6th Annual CIO Roundtable: Navigating the Investment Landscape of 2023 & Beyond

Join us for the return of the CFA Society Boston 6th Annual CIO Roundtable: Navigating the Investment Landscape of 2024 & Beyond. Chief Investment Officers from respected asset owners in the greater Boston area will have a high-level discussion on the implications of current market conditions and within this context:

• Discuss trends and best practices in investment strategy
• Risk management
• Market engagement

Given the challenging current environment of higher volatility, higher rates, geopolitical uncertainty, inflation, and liquidity worries we believe this is a crucial time to hear perspectives from leading allocators in our industry. 

Lunch will be provided and there will be time for networking after the presentation.

Date/Time/Location 
Date: Wednesday, January 31, 2024, from 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM (Check in begins at 11:30 AM)

Location: 100 High Street, 9th Floor, Boston, MA 02110

Speakers 

Sanjay Chawla
Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer

Sanjay Chawla is executive vice president and chief investment officer at FM Global, one of the world’s largest commercial and industrial property insurers, where he manages all the company’s investment functions. Assets managed include insurance general account and global pension assets, combined total in excess of $30B. He is based in Waltham, Mass., USA.

Chawla joined FM Global in 2018 from Raytheon Company where he was vice president and chief investment officer, responsible for pension assets investments. Investment management responsibilities included portfolio construction and asset allocation across public and private markets, risk management, operations, ongoing performance and managers’ monitoring and diligence.

Prior to that, Chawla worked for Dow Chemical for 18 years until 2013, and held various leadership roles in portfolio investments, treasury, risk management and corporate finance. Roles included global asset allocation, enterprise-wide and financial risk management, and corporate finance at the global corporate headquarters in Michigan, USA, and during expatriate leadership assignments in Asia.

He received an MBA from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Va., USA, and a bachelor’s degree in commerce (honors) from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University, India. He has also completed executive education leadership programs led by Duke Corporate Education, H. H. Dow Academy, and Thunderbird and Indiana University.

Anne Martin
Chief Investment Officer, Wesleyan University

In 2010, Anne Martin became Wesleyan University’s Chief Investment Officer.  She previously was a Director at the Yale Investments Office where she worked primarily on the Natural Resources and Private Equity portfolios. Prior to joining Yale, Anne worked as a general partner of private equity firm Rosewood Capital in San Francisco, California where she focused on Internet, software, and business service investments. Prior to that, Martin was a managing director at Alex. Brown (a/k/a BT Alex Brown) in its technology practice, where she worked on corporate finance and merger and acquisitions in the information technology sector. She is a graduate of Smith College, cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and holds an M.B.A. from Stanford Business School.

Anne was a co-founder, board member and Board Chair of the Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins, an innovative non-profit organization dedicated to finding therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (alscenter.org). She was part of the national rowing team from 1985-1988 and has also served as a director and co-Chair of the National Rowing Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to preparing the next generation of U.S. rowers for the highest levels of international competition (natrowing.org). Anne serves on the investment committee for Smith College and is an advisor to the Packard Foundation Investment Committee.

Valbona Schwab

Deputy CIO at Grinnell College

Valbona Schwab joined the Grinnell College Investment Office in 2021 as a Managing Director after a tenure of seven years with Beth Israel Lahey Health Investment Office, a $4 billion endowment in Boston. Prior to her time with Beth Israel Lahey, Valbona worked as Portfolio Manager and Head of Research for Partners HealthCare System, a $22 billion hospital system in Massachusetts. Valbona has also served as a Trustee and Investment Committee Chair for The Chestnut Hill School in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Previously, she represented Duff & Phelps as one of their Senior Associates in the mergers and acquisitions group. A native of Albania, Valbona started her investment career in her country’s first private equity fund opened by the USAID following the fall of the communist bloc. She studied Economics at the American University in Bulgaria as a George Soros scholar, Finance at the University of Maine, and later obtained an MBA and a Master’s in Finance from Boston College with high distinction.

Dan Kern, CFA, Chief Investment Officer at Nixon Peabody Trust Company (Moderator)

Dan joined Nixon Peabody after more than 7 years at TFC Financial Management, where he was the Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer, responsible for overseeing TFC’s investment process, research activities and portfolio strategy. Dan is a contributor to Kiplinger, The Street and ThinkAdvisor, a regular guest on TD Ameritrade Network’s Morning Trade Live and Bloomberg’s Baystate Business, and a frequent speaker at regional, national, and international investment forums. 

Dan has an extensive background in investment analysis, portfolio management, overseeing investment teams, and the marketing of these services to individuals and institutions.

Prior to joining TFC, Dan was the president and chief investment officer at Advisor Partners, a boutique asset manager in the San Francisco area that manages portfolios for advisors, financial institutions and family offices. He led all aspects of the firm including sales, client services and operations. Earlier in his career, he held asset allocation, portfolio management and managing director positions at Charles Schwab Investment Management and Montgomery Asset Management. 

A CFA charterholder, Dan is a member of the CFA Institute. He is a Board member and Chair of the Investment Committee for the Cambridge Community Foundation, on the Board of Advisors for the Brandeis International Business School, an Independent Trustee for Green Century Funds, and on the Board of Directors of Wealthramp and the Lown Institute. Dan was a Board member and president of the CFA Society of San Francisco as well as Board member of the Bay Area Financial Education Foundation.

Passport Program 
Members of any CFA society may attend at the CFA Society Boston member rate. If you are only a member of CFA Institute, you do not qualify for the Society member rate.

Professional Learning Credits
CFA Boston has determined that this event qualifies for 1 PL credit hour under the guidelines of CFA Institute's Professional Learning Program.  If you are a CFA Institute member and a CFA Society Boston member, PL credit for your participation in this event will be automatically recorded in your PL tracking tool. Otherwise, you may upload 1 PL credit to your CFA Institute account in the PL tracking tool. 

Registration 
Members can register by logging into their Boston specific account. If you do not receive a confirmation email, please ensure you have completed the entire checkout process. Non-members and CFA Society Global members must create an account, or log into their Boston specific account, to register for this program. Confirmation details will be sent following registration.

To create an account please follow these steps:

1. Please create an account
2. Once your account has been created, go to the home page and select the event.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page to register yourself.
4. Proceed through the ‘cart’ to process your payment or complimentary $0.00 program fee.
5. You’ll receive an email confirming your payment and registration.

Meeting Safety and Responsibility Policy
All registrants and attendees of all CFA Society Boston programming agree to the Meeting Safety and Responsibility Policy. The CFA Society Boston Meeting Safety and Responsibility Policy includes the following:  

• Personal Safety and Security
• Unacceptable Behavior
• Responsible Drinking
• Privacy Policy
• Zero-Tolerance

Click here to view the complete Meeting Safety and Responsibility Policy.