Estate’s flagship U.S. core plus equity real estate fund. Based in San Francisco, Justin has a leadership role in all aspects of the Fund’s strategy and management.
Prior to joining the PRISA II team in 2011, Justin held several roles in the Capital Markets and Northeast Transactions team. During this time, he served as PGIM Real Estate’s U.S. debt capital markets specialist, consulting with portfolio managers, partners, and transactions staff on borrowing and hedging activities. In addition, he was actively involved in several large portfolio acquisitions, loan acquisitions, mezzanine financing, deal workouts, and deal sourcing efforts in the greater Washington, D.C. region.
Justin has a bachelor’s degree in finance, management and political science from Virginia Polytechnic and State University (Virginia Tech). He was named to Real Estate Forum’s “Fifty Under Forty” list in 2016.
JAKE ABBOTT |
Senior Investment Officer | SBCERA
Mr. Abbott is an Investment Officer with the San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association (SBCERA). As a member of the investment team, Mr. Abbott is responsible for the development of investment goals, underwriting investment opportunities, manager selection, and investment operations.
Prior to joining SBCERA in September 2015, Mr. Abbott was an Investment Strategist for the Chamberlain Group, a private client investment advisor. He was responsible for leading investment due diligence, portfolio design, and investment communication. Previously, he worked as an Associate Portfolio Manager, Equity Derivatives at Russell Investments where he was responsible for management of Global cash equitization programs and trade execution. He began his investment career as a US Equity Manager Research Analyst at Russell.
Mr. Abbott earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics/Operations Research from Columbia University and is a CFA charterholder. He is a member of the CFA Institute and volunteers with the CFAOC’s Student Managed Investment Fund.
SARAH SAMUELS |
CIO & Partner | NEPC
As Chief Investment Officer at NEPC, Sarah oversees the firm’s asset allocation, portfolio construction, OCIO and investment manager selection across private markets, hedge funds and public markets. Prior to joining NEPC, she was managing director at Wellesley College where she was responsible for the investment of the College’s endowment, including manager selection, asset allocation and portfolio construction. Earlier in her career, Sarah was deputy chief investment officer at Mass PRIM where she chaired the internal investment committee and oversaw asset allocation, investment research and manager selection across asset classes. Sarah led the portfolio management of the $80 billion pension fund and was a member of the Executive Management Team tasked with strategic planning and management of the organization. She also worked as associate portfolio manager at Boston Advisors and in a variety of roles at Wellington Management Company. Sarah is a member of the PEWIN Board and founded the Boston chapter. Previously she chaired the CFA Society Boston Board and the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Investment Committee and served as a Board Director for UNH. Sarah holds the Chartered Financial Analyst and the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designations and earned an MBA in Finance at Boston University and a BA in German/minor in Business from the University of New Hampshire. She is an active angel investor and member of TBD Angels. She also founded the Pull Up A Chair podcast for CFA Society Boston. In addition, Sarah is a passionate financial literacy advocate. She founded the 30 Seconds of Bravery movement and authored the children’s book Braving Our Savings, both aimed at inspiring and teaching children about investing.
JOHN ZITO |
Co-President | Apollo
John Zito is Co-President of Apollo Asset Management, where he co-leads all investing activity and oversees the day-to-day management of the Firm’s asset management business. John also serves as Chairman of Atlas SP and is a member of Apollo’s Leadership Team.
Since joining Apollo in 2012, John has helped scale the firm’s credit platform into the largest private credit franchise globally. He has played a central role in expanding Apollo’s reach into new markets and strategies, navigating periods of market dislocation, deploying significant capital at scale, and reinforcing Apollo’s leadership in innovative, long-term financing for blue-chip companies around the world.
Previously, John served as a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Brencourt Advisors and spent five years as a Portfolio Manager at Veritas Fund Group.
Outside Apollo, he serves on the Robin Hood Leadership Council. He is a CFA charter holder and graduated cum laude from Amherst College with an AB in economics.
NEIL SHETH |
Partner | NEPC
Neil joined NEPC in 2009 with investment experience dating back to 1993, including thirteen years as a private equity and hedge fund investment professional. He has extensive investing experience across the U.S. and international public and private credit and equity markets. Neil currently coordinates our international investment research across both private and public markets. In addition, he leads our private debt practice globally and is involved with sourcing and performing diligence on private equity managers in Europe and Asia. Prior to this role, Neil oversaw our alternative asset groups. He is actively involved in all aspects of manager research, client portfolio design, construction and implementation. He works with all NEPC client types. Neil is both the Chairperson of the NEPC Governance Board and a member of the firm’s Executive, Alternative Asset Investment, Retirement, Audit and Diversity and Inclusion Committees.
Prior to joining NEPC, Neil worked at Berkshire Partners, LLC, a leading middle market leverage buyout firm based in Boston, where he was a founder and co-portfolio manager of a fundamentals-based, global value hedge fund. Previously, Neil spent eleven years as a private equity investment professional. In this capacity, he served on the boards of seven companies in both the U.S. and Europe while he was a Partner at M/C Partners and an Associate at General Atlantic, LLC; two firms that focus on the global technology, telecom and media industries. Neil began his career as an investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley & Co.
Neil received his B.S. with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
NEAL WANER |
Vice Chair | SBCERA
Neal is a proud San Bernardino County native who grew up in Big Bear Lake.
Always interested in investments, he graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in financial services and earned his MBA from the University of La Verne. He received his CFP (Certified Financial Planner) designation in 1988. He is a founding partner in the firm Matson Waner located in Redlands. Neal has eight securities and insurance licenses or designations. In 2026, he began his 40th year as a financial advisor. A few of Neal’s specialties include working with pension plans, endowments, and foundations.
In 2003, Neal—who comes from a family of public educators—was elected to serve as a Trustee on the Redlands Unified School District Board of Education and served in that capacity for 13 years until 2016. During his tenure, Neal served as Board President in 2006, 2010, and 2015.
Neal is a dedicated community volunteer who has contributed to a wide range of nonprofit organizations. His current board involvements include the Redlands Community Hospital, Inland Empire Community Foundation, Steven Mihaylo Big Bear Education Foundation, and First Congregational Church of Redlands. He is the former board chair of Children’s Fund, the YMCA of the East Valley, past President of the Redlands Rotary Club, and former Treasurer of the Redlands Community Foundation.
He was appointed to serve as a Trustee on the SBCERA Board of Retirement in 2010 and served as the Board’s Chair in 2021.
Neal and his wife, Joyce, live in Redlands. They have three adult children and two grandchildren. Each child moved away for college and later returned to San Bernardino County.
GINA SANCHEZ |
Founder & CEO | Chantico Global
Ms. Sanchez is the Chief Executive Officer of Chantico Global, a global investment consultancy and the Chief Executive Officer of Chantico Technology, a VC backed investment technology spin-out.
In addition, Ms. Sanchez serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Cedars Sinai Hospital as well as an Advisory Board Member to the UCLA Masters of Financial Engineering Program. Finally, she serves on the Investor Advisory Group to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a nonprofit corporation established by Congress to oversee the audits of public companies in order to protect investors. She is the past Chair of the Board of Investments for the Los Angeles County Employee Retirement Association (LACERA).
Previously, Ms. Sanchez was the Director of Equity and Asset Allocation for Roubini Global Economics. Before that, Ms. Sanchez served as managing director of public investments at the California Endowment, a US$3 billion Los Angeles-based foundation and as director of public investments at the Ford Foundation, a US$10 billion New York-based foundation.
Prior to that, Ms. Sanchez served as a portfolio manager and strategist for eight years at American Century Investment Management in Mountain View, Calif. where she ran over $6.5 billion in AUM.
She is a contributor for CNBC and regular on The Exchange, Worldwide Exchange and Business Arabia. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University and a master’s in international policy studies from Stanford University.
As part of her continuing education, she also holds a certificates in impact measurement and scenario planning from the University of Oxford Said School of Business, in corporate governance from UCLA Anderson and in corporate board audit governance from Harvard Business School.
SARAH SIWINSKI |
Vice President, Americas Institutional Business | BlackRock
Sarah Siwinski, CFA, Director, is a member of the Client Solutions Group (CSG) within BlackRock’s Americas Institutional Business, where she focuses on delivering customized portfolio consulting services to institutional clients.
Prior to joining CSG, Sarah was a member of the Institutional Client Analytics team within BlackRock’s Portfolio Analytics Group (PAG). She was responsible for creating and delivering BlackRock’s analytical capabilities to the firm and client businesses, specifically through work with the Financial Institutions Group and Institutional Client Businesses.
Sarah joined BlackRock as part of the Graduate Program. She graduated magna cum laude from Fairfield University, with dual B.S. degrees in Finance and Marketing.