On January 16, 2024, the CFA Society Chicago welcomed Joe McConnell, Partner, and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Castlelake to present as part of The Vault Series.  Castlelake specializes in complex, asset-rich and cash-flowing opportunities in what they believe to be undercapitalized or inefficient private markets. They invest across the capital structure within three investment strategies: Real Assets, Specialty Finance and Aviation.  Due to weather conditions, the presentation shifted from being in-person to a virtual presentation.   McConnell began by describing some major ..read more

On October 26, 2023, the CFA Society Chicago hosted their 36th Annual Dinner at the AON Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier. The guest speaker was Ian Bremmer, a noted political scientist, and President and Founder of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media. Prior to the keynote speaker, a welcome was given by Chris Vincent, CFA, CEO of CFA Society Chicago. Chris thanked the event sponsors and also noted that the next CFA Institute Annual Conference will be held in 2025 in Chicago.  This will be the first Annual Conference since prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and will coincide with the CFA Society Chicago ..read more

The Education Advisory Group hosted a virtual panel discussion on October 5, 2023, discussing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning in Investment.  The panel featured three distinguished leaders in this emerging field:  Peeyush Shukla, CFA, Chief Information and Technology Officer and a member of the Global Management Committee at Heitman, LLC, a global real estate investment management firm. In this role, he is directly responsible for leading Heitman’s Information Technology initiatives and Infrastructure Group in support of Heitman’s global investment management busi ..read more

On September 20, 2023, the Distinguished Speaker Series (DSS) Advisory Group of the CFA Society of Chicago welcomed Lawrence Golub for a lunchtime discussion at the Union League Club. Jim Mohan, an Investment Consultant at Mercer, interviewed Golub. Lawrence Golub is the Chief Executive Officer of Golub Capital, a market-leading, award-winning direct lender and experienced credit asset manager. As of April 1, 2023, Golub Capital had over $60 billion of capital under management, a gross measure of invested capital including leverage. Golub Capital partners with institutional investors and fami ..read more

On September 12, 2023, the CFA Women POWER Breakfast Series welcomed Carole Brown for a discussion at the Chicago Club. Deborah Bielicke Eades, a shareholder in the Investment Services Group of Vedder Price, interviewed Brown. Carole Brown is the head of the Asset Management Group for The PNC Financial Services Group. In this role, she is responsible for leading PNC’s wealth management and private banking services for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families, as well as custom investment and advisory solutions for institutional clients. Prior to being named to her ..read more

On June 27, 2023, the Distinguished Speaker Series (DSS) Advisory Group of the CFA Society of Chicago welcomed Cliff Asness for a lunchtime discussion at the University Club.  Nick Vassilos, CFA, Managing Director and Head of Risk and Performance Analytics for Schwab Asset Management, interviewed Asness.   Cliff Asness is a Founder, Managing Principal and Chief Investment Officer at AQR Capital Management. In 2006, CFA Institute presented Asness with the James R. Vertin Award, which is periodically given to individuals who have produced a body of research notable for its relevance a ..read more

On February 24th, the CFA Society of Chicago Education Advisory Group welcomed two experts in the field of direct indexing. Joining in the panel discussion was Natalie Miller, CFA, Director of Investment Strategy at Parametric Portfolio Association. Secondly, Chris Meredith, CFA, Director of Research and Chief Investment Officer at O’Shaughnessy Asset Management’s. The panel discussion was moderated by Ben Johnson, CFA, Head of Client Solutions at Morningstar. Direct Indexing is a subject matter that has gained popularity in the investment world. However, with respect to total asset underman ..read more

Dozens of CFA Society Chicago members gathered at The Vault on February 22nd, 2023, to learn about personal branding from Megan Walls, CPC, PCC, ELI-MP.  Walls is a nationally renowned job coach and author. She is the founder Walls Career Coaching and co-founder of Jump-Start the Job Search.  Walls led the group through a high-level personal brand overview, covering what a personal brand is, why you need one, and what the major components of a personal brand statement are.  She gave several examples of personal brand statements and answered questions from the engaged audience ..read more

The CFA Women Advisory Group hosted a sold-out Poker Power workshop to over 60 women (and men) at The Vault on March 15, 2023. The workshop taught the basics and strategy of poker, followed by open play and networking. The Poker Power program was born after co-founder Jenny Just and her husband (co-founders of PEAK6 Investments) wanted to improve their teenage daughter’s (Poker Power co-founder Juliette Hulsizer) tennis game and mental toughness. They determined poker would be the perfect vehicle. Poker Power believes that there is a strong connection between the game of poker to success, mo ..read more

On March 10, 2022, CFA Society Chicago’s Distinguished Speaker Series Advisory Group welcomed Orlando Bravo at the University Club, and via livestream, for a discussion of the role of private equity in the software industry. Bravo is Founder and Managing Partner of Thoma Bravo, one of Wall Street’s largest private equity firms. In the early 1990’s, Bravo led Thoma Bravo’s entry into software buyouts.  Bravo has overseen 325 software acquisitions totaling over $100 billion in transaction value. Thoma Bravo focuses on the application, infrastructure, cybersecurity and technology enabled s ..read more