Blogs

Darshan Ahluwalia

Software Engineer

What are your key responsibilities?
I am a member of Aperio’s internal software development team, responsible for developing and maintaining software that enables Aperio to manage several billions of dollars. I am currently working on a Python web application that helps Aperio’s portfolio managers rebalance accounts. This application in particular will allow Aperio to continue to grow its assets under management and enable portfolio managers to do more in less time.

Describe your key previous work experience.
In my prior role at the Petaluma-based solar startup Enphase Energy, I built Python applications to automate the testing of Enphase’s microinverter products. In my seven years at Enphase, as we ramped from producing several hundred inverters per week to several thousand, I honed my software development, testing, and debugging skills. In the visible role of manufacturing Enphase’s products, I came to highly value test-driven development and continuous integration to ensure I produced quality software.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
The most interesting aspect of this role is the learning opportunities it provides. In the past year and a half since joining Aperio’s small startup-like software development team, I’ve been challenged to develop new skills like front-end development (JavaScript!) and DevOps (Ansible!). In addition, I’ve had the enjoyment of learning about the Aperio domain: investment strategy, after-tax investing, indexing, portfolio optimization, and factor/risk modeling.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
Within the software development team, our clients are Aperio’s employees. Because we develop following the Agile methodology, we’re in constant engagement with our internal customers. In fact, during our development of the new Python web application, we have a standing one-hour window where we work with the portfolio managers directly to make sure we’ve got it right.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
In addition to the learning opportunities, I really love the culture here. We have a good work-life balance. There are plenty of clubs, so you can participate in activities with your coworkers. I particularly enjoy exploring new trails in the Marin headlands with our biking group.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
On occasion, I give talks and workshops with SF Python, the San Francisco Python meetup.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I love adventure! I rock climb, backcountry ski, and mountain bike. Name a formation in Yosemite: I’ve probably climbed it!

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Computer Engineering from the University of California, Irvine.

Nick Arnold

Senior Legal Counsel

What are your key responsibilities?
Broadly, I am responsible for the operations of Aperio’s legal and compliance department, managing complex cross-functional initiatives and ensuring that delivery of service is the highest quality. As one might expect, my day-to-day activity often involves drafting, reviewing, and analyzing documents: client and vendor agreements, written policies and procedures, client due diligence questionnaires, etc. I also act as the firm’s Data Privacy Officer and sit on our Information Security Management Committee, which is responsible for maintaining and implementing Aperio’s information security program to protect client and corporate data.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Prior to joining Aperio, I worked for several years in private practice as an attorney and legal consultant, servicing clients in a variety of industries, including asset management, technology, and education. I started my legal career in Hollywood, providing guidance to production companies, and I was general counsel for a startup in education technology.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
I’m a true member of the business team, supporting strategic initiatives and improving operational efficiency, so I have a tremendous amount of autonomy to drive change within my department and the firm. I’m able to constantly assess current processes and recommend improvements—and often, take ownership of implementing those changes from start to finish.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I managed the project to evaluate, select, and implement an enterprise contract management solution here at Aperio, increasing efficiency of and improving client experience with our onboarding process. I also designed and implemented a formal data privacy program to enhance oversight of our clients’ data and facilitate our ability to comply with new regulations, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
Aperio still operates like a small organization in some respects, and senior management has no problem rolling up their sleeves and getting involved with initiatives throughout the firm. I interact with and work alongside C-level personnel on nearly a daily basis, providing ample opportunities to make a large impact on the firm, as well as learn and grow professionally.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I started as a Compliance Officer and Legal Counsel.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I was born and raised in Detroit and maintain my roots by playing ice hockey, skiing, and spreading the gospel of Detroit-style pizza and Coney dogs.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and JD from Boston University.

Chuck Baird

Senior Investment Operations Analyst

What are your key responsibilities?
As a member of the investment operations team, my key responsibilities include daily monitoring and reconciliation of accounts; data processing in our accounting system; overseeing various monthly and quarterly closing processes; leading projects to streamline operations and automate processes; setting up new intermediaries, custodians, platforms, and interfaces; maintaining our security master, trading restrictions, and account information; corporate action processing; communicating with our assorted vendors and partners to resolve issues related to daily processes, data delivery, and trade settlement.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I have held various senior positions with Bay Area registered investment advisers and financial planners, with roles in operations, trading, and investment research. In addition, I worked at Advent Software as a data analyst with responsibilities in outsourced data management.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
Problem-solving holds the greatest appeal for me. We process mounds and mounds of data, and there are always ways to improve how we manage that data so that our firm can deliver superior service quickly, accurately, and efficiently.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I really enjoy the culture and people I work with here at Aperio. Work-life balance is very important to me, and it is respected here more than at any other firm I have worked for.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I like to cook and brew my own beer. My coworkers are great about putting up with my tales of cooking and brewing (or maybe they just like trying the free cookies and beer).

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in English Literature from Saint Mary’s College of California.

Mark Bateman

Director of ESG/SRI Research (Salem, OR)

What are your key responsibilities?
I work on the ESG/SRI team and play a couple of roles. First, I work with clients to develop a customized values policy document. This document serves as the road map for aligning their portfolios with their values on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. Second, I stay on top of developments in the ESG research industry to understand what data are available to use in client portfolios.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I have been in the ESG industry for more than 25 years. I started at the Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC), including stints as a research analyst on military and political issues, as a director of the Environmental Information Service, and as Vice President of Research and Operations. During this time, I served on the original Steering Committee of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), helping to develop standards for sustainability disclosure. More recently, I served as the Director of Research for IW Financial.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
I really enjoy working with clients to understand their values and worldviews and then helping to create criteria that reflect those values in their investment portfolios. No two clients have exactly the same values, so every conversation is different.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I helped create the original SRI offerings available on the Aperio SRI/ESG Menu. These offerings can be an off-the-shelf solution for a client or the starting point for a more detailed conversation. I also helped create the online survey that we often use with clients to capture an initial sense of the issues that matter most to them.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I like the people.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I serve on the board of directors for the Sustainable Investments Institute (Si2), a proxy research firm. I also serve in a number of church governance roles at the local, state, and regional levels.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I’m a photographer, mostly nature and my kids’ sporting events. I also like to play—and create—board games.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA from Johns Hopkins University; MA from George Washington University.

Recent Blog Posts

December 15, 2020 Aperio’s DEI Journey

Addressing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Public Equity Portfolios

Until January 20, 2021, Condoleezza Rice will have been the highest-ranking African American woman to serve in the executive branch of the US government, having served as secretary of state from 2005 to 2009. With Kamala Harris’ assumption of the vice presidency...

November 9, 2020 Aperio’s DEI Journey

Publishing Our Diversity Data to Promote Transparency

As many of you likely have seen on our website, Aperio is Latin for “to make clear, to reveal the truth.” We looked in Google translate and found a definition we like even better: “disclose to view.” Aperio has always been a proponent of transparency...

August 4, 2020 Values-Aligned Investing

An Open Letter to ESG Vendors (and others who may care)

Dear ESG Vendor: Having recently completed a comprehensive review of the ESG data offerings from most of the prominent ESG vendors, we want to share some of what we learned about the state of ESG research and data...

Sandrine Beddow

Receptionist and Administrative Assistant

What are your key responsibilities?
As a Receptionist and Administrative Assistant, my focus is first to welcome the clients, guests, and staff in our office. I am the first person they meet in the office, and that can be a shock as I greet them with a French accent! Most of my days will involve scheduling meetings, booking travel, and making catering arrangements.

Describe your key previous work experience.
During my work career, I have been mainly involved with the hospitality and travel fields. I worked in several hotels abroad (in France, Ireland) and in the United States, and in my last travel position, for 17 years, I rented villas and apartments in Europe.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
My favorite aspect of the job at Aperio is the challenge to complete work when needed on short notice, as sometimes travel and meetings are set up at the last minute, and I like my guests, clients, and staff to be satisfied with their arrangements. Working with a large number of people, it is very interesting to learn about each person and work with them at their own pace. I would rather schedule travel and meetings in advance, but I know how to work under pressure when needed. And of course, I love to work as a part of a team, as usually I am the only one at the front desk.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
A few years ago, we set up multiple conferences/road shows in several cities, and it was fulfilling to know the meetings were positive. Our clients and staff were pleased with the results and the arrangements before and during the road shows.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I like to work with people, and being in a large firm gives me the opportunity to have no regular daily routines. My work is always challenging, and I am pleased to help people. I appreciate that Aperio gives us the opportunity to be involved in clubs, walks, and special gatherings like the JPMorgan run challenge.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I started as a Front Desk Receptionist.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I like to hike, travel, and use my native language (French). As for hobbies, I enjoy baking for family and friends and work colleagues and swimming with stingrays while snorkeling in Tahiti.

Lawrence Bevir

Associate Portfolio Manager

What are your key responsibilities?
As an Associate Portfolio Manager, my primary responsibilities are rebalancing and analyzing client accounts to keep them on track to meet the client’s investment goals. Portfolio management at Aperio involves balancing the requirements of the investment strategy, tax sensitivity, and SRI objectives to construct a cohesive portfolio.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Before Aperio, I was a Senior Wealth Strategy Associate at UBS, where I helped build portfolios for high-net-worth clients, with a particular focus on socially responsible investing. Before that, I worked in the trading department at Natixis Investment Managers.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
I enjoy the challenge of finding different investment solutions that suit each client’s unique financial and tax circumstances. Aperio’s investment process is customized to each client, and that means there’s constant variety in my work.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I helped develop a step-by-step procedure to streamline our morning high-cash review process, so that any account with a significant cash buildup can be rebalanced as efficiently as possible.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I enjoy the collegial culture and the opportunities to partner with colleagues to develop process improvements and trading strategies.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I am a member of the CFA Society San Francisco and the San Francisco Security Traders Association.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I enjoy hiking, sailing on the San Francisco Bay, skiing, and playing chess with friends and over the Internet.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in Economics with a minor in Philosophy from the University of California, Davis.

Michael Branch, CFA

Senior Portfolio Manager and Manager of Portfolio Research

What are your key responsibilities?
I lead a team of researchers responsible for supporting the policies, procedures, and tools used to standardize decision-making and enhance our investment strategies.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Prior to Aperio, I was a Fund Operations Specialist at California Investment Trust (now Shelton Capital Management), where I managed the daily liquidity for 12 mutual funds. At CIT, I learned the fundamentals of equity index portfolio management, performance assessment, reporting, and compliance.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I’ve been working with a team to develop investment decision-making algorithms that translate client preferences for risk, taxes, and factors/ESG into optimal portfolios. The project has enhanced our ability to provide customized solutions to clients, while also improving the efficiency and standardization of our internal operations.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I’m surrounded by very intelligent and curious-minded colleagues who care deeply about improving our investment strategies and furthering our understanding of portfolio optimization, risk modeling, and performance. The atmosphere is engaging and challenging, which I find highly motivating.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I started at Aperio in 2007 as a Performance Analyst. In addition to handling monthly performance reporting and assessment, I worked with the systems development team to build a new performance tool and bring Aperio’s performance into compliance with Global Investment Performance Standards. In 2011, I transitioned to portfolio management, where I provided analytical support in the research, portfolio management, and trading of client portfolios. That role has evolved over time, shifting to more project-based work that supports the standardization of investment decision-making.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I’m a member of the CFA Institute, the CFA Society San Francisco, and the Long Now Foundation.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I love hiking, biking, stair climbing, weight lifting, and other grueling activities.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS magna cum laude in Finance from the University of Arizona; Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Recent Blog Posts

September 7, 2017 Observations

Webcast: Does International Investing Still Make Sense?

Some investors may feel frustrated by the performance of international stocks and are wondering why they are still invested internationally. Michael Branch provides a common sense perspective on...

Published Articles

"A Guide to ESG Portfolio Construction" – Journal of Portfolio Management, April 2019
"Factoring Profitability" – Risk-Based and Factor Investing, 2015
"The Case for Global Stock Portfolios" – Journal of Indexes, November/December 2011

Taotao Cai

Quantitative Researcher

What are your key responsibilities?
As a Quantitative Researcher and member of the Aperio research team, I am responsible for developing, maintaining, and expanding Aperio’s in-house back-testing environment (ATBAT), as well as addressing problems in quantitative portfolio management, attribution and optimization through data analysis, and risk modeling. My daily responsibilities involve developing and refining strategies and offerings, providing deliverable solutions to clients, as well as supporting internal academic research.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Prior to joining Aperio, I worked as an Equity Option Trader and Quantitative Researcher at Bluefin Trading LLC.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
The most exciting aspect of my job is the explorative and open-ended nature of research. I also get to work with experienced and talented team members to tackle complex and challenging problems.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I participated in the development and implementation of the ATBAT system: Aperio’s in-house after-tax back-testing analysis tool. ATBAT provides valuable insights that have helped us solving many portfolio manager, research, and client questions. Working on this project has been an exceptionally educational and fascinating experience for me.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
Apart from the exciting role and the learning opportunities, I really like the people and the culture here at Aperio. Everyone is kind, dedicated, highly seasoned, and a joy to work with. The Aperio culture puts great focus on respect, honesty, responsibility, and the search for truth, which resonates with me on both personal and professional levels.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I am a member of the University of Chicago Alumni Association.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I like reading sci-fi and history books, pulling espresso shots, and building Lego sets.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BCom in Finance and Economics from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management; MS in Financial Mathematics from the University of Chicago.

Recent Blog Posts

October 6, 2020 Active Tax Management

Loss Harvesting with Inflation-Adjusted Gains

In a White House press briefing in August, US President Donald Trump said he is “considering a capital gains tax cut.” While the administration has discussed a straightforward reduction of the long-term capital gains rate, the impact of such a change...

Published Articles

"Tax-Managed Factor Strategies" – Financial Analysts Journal, Second Quarter 2019
"Rewards and Risks of Loss-Harvesting Strategies" – Investments & Wealth Monitor, May/June 2019

James Carlassare

Investment Operations Analyst

What are your key responsibilities?
As a member of the investment operations team, my key responsibilities include daily monitoring and reconciliation of accounts; data processing in our accounting system; carrying out various monthly and quarterly closing processes; working on projects to streamline operations and automate processes; and communicating with our assorted vendors and partners to resolve any issues related to daily processes, data delivery, and trade settlement.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Prior to joining Aperio, I was a Financial Analyst at Goldman Sachs, where I worked in operations for physical settlements. Before that, I held a range of positions at a paint factory.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
Learning the new systems and functions, and how Aperio works from the inside, has been interesting.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I am working on creating an in-depth procedure for one of our functions to be used as a guide so newcomers can more easily both navigate the function and process key client requests. I also work on reconciling many new accounts, which is part of welcoming new clients to the firm.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I like how everyone is very welcoming and transparent. You always feel included, and your input is always heard and taken seriously. No matter how senior or how long you have been with the company, everyone is treated as an equal.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I am a student member of the CFA Society San Francisco.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I love watching and playing sports. Most weekends, you will find me on the golf course.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Finance from Purdue University.

Julie Enderson

Senior Client Relationship Manager (Denver)

What are your key responsibilities?
My primary responsibilities include overseeing the firm’s efforts to build and enhance client relationships in the central United States and leading business development in that region. As part of our high-touch client service, I also focus on educating existing advisors and prospects on Aperio’s complex and customizable public equity strategies, engaging our senior research and investment resources to develop unique solutions, with the twin goals of clearly communicating the value proposition of sophisticated tax-management solutions to intermediaries and being a partner to advisors in meeting their clients’ needs.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I did investor/client relations, relationship management, and marketing at ZAIS Group, LLC, a structured-credit hedge fund in New Jersey (two years). Prior to that, I was at Bloomberg LP in New York City for three years, doing sales and account management. I started my career in their Equity & Fixed Income Analytics program. I graduated from the Villanova School of Business with a BS in Business Economics.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
Getting to know our advisors and partnering with them to build tailored solutions for their end clients is the most interesting part of my job.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I like the people and culture.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I started as a Business Development Associate, transitioned to Client Relationship Manager for the central region, and now am a Senior Client Relationship Manager for the central region. When I joined Aperio, I was the first Business Development Associate and the CRM position also did not exist, nor did explicit territory coverage.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I played Women’s Division I Lacrosse at Villanova. As a resident of Golden Colorado, I love taking advantage of the amazing hiking options with my husband and young daughter. We also love cooking and trying new recipes together.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Economics from the Villanova School of Business.

Tori Ferguson

Business Development Associate

What are your key responsibilities?
As a Business Development Associate, I focus on client and prospect relationships in the central part of the country. My role includes building customized solutions with clients and working closely with our ESG/SRI, portfolio management, and client experience teams. As a company that strives to create lasting partnerships with our clients, Aperio focuses on maintaining these client relationships as an important part of providing a high-touch client experience.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Prior to joining Aperio, I worked for a private wealth management team at Morgan Stanley. During my time there, I focused on business development and marketing for our team, as well as providing client service to our ultra-high-net-worth clientele.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
I consider myself a people person, so I really enjoy getting to interact and develop relationships with our client base on a daily basis! I also find it interesting to research potential new clients and pinpoint opportunities where we could be a good fit as a partner.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I work with Aperio’s clients on a day-to-day basis, so learning each client’s nuances and needs is critical to providing a high level of client service

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I enjoy the collaborative work environment at Aperio and how willing everyone is to help you succeed. I have also enjoyed learning more about the ESG/SRI space and am excited to see it continue to gain traction and become more frequently utilized in the investment world.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I enjoy spending as much of my free time as I can outdoors—whether it’s hiking, finding a new running path, or relaxing at a beach! I also am a huge “foodie,” so I have enjoyed exploring the restaurant scene in the Bay Area over the past few years.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Economics from the University of Colorado Boulder; Series 7 and 66 licenses.

Marc Fiore

Chief Marketing Officer

What are your key responsibilities?
I often am asked the question, “What’s the role of marketing in a space where relationships and technical issues drive decisions?” My simple answer is that reputations do matter a lot in decision-making, so my job is to manage our reputation proactively and intentionally. As Aperio’s Chief Marketing Officer, my responsibility is to ensure that our brand and offering are competitively positioned in the market and that prospects, clients, prospective employees, and staff value our unique proposition. To that effect, I drive the strategy and execution of marketing activities—communications, content marketing, product marketing, digital marketing, public relations and social, business intelligence, and events—hand in hand with our business development, research, product, and technology teams.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I am French but have spent more than half of my career in the United States. I bring more than 25 years of international B2B marketing and business development experience with leading global brands but also startups. I worked for nine years at MSCI as Head of Strategic Marketing and for three years at Parametric as Global Head of Marketing. Prior to that, I worked at AXA, Bankers Trust, American Express, and Danone across Europe and North America. When I look back, what I enjoy most is combining creative strategic thinking with effective cross-team execution to make things happen together, whether it is developing a business or a function, elevating brand power, growing revenues, or enhancing client experience.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
As someone who has always embraced the data aspect of things, I have enjoyed observing the world of marketing evolve enormously over the past decade and become more of a science than an art. The time of Mad Men is long gone! Marketing is now both very data-driven and content-driven. Success comes from marketers’ abilities to combine disciplines and use data to deliver relevant content to the right individual at the right moment. Aperio provides me the opportunity to follow this approach.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
Aperio has a truly unique culture that I have not seen anywhere else and that makes my days simply amazing. Aperio is a high-intelligence, low-ego environment. It is intellectually challenging to work with the best brains in the business but also rewarding to operate in a very human environment emphasizing genuine, respectful interactions.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
As a single dad with four children ranging from 4 to 17 years, I have my hands full. So “spare time” mostly consists of doing things together, from biking, hiking, and cooking to traveling around the world. I also enjoy volunteering, preferably with my kids. And when I get a bit of free time, I love going to the opera and attending any form of art performance.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BBA in Economy and Finance from the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po Paris); MBA from the New York University Stern School of Business.

Sebastian Frei

Investment Operations Analyst

What are your key responsibilities?
As a member of the investment operations team, my key responsibilities include daily monitoring and reconciliation of accounts; data processing in our accounting system; carrying out various monthly and quarterly closing processes; working on projects to streamline operations and automate processes; and communicating with our assorted vendors and partners to resolve any issues related to daily processes, data delivery, and trade settlement.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I was previously employed as a Data Analyst at Private Market Connect, an East Coast private equity firm. There, I worked with a group of analysts to ensure we had entered within our proprietary reporting system as much accurate data from our partners as possible. During my time there, we were able to almost double our client base, leading to many of our projects revolving around scaling and automating our processes.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
The most interesting aspect of the job for me is the ability to constantly learn from a variety of well-qualified individuals. In my short time here, I’ve been able to learn more than I ever could have expected—and in a variety of fields I’d never expect to learn about.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I’m working on developing my Python skills so I can more effectively automate some low-level processes within operations. This will allow other operations employees and I to focus more time on ad hoc and evolving requests, letting us serve our clients better.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
The thing I like the most about working at Aperio is how accepting and inclusive the culture can be. Enjoy running, reading, biking, or gardening? You’ll get added to a group before you can finish mentioning it! Everyone here does a great job at making you feel accepted and part of the culture from the moment you walk in the door.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I was previously a Junior Operations Associate.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I’m a member of the Alumni Association of Barrett at Arizona State University.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I enjoy (almost) everything outdoors. I’m fortunate enough to own a dog, and I strive to be more like her. I also love everything about soccer: watching, talking, lamenting about my team’s continued lack of success, and of course playing it.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Finance and Economics from Arizona State University.

Antonius Gan

Quality Assurance Manager

What are your key responsibilities?
As the Quality Assurance Manager, I’m responsible for ensuring the quality of our in-house portfolio management tools. Through our testing activities, the QA team ensures that requirements are accurate and implementation is correct.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I worked almost exclusively for startup companies prior to Aperio, a few of which ended up either being part of a bigger company (e.g., Cisco) or becoming a public company (e.g., Enphase). I have served in a variety of positions, including laboratory-bound roles to managing entire production lines. This range of experience has allowed me to expand my horizons from a highly detailed technical view to high-level business processes. It also has trained me to adjust my strategies depending on whether I need to “get it done yesterday” or “make sure nobody can find any bug.”

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
By working on Aperio’s key internal application, I have the opportunity to learn all aspects of portfolio management. In addition, I have been able to sharpen my software development and verification skills, which is something I was involved with only at a supervisory level in the past.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
My direct clients are the product owners and users. However, everything we deliver directly impacts their ability to deliver results for Aperio’s clients.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I most enjoy the nearly conflict-free, highly collaborative environment. This is a quality that most companies tout but rarely achieve. I also enjoy the great work-life balance, giving me a new perspective in life, in contrast to the frantic high-tech lifestyle.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
My family and I love downhill skiing, which is balanced by our passion for good food.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Interdisciplinary (Math, Physics, and Engineering) Studies from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Patrick Geddes

Chief Executive Officer and Chief Tax Economist

What are your key responsibilities?
As the CEO, I help set the company’s direction and brand, make the final decisions on most resource allocations, and attempt to nurture a healthy culture. As Aperio’s Chief Tax Economist, I analyze cash flows for complicated tax situations facing our clients and their tax advisors, including charitable donations, incentive options, and estate/gift tax scenarios.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Prior to cofounding Aperio, I was the Research Director and CFO at Morningstar. In addition, I have taught graduate-level portfolio theory, which has proven quite applicable at Aperio. Also helpful was learning how to build complex after-tax cash flow models at an oil company.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
Throughout my career, I’ve been obsessed with how much power corrupts consciousness and reinforces bias. Now that I’m a CEO, it’s fascinating to watch myself fall into the same traps of self-justification I’ve observed in other leaders over the years and learn how to rely on colleagues to help catch my blind spots. Furthermore, the intellectual challenge of complicated investment problems continues to prove greatly satisfying.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I’ve been closely involved with a wide range of new strategies and features, and still meet with many of our clients. I particularly enjoy the balancing of running a for-profit business while emphasizing the treatment of clients with an exacting level of transparency and honesty, including taking full ownership when we make mistakes.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
It’s an incredible honor to work with such smart people, although I often observe that this CEO unjustly gets credit for the creativity, cleverness, and sheer effort of others around him.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
For many years, I was Aperio’s Chief Investment Officer.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I love to cook, which proves gratifying since I spend so much of my work time in my head, and cooking is such a physical experience, especially the olfactory delights of spices. My other interests include reading, bicycling, hiking, and listening to Renaissance/Early Baroque music.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in History from Yale University; MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago.

Recent Blog Posts

January 26, 2021 Observations

Free Is a Dangerous Word (Especially during a Pandemic)

In the past 18 months, we’ve witnessed some extraordinary changes in how retail stock investors trade, from the broad shift for many brokerage firms toward zero commissions to the jump in trading by individuals in 2020, presumably a result of the pandemic...

October 27, 2020 Aperio’s DEI Journey

Aperio’s DEI Journey: Putting Cash to Work with Impact

In June, we posted our “Statement on Racism” and said that we were developing plans on what Aperio could do to help move toward racial justice. Through these blogs, we’re sharing our journey...

September 29, 2020 Active Tax Management

Tax Planning Under Election Uncertainty

After our recent analysis of the impact of some of the Biden tax proposals on loss harvesting, we met several times with a number of tax experts among our clients to share our findings and listen to their views...

Published Articles

"What Would Yale Do If It Were Taxable?" – Financial Analysts Journal, July/August 2015
"Restoring Value to Minimum Variance" – Journal of Investment Management, Second Quarter 2014 (received a Harry M. Markowitz Special Distinction Award)
"The Pursuit of After-Tax Returns: Indexed Exchange-Traded Funds vs. Indexed Separately Managed Accounts" – Investments & Wealth Monitor, September/October 2011

Patricia Gibbons, CAIA

Manager of Marketing Projects

What are your key responsibilities?
As a member of the marketing team, I coordinate with IT, Research, Process Engineering, UX, and other teams to ensure that impact on internal client-facing teams and clients are taken into account on any project. I also coordinate with client-facing teams to manage the content and timeline of client communications around various projects, including new features and capabilities, changes in processes, etc.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I started my career at New York’s BlackRock, Inc., where my duties included servicing clients and supporting business development; I worked primarily with taxable financial institutions and high-net-worth individuals. I then joined Baker Street Advisors, LLC, in San Francisco, taking on a variety of duties that included business development, operations, and manager due diligence. During my 11-year tenure at Baker Street, I led the firm’s portfolio and risk management efforts and was responsible for the introduction, implementation, and management of its investment processes. I next moved to the East Coast and consulted for Resnick Advisors. In that capacity, I analyzed the firm’s current work flows, processes, roles and responsibilities, and related technology.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
The most interesting aspects of my job are tackling new challenges as we continue to grow and expanding my skill set as I get involved in a variety of initiatives that directly impact our clients.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I worked on ensuring a smooth rollout of our new client portal and website, which ultimately helps clients’ workflow and provides an easy, secure way to access information about their Aperio accounts.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I particularly value the intellectual rigor with which we tackle all tasks and projects. From recruiting to project management, everything we do is handled thoughtfully and methodically.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I joined Aperio as a Business Development Associate, initially supporting our client relationships on the East Coast, and then became a Client Relationship Manager. My role has since expanded and evolved into more of a focus on project management and strategic operations across the firm.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I feel very lucky to reside in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. My family and I love exploring the Bay Area and discovering new things to do and see.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Political Science and Psychology, with high honors, from Carnegie Mellon University; Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation in 2011.

Lisa Goldberg, PhD

Director of Research

What are your key responsibilities?
Research works with portfolio management and client service to develop investment strategies that align with clients’ financial and personal goals. At the highest level, that involves the humbling task of trying to understanding financial markets and the ideas and technologies that are changing them. Day to day, we build quantitative tools and analyze data from both empirical studies and client portfolios. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out which tools will be most relevant, synthesizing data into useful results, and communicating those results. I write blog posts and articles, assemble educational materials, present at conferences and forums, and meet with clients.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I began my professional life as a professor of mathematics, but my career in finance began in 1993 when I joined the research team at Barra. I spent 19 years at that firm building factor-based risk models and portfolio management tools, and supporting clients as they incorporated risk in their investment processes. At Barra, I worked in fixed income, credit, equity, and foreign exchange. I developed methods to aggregate single-asset-class risk models into enterprise-wide portfolio management systems, and I spent several years developing a model to forecast and attribute tail risk. My work generated five patents. In 2004, Barra was acquired by Morgan Stanley and merged with MSCI, giving me exposure to index construction and the opportunity to collaborate with asset and wealth managers, pension funds, investment banks, and hedge funds around the world. The experience of building Barra models has given me a strong foundation to support and extend Aperio’s portfolio construction process and to work with Aperio’s clients.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
Technology and data science are transforming financial markets and facilitating personalized investing. Aperio is at the center of this transformation, and it is great to be part of that change.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
Our After-Tax Back-Testing Analysis Tool (ATBAT) is a home-grown system that has revolutionized the way we evaluate strategies and communicate with clients. By measuring strategy performance over tens or even hundreds of historical periods and at multiple horizons, ATBAT provides a broad, detailed picture of the upside potential of a strategy and its risks. ATBAT elevates our ability to match clients with appropriate strategies.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
Aperio emphasizes excellent communication and open discourse, which brings a lot of great thinking to the decisions we make. In a different direction, I am the go-to person for all kinds of math problems, and I love to work on them.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I am Co-Director of the Consortium for Data Analytics in Risk (CDAR) and an Adjunct Professor of Economics and Statistics at the University of California, Berkeley. I’m an expert judge for the Moskowitz Prize Committee, an arXiv moderator, and a referee on numerous academic journals. I serve on the Jobs Committee for the American Mathematical Society, and I chair their Porter Public Lecture Committee.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I spend as much time as I can with my husband (a mathematician) and daughters (a materials scientist and an aspiring civil liberties attorney). I founded a book club, and we began with Judea Pearl and Dana Mackenzie’s The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect. It’s a game changer. I am an avid swimmer, and I am on track to complete a lap around the equator, 40,075 kilometers, in 2042. And I dabble in basketball statistics.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in Mathematics from the University of Rochester; PhD in Mathematics from Brandeis University.

Recent Blog Posts

July 21, 2020 Factor Tilts

A Modern Approach to Value Investing

The Russell 1000 Value Index lagged the Russell 1000 Index by more than 100 percentage points over the 10-year period ended in June 2020. Despite this dismal performance, some asset managers contend that...

September 5, 2019 Values-Aligned Investing

Will Investing in Gender Diversity Make You Rich?

If you think that fairness and access to the broadest, deepest pool of talent are good reasons for a firm to promote diversity, you may feel better after aligning your money with your personal values. If you expect a diversity-tilted portfolio to outperform its benchmark...

May 30, 2019 Values-Aligned Investing

"Is There ESG Alpha?" A Marketing Question in Research Clothing

Financial practitioners have lots of incentives to believe that ESG investing delivers alpha. For example, ESG is among a limited number of growth areas in the financial services industry, and investors are naturally enticed by the idea that...

Published Articles

"Rewards and Risks of Loss-Harvesting Strategies" – Investments & Wealth Monitor, May/June 2019
"A Guide to ESG Portfolio Construction" – Journal of Portfolio Management, April 2019
"Tax-Managed Factor Strategies" – Financial Analysts Journal, Second Quarter 2019
"Optimizing Value" – Journal of Portfolio Management, Winter 2016
"What Would Yale Do If It Were Taxable?" – Financial Analysts Journal, July/August 2015
"Factoring Profitability" – Risk-Based and Factor Investing, 2015
"Restoring Value to Minimum Variance" – Journal of Investment Management, Second Quarter 2014 (granted a Harry M. Markowitz Special Distinction Award)

Michael Gorin

Client Experience Analyst

What are your key responsibilities?
As a client experience onboarding team member, I am responsible for providing exceptional service in opening new accounts for existing and prospective clients. My primary objectives are to make sure the communication with intermediaries, custodians, and advisors goes as smoothly as possible in the setup phase and resolve issues as requested in a timely manner. I also monitor the operations group email inbox and direct more specific requests to the appropriate department or individual if I am not able to respond directly.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I began my career in processing commercial and multi-family mortgage loans at a private bank in downtown San Rafael. After having some success, I transitioned to the underwriting process a year later and learned the complete originating process in obtaining a mortgage. Still enjoying the work environment San Rafael had to offer, I later accepted a new opportunity at Phoenix American Financial Services, which provided transfer agent services to alternative investment companies. I was involved in account maintenance and transferring title of ownership.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
When arriving to work in the morning, I find that there is always something different going on than on the previous day. I sometimes find myself bored if the same thing goes on, but here at Aperio, no day is ever the same as the previous one, which makes each day interesting. With the increase in departments and the constant growth, there is always something to learn and the opportunity to improve on something you already know.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
When taking a step back from an employee day-to-day work objective and looking at the firm as a unit, I really enjoy the positive vibe I get at Aperio. From the time I arrived at my first interview and well after accepting the position here, I have felt that everyone here genuinely cares for one another and is always ready to help if needed. Having held many positions in my work journey, I have never experienced anywhere else the high level of respect and guidance that I get here. The connection is not only present in a team-level environment but also flows into the way we treat our clients as well.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
On the days I am not giving my attention to my work at Aperio, I enjoy the night life. I’ve been bartending part-time at private events and special occasions since the age of 21. If I am looking for something a little more relaxing, I find myself being a gearhead, repairing any needed mechanical and/or light body work on my cars.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in Business/Finance from San Francisco State University.

Pete Hand

Director of Quantitative Strategies and Tax Economist (Portland, OR)

What are your key responsibilities?
I work at the intersection of strategy, research, portfolio management, and strategy development with clients. For me, most of the most interesting and important problems tend to fall between the definitions of normal operations, so that is where I work. When a client request or business inquiry has substantial content from one or more business areas, I am likely to be involved. This position requires having a good collection of tools to apply to problems to be able to deconstruct them in different dimensions and consistent with the Aperio investment philosophy, but it also requires the willingness to frequently break the mold of what you have been doing consistently and apply a new lens. This is my twisted definition of fun.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I have spent my entire career working in different aspects of quantitative finance on the buy side across a wide variety of clients and asset classes. My career started at Barclays Global Investors, where I worked with the largest institutional clients in the world with a phenomenal team that allowed me to move through the organization and learn about the delivery of alpha, beta, structuring, financing, and derivatives for both defined benefit and defined contribution clients. The most relevant parts of that experience for Aperio were the six years I spent working on the global macro hedge fund, Global Ascent, three years working with client solutions via derivatives and trust structures, and two years as the Head of Research and Product Development for the defined contribution business. The last role is where I began focusing on the individual investor problem rather than institutional. After leaving BGI, I consulted for a large multi-family office for six years to create an after-tax asset allocation framework, which was a partial template for the Aperio paper “What Would Yale Do If It Were Taxable?” This brought a research focus to the taxable ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) individual investor problem and all of its permutations. Finally, after a number of years of knowing Paul and Patrick, the timing was right for us to work together, which has been a great next chapter for me.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
This sounds a little trite if you have ever heard the Aperio marketing pitch, but I find taxes and customization the most interesting problems in finance because they have massive variety and, in most cases, solutions. I spent 12 years of my life doing alpha research, and that is a fascinating and varied problem, but ultimately, I don’t think it is sustainably solvable. There is a ton of excellent practitioner and academic research in financial economics, but the vast majority of it ignores taxes, which are often orders of magnitude more important than the risk or return being studied. As a research group, we want to adapt and extend the existing financial economics literature so that it includes taxes and customization. We do this through publications in some cases, but the vast majority of our work is expressed through the way we manage client portfolios.

A bonus interest comes from grapefruit hunting. This is a question my former research head at Barclays Global Investors, Richard Grinold, asked when something looked really good: Where did they hide the grapefruit? The traditional sales pitch tries to only talk about the good side of everything and frame that in a wrapping of behavioral finance weaknesses of the human brain to make the product look untouchably perfect. But none of these products are perfect, there are no easy free lunches, and there are always trade-offs. The grapefruit is the sour part of the trade-off, and you always need to know what it is. (As an aside, I love grapefruit, but that doesn’t work with the story, does it?)

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I like the people, the research integrity, and the challenge. First, I have been fortunate to work with great people for most of my career. The importance of this to me just seems to increase every year because the way to create the most time to help other people and work on fascinating problems is to achieve the business side with as little administration as possible. Partly being in research gives me some freedom in that dimension, but much more comes from the culture of respect and accountability among the people at Aperio. Plus, they are just a fun and creative bunch. Second, in research, integrity is absolutely key. “Lies, damned lies, and statistics” is a quote that never goes out of fashion, but in 21st century business, there is a strong business oversight that points research in directions that support the product. We don’t have products. We have solutions, and that business model, alongside the culture of ethics at Aperio, allows us to investigate, present, and implement the solution that is in the client’s best interest not the most profitable. That is a rare freedom that I appreciate. Third, as I discussed above, I enjoy the challenge of dealing with the most interesting problems in finance.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I am a board member for Point West Credit Union in Portland, Oregon. This is an innovative community development financial institution that is deeply rooted in a number of underserved communities in the Portland area. The cooperative finance model embodied in the operation of this credit union is an inspiring example of what people-centered finance can achieve.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I enjoy exercise and training. To me, every sport is a new challenge, and I have participated in everything from collegiate javelin throwing to futsal to hockey to cyclocross, including going to two world championships in the dragon boat and ElliptiGO hill climb. I continue to train six to eight hours a week in low-impact activities. I enjoy spending time with my wife and two children, who will be out of the house far too soon for me.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in Economics and Politics from Princeton University.

Recent Blog Posts

August 19, 2020 Active Tax Management

Impact of Biden’s Capital Gains Proposal on the Performance of Loss-Harvesting Strategies

As part of a broader tax plan, US presidential candidate Joe Biden has proposed changes to the treatment of capital gains. Because Aperio manages portfolios designed to increase investors’ capital gains efficiency, we explored the impact of the proposed changes...

October 4, 2018 What We’ve Been Reading & Listening To

Developments in the Taxation of REITs

The TJCA (Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) signed into law in December 2017 has changed the tax treatment for holding real estate investment trusts (REITs). While we still await full clarity of some issues....

September 17, 2018 Values-Aligned Investing

The Alpha-Seeking ESG Investor

In our recent research paper, A Guide to ESG Portfolio Construction, we reference the concept that if the type of belief (either a binary yes/no or a score on a continuum) is the same, then the portfolio construction will be...

Published Articles

"Rewards and Risks of Loss-Harvesting Strategies" – Investments & Wealth Monitor, May/June 2019
"A Guide to ESG Portfolio Construction" – Journal of Portfolio Management, April 2019
"Tax-Managed Factor Strategies" – Financial Analysts Journal, Second Quarter 2019

Lawrence Hing

Chief Compliance Officer and Legal Counsel

What are your key responsibilities?
As the Chief Compliance Officer, I am responsible for all matters related to compliance and legal. My role in ensuring the overall success of the firm’s compliance program involves the design and implementation of all compliance efforts, from department staff and design, to drafting and implementation of the Compliance Manual, including the Code of Ethics. I also coordinate with other departments, most notably, information technology and operations, with respect to policies as diverse as cybersecurity, privacy, data security and recovery, physical security, and business continuity, parts of which roll up into my areas or for which I serve an oversight function. On the legal side, I recently had input into the rewrite of the firm’s formal legal documents including the investment management agreements. I review all marketing and external communications and advise the firm on all aspects of regulatory and legal consequence. My legal responsibilities additionally require that I prepare and oversee all the firm’s filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Form ADV. Finally, I am the face of Aperio externally with respect to legal and regulatory issues, regularly participating in trade group discussions and other forums regarding securities regulation and compliance topics.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Previously, I worked for the SEC in the Division of Enforcement in the San Francisco Office; as a Senior Disclosure Attorney for the Wells Fargo Funds, and as Chief Compliance Officer for WHV and Hirayama Investments, each a registered investment adviser (RIA) with $12 billion in assets under management at its peak. I developed my career acting as Assistant General Counsel at Barra, Inc., at the Pacific Exchange (now part of ICE), and at major law firms including Orrick, Wilson Sonsini, and Paul Hastings. Earlier, I worked in management consulting positions at Gap, Inc., and Accenture.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
As CCO at Aperio, which has grown rapidly during my tenure, I have found my growing and different responsibilities—including technology implementation, corporate governance, and strategic projects—to be business-oriented projects that have expanded my range, bringing into scope the skills I learned in consulting and in business school at a very high level.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
Clients always want to know about what it’s like to undergo a major SEC examination, as for any RIA, this is a major area of risk.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I most value Aperio’s culture of respect and its people. Also, absolutely everyone is whip smart. I came of age in businesses when you had to be aggressive and tough. It’s a relief not to have to be that way with respect to your peers and to operate ethically and with respect. I wasn’t sure it was possible to do so and be successful in business.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
The role was originally just CCO, but legal capabilities and requests have grown and become more defined as we have grown. My role has grown from being reactive and editing basic documents to being a more active member in helping assess potential regulatory aspects and legal consequences and being a trusted strategic advisor to the organization.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I am a member of the California Bar and the Bay Area Association of Chief Compliance Officers as well as the SEC alumni group. I also maintain ties with my previous law firm employers, which have very robust alumni groups.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
An accomplished amateur chef, I appeared as a contestant in the television reality show MasterChef. I have entertained various Aperio groups at my house, which has a custom-designed kitchen based on the way I cook and learned to cook. I am also concentrating on keeping in shape, being closer to 60 years of age than 50.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in History from Yale University; JD from New York University School of Law; MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business.

Toan Hua

Operations Process Improvement Specialist

What are your key responsibilities?
As a member of the investment operations team, my key responsibilities include daily monitoring and reconciliation of accounts; writing and troubleshooting automation scripts to improve efficiency and lower risk; leading department upgrade projects; partnering with our various vendors to improve efficiency and streamline processes; and reviewing and devising internal investment operations processes and procedures to streamline operations, minimize risk, and reduce errors.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I spent two years in operations at Symphony Asset Management. I bring the operational experience I gained there to Aperio.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
The most interesting aspect of this job is the ability to create new processes to ensure data integrity and improve efficiency.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
One project that I worked on was a build-out of our shareholder engagement capabilities. This allows clients who are interested in shareholder engagement to take part in sponsoring resolutions that could then be voted on at annual company meetings.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I like the flexibility and freedom to take on projects that I think will benefit the firm. The support I receive from different departments for these initiatives is invaluable.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I was previously a Senior Investment Operations Analyst.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I am passionate about beer and wine-making. I go to vineyards during harvest season to get grapes so I can make wine.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in Economics and Mathematics from the University of California, Santa Cruz; MS in Engineering Management from Johns Hopkins University.

Alex Kancov

Chief Technology Officer

What are your key responsibilities?
I head the team responsible for all things technology—software engineering, information technology (IT) operations, information security, research and development, and quality assurance.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I have spent virtually all of my career focusing on software development, architecture, and managing diverse technology teams within the financial services industry. I began as a Systems Engineer at The MITRE Corporation, a federally funded research and development company in Washington, DC, and quickly learned that my interest was in the private sector, with a bent toward financial services technologies. After several years spent working as a Senior Manager leading the e-commerce technology division of a Fortune 150 company, I became the Head of Technology for a financial technology (fintech) firm, Lydian Data Services. During my five years there, we provided conduit services to some of Wall Street’s most prominent firms, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, and Deutsche Bank. Subsequently, I served as Senior Vice President, Global Technology and Operations, at Bank of America, where my teams were responsible for developing various risk modeling systems and customized risk applications as well as advanced, predictive analytics platforms. These systems performed Monte Carlo simulations, generated various decision models, and provided top-of-house analytics for multiple lines of business. I then became the Head of Economic Sanctions Technology, managing various antifraud systems across Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, and providing intelligence and audit controls to the bank and the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Most recently, I was a cofounder of a company that developed an artificial intelligence–based futures trading application, which utilized natural language processing, topic modeling, and machine learning facets of AI. Missing the camaraderie of a larger team, I joined Aperio Group in 2018 as Chief Technology Officer and have not looked back! One common thread throughout my career has been building high-performing technology teams focused on scalable architecture and fault tolerance. I’m grateful for the many lessons learned and the talented people I’ve had the opportunity to work with and learn from.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
Each and every day brings different challenges and different opportunities—no two days are the same!

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I value the relationships with my colleagues, both in the office and outside it in beautiful Sausalito. Aperio has proven to be a perfect blend of challenge and reward while serving our demanding yet thoughtful clients.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I’m originally from Miami and am enjoying the landscape and diversity of activities on the West Coast. I play basketball and tennis, I cycle and ski, but you can typically find me struggling to keep up with our toddler.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Information Systems from Florida International University.

Brian Ko

Lead Portfolio Manager

What are your key responsibilities?
As a member of the portfolio management team, I am responsible for rebalancing our accounts, overseeing the day-to-day workflow of client requests, and providing analysis of client portfolios. I work closely with members of various groups, ranging from operations to business development and system development, to address any tasks or issues that may arise.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Prior to Aperio, I worked in fund accounting at State Street Bank and in investment operations at Lateef Investment Management.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
I enjoy the opportunity to provide investment solutions to our clients through our large array of custom options. It’s always interesting to see how clients may value different aspects of their portfolios (taxes, tracking error, strategies), so being able to provide solutions to their situations is gratifying.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
One of the projects I have been working on this year is the new Client Portal, which should provide a better user experience for accessing and managing client requests.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
Aperio has an entrepreneurial spirit. Some of our products are created from client interests, and others are from our research. It’s exciting to be a part of something that’s evolving in terms of ideas and strategies.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I enjoy being outdoors, traveling, and spending time with my wife and kids. I have found that while combining these three interests can be challenging, it has always been rewarding. As they say here at Aperio, enjoy the journey!

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Managerial Economics from the University of California, Davis and MS in Financial Analysis from Saint Mary’s College of California.

Mike Krystof

Senior Salesforce Architect (Boise, ID)

What are your key responsibilities?
I am the Senior Salesforce Architect at Aperio. My focus is on anything related to Salesforce, including streamlining business processes, enhancing user interfaces, creating useful tools using the force.com platform, and helping integrate apps and external systems within the Salesforce ecosystem. I also assist with managing DocuSign and will be a key cog in helping get our new Contract Management System, SpringCM, up and running.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Prior to joining Aperio, I served as a Salesforce Consultant, Salesforce Administrator, and Professional Services Engineer at various companies, such as CoverHound, YapStone, Inc., and TechExcel, Inc.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
I love the autonomy of the job and the ability to learn new things daily. Every problem/request that arises presents a fresh new way of thinking about a solution.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I am actively working on our new website and Client Portal project, which will directly affect all clients who visit our website and/or log in to manage their requests and create/manage accounts. This has been a very challenging and highly rewarding integration project with Salesforce.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I like the flexibility and laid-back culture.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I originally came on as a contractor through another company, and my tenure was supposed to be short-lived. However, after fulfilling my contract, Aperio decided to bring me on with a permanent position, and the rest is history.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I’m a proud season ticket holder of the Golden State Warriors.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
When I’m not watching sports, I’m playing them (as much as my old body will allow). My family encompasses the rest of my spare time. Whether it’s taking my daughter to gymnastics meets or softball games or taking the kids to the beach, my weekends are dedicated to the wife and kids.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Business Information Systems from California State University, Chico.

Adam Kuhn

Product Manager – Digital Experience

What are your key responsibilities?
I am the Product Manager for Aperio’s website and client portal within Aperio’s process engineering team. As such, I’m responsible for designing and improving our clients’ digital experience so requests, research, and questions for Aperio can be completed online. In addition, I support the business in identifying solutions that will improve operational efficiencies across teams.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Prior to Aperio, I worked as a Product and Project Manager in the Global Operations department at CEB (Corporate Executive Board). My work focused on building tools and applications for sales and account management teams to better engage and work with their clients.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
The most interesting aspect of working at Aperio is the wide range of problems to solve and the variety of solutions we can deploy to work on those problems. The customization options we offer to clients translate into potentially challenging technical problems, but we are always open to deploying new types of solutions to address our client’s needs.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I am working on the redesign of our website and client portal.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I like the collaborative and transparent culture within Aperio. It makes projects more enjoyable when we are all working together to solve clients’ problems and improve the way we work.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I joined Aperio as a Senior Business Analyst and am now a Product Manager.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
In my spare time, I enjoy hiking new trails in the Bay Area and finding new wineries to enjoy with my wife.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in Physics from Wake Forest University.

Petar Lalovic, CFA

Portfolio Manager

What are your key responsibilities?
As a member of the portfolio management team, I help to maintain our existing accounts and run transition analyses for prospective clients. Given the breadth of index-tracking options, factor strategies, and ESG/SRI constraints that we offer, each account requires me to understand its particularities and adapt my approach to it. In this role, I can get into the technical details of portfolio management one day and spend the next day working closely with advisors on understanding the priorities of a prospective client. This role also allows me to work frequently with my colleagues from business development, operations, research, and other departments, which always adds a new wrinkle to my daily work.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Before joining Aperio, I worked for some large, global financial companies (Swiss Re, MUFG) and for an early-stage startup (Autolist). In these jobs, I wore different hats, such as Senior Financial Analyst, Business Development Manager, or Marketing Analytics Manager. In its own way, each of these experiences helps me in my job today, be it when I talk to clients, try to understand capital gains taxation rules (e.g., wash-sale rules), or simply need to get things done.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
Every so often, we get unique requests from clients that require us to customize our approach in ways we have not done before. These can be for a new constellation of benchmarks, factor and ESG/SRI constraints, or can involve a complex optimization problem across multiple new client accounts. While these types of requests can be challenging at times, they always deepen my understanding of portfolio management and reveal the questions our clients face.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I developed a new approach on how to carve out an Aperio portfolio from an existing set of securities while minimizing tax costs and tracking error. It may sound easy or boring before you start, but it’s quite the opposite once you get into the details.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
You often get to join members of the leadership team for lunch and talk about all kinds of topics. The company is still small enough that you know most of your colleagues by first name, yet it is big enough to offer different roles and opportunities along the way.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I started as an Associate Portfolio Manager.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I am a member of the CFA Institute, the CFA Society San Francisco, and the London School of Economics Alumni Association–San Francisco Chapter.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
Before settling in San Francisco, I lived in Sarajevo, Zurich, Cape Town, Geneva, London, and New York. This allowed me to pick up a few languages along the way.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
MA in International Relations from the University of Geneva, Switzerland; MSc in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science; Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Kenneth H. Lassner, CFA

Senior Client Relationship Manager (New York City)

What are your key responsibilities?
I am a Senior Client Relationship Manager overseeing the firm’s efforts in the Eastern United States and working with clients in the region.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I have more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, including working with this type of strategy for more than 15 years combined, both with Aperio and at US Trust and Columbia Management as a Senior Product Specialist, focusing on providing tax-efficient equity solutions to high-net-worth clients and wealth advisors. Prior to that, I was a Product Specialist for Deutsche Asset Management in the Advanced Research and Quantitative Strategies Group and an Investment Strategist at J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. I also spent nine years as a Plan Sponsor for the Federal Reserve System and the Interpublic Group of Companies, managing pension plan assets.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
Working with our clients and their clients to both consult and design strategies that best fit their needs is the most interesting part of my job. Every situation is different given our focus on customization. We sometimes like to say that Aperio can be thought of as the last piece of the client’s investment puzzle.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I value our laser focus on putting clients first and the culture that Aperio has developed to help us achieve that goal.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
Having been the 15th employee at Aperio and the only employee on the East Coast (until recently) has given me a great deal of both perspective and autonomy to spend more time working with clients. There are many opportunities for employees at Aperio to pursue.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I have been a Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) charter holder for more than 20 years, and I serve as Co-Chair of CFA Society New York’s Sustainable Investment Committee, which has a two-year term.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
In addition to spending time with my kids (girl and boy), I enjoy playing ice hockey in leagues (bottom division) in New York City and specifically on an outdoor rink at the top of Central Park.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Finance from Babson College; MBA in Finance and Investments from the City University of New York (CUNY) Bernard M. Baruch College; Series 7 license (inactive).

Recent Blog Posts

December 8, 2017 Active Tax Management

Optimal Gifting for Financial and Philanthropic Return

As the end of the year approaches, many of our clients are thinking about making contributions to their favorite charities or through their donor-advised funds or family foundations. Well-informed investors are likely also considering the tax implications of...

Ran Leshem

Chief Investment Officer & Member of the Office of the CEO

What are your key responsibilities?
I am a member of Aperio’s “Office of the CEO,” a structure implemented in 2019 to facilitate the transition to an organization led by two co-CEOs, Liz Michaels and myself, effective March 2021. As Aperio’s Chief Investment Officer, I oversee portfolio management, research, and trading. I divide my time among scaling Aperio’s customized investment factory, creating and improving investment strategies, and working with clients on new investment problems.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I always had a passion to solve business problems using mathematical techniques. I started my career as a management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers helping clients mathematically model consumer markets and large complex decisions. I then got interested in software and worked at Woosh!, a startup enabling merchants to sell their products through web channels. I spent three years at Orient Overseas Container Line and two years at Gap improving operations and inventory management through building decision analysis systems using forecasting and optimization.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
I enjoy discovering a new research insight and applying it to improve client portfolios. For example, our observation in 2012 that minimum volatility strategies were trading at high valuations led us to add value guardrails to our lower-risk strategies. This had an impact on client portfolios and also led to a paper, “Restoring Value to Minimum Variance,” that won a Harry M. Markowitz Special Distinction Award by the Journal of Investment Management.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
Our clients are often the best source of new projects and research ideas. Their questions and curiosity lead to new research in our domain. A couple of years ago, a few clients asked us to analyze their hedge fund portfolios in order to understand their underperformance in down markets. Our risk models and attributions pointed to an anti-quality bias of these hedge funds. The funds had exposure to more volatile securities with unstable earnings and high leverage. In times of market distress, these securities experienced larger declines because of these exposures. Our clients gained a much clearer understanding of their hedge fund exposures, and we also explored a solution to mitigate these exposures by using a low-risk, quality strategy.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I like the people and the firm’s ethics. Aperio always places its clients and its people ahead of other goals and objectives. We strive to have a culture that rewards entrepreneurial spirit, client service, respect, and most importantly, truth.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I enjoy being in the middle of the San Francisco Bay with a board at my feet and a kite in the air.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, Canada; MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.

Recent Blog Posts

August 1, 2018 Observations

Tracking Error Forecasts in a Low-Volatility Environment

Over the past couple of years, the equity markets appeared to have experienced a period of extremely low volatility. The one-year trailing volatility on the S&P 500 reached 6.77% at the end of 2017! In response to the low volatility...

Published Articles

"Optimizing Value" – Journal of Portfolio Management, Winter 2016
"Factoring Profitability" – Risk-Based and Factor Investing, 2015
"Restoring Value to Minimum Variance" – Journal of Investment Management, Second Quarter 2014 (granted a Harry M. Markowitz Special Distinction Award)

Jack Lindstrom

Manager of Client Experience

What are your key responsibilities?
As the Manager of Client Experience, I am responsible for overseeing the client onboarding and client implementation teams. These groups are in charge of coordinating new account setups; processing account transitions; onboarding new intermediaries, platforms, and custodians; facilitating both due diligence questionnaires and contract negotiation processes; and handling nonstandard account requests.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Before joining Aperio, I spent more than 26 years with BlackRock/Barclays Global Investors in a variety of roles. Most recently, I was Head of the Americas Fees Onboarding and Performance Fee teams, where I negotiated and reviewed custom institutional client contracts, provided guidance on structuring billing language, and ensured the accurate and timely setup and maintenance of accounts as wells as the manual calculation of all performance fees across the Americas. Before that, I led BlackRock’s Americas Client Order Management Group, where I oversaw the team responsible for receiving, capturing, authenticating, translating, and delivering clients’ investment instructions and fund-of-funds activity to downstream groups for more than 100,000 transactions monthly with a value of $130 billion-plus.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
Listening to clients and then partnering with them to find the right solutions for their operational challenges are the best parts of my job.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I am currently working on two exciting projects—the new Client Portal and the contract management tool. For the Client Portal, we are increasing what users can do on the portal to include managing and submitting requests, viewing key data about account(s), customizing the new account submission process, and managing Client Portal access. For the contract management tool, we are implementing a solution that will allow us to collaborate better with clients and move to electronic signatures to gain efficiencies.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I really enjoy the continual learning opportunities that each department provides, the intellectual capital of my colleagues, the focus we put on clients and client service, as well as knowing we are helping clients create a better tomorrow with our highly customized approach to constructing a unique separately managed account.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
In my free time, I enjoy traveling, attending concerts, relaxing with family and friends, and especially, bottomless mimosa weekend brunches.

Jonathan Liu, CFA

Lead Portfolio Manager

What are your key responsibilities?
I am a Lead Portfolio Manager with the portfolio management group, responsible for managing the analysis workflow and, together with the other leads, ensuring that our group’s day-to-day requests and responsibilities are met.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
There are always improvements to be made in helping our department run more efficiently, and it’s quite satisfying when you’re able to find solutions to those problems. Also, I work closely with many of our Associate Portfolio Managers, and this exposes me to new internal and external situations that make the job interesting and fun.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I helped spec out our proprietary billing system and performed quality assurance on our proprietary optimization and trading platform.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I like the people. I have made many friends across all departments (it also helps to have been here for more than a decade), and that makes the day go by easier.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I joined Aperio as a Portfolio Accountant and worked my way up to a Lead Portfolio Accountant. I later transitioned to the portfolio management group as an Associate Portfolio Manager and now am a Lead Portfolio Manager.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I am a member of the CFA Society San Francisco.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I’m not Steph Curry, but I enjoy playing basketball in my free time. Also, I love to travel and still have many places to cross off my bucket list.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Corporate Finance and Financial Services from San Francisco State University and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Jialing Lu, CFA

Portfolio Manager–Portfolio Research

What are your key responsibilities?
As a member of the portfolio management team transitioning to the portfolio management research team, I split my time between optimizing and trading client portfolios and analyzing the performance of accounts and strategies.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I was previously a Portfolio Management Analyst at Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting, a fund of funds focused on investment solutions for institutional investors.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
I most enjoy working with clients to find solutions.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I updated an analysis on high American depositary receipt (ADR) fees that excludes ADRs with fees above a certain threshold from our investment universes. This helps reduce the custody costs for our clients with global ADR portfolios.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
The collaborative culture is one of the great things about working at Aperio. Both team members and teams are willing to help each other and work together.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I started as an Associate Portfolio Manager and am currently transitioning to the portfolio management research team.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
As someone who is a not-so-closet foodie, I try to eat out once a week (in part for the food, in part for content to cultivate my food Instagram). Thankfully, I can convince myself that I enjoy exercise and the occasional K-pop dance cover.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in Economics and Statistics from the University of Chicago and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Libett Magaña

Business Development Associate

What are your key responsibilities?
My roles include working with clients on the East Coast and liaising with our portfolio management, operations, and process engineering teams to drive responsive and high-touch client service.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Before Aperio, I was a member of the Institutional Client Service team at RS Investments in San Francisco, primarily working with separate and subadvisory accounts. I was responsible for onboarding new accounts, preparing monthly and quarterly client reports, and completing questionnaires for both clients and prospects. Prior to RS Investments, I was an Operations Associate with Lateef Investment Management.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
I appreciate the learning opportunities. Since my core responsibility at Aperio involves working on client questionnaires, I have the opportunity to learn about everything Aperio through the questions asked on DDQs and answers given by the subject matter experts I work with. I love seeing how the firm has evolved and, over time, become more sophisticated.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I worked on the new Client Portal. Our team was instrumental in testing the system before we went live and in coordinating training for clients.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
The interactions that I have with others across multiple teams are what I most like about Aperio. Again, working with client questionnaires, I coordinate answers from various colleagues across all teams here. That means I collaborate closely with folks from the investment strategy team, portfolio management, business development, operations, systems, and compliance, to name a few. And, of course, I enjoy the fun company activities such as the annual Halloween contest, where I hold the distinct honor of being the inaugural winner. (I made Carmen Miranda proud—and have the hot-glue gun scars to prove it!)

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I began my career at Aperio as a Client Service/Operations Specialist, moved on to become Manager of Client Onboarding, then became a Senior Client Implementation Analyst, and finally moved to my current role as Business Development Associate, all under the client experience umbrella.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
In my spare time, I enjoy traveling with my family and trying to find the stamina to keep up with two boisterous young sons.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in French from the University of San Francisco.

Nancy Malik

Director of Human Resources

What are your key responsibilities?
I am responsible for all things people! My day-to-day activities involve culture keeping, recruiting, training, record keeping, compensation, payroll, benefits, employee relations, performance, policies, and compliance.

Describe your key previous work experience.
In my 20-plus-year career, I facilitated a financial services company’s growth from startup into a national enterprise with more than 1,000 employees. My final role there was Senior Vice President, Human Resources. Over the course of that journey, I built a broad and deep expertise in human resources strategy and people operations, with an additional skill set in financial management. Additionally, I have provided human resources consulting services for a broad array of companies, from high tech startups to financial services and nonprofits.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
The best part of my job is developing relationships in the organization to truly understand and build trust with colleagues so that I can add value. I enjoy identifying and growing those with potential through coaching and leadership development, one-to-one mentoring, and training. My proudest moments are when those whom I have helped guide along the way come back and share with me that I’ve made a difference not only in their careers but also in their lives.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I volunteer in my community (Marin Food Bank, Glide, many Parent Association roles) and belong to the Society for Human Resource Management.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I enjoy traveling, cooking, hiking, being outdoors (especially at the beach), and participating in all that Marin has to offer with family and friends. Much of my spare time is spent on the sidelines watching my son play basketball and lacrosse!

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS, with high honors, in Managerial Economics from the University of California, Davis.

Kirsten Meder, CAIA, CMT

ESG/SRI Investment Strategist

What are your key responsibilities?
My role spans numerous areas, including supporting our business development team and working directly with clients to express their values in portfolios; working with the marketing and ESG/SRI teams to create educational materials around ESG/impact investing; working with our top-notch research team to evaluate various ESG topics, such as attribution and measuring impact; engaging with data vendors; and staying on top of industry developments and trends.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Prior to joining Aperio, I was a Portfolio Manager at Lattice Strategies (acquired by Hartford Funds), responsible for managing multi-asset SMA portfolios for high-net-worth clients. My experience spans strategic and tactical portfolio allocations, risk management, multi-factor and macroeconomic modeling, investment due diligence, and client communications. Additionally, I spent several years working for Bank of America/Merrill Lynch as a Research Analyst, focusing on a variety of hedge fund strategies, and served as a Staff Scientist at Columbia University, studying infrared galaxy spectra from the Spitzer Space Telescope.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
I love the combination of breadth and depth my role encompasses. Client values discussions span the gamut of E, S, and G issues, and are always evolving based on industry trends and emerging issues. Finding innovative ways to express these ideas in portfolios while really digging deep into the underlying data is quite enjoyable.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
Since joining Aperio, I’ve worked with our team in developing a new diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategy and a new racial justice strategy. I’ve had the opportunity to research sustainable agriculture issues, Paris-aligned and SDG-aligned investing, Scope 3 reporting, and to work to better communicate portfolio impact to our clients. Additionally, I’ve helped transition customized client portfolios to align with our new data sources, creating a comprehensive data dictionary in the process.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
Everyone here is incredibly open-minded, interested in sharing ideas, and deeply values learning. Additionally, Aperio is one of the few places I’ve encountered where, across all departments, the emphasis truly lies in how we can best serve our clients. It’s one thing for a company to say that client service is its focus, and it’s quite another to work for a company that lives that credo.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I am on the PTA board at my children’s school and the board of directors for Jasmine Blossom Thai Cuisine, and I participate in SPUR (the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association). Additionally, I am involved with the CAIA (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst) and CMT (Chartered Market Technician) organizations.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
When I’m not working, I’m an avid reader, gardener, baker, and gamer (video games, board games, logic puzzles). If you don’t find me with a shovel, spatula, or controller in hand, I’m likely out hiking around the Bay Area with my kids and three golden retrievers.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in Astrophysics, Physics from the University of California, Berkeley; MA in Social Entrepreneurship and Change from Pepperdine University; CMT (Chartered Market Technician) and CAIA (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst) professional certifications.

Liz Michaels

Chief of Staff & Member of the Office of the CEO (Chicago)

What are your key responsibilities?
I am a member of Aperio’s “Office of the CEO,” a structure implemented in 2019 to facilitate the transition to an organization led by two co-CEOs, Ran Leshem and myself, effective March 2021. In this role, I wear a number of hats at Aperio, including Chief of Staff, along with overseeing our SRI/ESG, marketing and strategy, and business development efforts. And, of course, there is the most fashion-forward of my hats—“other duties as assigned”—which may change with the season, but it’s always important to have something unexpected to keep things interesting.

Describe your key previous work experience.
My relevant experience falls into two buckets. The more obvious professional experience: I spent time at Morningstar and Ibbotson learning about data (building data sets, creating ways for investment professionals and researchers to access and use the data in thoughtful ways), about financial advisors (understanding their business so that we could best support them in best serving their clients), about communication (both words and visuals—good writing, expressed in a way that engages and respects the intended audience, visuals that enhance understanding and are consistent). I also spent time at Jellyvision learning about business and a different approach to an interactive communication and education. And then there are the less obvious experiences: Little Red School House focused on training us to be at best clear writers and at a minimum able to identify good writing, probably the most valuable class I took as an undergrad at the University of Chicago; and my liberal arts background, which has proved to be incredibly valuable in working with clients on translating their values into investment portfolios.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
It has been a privilege to be able to engage with clients with many different value sets and worldviews—to learn from them about different issue areas and how they think about them. And then collaborate with our researchers and portfolio managers to find a solution that uniquely reflects each client’s values.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
Currently, I have been working with an internal team on how to better communicate tracking error—how do we help set more realistic expectations, given what we understand, to reduce disappointments.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
A bit cliché, but the people are what I like most about working here. Folks at Aperio have chosen to be part of this firm, our approach, our values, and our mission. It is amazing to be part of a group that is striving to do better and to do the right thing by each other and by our clients. I learn from my colleagues on a daily basis—sometimes about business-related stuff and sometimes about books to read, shows to watch, and recipes to try.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I have been at Aperio 11 years, and my role has evolved as we have grown. I live in Chicago so have had the responsibility for our area relationships. While I am still involved, the lead for this is now handled (better) by Julie Enderson and Ellen Reynolds.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
Well … I now have three dogs running around my apartment (yes, that is barking in the background!), so I spend a fair amount of time just walking them. Working on my bread baking and mah-jongg game—both kind of at the same stage: I have the equipment and the directions, but things don’t always turn out quite as desired. Contemplating a Half Iron Man for 2020 … which is one approach to filling your time after sending your youngest off to college.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in Economics and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Recent Blog Posts

April 25, 2018 What We’ve Been Reading & Listening To

ESG Data: Biases and Limitations

Months ago, I saved an issue of Journal of Environmental Investing fully intending to read it—and after carrying it with me for more than 50,000 air miles...

Evan L. Mizrachy, CFA, CAIA

Senior Client Relationship Manager

What are your key responsibilities?
I am on Aperio’s business development team, where I am focused on building and maintaining our West Coast–based client and prospect relationships.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Prior to Aperio, I spent nine years working in a variety of roles at BlackRock. Having a seat at the world’s largest investment manager provided a wonderful 10,000-foot view of the asset management industry and the ways in which the industry is changing and evolving. It was this view that led me to Aperio, as I believe we sit at the intersection of so many of these industry trends (passive management, factor-based investing, values-aligned investing, etc.).

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
Coming from a corporate strategy background, I have spent a lot of time thinking about the future of the asset management and wealth management industries. Talking to clients every day provides me with a wonderful front-row seat to the changes at the forefront of our industry and the challenges/opportunities these changes are creating for advisors and investors. I love getting the opportunity to work with clients and prospects who are looking to align their portfolios with their values. It’s a treat to see the lightbulb go on for clients and advisors who are interested in investing more responsibly but weren’t aware of all the possibilities and potential an approach like ours brings.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I value the honesty and transparency we bring to every discussion, whether internally or with clients. Being able to talk with institutions, advisors, and end clients about how investment portfolios can be aligned with one’s values is another rewarding feature of working here. While ESG/SRI/impact investing is all over the news, many in the industry are nevertheless scratching their heads about how to best tackle these issues, and being part of those discussions is a real privilege.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I’m a member of the CFA Institute, the CFA Society San Francisco, and the CAIA Association.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
Spare time is a foreign concept when you have a toddler. When not at work, I can usually be found on a trail or in a park chasing after my dog or toddler. A native New Yorker, I moved out West more than a decade ago to enjoy the great outdoors and haven’t looked back.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
I have a BA in Economics from Colgate University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Rick Moreno

Director of Business Development

What are your key responsibilities?
I am responsible for developing and executing Aperio’s strategic business development plan. But most importantly, I am a partnership maker. At Aperio, when we say that every investor is unique, we do mean it. With my business development team, our most important role is to listen. We devote a large portion of our time engaging in deep, consultative dialogs with advisors and their clients. We then act like quarterbacks, coordinating Aperio’s experts to put together hypercustomized, cost- and tax-efficient portfolios that best fit the investor’s needs. My responsibility is not to grow our business at any cost. We know that things take time. We rely on solid, time-tested partnerships to grow our business in a sustainable manner.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Prior to Aperio, I held a variety of responsibilities at large public firms on the sell and buy sides. I began my career at Salomon Brothers as Director in the Fixed-Income Research division. I then joined Goldman Sachs as a Director of the Client Research and Strategy group. Later on, as a Managing Director at BlackRock, I was instrumental in establishing their family office, foundation, and endowment group. And as a Director at KKR, I headed up the firm’s family office business for the Western region.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
Looking back, I realize that I always focused on building solutions for clients. The most rewarding side of my job is to solve challenges with a team, one client at a time. This is why I joined Aperio. We are a truly unique firm with the most “client-first” culture I have ever experienced. We provide boutique, white-glove service allowing advisors to add outstanding value to their clients while scaling their business. I also enjoy training and mentoring the members of my team. Having worked in the financial industry for more than 30 years, I have been through many market cycles, and I like helping colleagues enjoy the journey by taking a long-term perspective to their jobs.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
We recently solved a very difficult challenge for a family office that had established a complex fund structure to serve more than 50 individuals across multiple generations. We’ve been able to deliver custom, high-performance, and tax-efficient solutions to each and every family member.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I would say the deep bench of experts, as well as the environment, are most appealing to me. Aperio has an amazing concentration of smart, low-ego, industry-leading experts who also are the most pleasant colleagues one could wish for. We extend this open and collegial spirit to the way we collaborate with clients, and they love it.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
My wife and I are involved with an organization called Dec My Room. My wife established the chapter for the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, California. This nonprofit organization decorates the rooms of seriously ill children who are hospitalized for extended periods. We are passionate about the organization as they do wonderful work helping the healing process of these children.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I enjoy traveling with my wife and kids. I am also an avid golfer and enjoy hiking.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Economics, with honors, from Santa Clara University.

Michael Nguyen

Junior Operations Associate

What are your key responsibilities?
As a member of the operations team, my key responsibilities include archiving custodial statements, processing proxy voting, daily monitoring and reconciliation of accounts, and reviewing the setup of billing rates in our customer relationship management (CRM) program.

Describe your key previous work experience.
During my undergrad years at the University of California, Davis, I spent a majority of my time performing statistical analysis on real-world data. There, I worked with a team of prospective analysts exploring ticket sales of the 1989 Batman movie using time series methods. Together, we created a predictive model that accurately estimated trends, seasonal effects, and stationary sequences for sales. I also worked with categorical data examining the US automobile market, determining the odds of selling new vehicles given certain consumer characteristics.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
The most interesting aspect of the job for me is seeing how well the company has transitioned and adapted to the Covid-19 pandemic. As someone who joined Aperio at the start of the crisis, it is extremely interesting to see the company come together as a whole and consistently find ways to revamp old processes as well as create new ones.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
Currently, I am working on a project to convert trailing proxy ballots and custodial statements to a fully electronic environment. With more than 40 custodians and thousands of accounts, this effort has significantly reduced the processing time and manual labor involved in voting proxies and archiving custodial statements. This transition enables our clients’ time-sensitive materials to be handled quickly and efficiently, allowing more time to be allocated to the growing needs of our clients.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
My favorite thing about working at Aperio is the work culture. Aperio is unlike any other financial firm you will find, focusing on the importance of respect and work-life balance, without compromising the quality of our work. Everyone here is extremely helpful, and they are some of the most down-to-earth people you will meet—a sought-after quality that is often hard to find in today’s workforce.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I am a member of the Vietnamese Student Association at the University of California, Davis.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
Since the age of 10, I spent most of my youth practicing and competing in Taekwondo! In particular, I competed in many state, national, and collegiate national competitions fighting in the men’s 68kg divisions. One of my most notable achievements was a bronze medal from the 2014 AAU Taekwondo Nationals in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Applied Statistics and BA in Economics with an emphasis in Data Analytics and Economic Analysis from the University of California, Davis.

Angela Osborne

Chief Operating Officer

What are your key responsibilities?
As the Chief Operating Officer, it’s my job to ensure everything runs smoothly. However, I do more than fix problems. I make sure that we have all the critical elements needed to successfully execute our strategy, operate our business, and service our clients. That is, the best people, technology, operations, and work environment.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I am fortunate to have seen the financial services industry from a number of different perspectives spanning asset management, banking, wealth management, alternative investments, family offices, and a broker/dealer. This journey has always seen me at the crossroads of business, operations, and technology transformation, and has led me to my current role as COO at Aperio, where I am able to bring all of this experience and knowledge together. Prior to joining Aperio, I was Executive Vice President and COO of Private Wealth Management at First Republic Bank in San Francisco, where I was responsible for all operating and client servicing functions across the private wealth management platform. Previously, I served as a Director at BlackRock, Inc., playing an essential role in the management of the operating and platform integration of Barclays Global Investors with BlackRock. My life in the industry started at Morgan Stanley & Co., where I had an extensive career working in the firm’s San Francisco and London offices. There, my roles included Executive Director of the West Coast Prime Brokerage Client Service division and Vice President of Business Consulting Services.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
It’s never boring, and I have countless opportunities to be creative. I’m always learning from the smart and diverse people around me, colleagues and clients alike. Every day presents new and interesting challenges that push me to adapt, chameleon-like, and draw not only on all my skills and experience but also those of everyone else.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
In my role, I get to be involved in a variety of projects that impact our clients, such as our new Client Portal and public website, enhancing our performance analytics and reporting, and automated work flows, to name a few.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
The culture and people are truly authentic. Everyone—both colleagues and clients—is so passionate about what they do, and genuinely collaborative and respectful. It’s wonderful to finally find a place in our industry where people walk the talk.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I’m honored to have spent almost 20 years volunteering with the San Francisco chapter of Help for Children, a global foundation funded by the alternative investments industry to support organizations working to prevent and treat child abuse.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I’m an outdoor aficionado—with a particular fondness for cycling, trail running, and scuba diving—and my husband and I love to travel around the world while enjoying good food and wine. When we are not out exploring the world, I am blogging about it through the eyes of our chocolate Labrador, Milo!

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA, with honors, in Modern Languages (German/Spanish) from the University of Bradford, England. In 2016, I went back to school and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Nelli Oster, PhD

Director of ESG/SRI

What are your key responsibilities?
As the Director of ESG/SRI, I lead a team of highly skilled ESG/SRI experts to support clients’ growing interest in aligning their portfolios with their personal missions and values. I work closely with the business development, research, portfolio management, and marketing teams, as well as our data vendors, to develop hypercustomized ESG/SRI strategies for our clients. I also liaise with our external industry partners to further enhance our client offering, including active ownership through proxy voting and the sponsoring of ESG/SRI-related shareholder resolutions.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Prior to joining Aperio, I headed ESG and defined contribution research and product development at Wells Fargo Asset Management. I started my investment management career at Barclays Global Investors, which later merged with BlackRock, where I served as a Researcher and Portfolio Manager in the firm’s quantitative stock selection strategies, and as a Senior Investment Strategist in the Global Investment Strategy and Model Portfolio Solutions group, while also spearheading the firm’s behavioral finance research and thought leadership. Earlier in my career, I was an Equity Research Analyst at Goldman Sachs, after beginning my career in the Mergers & Acquisitions group at Salomon Smith Barney.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
I particularly enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to structure investment strategies that align with our clients’ specific personal values; every client case is unique. My role is at the cross section of ESG, quantitative investing, strategy, and marketing. Against the backdrop of a rapidly evolving ESG industry, it is rewarding to be part of helping our clients have a positive impact, as they define it, through their portfolios.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I joined Aperio just as we were launching our new proprietary ESG system that allows for more flexibility and innovation in the space of Values-Aligned Investing. The close collaboration of teams across our firm, from ESG to research, portfolio management, marketing, and beyond, has been truly remarkable, especially given the sudden shelter-in-place orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the turbulent markets.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I like the people—highly skilled, respectful, and collaborative, with high integrity and a focus on learning—and the firm’s approach, a true partnership with our clients.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
In recent years, I have served to further diversity and inclusion in the investment management industry, with a specific focus on women, and to support public education.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I trained to be a professional dancer, and the athleticism, artistic expression, and quasi-meditative feeling in a ballet class is the perfect balance to my left-brain-focused professional life in quant investing.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BSc (with honors) in Management Sciences from the London School of Economics; PhD in Finance from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where my behavioral finance dissertation focused on expectations formation and learning in the financial markets.

Milena Price

Investment Operations Analyst

What are your key responsibilities?
As a member of the investment operations team, my key responsibilities include daily monitoring and reconciliation of accounts; data processing in our accounting system; carrying out various monthly and quarterly closing processes; working on projects to streamline operations and automate processes; and communicating with our assorted vendors and partners to resolve any issues related to daily processes, data delivery, and trade settlement.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Prior to Aperio, I was an ETF Analyst for a financial data provider. However, before that, I did basic scientific research for a nonprofit biomedical research institution.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
I enjoy learning new computer systems and software as well as the different ways that systems/processes interact.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I have worked on reconciling many new accounts, which is part of welcoming new clients to the firm.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
People genuinely care about clients and colleagues. It’s wonderful to be in a place where people ask, “How are you?” and are genuinely interested in the answer.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
Outside of Aperio, I am very involved in my Toastmasters club.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I enjoy Toastmasters, watching foreign movies, especially Italian movies, and going to the opera.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Human Biology from the University of California, San Diego; MS in Biological Sciences from Dominican University of California; MBA from the University of San Francisco.

Nicholas Riselli

Client Onboarding Analyst

What are your key responsibilities?
I serve as a primary point of contact for processing new accounts, responding to a variety of requests, varied administrative functions, and special projects. I also act as a liaison between clients and various Aperio functions including business development, trading, portfolio management, operations, billing, and performance reporting.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I was previously employed at State Street in Boston, where I worked in a client service role as the main point of contact between the firm and a number of mid-size to large asset managers and institutional clients. My responsibilities ranged from preparing and reviewing various client deliverables to overseeing daily custody operations and strengthening client relationships through in-person meetings and weekly service calls.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
The most interesting aspect of my job is being a part of the highly bespoke level of customization that we offer to our clients to help them best meet their needs.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I worked with the portfolio management and process engineering teams to help implement account setup automations for the Aperio Green REIT Strategy.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
What I like most about working at Aperio are the people and the culture of the company. The environment at Aperio is incredibly collaborative, with constant opportunities to learn and grow.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
In my free time, I enjoy being outdoors, whether that is exploring new hiking trails or going for a jog around the neighborhood. Also, sticking to my Boston roots, I love spending football Sundays cheering for the Patriots.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Resource Economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Sujay Sahoo

Software Engineer

What are your key responsibilities?
Being the newest member of Aperio’s internal software development team, I have joined at the most exciting time. Currently, we are in the process of moving many applications and other resources into the cloud. I am responsible for generating scripts to automate the process to set up a Windows environment for the supervisor project. In addition, I get to research and configure Terraform to automatically and efficiently do this in AWS (Amazon Web Services). In the near future, some of my responsibilities will be shifting to a Python web application that helps portfolio managers do their everyday jobs efficiently.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Prior to joining Aperio, I worked for a company that contracted with the government. My main responsibility was to work on the overhaul and upgrade of the Nosis application, which was used on all submarines and aircraft carriers in the United States Navy. This project required rebuilding the core modules from scratch, migrating existing data into the new schemas, and standardizing the data. In addition, I set up, upgraded, and maintained various classified suites in the classified lab. I also was first responder to any high-level issues that came in from the fleet.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
The most interesting aspect of the job is the freedom and creativity the team gives each individual to come up with unique solutions. With this flexibility comes the opportunity to learn about new and exciting technologies and how to implement them to provide a better service inside our internal applications. It seems I have joined at a very exciting time as we are upgrading and implementing new modern technologies into our processes/applications. One example is the migration to AWS, which is one space I want to learn more about and become an expert on.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
Two of the most appealing things about Aperio are the work culture/environment and values. There is a big emphasis on both those aspects, and you see that being demonstrated every day in the office. The people you work with are not just some other colleagues but a second family. Each person truly cares for each other. They want you to learn and grow, which results in your striving to become the best possible version of yourself.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
When I used to live in North Carolina, I would organize an annual basketball tournament (Balling for Budgets) to raise money for various local charities. This project combined my passions for playing sports and being able to help my community. In addition, I would volunteer at local schools to help tutor students in math or science-related subjects (both in North Carolina and Virginia). After getting settled in the San Francisco area, I want to continue this volunteer work to give back to the community.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I have three main hobbies. First, I play and watch sports, which have always been a big part of my life, from playing with friends to competing at the highest level in tournaments or other leagues. Second, I picked up a new interest in hiking various trails in Virginia and hope to continue trekking in the Bay Area to get away from all the technology and just take in the views Mother Nature provides. The peace and quiet are tranquilizing, allowing me to reflect on my thoughts. Third, I model out sports games. I am a stats-driven individual and enjoy the Moneyball approach to sport, so I play around with various statistics and additional factors to see if I can predict outcomes of games, form a budget-friendly superteam, and predict when regression is going to occur.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Quantitative Biology and Computer Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Jenna Salvay

Junior Operations Associate

What are your key responsibilities?
As a member of the operations team, my key responsibilities include archiving custodial statements, processing proxy voting, daily monitoring and reconciliation of accounts, and reviewing the setup of billing rates in our customer relationship management (CRM) program.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I have always been interested in the intersection of technology, finance, and environmental/social issues. These interests have led to my involvements as an intern within the renewable energy space as well as work as a researcher on the intersection of machine learning and air pollution at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. As a culminating experience, I completed my senior thesis on how messengers affect people’s perceptions on climate change communication.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
Every day, I am engaging with a new process or problem, so I have the opportunity to learn so much.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I recently began working on a process to reconcile management fees to ensure that this information is accurately reflected in our database.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
My favorite thing about working at Aperio is the focus on work-life balance coupled with a culture of honesty and openness. This environment has made it incredibly conducive to learning more about and enjoying the work I do. I know that I can reach out to anyone with a question or comment, which I really appreciate as a new hire.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I am a volunteer for the Prosp(a)rity Project, a nonprofit that provides black women with tools to achieve financial freedom and holistic success. When I am able to, I hope to join an adult soccer league.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I enjoy participating in all kinds of sports: soccer, tennis, hiking, squash (mediocrely), and surfing (also mediocrely). I also love cooking; ask me about why you should invest in a bread maker! Next on my list of culinary pursuits is cultivating my own kombucha.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in Quantitative Social Science with a concentration in Environmental Economics and Policy from Dartmouth College.

Ben Schneider, CFA

Investment Strategist and Tax Economist

What are your key responsibilities?
As an Investment Strategist and Tax Economist at Aperio, I support and advise clients on asset allocation, taxes, risk management, and other complex investment questions. I also work closely with the portfolio management and research team to develop analytical tools and materials that help our clients understand the trade-offs of various investment decisions.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Before Aperio, I worked as an Investment Strategist for BlackRock, Inc.’s systematic global macro hedge fund and discretionary tactical asset allocation teams, where I supported BlackRock’s strategic institutional partnerships in the United States, Asia, and South America. I was also responsible for developing software to support signal research and target risk optimization for multi-asset, long/short investment strategies. Previously, I worked as an Investment Banking Analyst at Lazard Ltd.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
While strategists typically focus on the non-investment support we provide clients, sometimes we get to contribute to the investment process too. One example is the work we’ve done on American depositary receipt fees. In addition to providing some insight into the trade-offs among the different ways to get exposure to non-US companies, we also use the output of that work to shape our investible universe and reduce transaction costs for our investors.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I enjoy yoga, swimming, and kiteboarding.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BS in Business Administration from the University of Southern California; MBA in Accounting from the USC Marshall School of Business; MFE from the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business.

Recent Blog Posts

October 6, 2020 Active Tax Management

Loss Harvesting with Inflation-Adjusted Gains

In a White House press briefing in August, US President Donald Trump said he is “considering a capital gains tax cut.” While the administration has discussed a straightforward reduction of the long-term capital gains rate, the impact of such a change...

August 19, 2020 Active Tax Management

Impact of Biden’s Capital Gains Proposal on the Performance of Loss-Harvesting Strategies

As part of a broader tax plan, US presidential candidate Joe Biden has proposed changes to the treatment of capital gains. Because Aperio manages portfolios designed to increase investors’ capital gains efficiency, we explored the impact of the proposed changes...

November 12, 2018 Values-Aligned Investing

ESG Exclusions: Setting Expectations

Investors often ask us about the expected impact of certain socially responsible (SRI/ESG) constraints on the risk and performance of a portfolio. In our earlier work, we explored several different approaches for constructing a custom SRI/ESG portfolio to....

Authorship

International Equity for US Investors

Nate Sewell

Quality Assurance Engineer

What are your key responsibilities?
I’m a member of Aperio’s information technology team. As a software Quality Assurance Engineer, I ensure that our internal software application, WASAP (Web-Based Active Service Access Point), is always working as expected and 100% free of defects for our internal customers. However, due to the inherent nature of developing software … being 100% defect free is pretty much a fairy tale. Being a part of a software development team means learning to be at peace with something that is always in a state of evolution and, therefore, never truly “finished.” As long as we’re enhancing our customers’ experience with the software, there will always be “bugs” (aka defects) to fix. So, I guess you could say I’m the team’s “Pest Control.” My job is to hunt down those bugs and squash them before they inconvenience the customer.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Working as a QA Engineer and Business Analyst since 2004, I’ve served on software development teams at a number of different firms. They’ve ranged from small startups to mature midsize companies and global corporate behemoths. I’ve worked in several different fields within the information technology industry as well, such as financial services, mortgage banking, hospitality, and healthcare. All these experiences have contributed to my success here at Aperio in some way.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
Working at Aperio has been my introduction to the investment industry. The first thing I learned here was … there’s a lot to learn. I’ve become acquainted with the myriad of intricacies and complexities inherent to investing, tax-loss harvesting, portfolio optimization, socially responsible investing (SRI), and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors. In addition to learning industry-specific topics, I’ve also been given the opportunity to expand my skill set by learning how to automate my tests using the Python programming language. So, not only am I learning a new industry, I’m learning valuable skills within my own domain as a QA Engineer! I think that’s pretty awesome!

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
My clients are the internal users here at Aperio who use our internally developed WASAP software application. I’m leading the manual testing effort for the portfolio manager rewrite project within the WASAP application. This is exciting to me because this module allows the users to move away from their legacy application and instead use the features built into our updated web-based application. If my clients are happy, then life is good!

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I LOVE the culture here! Aperio is one of those rare gems amongst the typical and all-too-common “fool’s gold” employers out there. We may not have an arcade, nap pods, or beer on tap in the office, but this is a place where everyone—and I mean EVERYONE—has a voice and is treated as an equal. Everyone here treats each other with well-mannered and respectful courtesy. To not do so would not be tolerated here. In addition, we share a work-life balance that is uncommon in the typical Bay Area workplace. I really enjoy being a part of Aperio’s Book Club, where we read and discuss a thought-provoking new title every two to three months.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I’m a father, and I’m also an entertainer. So, when I’m not here, I’m usually hanging with my kids playing/coaching soccer, singing, practicing hip hop routines, playing guitar, playing video games, watching movies, and best of all, making my kids laugh. During the summer months, we get our adventure on in a serious way! We head to Lake Sonoma with my water jetpack and WaveRunner and fly around the lake 50 feet above the water!

Michelle Shkedi

Lead Portfolio Manager – Research, Process, and Systems

What are your key responsibilities?
My role involves working at the intersection of investment research, portfolio management policies, and technology. As a member of the portfolio management research team, I am primarily responsible for developing the portfolio management processes for managing our 5,000-plus accounts, creating custom strategies for clients, and refining our off-the-shelf strategies. My role also involves analyzing a significant amount of data, finding patterns, building prototypes of tools, and determining which courses of action we should undertake. I focus a lot on understanding how we can better utilize our risk models. Much of my role is dedicated to implementing our research by developing portfolio management processes and collaborating with our technology team to innovate our tools. I lead the firm’s Standards Committee, which focuses on creating investment and client communication policies for the portfolio management team, and serve as Chair of the Customization Committee, which focuses on the implementation of nonstandard portfolio management requests.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I previously was a Junior Investment Analyst at Alternative Investment Group, a fund of hedge funds focused primarily on investing in emerging hedge fund managers. Prior to my role at Alternative Investment Group, I was an Econometric Analyst at Omnicom, where I focused primarily on building multivariate linear regression models for allocating media investments. In college, I was a co-founder of a B2B startup that focused on improving the presentation experience for presenters and audience members.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
I enjoy problem-solving from multiple angles. We regularly approach problems theoretically, empirically, and using feedback from live accounts to tailor our research.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I helped develop a utility function to determine the optimal trades for clients. This has enabled us to better customize how we manage risk and harvest losses across client portfolios.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
The entrepreneurial spirit at Aperio offers so many opportunities to learn about all aspects of Aperio’s business. I collaborate on projects with investment strategists, business development, and systems development.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I began my career at Aperio as an Associate Portfolio Manager. I then transitioned into portfolio management research after undertaking (and greatly enjoying) a project with the research team.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I am a member of the Wellesley College Alumnae Association.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I am an avid skier and swimmer. In the winter, I’m typically in Tahoe or the Rockies over the weekends. Otherwise, I’m at the pool or in the Bay long-distance swimming (and occasionally escaping Alcatraz).

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in Economics from Wellesley College.

Will Sipila

Senior Data Architect

What are your key responsibilities?
As Senior Data Architect, I lead a small team within the systems development group that designs, implements, and maintains database functionality, data layer management, and processes to continually improve the data environment for internal users and development teams. Data is an integral part of Aperio, and my team is focused on making sure that high-quality, timely data is available to users; creating self-healing processes to help manage our day-to-day operations; and planning for future data needs.

Describe your key previous work experience.
In my previous role as Senior Web Applications Developer/Data Artist, I developed front- and back-end tiers for secure online case management systems for government and nonprofit agencies. The second part of my title was jokingly given to me by my supervisor after I rewrote the core product’s back-end and data layers from the ground up. My experience there and in prior positions is wide-ranging and also includes desktop and mobile application programming, network engineering, security analysis and penetration testing, server builds, systems engineering and administration, and data mining and analysis … to name a few.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
I enjoy writing code, working on cross-functional teams, and I find data (and the patterns within) fascinating. It’s a perfect fit.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
It’s not enough to work on interesting projects. Working in a tight, collaborative environment with good, smart people on interesting projects—that’s what I enjoy most about working at Aperio.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I joined Aperio as a Senior Full Stack Developer, working on our internal web-based tools, but soon I took on responsibilities outside development and began managing our data and databases and helping develop more optimized data processes. In my current role, I have more opportunity to leverage my background to set strategy but still get my hands dirty writing code.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I continually try to trick my cats into wearing Wi-Fi cameras, so far to no avail. I also enjoy traveling with my partner to tropical locations to relax, scuba dive, and learn interesting science trivia.

Paul O. Solli

Chief Strategy Officer & Head of Product Development

What are your key responsibilities?
In my capacity as one of Aperio’s co-founders, and as a former wealth manager myself, my role at Aperio has always been to act as a proxy for the advisor to answer one question: what’s the best-in-class public equity solution available for my client’s particular circumstance? I like simplicity; I don’t like noise or clutter. In that respect, I constantly benchmark Aperio against Vanguard and DFA, two firms I admire for both their products and integrity. If we can’t deliver a public equity solution that adds value beyond their simple mutual fund, exchange-traded fund or co-mingled products, don’t use us. After all, we formed Aperio to provide solutions for sophisticated advisors whose ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) clients are looking for more tax efficiency than funds can provide, or customization around their values or risk, or consulting support, or all of the above.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I began my career as a CPA with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Company in Boston, and also worked in strategy consulting for Bain & Company in San Francisco. Prior to Aperio, I had my own wealth management firm, and before that, I was Vice President of Salomon Brothers’ Investment Strategies group, responsible for structuring portfolios and advising pension funds and investment companies, as well as working with some of the early indexing pioneers, including Wells Fargo-Nikko/BGI (now part of BlackRock) and Mellon Capital.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
At Aperio, we’re evangelists. We’re evangelists for indexing, for truth, for low fees, for tax efficiency, and for customization. What’s interesting for me personally is just getting the word out, convincing intermediaries that we are the best partner to help them serve UHNW clients who demand institutional-level expertise and a personal touch. That includes educating our clients that in today’s separately managed account (SMA) world, the best public equity solution is not a product you can buy off the shelf but rather a service customized around taxes, risk, and values that comes with ongoing consulting and customer support. In other words, the best public equity solution is a collaboration that comes from a partnership between us and our clients.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I’ve worked on many exciting projects over the years, almost all of them the result of collaborating with our clients to provide better solutions to their clients. One of the most exciting was a request from a client who wanted to know if it was possible to customize a portfolio to reflect a specific client’s values while at the same time track a target index. That simple request, and the research associated with it, caused us to launch our Socially Responsive Indexing service, and we’re now leaders in helping clients incorporate their values into their portfolios while still capturing the market return. Another interesting project came from a large Registered Investment Adviser who asked if we could help them simplify their public equity exposure from three portfolios (US, foreign developed, and foreign emerging markets) into one tax-managed global portfolio. As a result of that request, we became one of the first SMA managers to offer tax-managed global portfolios designed to track customized benchmarks, and in many ways pioneered the use of “pink sheet” American depositary receipts to achieve broad diversification and tight benchmark tracking. I could share many other examples, but the key point is that our projects typically start with a question or request from a client.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I honestly believe that integrity amplifies intelligence, and what I like most about working at Aperio is that we have a highly intelligent group of people, with high integrity, who are all driven to do the right thing for clients, no matter what, even when the best recommendation for the client is not the best result for Aperio’s bottom line. I enjoy the same qualities in the intermediaries with whom we work—they’re smart, they care about getting the right solution for their clients, and they have the integrity to always put their clients’ interests above their own. Does it get any better than that?

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I’ve served on or advised many different investment committees over the years and enjoy putting myself in the shoes of the asset owner evaluating the range of products available in the market today. Suffice to say that 99.9%, maybe more, of what’s out there is garbage, or to put a kinder spin on it, unnecessary.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I am a dual citizen of Norway and the United States. I enjoy pretty much all things outdoors. I like to hike, run, and bike mountain trails, ski, fly-fish (mainly salt water), surf, and kite-surf. In the spring and summer, I try to keep late afternoons open so I can kitesurf if the wind is blowing, and in the fall and winter, I try to keep early mornings open so I can surf when the swell arrives. And there is nothing I like more than engaging in these activities with my family or our folks at Aperio, for example, kitesurfing with one of our strategists after work or surfing with some of our portfolio managers on the weekend. For me, it doesn’t get any better than that.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

Recent Blog Posts

November 1, 2018 Observations

Does Klay Thompson Have a Hot Hand?

Wow, talk about “hot hands”! On Monday night, Golden State Warrior Klay Thompson set an NBA record with 14 three-pointers against the Chicago Bulls, breaking the previous record of 13 set by teammate Stephen Curry....

November 29, 2017 Active Tax Management

Introducing Aperio's After-Tax Back-Testing Analysis Tool (ATBAT)

An enormous body of academic finance literature discusses the pre-tax performance of public equity factor tilts, but almost nothing measures the impact of taxes on taxable asset owners. Pete Hand, Aperio’s Director of Quantitative Strategies, has remarked over the years that...

October 19, 2017 Active Tax Management

Adding Alpha by Defusing the Disposition Effect

(Or Tying Yourself to the Mast)

In 1979, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky published "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk." Regarded as perhaps the seminal paper in behavioral economics, the article’s central idea is that “losses have more emotional impact than an equivalent amount of gains”...

Dan Spier

Head of Portfolio Trading

What are your key responsibilities?
As Head of Portfolio Trading, I oversee Aperio’s trade execution and optimization efforts along with related infrastructure. My job is to ensure that Aperio can optimize and execute at scale, while ensuring reliability and minimal slippage.

Describe your key previous work experience.
My career began at Morgan Stanley, where I covered ultra-high-net-worth individuals and venture capital clients. I subsequently spent several years focused on trading international markets at Standard Pacific Capital (a $5 billion long/short equity and credit hedge fund), including less developed markets such as Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and MENA (Middle East and North Africa). I later oversaw the trading function with a specific research focus on TMT (technology, media, and telecommunications), financial, and industrial sectors.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
I find the tactical and operational challenges of applying institutional-grade trading tools within a retail construct formidable and welcome. As quantitative indexers and tax-loss harvesters, we are very active traders. Our firm’s success is measured in tracking error—and improving execution quality has a direct and compounding impact on the quality of our offering.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
Aperio is an erudite firm steeped in academia and quantitative finance. This pedantic backdrop belies a culture of open doors, of lively conversation over communal lunches, and of a tightly knit social fabric replete with close friendships and shared interests.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I am active in several organizations with a focus on youth and family homelessness in San Francisco. The organizations that I am most passionate about are the Larkin Street Geary House, where I am part of a group that provides mentorship as well as weekly dinners to formerly homeless young adults, and Hamilton Families, whose mission is to provide housing and support to single mothers and their young children. I help tend a community garden and volunteer there.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
My time away from work is primarily occupied with sampling every park and play structure in the greater Bay Area with my two small kids. My weekend passions include exploring lost corners of the Sierras in our camper van (ideally, setting out by mountain bike).

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in Business Economics, with a minor in Russian, from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Recent Blog Posts

January 26, 2021 Observations

Free Is a Dangerous Word (Especially during a Pandemic)

In the past 18 months, we’ve witnessed some extraordinary changes in how retail stock investors trade, from the broad shift for many brokerage firms toward zero commissions to the jump in trading by individuals in 2020, presumably a result of the pandemic...

Michael Stevens

Senior Client Relationship Manager (Boston)

What are your key responsibilities?
As a Senior Client Relationship Manager, I listen first, then collaborate with my colleagues and with family office professionals, Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) firms, and sophisticated private wealth teams to build custom solutions for ultra-high-net-worth families and institutions.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Before joining Aperio, I spent more than two decades providing leadership and client-first development within private wealth and family office markets. Most recently, I held various senior positions at State Street Global Advisors, including Senior Managing Director and Head of US SPDR Intermediary Sales, in which capacity, I led the shift to focus on large, sophisticated RIA firms, private wealth teams, and multifamily offices for business development. I have a unique view on growth indexing and tax-managed investing in the private wealth market, both from a separately managed account and an exchange-traded fund perspective.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
Regularly, we get to work with great advisors on complex family portfolios or institutions changing their mandates. Typically, this type of request is for our clients’ largest clients and there is a particular challenge to solve for that needs careful thought, tax or portfolio analysis, and collaboration. My colleagues in portfolio strategy and management embrace the opportunity to analyze the situation, test different outcomes, and build a better solution. This work is rewarding and develops long-term partnerships with our clients.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I love the culture! I have really smart colleagues with no ego who want to serve our clients first! The collaboration across the firm is remarkable. Do what is best for the client and respect and listen to your colleagues.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I enjoy Boston sports and am an avid boater and weekend chef. A perfect day for me includes spending time with my wife, Carolyn, three children, and dog on Cape Cod.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in Business Administration from Gordon College.

Ryan Stever

Senior Quantitative Researcher

What are your key responsibilities?
My key responsibilities involve researching how various factor strategies interact with tax-loss harvesting, how our risk models are utilized in our portfolio construction process, and how Aperio strategies might be improved through either the portfolio construction process or the data that is the starting point for how Aperio portfolios are built.

Describe your key previous work experience.
My career started in central banking. My first role was at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, where I worked in the research department. Most of my time was spent working on models that quantitatively evaluate bank risk and studies focused on the financial side of the macroeconomy. The work proved to be an incredible launching ground for not only my PhD in finance but also a career in quant finance. In the last two years of my PhD, I was engaged in contract work at Schwab, Barclays Global Investors, and startup Financial Crossing. These were interesting roles, but most important, they supplemented my meager graduate student stipend. After finishing my PhD, I went to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland. My interview with the BIS was the first time I left the United States! It was a wonderful experience living abroad. From there, I went to Acadian Asset Management, where I worked on all aspects of quant finance including management, research, and portfolio management. From there, I went to Citadel to work on the intersection of quant and fundamental asset management, leading the alpha capture team. After a friend introduced me to Paul Solli, I got to know Aperio and their distinct culture and approach toward investing. I felt a connection to the people and their mission to reveal the truth and be transparent about the conflicts of interest that exist in the asset management world. In short, their focus on culture, the needs of their clients, and the trust within the organization struck me as unique and something I wanted to be a part of.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
The most interesting aspect of my job is researching data and strategies from the Aperio point of view. Our goal is to reveal the truth, and for me, that means being a researcher and investment manager who constantly reminds himself to be humble. To approach problems from the point of view that I must be skeptical of past relationships persisting into the future and what data and messaging will most help our clients understand the scope, risks, costs, and benefits of the strategies they choose.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
To start, I have been reviewing our value and dividend yield strategies. I have had a continual focus on learning the tax code and how it interacts with our tax-loss harvesting strategies. Finally, I have enjoyed being a secondary member of projects, such as attribution.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
Aperio's focus is different from that of the other companies I worked for. First, we focus on sustainable growth by building strong relationships with our clients. Oftentimes, firms are happy to gather short-term assets without enough consideration of how those assets fit with the firm culture and investment thesis. Building that trust goes beyond clients. We are efficient because groups and people trust each other. This yields synergies that other financial firms often fail to cultivate.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I am a member of the school board at my kids’ school. I am also on the board of a charitable organization, the Loyal Foundation. Finally, I am active in the music scene, currently singing lead and playing rhythm guitar (and sometimes piano) with a group that mostly plays the Grateful Dead and music that intersects funk, rock, and jazz.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I love my family—a wife and two boys. I am dedicated to my yoga practice and singing and enjoy running from time to time and walking our family’s gigantic dog.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
MS and PhD in Finance from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

Robert Tymoczko

Director of Portfolio Management

What are your key responsibilities?
As Director of Portfolio Management, I am responsible for overseeing the day-to-day portfolio management, trade execution, and strategy implementation of all investment products and separately managed accounts at Aperio. I am also heavily involved in many of the firm’s quantitative research, process, and automation projects.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Prior to joining Aperio, I was a Managing Partner at AlphaStream Capital Management, LLC, where I was responsible for quantitative research and portfolio management. Before AlphaStream, I served as Lead Portfolio Manager and Co-Head of US Quantitative Equity Products at Zurich Scudder Investments.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
The most interesting aspect of my role is the balance between quantitative research and day-to-day portfolio management. Many of our research ideas come from our portfolio management group, and it is always exciting to see those ideas go from research initiatives to being implemented in our portfolio construction process.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
In collaboration with our portfolio management research team, we have been working on a research project to incorporate our asset-level transaction cost analysis into our transaction cost modeling. This research will allow us to incorporate our actual trade executions into our transaction cost models, with the goal of improving future trade executions.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
Aperio’s emphasis on cross-departmental projects allows me the opportunity to collaborate with all of the other teams at Aperio. This creates tremendous learning opportunities with respect to the different functions outside portfolio management. I believe that the insights from having these varied perspectives can lead to better investment products and processes.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
In my spare time, I enjoy kitesurfing, hiking, and camping, as well as spending time with my two pugs.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in Quantitative Economics from Stanford University and MBA with concentrations in Finance and Econometrics from the University of Chicago.

Authorship

Simge Ulucam

Quantitative Researcher

What are your key responsibilities?
I work as a Quantitative Researcher within the research team. My job involves assessing current investment strategies; developing new tax-efficient, factor, and ESG offerings; and creating brand-enhancing academic articles. In my day-to-day roles, I address complex tax and risk-modeling problems that arise in both academic and practical contexts.

Describe your key previous work experience.
Prior to Aperio, I worked for a hedge fund manager, Mathematica Capital Management, where I was responsible for portfolio management, data analysis, and equity research. I oversaw three enhanced-index long-only strategies (Swiss, Europe, and Global; $500 million-plus in AUM). I also managed portfolios for four long-short market-neutral strategies: US small-cap, US micro-cap, Europe small-cap, and Japan micro-cap strategies ($30 million-plus in AUM). My educational background is focused in mathematics and engineering.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
The most appealing aspect of my job at Aperio is that I get to work with the thought leaders of our industry, who make me aspire to always bring intellectual rigor to my work. However, what mainly brings me to work every day is the pastries that Sandrine makes.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
From time to time, I collaborate with other departments on automation projects to improve processes and reporting functionalities to provide a better client experience.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I like that Aperio’s values align well with my personality and worldview. I also like the friendly company culture here. And the book club, of course! But mainly Sandrine’s baked goods.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I have worn many hats at Aperio since I started working here in 2012. I worked in almost every department and with almost everyone—including client experience, portfolio accounting, performance reporting, portfolio management, and lastly, portfolio management research—before moving into research full time. It is important to mention that whatever your career goals are, they will be heard. This company rewards ambition and hard work and does its best to meet your career growth expectations.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I am the proud mom of a young daughter who is a big J.K. Rowling (and Tolkien) fan. I love joining in on her adventures, “geeking out” and experiencing the world through her eyes.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BSc in Mathematical Engineering from Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul; Master of Financial Engineering degree from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

Authorship

Are Hedge Funds Anti-Quality?

Austin Wilson

Associate ESG/SRI Investment Strategist and Head of Active Ownership

What are your key responsibilities?
As an ESG/SRI Investment Strategist, I help clients identify and express their values in their portfolios. As the Head of Active Ownership, I manage Aperio’s proxy voting and shareholder advocacy services, which offer clients the opportunity to directly impact the companies in which they invest.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I led the Environmental Health Program at As You Sow, the nation’s leading nonprofit practitioner of shareholder advocacy. I also led the organization’s shareholder relations efforts.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
Every portfolio we build is unique, and every day is different. I am constantly learning from our clients and from my team as we uncover the capabilities and limitations of ESG data.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I worked with our engineering team to create technical systems that support shareholder advocacy (the sponsorship of shareholder resolutions with individual companies). This allowed us to scale and streamline this service, bringing opportunities to all interested clients and making participating easier than ever.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I appreciate the culture of honesty, humility, and kaizen.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I love the great outdoors, especially on a mountain bike, and cooking my way across the globe.

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I started at Aperio as an ESG/SRI Investment Associate.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
Magna cum laude from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a combined BA in Politics and Mathematics/Economics.

James Yoon

Manager of Marketing Communications

What are your key responsibilities?
I oversee the production of all external-facing marketing materials, blast email communications, and the company website content. If you’ve read any of our research papers, presentation decks, fact sheets, e-newsletters, blogs—you get the picture—my fingerprints will most likely be all over them.

Describe your key previous work experience.
I began my career at Charles Schwab Corporation, where I held various project manager and marketing positions in finance and marketing, including website administration and content publishing for Schwab Institutional’s very first client website, back when the Internet as we know it was just a few years old (yes, I often date myself). My career then took a 90-degree turn into the health care field, where I spent more than 10 years at institutions such as California Pacific Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. Although health care may be a very different industry from financial services, significant parts of my roles in that field included marketing and web content management responsibilities. My desire to return to finance led me to Aperio in 2015.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
My marketing role provides me the opportunity to collaborate with just about every department at Aperio. A common frustration heard at many companies is how departments tend to work in “silos,” but this is one complaint you will never hear from me because it definitely does not apply! On any given day, I may go from working on a project with the client relationship team to the research people to our senior leaders to the human resources department.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
Well, you can say that most of the projects I work on impact our clients as they are the end users of the materials, but if I had to highlight one recent project, it would be our new website. I provided input during the design phase, published all of the content for the public site, and assisted with user testing before launch.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
While this may sound like I’ve been drinking too much of the Aperio Kool-Aid (I’m more of a Hi-C guy anyway), it is the people here that make my job enjoyable—a smart, friendly, humble, and respectful group of folks. I also like that a couple of them even recognize, and appreciate, my ’80s pop culture references (have I mentioned that I often date myself?).

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
I started at Aperio as a Marketing Coordinator and transitioned into my current role of Manager of Marketing Communications in January 2018.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
Outside of work, I enjoy a good walk spoiled (google “Mark Twain” for more information). I also enjoy snorkeling in the warm Caribbean waters, with the operative word being “warm,” as I refuse to dip my toes in anything less than 80 degrees Fahrenheit. And I hope to one day finish writing my coffee table book about coffee tables.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
BA in Economics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Dorian Young, CFA, CAIA

Senior Portfolio Strategist

What are your key responsibilities?
As a Senior Portfolio Strategist at Aperio, my position is a hybrid role—part senior portfolio manager and part resident expert supporting our relationship management team as well as our clients.

Describe your key previous work experience.
As Head of the Quantitative Analytics & Risk Strategy group at RCM Capital Management (now absorbed by Allianz Global Investors), I had a front-row seat to the ups and downs of active portfolio management, despite working alongside a very talented group of professionals. Perhaps this experience made me destined to pursue passive investment management—or at least drew me toward structural alpha. Additionally, my roles have included investment consulting at Milliman Investment Consulting, where we did asset allocation studies and manager research; multi-factor back-testing and simulation research projects at Vestek Systems; management consulting at A.T. Kearney; and operations research on tractor-trailer schedule optimization at United Parcel Service.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
For me, some of the most enjoyable (and challenging) aspects of this role are the frequent discussions with clients about their often complicated situations—and talking through how different management strategies may provide them customized (and happy) solutions.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
There have been many interesting projects directly impacting our clients, including building a “white label” multi-factor strategy for one client and developing a tax management strategy for a different client whose legacy portfolio had the lowest cost-to-market-value ratio I had ever seen here, at 4% (i.e., a 25-fold increase in market value since purchase!). Perhaps the most interesting project, however, was for a large client with two pooled vehicles where Aperio would be one of five managers in each pool—and the client wanted to customize the sector and industry weights, as well as the factor and beta exposures, to control the overall risk of the entire pool (talk about the tail wagging the dog)! This client has been extremely appreciative of the customization we have been providing, allowing them the flexibility they desire.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
Everybody is positive! I have never seen this before in my career. I also like the Lunch and Learns (depending on the lunch …).

What previous role(s) did you serve at Aperio?
Although my role hasn’t officially changed, it has evolved as each year brings new opportunities to get involved. Whether it’s contributing to a big client project, or working on the factor strategies and tax-loss harvesting presentation decks, or giving a Lunch and Learn, the interesting opportunities have continuously flowed.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I’m a member of the CFA Institute, the CFA Society San Francisco (and former member of the board of directors and Chair of Continuing Education Committee), and the CAIA Association.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
My typical day begins with my wife and I enjoying homemade cappuccinos before donning our bike gear and cycling our 30-minute loop through the Presidio national park and Crissy Field. (The hot coffee rarely wins the temperature battle against the cold and windy San Francisco seasons.) We also enjoy international and domestic travel to check out the world.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
AB cum laude in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University; MBA, with honors, in Financial Management and International Business from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business; Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designations.

Recent Blog Posts

August 22, 2018 Observations

Hotly Revamped GICS Communications Sector Gets Some FAANGs

The Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®) will be revamping its shrunken Telecommunication Services sector (now just 1.9% of the S&P 500 Index) into a hot, newly renamed Communication Services sector...

Monica Zhuang

Financial/Business Analyst

What are your key responsibilities?
As a member of Aperio’s finance team, my primary responsibilities include board reporting; budgeting; forecasting; developing a systematic, custom-focused fee strategy; offering improved transparency in product costs; and streamlining business processes.

Describe your key previous work experience.
At my recent role with Morrison & Foerster LLP (MoFo), I worked as a Financial Data Analyst offering data insights for pricing, billing, and collections, as well as the firm’s overall financial performance, while developing business intelligence (BI) reporting solutions. A major project I accomplished was the MoFo Tableau partner dashboard, for which I was the lead developer. I also had previous years of experience in financial reporting, analysis, budgeting, and forecasting with the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Motorola (China) Electronics Ltd.

What is the most interesting aspect of the job to you?
Other than the typical financial analysis functions, there’s an entrepreneurial and explorative aspect in this role, which gives me the opportunity to view and evaluate Aperio’s operation and performance as a whole from both business and technical perspectives. This is exciting and gratifying to me, in the sense that I can dig in deep as much as I want while also taking a step back to look at the big picture.

Describe some noteworthy projects you have worked on that directly impact Aperio’s clients.
I work closely with our business development team to offer a more comprehensive pricing strategy that allows Aperio to stay competitive while maintaining its unique quality investment product solution.

What do you like most about working at Aperio?
I like working with a group of intelligent and driven people from whom I can learn things, while it’s also a fun and friendly workplace in which coworkers can share hobbies after hours.

List any committees or organizations you are a member of outside Aperio.
I hold a license from the California Department of Real Estate.

What are some non-work-related things we should know about you?
I’m an avid runner and traveler, constantly contemplating where to run and travel next.

What postsecondary degrees and/or professional certifications do you possess?
Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing and MBA in Finance and Decision & Information Sciences from the University of Florida.