11-14-2023 2nd Annual Virtual DEI Conference

A CFA Society Los Angeles and LACERA collaborative event

MEMBERS-ONLY RECORDING

CFALA and LACERA are happy to collaborate on our 2nd Annual DEI Virtual Conference. We will again be briefly highlighting the best practices learned from this year’s roundtable discussions and bringing a variety of thought leaders who will touch on topics ranging from communicating effectively with the c-suite, navigating DEI Initiatives under the recent Supreme Court ruling, and hearing what was learned from the first cohort of signatories of CFA Institute’s DEI Code. We will end the conference with a frank discussion between two financial leaders passionate about DEI and how they lead with it in mind.

SPEAKERS

Jonathan Grabel | Jonathan Grabel is the CIO for the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA). Mr. Grabel manages a $73 billion defined benefit pension fund on behalf of LACERA's 185,000 active and retired members. He also oversees the investments for the LACERA-administered $3 billion healthcare benefits program. Prior to LACERA, Mr. Grabel was the CIO for New Mexico PERA, where he oversaw the investments for the agency’s $15 billion defined benefit fund and the associated PERA SmartSave deferred compensation plan. Previously, he was a general partner at a private equity firm focused on growth-stage investments in technology, networking industries, and digital communications. Earlier in his career, Mr. Grabel was an investment banker. Mr. Grabel received his BS in economics from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is a CPA (inactive).
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Ramsey Jay, Jr. | Ramsey Jay Jr. is the Founding Principal of Ramsey Jay, Jr. and Associates, a strategic consulting company specializing in corporate finance, commercial sales and marketing, business communications, human capital, enterprise team leadership, and diversity, equity, and inclusion programming. Ramsey is a seasoned executive, strategic thinker, and former Division 1 Track athlete with 20+ years of successful experience partnering with corporations across a myriad of industries, pension funds, professional trade organizations, and senior executives to solve multifaceted and complex business challenges. Prior to founding his consulting company, Ramsey was a global investment management executive with a keen focus on both investing, and raising capital, in alternative assets (bank loans, high yield bonds, private debt, and private equity).

An MBA graduate of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, Ramsey is a trusted voice of guidance and proficient communicator, having delivered more than 600 keynotes, seminars, and corporate trainings on financial engineering, strategy execution, and organizational leadership. Additionally, Ramsey has published two books, “Empowering Dreamers To Become Achievers” & “The Mentorship Engine” and has created proprietary training curriculums and technical models to optimize P&L performance. Civically, Ramsey is Chairman of Sigma Pi Phi’s Pacific Region Social Action Committee and Board President of the Gamma Zeta Boulé Foundation. This year Ramsey received the "2023 President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Volunteer Service" from AmeriCorps and the office of the President of the United States.
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Katie Koch | Ms. Koch is President and Chief Executive Officer of TCW and serves as a member of the Board of Directors. In this role, she is responsible for the strategic direction and overall day-to-day management of the Firm. Prior to joining TCW in 2023, Ms. Koch spent 20 years with Goldman Sachs in the Asset Management Division (AMD), where she was a Partner and most recently served as Chief Investment Officer of the $300 billion Public Equity business and as a member of the AMD executive committee. Previously, she was based in London for 10 years where she held several leadership roles including Head of the Multi-Asset Solutions business internationally.

Ms. Koch currently serves as a board member for the University of Notre Dame’s Board of Trustees, The Investment Fund for Foundations (TIFF), The Investment Company Institute (ICI), the Toigo Foundation and The Spence School. She also serves as a Co-Chair of the University of Notre Dame Wall Street Leadership Committee and the advisory board of the Notre Dame Institute for Global Investing (NDIGI). Ms. Koch was named a Young Global Leader with the World Economic Forum.

Ms. Koch earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Literature at the University of Notre Dame.Back To Top ^^

Sarah Maynard, ASIP| Sarah Maynard is Global Senior Head, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) at CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals that sets the standard for professional excellence and credentials.

Based in London, Sarah leads a global, industry-recognised portfolio of DEI programs for CFA Institute stakeholders who include CFA Program candidates, CFA charterholders, CFA Societies, and investment institutions, in order to champion the cause of greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in the investment management industry. Sarah is also responsible for internal DEI at CFA Institute, reporting to CEO & President, Marg Franklin

An experienced investment professional, Sarah joined CFA Institute in 2019 from Majedie Asset Management, a global investment firm now part of Liontrust, where she was Head of Stewardship and Client Communications Director. In the role, Sarah focused on ESG, especially governance, with a keen interest in how companies can achieve success through improving inclusion.

Previously, Sarah was Director of Career Development at CFA Society of the UK, and a founder of the society’s Women’s Network, which she transformed into the Inclusion & Diversity Network, and which now has a membership of over 1,200 investment professionals.

Prior to that, Sarah was a fund manager and analyst at both an asset manager and an asset owner, for which she managed an equities portfolio of US $3.3bn. She has an MA in English Literature and Language from Trinity College, Oxford, holds the ASIP (the credential for Associates of the Society of Investment Professionals), and is an Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development. She currently serves on the Advisory Boards of Girls Who Invest, and the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP), Collaborative WIM, and on the CEO Advisory Council of Diversity Project North America. Sarah was also a state (public) school governor in the United Kingdom for over a decade and a charity trustee, mainly working with disadvantaged communities.Back To Top ^^

Sofia Dolores Martos | Sofia is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP and member of the Firm’s ESG & Impact Practice Group. She advises clients on a wide array of ESG matters, including recent and emerging ESG regulatory developments, ESG disclosures, and risk mitigation strategies.

Sofia’s practice also focuses largely on social and governance issues. She leads Kirkland’s DEI strategic services, which include advising on emerging DEI-related legal developments, risk assessments, and risk mitigation strategies. Her experience advising on governance matters includes assessments of ESG programs and disclosures, as well as governance counseling through board presentations and trainings. She helps clients to identify opportunities to tailor their ESG programs to their particular goals while mitigating legal and reputational risks, including developing strategies for integrating ESG into larger business and governance practices.

Prior to focusing on ESG full time, Sofia spent over a decade working on cross-border capital markets matters across Latin America, the United Kingdom, Europe and Japan. Sofia earned a J.D. from New York University, a Ph.D. in History from UCLA, and B.A. in International Relations and Spanish from Stanford University. She was named a Council of Urban Professionals (CUP) Law Catalyst in 2021, serves as an LA Advisor to CUP, and was a member of the LatinoJustice-PRLDEF Líderes Board from 2014-2019. Sofia maintains an active pro bono practice that focuses on ESG, social impact, and civil rights matters. Back To Top ^^

Scott Zdrazil | Scott Zdrazil is Principal Investment Officer at the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA), which manages over $77 billion in assets in a defined benefit plan and other post-employment benefits on behalf of over 185,00 members and beneficiaries. He leads LACERA’s investment stewardship strategies across all asset classes that aim to protect and promote sustainable financial performance and strengthen LACERA’s position to pay member benefits. LACERA’s stewardship work includes financial market policy advocacy, engagements with portfolio companies to encourage sound governance practices, proxy voting across 65 global markets, and consideration of financially-relevant ESG factors in investment due diligence and fund analytics. LACERA has been named a finalist for 2023 ESG Investor of the Year by Institutional Investor.

Zdrazil has over 20 years of investment stewardship experience. He was named to the National Association of Corporate Director’s “NACD Directorship 100” list of the most influential governance professionals and directors in and out of the boardroom in 2022. He chaired the Board of the Council of Institutional Investors from 2021 to 2023, a nonprofit, nonpartisan association of employee benefit funds and asset managers with over $44 trillion in assets focused on strong investor rights, sound corporate governance, and sensible financial market regulations that foster fair, vibrant capital markets. Prior to his election as Board Chair, he was Board Treasurer and chaired the Audit Committee. He is a member of the Society for Corporate Governance and represents LACERA on the Investor Advisory Group of the International Financial Reporting Standards’ (IFRS) International Sustainability Standards Board. He has also served on the Private Equity Advisory Committee of the United Nations-affiliated Principles for Responsible Investment.

Zdrazil previously worked as First Vice President at Amalgamated Bank and Director of Strategy and Corporate Engagement at the Office of the New York City Comptroller Bureau of Asset Management, implementing stewardship initiatives on behalf of the New York City Retirement Systems. Zdrazil holds a B.A. with Honors from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, a Certificate of Political Studies from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques at the Université d’Aix-Marseille in Aix-en-Provence, France, and a M.A. from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Back To Top ^^