Charlie Bobrinskoy

Vice Chairman, Ariel Investments

Charlie manages Ariel's focused value strategy—an all-cap, concentrated portfolio of U.S. stocks. He also spearheads Ariel’s thought leadership efforts and takes an active role in representing Ariel’s investment strategies with prospective investors, clients and major media. Prior to joining Ariel in 2004, Charlie spent 21 years as an investment banker at Salomon Brothers and its successor company Citigroup, where he rose to managing director and head of North American investment banking branch offices. Charlie actively serves the Chicago community, sitting on the corporate boards of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company and ACI Worldwide as well as the boards of the Big Shoulders Fund, La Rabida Children’s Hospital Foundation, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation and the Chicago Club. He also teaches monthly investing classes at two Chicago inner-city schools. Charlie graduated with an AB in economics from Duke University and earned an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Dr. Terry Daugherty

Dean, Scott College of Business, Indiana State University

Daugherty earned his B.A. at Western Kentucky University, his M.A. at the University of Alabama, and his Ph.D. at Michigan State University.

He was a postdoctoral fellow at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management. After that, he went to the University of Texas at Austin as an assistant professor in the Department of Advertising. He started at the University of Akron in 2009 where he served on the faculty and in various administrative capacities, including department chair and assistant dean.

Daugherty’s scholarship is focused on examining consumer psychology and persuasion within digital marketing and advertising. He theorizes and empirically tests how individual characteristics and media properties influence cognitive processing and consumer behavior.

Thomas Digenan

Managing Director and Lead Equity Investment Specialist, UBS Global Asset Management

Tom Digenan is the Lead Investment Specialist for Equities in WMA.  In his role, he is responsible for driving our equity strategy in the channel and supporting Client Advisors for Active equity products. Prior to his current role, Tom worked in the Active equity team for over 20 years, latterly as head of the US Intrinsic Value Equity team. In this role, he was responsible for US equities portfolio construction and research.

Prior to his role with the US Intrinsic Value Equity team, Tom was president of the firm’s mutual funds and relationship funds organization. Prior to joining the UBS predecessor organization Brinson Partners in 1993, Tom was a senior manager at KPMG Peat Marwick, where he worked exclusively in the investment services industry.

Tom is a member of the CFA Institute and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is formerly a Board member of CFA Society Chicago.  He is also currently  on the Advisory Board for the Driehaus Center for Behavioral Finance at DePaul University. Tom was an adjunct professor in the Marquette University Graduate School of Business from 2012-2016.  In addition, Tom has been a guest lecturer at Northwestern University, University of Notre Dame and Creighton University.  He has also served as an adjunct professor at DePaul University since 2020.

Buff Dormeier, CMT

Partner and Chief Technical Analyst, Kingsview Partners

Buff Dormeier, CMT® provides four important roles to our clientele that of a financial advisor, consultant, analyst, and a portfolio manager. Armed with proprietary indicators and investment programs, Buff dynamically advises affluent and institutional clientele on strategies to help meet their specific investment objectives in what are often uncertain investment climates. As an advisor, Buff has been named a “Best in State Wealth Advisor” by Forbes*. As an analyst in 2007, Buff’s technical research was awarded the Charles H. Dow Award**, distinguishing him as the only financial advisor to thus far win the Award. The Charles H. Dow Award is considered one of the most important recognitions in the field of technical analysis. As an accomplished portfolio manager applying advanced technical/quant analysis, some simply refer to Buff as “the geek”.

However, Buff considers himself to be an evangelist of sorts. He enjoys sharing his investment theories as a foremost expert on volume analysis presenting at international conferences such as TradeStation’s World Conference, Latin America’s Portfolio Manager’s Conference, and the World Money Show.

An award-winning author (2012’s Technical Analyst Book of the Year / Trader Planet’s Top Book Resource 2011), Buff literally wrote the book on “Investing with Volume Analysis” partnering with the Financial Times Press, Pearson Publishing and the Wharton School. Buff’s research has been further featured with press partners including Barron’s, Stock’s & Commodities, Futures and Active Trader magazines, The Financial Times, C-NBC, Market Watch as well as a variety of technical journals. Buff is featured in “Technical Analysis and Behavior Finance in Fund Management” – a European book comprised of interviews with 21 esteemed portfolio managers.

Buff is a former Fort Wayne / Indiana Marathon champion. Although his competitive distance training is on hold, Buff still enjoys a good long run on occasion. Buff is a member of the Chartered Market Technicians Association and Emmanuel Community Church. He is married to his beloved bride Kathy, father of two adored children Hadassah and Kaleo, and best friend to his Rhodesian Ridgeback Dutch.

Jeffrey Feldman

Head trader, Wolverine Trading

Jeffrey Feldman is the head trader for the Liquidity Group at Wolverine Trading.He is responsible for risk management and trading of ETFs.The liquidity desk acts as a principal market making desk for ETFs providing liquidity and transparency to the market place.Jeffrey focuses on trading equities, futures, and fixed income products.

David Hemming

Head of Alternative ETF Portfolio Management, Invesco

David Hemming is the Portfolio Manager for the Invesco Optimum Yield Diversified No K-1 ETF, plus an additional eight commodity ETF’s, 10 currency ETFs and has oversight of the European Commodity ETF’s. David started his career at State Street Global Advisors as an analyst for their European balanced funds.  David was a Senior Portfolio Manager and Principal at Hermes Fund Managers, running their commodity capabilities.  He started trading commodities in 2006 for the British Telecom Pension Scheme.

David holds a joint honors MA in Economics and International Relations from the University of St. Andrew's. He also received an MSc in Portfolio Management from Cass Business School, City University London.

Jeff Kernagis, CFA

Senior Vice President, Northern Trust Asset Management

Jeff recently joined Northern Trust as a Senior Portfolio Manager. In this role he will oversee a number of funds and portfolio managers in addition to helping the firm expand its FlexShares bond ETF business globally. During his 13 year tenure at Invesco/PowerShares, he spearheaded a ETF portfolio management team which grew from 0 to $40 billion in bond ETF assets globally. Jeff was also a PM at Claymore (Guggenheim) Securities where he managed both equity ETFs and bond Unit Investment Trusts. In addition, he was a senior bond trader at Mid-States (Alloya) Corporate Federal Credit Union.Prior to working in investment management, Jeff held institutional derivative sales positions at ABN Amro, Bear Stearns, and Prudential Securities.

Jeff earned a BBA degree from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from DePaul University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) charterholder and a former CFA Society Chicago Board member/officer.

Matt Moran

Head of Index Insights, Cboe Options Institute

Matt is focused on the exchange's educational efforts for pension funds, Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), mutual funds, and other institutional investors. He has traveled to more than 100 cities worldwide to educate investors and deliver financial presentations. Prior to joining Cboe, Matt served as Trust Counsel at Harris Bank and Vice President at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. He is an associate editor of The Journal of Index Investing and has written articles for several financial publications, including The Journal of Trading and The Journal of Alternative Investments. Matt holds MBA and JD degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Jin Park

Chairperson - Accounting, Finance, and Insurance and Risk Management (AFIRM), Scott College of Business, Indiana State University

Dr. Jin Park joined the Scott College of Business in fall 2009 and has been the chair of Accounting, Finance, Insurance and Risk Management Department since March 2019.  He teaches classes relating to risk management, property and liability insurance, and employee benefits.  His research areas of interest include asset-liability management, performance, and organizational efficiency.  He has awarded Best in Track Award three years in a row (2007 – 2009) at Academy of Finance.  He earned his Ph.D. from Temple University, Philadelphia, PA in 2003, and was an assistant professor (2003-2009) at Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL. 

Dr. Lindsey M. Piegza

Managing Director, Chief Economist, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated

Dr. Lindsey Piegza is the Chief Economist for Stifel Financial. She specializes in the research and analysis of economic trends and activity, world economies, financial markets, and monetary and fiscal policies. Prior to her role with Stifel, she was the Senior Economist for an investment bank in New York City for eight years consulting clients in the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

A highly sought-after speaker across national and international forums, Piegza is often quoted in the business press. She is a regular guest on CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN and Fox Business, as well as national radio and other business news outlets. Piegza is also a monthly op-ed contributor for The Hill.

In addition to her role with Stifel, Piegza is an instructor at the Pacific Coast Banking School, a member of the Chicago Federal Reserve Advisory Committee and a well-respected author. Piegza has published numerous academic papers in prestigious journals such as the Harvard Business Review and in textbooks from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Piegza is a member of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) and American Economic Association (AEA), and named a 2019 Women of Influence by the Chicago Business Journal. She holds two degrees from Northwestern University in political science and economics, and earned her Ph.D. in economics from the City University of New York. She is a native of Chicago and is based in Stifel’s downtown Chicago office.

Christopher T. Vincent, CFA

President & Chief Executive Officer, CFA Chicago

Chris Vincent, CFA, joined CFA Society Chicago as chief executive officer in May of 2020. The majority of his investment career was spent as a fixed income portfolio manager in Chicago with two firms, William Blair and Zurich Scudder. He was head of fixed income and a partner at William Blair Investment Management (2002-2019) where he managed bond mutual funds and separate accounts. At Zurich Scudder (the successor firm to Kemper Financial), Vincent was a managing director and senior portfolio manager for institutional clients (1988-2002). His roots in the money management industry are as a corporate plan sponsor with Nestle Purina in St. Louis (1983-1988).

Vincent has been a volunteer for CFA Society Chicago and CFA Institute since 2006. He previously served as chair of the Board of Directors for CFA Society Chicago (2014-2015) and has also volunteered for various CFA Institute groups and committees, notably as a member of the Annual Conference Advisory Committee (2012-2018).

Vincent earned his CFA charter in 1990, received his undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Missouri and holds an M.B.A. from Saint Louis University.

Dr. Tarek Zaher

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

Tarek Zaher has held a number of professional positions with the industry and provided consulting services to a number of international institutions including the World Bank, the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan, and the Academy for Educational Development in the United States and the Ministry of Work in Dubai. He has also offered a number of seminars in investment and international financial management at a number of institutions around the world.

Dr. Zaher is the supervisor of the investment club at Indiana State University. He also manages and supervises other international portfolios for individuals and institutions. Dr. Zaher’s research has been published in numerous prestigious professional and scholarly journals, including the Journal of Financial Research and Journal of Banking and Finance. Dr. Zaher received three research awards from professional conferences and one research certificate of excellence. He was also recognized by the Scott College of Business as the winner of the faculty research award in 2002 and the winner of the exemplary service award in 2004.