2009 Instructor Bios
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• Barve • • Burns • • Chau • • Collins • • Cronin • • Davis • • Gonzales •
• Kale • • Kouznetsova • • Maestas • • Masse • • Roberts •
• Sherman • • Vangelisti • • Veitch • • Walden •
Nitin M. Barve, CFA
Instructor at Level III - Derivative Risk Management & GIPS
Nitin M. Barve is the founder and a Principal of Finnovative, Inc., a Palo Alto based consulting company that provides technology solutions for research, portfolio accounting, trading, and compliance groups of investment management firms. As a Principal at Finnovative, Nitin is responsible for applying emerging technology to solve operational, regulatory, and analytical issues challenging investment firms. Nitin’s specific areas of expertise include implementing portfolio analytics solutions, modeling of index-based & OTC derivatives, and devising solutions for automating investment firms’ workflows. Prior to founding Finnovative, Nitin has worked with Citibank (Luxembourg and India), Champion Securities, Charles Schwab, and Wells Fargo Bank. He holds a BSEE from IIT, Chennai and MSEE from IIT, Mumbai. He received his CFA charter in 1996 and has been a member of CFA Institute and CFASF since 1994. He also instructs a course in Financial Engineering and Risk Management at St. Mary's College.
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Kent Burns, CFA
Instructor at Level III - Debt
Kent Burns is a vice president and portfolio manager for Franklin Advisers, Inc. He specializes in government and mortgage-backed securities and multi-sector strategy. Mr. Burns joined Franklin in 1994. He received a bachelor-of-arts degree in quantitative economics and decision science from University of California at San Diego, and a masters degree in economics from University of California at Santa Barbara. He earned the CFA charter in 1997, and is a member of CFA Institute and CFA Society of San Francisco.
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Peter Chau, CFA
Instructor at Level II - Debt & Derivatives
Peter Chau was graduated from the California Institute of Technology and went on to do research work in physics before settling into a career in financial analysis. He has more than 15 years experience developing stochastic models for the valuation of financial instruments with interest rate risk, prepayment risk, and credit risk. He is currently an independent consultant in asset and liability management.
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Patrick J. Collins, Ph.D., CLU, CFA
Instructor at Levels II & III - Monitoring/Rebalancing
Patrick Collins is a principal of the independent investment counsel firm of Schultz Collins Lawson Chambers, Inc. Mr. Collins holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation from the Association for Investment Management and Research and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. He also holds a Professional Designation in Financial Planning from U.C. Berkeley as well as a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) degree from the American College in Bryn Mawr, PA. He is a licensed Insurance Advisor and provides fee-based life insurance policy analysis for individuals, trusts, corporate directors and other fiduciaries. Additionally, Mr. Collins has provided litigation support services for disputes involving both insurance and investment issues. He is a member of CFA Institute, CFA Society of San Francisco, and the American Society of CLU.
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Gerard Cronin
Instructor at Level II & III - Ethics
Gerard Cronin is a research analyst at the Schwab Center for Financial Research. At Schwab, Mr. Cronin performs manager due diligence for separately managed accounts and mutual funds. He covers opportunistic equity, taxable fixed income, and sector-based investment strategies. Prior to his investment career, Gerard worked in the computer hardware and environmental services industries. Gerard holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and an MBA from CMU’s Tepper School of Business. As of 2007, Gerard passed all three CFA examinations in three consecutive years and will be eligible for the CFA charter upon completion of the required work experience. He is an affiliate member of CFA Institute and CFA Society of San Francisco.
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Donald L. Davis, CFA
Instructor at Levels I & II - Debt, Financial Markets, & Basic Valuation Concepts
Don is an independent consultant, whose most recent long term assignments have been at Visa International and PG&E Corp. . He had previously been at Bank of America (and Banc of America Securities) for 15 years where he arranged transactions for clients that included public bond offerings, senior and subordinated private placements, ESOPs, direct and syndicated bank loans, asset backed financings and asset securitizations. Prior to joining BofA, Don was with International Paper Company in New York, where he had been Assistant Treasurer-Corporate Finance. Don has an M.B.A from Columbia University, and a B.A. from the City College of New York.
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John Gonzales, Ph.D.
Instructor at Level I & II - Economics, Portfolio Management & Corporate Finance
John Gonzales teaches finance and economics (undergraduate and graduate) at the University of San Francisco, and in the International Diploma Programs at UC Berkeley Extension. His teaching interests include corporate finance, international economics and finance, applied monetary economics and emerging markets. His most recent previous experience includes investment consulting at Callan Associates, preparing research reports for two San Francisco investment firms and as a Principal Economist at the OECD in Paris. John received a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1983.
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Jivendra Kale, Ph.D., CFA, CFP
Instructor at all Levels - Quantitative Methods and Equity Portfolio Management
Dr. Jivendra Kale is a member of the full-time faculty in Graduate Business at Saint Mary’s College of California. He enjoys teaching, research and writing investment software. After finishing his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley, he worked at BARRA, Gifford Fong Associates, and then as an independent consultant. His research work has been published in academic and practitioner journals, and his current research interests are in the area of optimization techniques for portfolio construction that provide downside protection. He has also co-authored investment software in the areas of portfolio optimization, risk measurement and performance attribution, which has been licensed by Bank of America, Bankers Trust, Merrill Lynch, Toronto Dominion Bank (Montreal), Ibbotson Associates, Aeltus Investment Management, Rockport Capital Management (London), Cyrnel International (Rio de Janeiro), and several other firms. Dr. Kale has a B. Tech. (Honors) degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, an M.S. in Industrial Engineering & Operations Research and an MBA from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of California, Berkeley. He also holds the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) and CFP (Certified Financial Planner) designations, and is member of the CFA Society of San Francisco, the American Finance Association and the Decision Sciences Institute.
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Mariia Kouznetsova, CFA, CFP, CPA
Instructor at Level I - Derivatives & Alternative Investments
Ms. Kouznetsova is Portfolio Manager and Senior Client Advisor at Springcreek Advisors LLC, responsible for client and firm-wide asset allocation and portfolio management, investment due diligence, primarily alternative investments: hedge funds, private equity, venture capital and real estate, managing investment framework, and participating in launching new fund of fund vehicles. Prior to joining Springcreek, Ms. Kouznetsova was Senior Auditor in Global Asset Management group at Ernst & Young LLP, and lead teams in performing hedge funds and private equity audits, independent valuation of investment portfolios and derivatives modeling and valuation. Ms. Kouznetsova was awarded the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and is a member of CFA Institute and CFA Society of San Francisco. She serves on the Board of Directors of CFASF, and is the Chair of Career Development Committee. She is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a member of AICPA and California Society of CPAs. Ms. Kouznetsova graduated from University of Minnesota Duluth as a valedictorian summa cum laude with Bachelors of Accounting, Business Administration (with major in Finance and minor in Marketing) and Bachelor of Arts in International Studies with minor in French.
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Michael Maestas, CPA, CFA
Instructor at Level II - Equities, Industry Analysis
Mr. Maestas is an equities analyst at Avalon Global Asset Management and is also the firm’s Chief Compliance Officer. Prior to joining Avalon, Mr. Maestas was a Research Analyst at Merrill Lynch covering the Computer Services sector, and previously was an Equity Research Associate at Thomas Weisel Partners and Banc of America Securities. Mr. Maestas began his career as a Credit Analyst at Bank of America and a Consultant at Arthur Andersen. Mr. Maestas has an MBA from Columbia University with concentrations in Finance and Taxation, and a BSBA in Accounting from Bucknell University. He holds the Certified Public Accountant designation and the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He also instructs a course in Derivative Markets at St. Mary's College.
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Jonathan Masse, CFA
Instructor at Level III - Global Investments
Jonathan Masse is the Senior Portfolio Manager at AlphaShares, an investment management firm located in Walnut Creek, CA. Dr. Burton Malkiel, of Random Walk Down Wall Street fame, serves as the Chief Investment officer. The firm is dedicated to providing investors with strategies and products that focus on direct and indirect China investment (including derivatives trading, options overlays, and customized solutions) to help investors manage their risk exposure to the world’s fastest growing nation. Prior to joining AlphaShares, Mr. Masse served as an Institutional Portfolio Manager and Strategist for Barclays Global Investors where his team managed over $300 billion of assets. He has managed equity portfolios benchmarked to nearly all emerging markets including over $8.9 billion in Chinese equities. Prior to joining Barclays Global Investors, he was an options trader and market maker on the PSE, CBOE, and CBOT with Stafford Trading, the Timber Hill Group, and Cooper Neff/BNP respectively. He earned his CFA charter in 2005, has an MBA degree from the University of Santa Clara, and received a BS in Finance from Boston College.
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Mark A. Roberts, CPA, CFA
Instructor at Level I - Financial Statement Analysis
Mark Roberts is the Managing Director of Roberts & Company, LLC. Mark marries 15 years on Wall Street as an investment research analyst with half a dozen years in corporate financial management and three years in public accounting. He was a Managing Director with Wachovia Securities from 1998 through 2004 and prior to that was a senior equity research analyst with both Alex. Brown and Montgomery Securities. Mr. Roberts is a three time Wall Street Journal All-star, and in 2000 was named “The Best of The Best” by the Wall Street Journal. He was named a Zack’s All-star Investment Analyst in 1999. Before working on Wall Street, Roberts spent six years in corporate management, including positions as Vice President of Finance, CFO and Treasurer of both public and private companies. He has also served on several boards of directors. Mark graduated from Indiana University in 1981.
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Mark A. Sherman, CFA
Instructor at Level I - Financial Statement Analysis
Mr. Sherman is a Principal and Portfolio Manager with Van Strum & Towne, Inc. Mark received a Bachelor of Science degree from Bridgewater College, Virginia and was awarded a Master of Business Administration from the College of William and Mary. Prior to joining Van Strum & Towne in February 1998, Mark was employed as a research associate with NationsBanc Montgomery Securities and as a Certified Public Accountant with McGladrey & Pullen, LLP. Mark holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Society of San Francisco and CFA Institute. Mark serves as the firm’s Chief Compliance Officer.
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Marco A. Vangelisti, CFA
Instructor at Level III - Institutional & Individual Investors
Marco Vangelisti is Product Manger and member of the investment team of GMO's emerging markets equity products. Marco Vangelisti was a founding partner of Investment Process Consulting (IPC), a firm assisting equity investment firms evaluate and improve their investment process. Prior to IPC, Mr. Vangelisti worked at BARRA for 12 years assisting clients in their use of BARRA's products and technology, and helping them reengineer and optimize their investment processes. He has organized and spoken at a number of seminars and conferences and taught BARRA's Active Portfolio Management course. After BARRA's acquisition of Rogers Casey, he worked on refining the firm's manager's selection process by merging BARRA's technology with RC's know-how.
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Prof. John M. Veitch, CFA, PhD
Instructor at all Levels - Economics, Equity Valuation and Risk Management
Prof. Veitch received his Ph.D. in Economics from Northwestern University, 1985. He has been a faculty member at the University of San Francisco since 1992 and is currently the Chair of the Economics Department and the Director of the MS in Financial Analysis program. Prior to coming to USF he was in the Economics Department at the University of Southern California. He is also an instructor in the Berkeley-Columbia Executive MBA Program at the Haas School of Business. He received his CFA designation in 1999. Prof Veitch has been the Education Director for the CFASF CFA Review programs since 2001.
Prof. Veitch has published several econometric studies of the effect of currency crises on stock market in emerging market economies. His most recent work focuses on the recent currency crises of Brazil and Argentina. When not involved in economics, he can be found messing around with old American muscle cars.
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Loren Walden, CFA
Instructor at Level I - Ethics and Professional Standards
Loren W. Walden is a co-founder of Blue Oak Capital, LLC. Mr. Walden brings extensive experience with private client portfolio management as well as expertise in corporate cash flow analysis using the Holt Value Associates model. Prior to Blue Oak, Mr. Walden was a principal at BTR Capital Management, Inc., a San Francisco investment advisory firm, where he served as a portfolio manager and securities analyst. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Menlo College where he graduated cum laude. He has been awarded the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, is a member of CFA Institute and CFA Society of San Francisco (CFASF).
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