Board of Directors Bios

2023-2024 Officers

Adam Gerentine
Trinity Street Asset Management

Adam Gerentine is a Managing Director with Trinity Street Asset Management. His responsibilities include managing key relationships with institutional investors and investment consultants throughout North America. Prior to joining Trinity Street in 2017, Adam was a Director with Tremblant Capital, where he was responsible for managing relationships with institutional consultants and direct plan sponsors. He began his career began with HGK Asset Management where he ultimately was overseeing all aspects of the firm’s business development and client service functions. Adam received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Finance from Rochester Institute of Technology and serves on the Boards of Directors Association of Investment Management Sales Executives (AIMSE).

Tony Buscemi
Gallatin Capital

Tony Buscemi is a Partner of Gallatin Capital LLC. Prior to co-founding Gallatin Capital in May 2003, Mr. Buscemi was at Moore Capital Management with responsibilities in client services and new business/product development. Mr. Buscemi joined Moore Capital after working closely with the firm in his prior position as Vice President of the Financial Institutions Investment Banking Group within Chase Manhattan Bank’s Securities Division. In that capacity, he was responsible for executing domestic and cross border private placements for both insurance companies and investment management firms. Mr. Buscemi joined Chase in 1991 as an Associate in its Global Trade Finance Group and was promoted to Vice President in 1995 after completing Chase’s Associate Development and Credit Analyst training programs.

Mr. Buscemi earned his Master of Business Administration degree, with a concentration in Finance, from the Stern Graduate School of Business at New York University, he was sponsored by Chase’s Senior Management for the Executive MBA Program. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Northwood University in Midland, Michigan.

Mr. Buscemi is a current member of the Board of Directors, and current Vice President, of AIMSE, a non-profit organization focused on professional development for investment management sales executives.  In 2020, Mr. Buscemi began a four-year mentorship of a promising New York City high school student through Student Sponsor Partners (SSP).  Mr. Buscemi is also a non-resident member of the Detroit Athletic Club in Detroit, Michigan.

Matt Pawlak
Sands Capital

Matt Pawlak has nearly 20 years of experience in the investment industry. Matt is responsible for developing and executing strategic marketing and business plans for Sands Capital (Sands). He proactively engages global institutional investment consultants and promotes Sands’ investment philosophy, processes, and investment strategies. Prior to joining Sands in September 2021, Matt worked for nine years at Dimensional Fund Advisors on the global consultant relations team. Before that, Matt spent eight years at Hewitt EnnisKnupp. As a senior consultant, he acted as lead and co-lead consultant for a number of corporate DB/DC, endowment/foundation and public fund retirement plans. Matt was also a member of Hewitt EnnisKnupp’s defined contribution research group.

Matt is a member of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA) and is a member of its Retirement Income and Public Policy Committees. He is also one of DCIIA’s Regional Ambassadors. Matt is Treasurer and Board member of the Association of Investment Sales and Marketing (AIMSE), was previously co-chair for the 2020 Annual Conference and is a Regional Coordinator for Washington DC area AIMSE events.

Matt holds a BA in economics from the University of Iowa and an MBA in finance from Loyola University Chicago. He also holds the designation of Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF).

Christa Maxwell, CFA®, CIPM®
GW&K Investment Management

Christa Maxwell is a Director of Business Development responsible for establishing and maintaining relationships with institutions and consultants. Prior to joining KCM in August 2017, Ms. Maxwell worked with Westwood Holdings Group focusing on business development across the western United States. Christa began her career with Thornburg Investment Management. Over her 10 year tenure with the organization, Ms. Maxwell oversaw various regions and was responsible for client service, consultant relations, and business development. Christa earned her B.B.A. in Finance from the University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management. Ms. Maxwell is also a CFA® charter holder and currently serves on the board for the CFA® Society New Mexico and the CFA® Society San Antonio.

Claudette Grant, CAIA
BlackRock

Claudette Grant, CAIA, Director, is a member of the US and Canada Institutional team within BlackRock’s Americas Institutional Business. She is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with institutional investors, specifically public and private pension plans. Claudette is based in Chicago.

Prior to joining Blackrock, Claudette spent nearly five years as a Vice President, Relationship Manager at Capital Group working with Public Fund and Taft-Hartley clients. She has 13 years of finance industry experience. Prior to joining Capital, Claudette was the Vice President of Investor Relations and Business Development at RPK Capital Management. Before that, she was an AVP of Marketing and Client Service at FIS Group, Inc. 

She holds a juris doctor from The Ohio State University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Wittenberg University. She also holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation.

Charlotte J. Walsh, CFA
Managing Director

Charlotte is a Managing Director on Jennison’s Consultant Relations Team. Prior to joining Jennison in 2020, Charlotte was a Consultant Relations Director at ClearBridge Investments. She previously held consultant relations positions at Putnam Investments, Ranieri Partners Management, Allegiant Asset Management, Oppenheimer Capital, and Banc One Investment Advisors/JP Morgan Asset Management. Earlier in her career, she was a Principal at Mercer Investment Consulting. Charlotte majored in economics at Northwestern University.

2023-2024 Board of Directors

Chelsea Ramos
Ares Management

Ms. Ramos is a Vice President in the Ares Global Client Solutions Group, where she focuses on Consultant Relations in North America. Prior to joining Ares in 2022, Ms. Ramos was a Regional Director in the Global Consultant Relations Group at Dimensional Fund Advisors. Ms. Ramos serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Investment Management Sales Executives, a non-profit organization focused on professional development for investment management sales executives. She also serves on the philanthropy and sponsorship committees of the Women in Institutional Investments Network, a Los Angeles-based forum for women in institutional investing. Ms. Ramos holds a B.B.A. from The University of Texas McCombs School of Business in Finance. Ms. Ramos is a CFA® charterholder.

Sean Clark, CFA
Westwood Holdings Group, Inc.

Sean joined Westwood in 2019 and serves as Senior Vice President, Institutional Sales & Consultant Relations. He has over 25 years of financial services industry experience across asset management, investment consulting and trust services.

Prior to joining Westwood, Sean spent over seven years as Senior Vice President, Consultant Relations with OFI Global Asset Management. His experience also includes roles as Managing Director of Consultant Relations at John Hancock Funds, Head of Consultant Relations at Deutsche Bank/DWS Investments, Director of Institutional Sales & Marketing at High Pointe Capital Management, Regional Sales Director with Safeco Asset Management and VP, Senior Investment Consultant, with the Northern Trust Company.

Sean holds a B.A. degree in English from the College of the Holy Cross and an MBA in Finance from DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. He is a Registered Securities Representative and Principal (FINRA Series 7, 24 and 66). Sean is also a CFA charter holder and is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Chicago.

Mr. Clark has served as a board member with the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association, Snow City Arts (a not-for-profit organization providing arts education to hospitalized children), the IDPH Genetic & Metabolic Disease Advisory Committee, and as a volunteer with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Peter Crivelli
Raymond James Investment Management

Peter Crivelli Senior Vice President at Raymond James Investment Management.

Lewis Del Ponte
Harvest Volatility Management, LLC

Lewis is an Executive Director at Harvest Volatility Management. His focus is on working with our partners in the institutional investment community. Prior to Harvest, he was Vice President of Institutional Sales at Ranger Capital where he found success for the firm with Endowments and Foundations, Consultant Driven searches, sub-advisory, and regional broker/dealers. Lewis attended The Ohio State University where he majored in business management and competed on the varsity wrestling team. Lewis is involved in the community through being an assistant coach of his sons wrestling club, charitable organizations like Denver Active 20/30 and educational groups like AIMSE. Lewis is an avid hiker and SPARTAN race participant.

Ami Fox
Artisan Partners, Limited Partnership

Ami Fox is a Director on the institutional client services team at Artisan Partners with responsibility for institutional marketing and client service of the strategies managed by the firm’s Global Equity team. Prior to joining Artisan Partners in September 2018, Ms. Fox was a marketing and client service associate at DePrince, Race & Zollo, Inc. Ms. Fox holds a bachelor’s degree in international business from Rollins College and is fluent in French.

Molly Giffen
Loomis, Sayles & Company

Molly Giffen is head of consultant relations at Loomis, Sayles & Company and brings over 27 years of investment industry experience. In her current role, she leads the consultant relations strategy and also helps manage consultant relationships. Molly originally joined Loomis Sayles in 2014 as a member of the consultant relations team focused on advancing and maintaining Loomis Sayles strategies with specific consultants. She departed Loomis Sayles to join Burgundy Asset Management in 2021 as the firm’s first US employee and as head of consultant relations. Molly returned to Loomis Sayles in 2023. Previously, she was a managing director at Janus Capital Group, responsible for consultant relations. Additionally, Molly was head of consultant relations and led the marketing effort at LMCG. She was also an investment product manager at both Pioneer and Blackrock (formerly State Street Research), where she was responsible for both equity and fixed income strategies across retail and institutional channels. Molly earned a BA from Bates College.

Maureen Kennedy Hays
Managing Director, Consultant Relations

Maureen is a managing director, consultant relations at Principal Global Investors. She most recently was at AXA-IM as Director of Consultant Relations and prior to that was the director of institutional sales for the E&F channel at AXA Rosenberg. Previously, she spent over 5 years as a senior member of MSIM’s Global Consultant Relations team. She also held positions in sales, and as a product specialist and senior relationship manager while at Scudder, Stevens & Clark. Maureen began her career as an investment analyst at GTE Investment Management and then as a senior investment specialistat Buck Consultants. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Trinity College and an MBA from University of Connecticut. Maureen is a Registered Representative of Principal Securities, Inc. and has passed the FINRA Series 7 and 63 examinations.

Michael Peck, CFA®, MBA
Pier 21 Asset Management

Michael joined Pier 21 Asset Management in 2024. He is responsible for developing and implementing the blueprint to grow the company in accordance with the firm’s strategic objectives. In addition to liaising with pension consultants, he ensures new clients’ investment needs are suitably matched to Pier 21’s investment strategies. Prior to joining Pier 21 he lead the Canadian office of a large global investment management firm. Most of Michael’s 25 years of investment management experience is in successfully growing institutional asset management businesses.

Jennifer Pittman
AllianceBernstein

Jennifer Pittman is a Vice President and Director on AB’s Consultant Relations team. Before joining AB in 2023, she was a director of the Institutional Group at Thornburg Investment Management, and prior to that was a manager on the Consultant Relations team at Ninety One. Pittman serves on the board of directors for the Association of Investment Management Sales Executives, a non-profit organization focused on professional development for investment-management sales executives. She holds a BA in sociology and history from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University. Pittman is a Series 7, 63 and 66 license holder. Location: New York

Kerra Smith
Trinity Street Asset Management

Kerra Smith is an experienced marketing and investment sales professional with Trinity Street Asset Management, a London-based specialist investment manager of concentrated international and global equity strategies. She is based in New York and is responsible for building relationships in the U.S. with a wide variety of institutional investors, private families, OCIOs and consultants.

With twenty years of experience across the asset management industry, Kerra began her career in 2002 at Cambridge Associates in Boston as a Consulting Associate. At C|A, Kerra worked with and learned from thought leading endowments, foundations, families and their investment consultants. She moved to the hedge fund industry in 2005, first with JPMorgan Alternative Asset Management and then directly as a senior BD/IR professional at several hedge fund firms including Gotham Asset Management and Hudson Bay Capital.  Kerra’s experience raising assets for early stage hedge fund managers spans across a variety of equity and credit strategies and also includes the development of private equity structured revenue share vehicles for Forester Capital.

Kerra attended Bowdoin College, where she graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts (AB) in Mathematics and Economics. She volunteers time as a Board Member of the Association of Investment Management Sales Executives (AIMSE), a Board Member of NC Rink Inc., and a member of 100 Women in Finance.

She lives in New Canaan, CT with her husband, two young children and French bulldog.

James Stafford, CFA
Atlanta Capital

James N. Stafford, CFA is a Vice President, Marketing Director and Principal of the firm. Prior to joining the firm in 2007, Mr. Stafford served as a product manager with Bank of America, responsible for product development and marketing of the bank’s separately managed account platform for mid-market institutional clients. Previously, Mr. Stafford was an analyst at Summit Strategies Group and served various roles at Morningstar, Inc. Mr. Stafford is a graduate of Indiana University and earned an MBA from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis. Mr. Stafford holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Mark A. Sullivan
Storm Capital Partners

Mark is a co-founder and partner at Storm Capital Partners. Prior to Storm, Mark was a partner at Bridgeway Capital Management, where he was on the management committee and led their investor relations, sales, marketing, and consultant relations team. From 2014-2017, he was head of distribution at Stralem & Company. Prior to that, from 2002-2012 Mark was a Managing Director at AllianceBernstein, where he held several leadership roles in their institutional and sub-advisory businesses. He has deep experience with sales, sales management, investor relations, consultant relations, product development, technology-enabled solutions, talent identification and crisis management. In addition, Mark has broad and deep relationships across multiple channels and with major consulting firms. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, and he received a BS in Languages and Linguistics from Georgetown University..

Derek Tubbs
CornerCap Investment Counsel

Derek is an Associate Portfolio Manager and the Vice President of Institutional Development for CornerCap. He joined in 2013 with over 16 years of institutional investor experience and is a non-voting member of the investment committee. His primary responsibility is to expand CornerCap’s reach with institutional investors. Prior to joining CornerCap, Derek was a Senior Relationship Manager with a $15 billion equity team at Wells Capital Management where he was the primary point of contact for the largest, most sophisticated and most complicated institutional clients. Derek started his investment career in 1996 and spent the next 12 years in institutional sales with both CIBC World Markets (formerly Oppenheimer) and Prudential Equity Group. He has an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and earned his BA with honors from Texas A&M University.

Keith Wosneski
Man Group

Keith joined Man Group in June of 2023. Prior to joining Keith served as Head of U.S. Institutional & Global Consultant Relations at Mackenzie Investments, and a Consultant Relations Officer at Acadian Asset Management. Previous experience includes working with institutional clients in a variety of sales and client service roles at Mercer, Aurora Investment Management LLC, Northern Trust Global Investments, and Barclays Global Investors. Keith earned an M.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and holds a B.S.B.A. in international business from the University of Denver.

Jay Wiltshire, CFA
Epoch Investment Partners

As a member of the Institutional Client Relations Group, responsible for leading Epoch’s business development, consultant and client relationship management efforts in the western region of the United States.

Ramon Gonzalez
William Blair Investment Management Business Development

Ramon Gonzalez, CFA, is a member of the consultant relations and business development team at William Blair Investment Management. In this role, Ramon is responsible for cultivating client partnerships in the U.S. western region. Before joining the rm in 2019, he served as vice president at Wilshire Associates, spearheading the rm’s global equity manager research eorts. Ramon has 20 years of experience as a nancial analyst, economist, and investment consultant. He has worked with a diverse array of clients including institutional plan sponsors, government agencies, and private investors. In addition, Ramon’s industry experience spans organizations such as Angeles Investment Advisors, the Milken Institute, and Goldman Sachs. Ramon is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society San Diego, and currently holds FINRA series 7 and 63 securities licenses. He received a B.A. in international economics and French from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He also studied at l’Université de Toulouse and l’Institut d’études politiques (Sciences Po) in Toulouse, France.

Michelle Rielmacher
EnTrust Global Managing Director

Michelle Rielmacher is a Managing Director at EnTrust Global in business development working on the consultant relations team. She is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with global, regional and local consultants in connection with EnTrust’s investment products. Prior to joining EnTrust, Michelle was Vice President at Macquarie, where she worked in the Cash Equities division providing transition management solutions to plan sponsors. Michelle joined Macquarie from Citigroup where she worked in a variety of sales and marketing roles within the Prime Brokerage and Agency Securities Lending businesses servicing hedge funds and asset owners. During her time at Citi, Michelle was recognized with the Institutional Clients Group (ICG) Corporate Citizenship Award and was also accepted into and completed the ICG Diversity Leadership Program. Prior to Citi, Michelle worked in sales and marketing at Wells Fargo in their securities lending business, and on the U.S. equity stock loan trading desk at State Street. Michelle currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Resolution Project, a New York-based global non-prot that fosters youth leadership development through collaborative social entrepreneurship. She previously served as a “guide” (mentor) and guide leader to several dierent teams of students as they worked to launch their social ventures, as well as serving on the Leadership Council. Michelle graduated with a B.A. in International Studies from Colby College where she served two terms on the Board of Visitors and is currently a member of the Colby Leadership Society.