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.
MARC BRACCO |
Board Chair | SBCERA
Marc Bracco is the lieutenant assigned to the Bureau of Administration of the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner’s Department. He assists with managing the division, which handles the department’s annual budget of $800 million, including purchasing, contracts, grants, position control, fleet, and capital improvement projects. Marc has been in law enforcement for over 22 years. Effective January 1, 2019, he was elected to the San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association as the Safety Member Trustee.
Marc is currently the Region 5 Chairman for the California Narcotic Officers’ Association. Before being elected as the Safety Member Trustee, Marc spent the last eight years with the Sheriff’s Employees’ Benefit Association (SEBA). He ended his time with SEBA as the Vice president but had been the sergeant of arms and elected board member.
Marc graduated with honors, Summa Cum Laude, in February 2017, with his Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Management Degree. Marc possesses a Bachelor of Science in Management Degree, which he graduated with honors, Magna Cum Laude. He enjoys teaching and is a regular instructor at the Sheriff’s Department Advanced Officer Training Center.
JARED NEWCOMER |
Investment Committee Chair | SBCERA
Jared Newcomer is a Captain/Paramedic 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.
Dr. Mohamed El-Erian |
Chair | Gramercy Funds Management
Dr. El-Erian is a global economist and leader in emerging markets investment and research, having previously held senior roles in investment management and international policymaking. He was on Foreign Policy’s list of Top 100 Global Thinkers for four years in a row and writes regularly for Bloomberg and the Financial Times.
As Chair of Gramercy Funds Management, Dr. El-Erian actively contributes in the following areas: (i) providing the investment team with global, regional and country perspectives on economic, market and geopolitical developments; (ii) offering insights on a range of investment-related matters (in particular, global investment trends and their immediate and longer-term impacts on emerging markets asset classes); (iii) helping to decode economic and policy developments, focusing on their potential emerging markets effects; (iv) macro themes that inform and influence individual trades and; and (v) advising on specific investment issues, including multi-asset allocations.
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.
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.
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.
LINDSAY SHARMA |
Managing Director | Industry Ventures
Lindsay is a Managing Director at Industry Ventures and leads the Tech Buyout Funds, where she oversees originating, valuing, and managing investments and serves on the Investment Committee. Prior to joining Industry Ventures in 2014, her background includes roles at Intuit, Great Hill Partners, and Bear Stearns. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS from Indiana University.
PATRICK LANGAN |
Managing Director | Partners Group
Patrick Langan is part of the Private Infrastructure Americas business unit, based in New York. He has been with Partners Group since 2014 and has 14 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he worked in private equity at Barclays and in investment banking at Goldman Sachs & Co. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting from James Madison University, Virginia, USA.
AMIT THANKI |
Senior Investment Officer | SBCERA
Mr. Thanki is a Senior Investment Officer with the San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association (SBCERA). As a member of the investment team, he oversees the deployment of $3 billion in pension assets across investment strategies in diversified credit, private equity, and venture capital. In addition, Mr. Thanki is responsible for developing and implementing SBCERA’s asset allocation policy, structuring manager relationship, identifying investment opportunities, and monitoring portfolio liquidity.
Prior to joining SBCERA in April 2012, Mr. Thanki was an Investment Analyst at Orange County Employees’ Retirement System (OCERS) where he was responsible for the oversight of the hedge fund, public equity, and public fixed income portfolios. He started his investment career at PIMCO and as a member of the marketing and business development group focusing on fixed income strategies in emerging markets, high yield and structured credit.
Mr. Thanki has over sixteen years of experience in the investment management industry and received the Money Management Intelligence 2013 Rising Star of Public Funds award. He earned his MBA from the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine and has a BS in Business Management from Oklahoma State University. Additionally, Mr. Thanki is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) charter holder and a member of the CAIA Association.
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.
THOMAS KIM |
Senior 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.
JENNIFER KREISCHER | Director, Investment Industry Group | Kreischer Miller
Jennifer has over thirty-five years of experience providing traditional audit and accounting services as well as financial and operational due diligence. She leads teams who assist limited partners in assessing operational and business risks at their investment managers, as well as the managers’ management of the risk. She also consults with financial services businesses on topics including sales, mergers, and succession planning.
Jennifer has led teams assisting clients in executing complex investment transactions. These transactions include mergers, acquisitions, debt and equity offerings, registration with the SEC, and joint ventures. Additionally, she led teams implementing Sarbanes-Oxley, complex new US GAAP accounting standards, and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
Jennifer has worked with a variety of investment industry clients who manage virtually all asset classes, including equity, fixed income, private placements, structured credit, and private equity. These clients have been based in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Jennifer is a frequent speaker on accounting and due diligence topics. She has presented to industry groups and clients in the US and Europe.
THOMAS PETERS | Director, Investment Industry Group | Kreischer Miller
Tom has a wide range of experience providing audit, Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS), operational due diligence, and compliance services to firms in the investment industry. In addition, he:
• Helps clients maintain GIPS compliance while presenting their performance in the best light possible
• Assists entrepreneurs with starting investment firms and investment funds
• Performs operational due diligence for institutional investors seeking to understand operational risk at their investment managers and for managers seeking to better
understand and control their operating systems
• Assists with hiring personnel
• Develops compensation methodologies
As a leader in Kreischer Miller’s Investment Industry Group, Tom works with a variety of investment managers, broker-dealers, investment funds, and institutional investors.
TODD CROUTHAMEL |
Director, Audit & Accounting | Kreischer Miller
Todd is the Director-in-Charge of Kreischer Miller’s Audit & Accounting group. Todd has extensive experience in the investment industry, including providing traditional audit services to investment managers, hedge funds, and broker/dealers, as well as performing custody examinations, in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 206(4)-2. Todd also performs GIPS verifications and composite examinations, and assists firms in implementing the GIPS standards. In addition, Todd performs due diligence throughout the United States and Europe to assist investors in understanding the operational risk inherent in their investment managers’ operations.
Todd provides services to investment industry clients who manage virtually all asset classes, including equity, fixed income, private placements, structured credit, and private equity. He also has significant experience with various investment structures including hedge funds, funds of funds, and master feeders.
Todd also serves as the leader of Kreischer Miller’s Audit and Accounting Practice. In this role, Todd is responsible for managing the resources of the Audit and Accounting Practice, including training and recruiting, budgeting, serving as a resource on technical matters, and development and maintenance of compliance policies and procedures.