January 31 Investment Workshop:
Featured Speakers
Charles D. Ellis, Ph.D.
Chair of the investment committee and successor trustee for Yale University; finance and investment committee chair of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research; founder of Greenwich Associates; and author or numerous books and articles on institutional investing. Mr. Ellis serves as an overseer of the Stern School of Business at New York University. He has previously served as a trustee of Phillips Exeter Academy and Eagle Hill School. Mr. Ellis also serves as a consultant to large institutional investors and wealthy families. He is the managing partner of a pro bono partnership of nearly 100 Harvard Business School classmates and friends. He supports entrepreneurial, change-oriented ventures in education, particularly those focused on children born into tough circumstances. For 30 years, his entrepreneurial career centered on Greenwich Associates, the international strategy consulting firm he founded in 1972. Recognized worldwide for the proprietary research the firm serves virtually all the leading financial service organization of the world including over 130 professional financial markets. He is now a senior advisor. Mr. Ellis’s volunteer activities include serving as chair and two terms as governor of the Association for Investment Management and Research (AIMR); chair of the Institute of CFAs and two terms as a director; an associate editor of both The Journal of Portfolio Management and The Financial Analysts Journal. He is one of nine individuals honored by the Association for Investment Management and Research (AIMR) for lifetime contributions to the profession. His academic activities include appointments to the faculty of the Harvard Business School and the Yale School of Management, AIMR’s Investment Workshop at Princeton. He has also served on the visiting committee and as a member of the board of directors of the Associates to the Harvard Business School, and as a governor of the Stern School of Business at New York University. The author of 11 books, including Capital (John Wiley & Sons) and Winning the Loser’s Game (McGraw-Hill), he has written nearly 100 articles for business and professional journals. His article “The Loser’s Game” won the Graham & Dodd award in 1977. He is a graduate of Exeter and Yale College, Charley earned an MBA (with distinction) at Harvard Business School and a Ph.D. at New York University. He is married to his best friend, Linda Koch Lorimer, vice president and secretary of Yale University. Their four children are Harold, Chad, Kelly and Peter.
Leonard G. Armstrong, C.I.M.A.
First vice president , Merrill Lynch Private Banking and Investment Group, private wealth advisor, designated institutional consultant, and partner, The Armstrong Group. He is one of a select group of designated consultants in Merrill Lynch nationwide who access specialized institutional consulting services not available to ML Financial Consultants in general. Leonard has served as the president of the Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA), served as a director of IMCA and currently serves as Director Emeritus. He is also one of a group of Consultants nationwide listed in the Who’s Who of Consultants as selected by Senior Consultant Magazine. The Russian Federal Securities Commission, on behalf of the Russian Government, invited Leonard to conduct educational sessions in Moscow on investment consulting. Special areas of technical expertise lie in Investment Policy Statements, their construction and implementation, and evaluation of investment manager performance. Leonard teaches at the Wharton School of Business certification program regarding investment policy, design construction and implementation, and has articles featured in national publications. He is a Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) and has been with Merrill Lynch since 1970.
David Bahlmann
President and chief executive officer of the Ball State University Foundation since 1990. He is responsible for supervising all programs and activities of the foundation and for the management, investment and administration of all private gifts received by the foundation for the benefit of Ball State University. Mr. Bahlmann has served as the national chief executive officer of both Camp Fire Boys and Girls and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America. He possesses a broad range of professional experience, including 15 years in law (having served as a prosecuting attorney, legal advisor to the speaker for the Indiana House of Representatives, and a practicing attorney) and 30 years in agency administration. Mr. Bahlmann is a graduate of Hillsdale College (A.B. Economics) and the Valparaiso University School of Law (J.D.).
Louis A. Friedrich
Managing director, AllianceBernstein, and immediate past board chair, University of Illinois Foundation. He was named managing director of the Private Client Group in the New York region for AllianceBernsetin in 1999. He had been a financial advisor since 1989, having joined the firm in 1982 as a vice president of finance. Previously, Mr. Friedrich served as a deputy budget director and acting budget director with New York City’s Office of Management and Budget from 1978-1982. Earlier, he served as audit manager and consultant with Ernst & Young; he began his career as a systems analyst with Bache & Co. in 1969. He has been a frequent speaker at Bernstein investor conferences as well as CPA and investor conferences. Previously, he served as the chairman of the Burden Center for the Aging in New York. Mr. Friedrich is a CPA and earned a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Illinois and an M.B.A. from Columbia University.
John Griswold
Executive director, Commonfund Institute, and senior vice president, marketing services and external relations, of the Commonfund Group. Prior to joining Commonfund in 1992, John spent seven years as a partner in an investment management firm, Jefferson Financial Group, where he helped develop and market a hedge fund of funds for individuals and small pension funds. Previously, he spent 15 years in advertising and marketing. John is a member of numerous non-profit boards and investment committees, including the boards of trustees of Pomfret School in Connecticut, the Regional Plan Association, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. He is a graduate of Yale University and attended Columbia Business School.
Harry E. Merriken
Senior vice president and principal at Gateway Investment Advisors, L.P. His major responsibilities include strategic marketing and product development. Prior to joining Gateway, he was a Principal at Alex. Brown, working in Private Client Investment Services. He directed the effort within Private Client Services responsible for the design and implementation of investment, hedging, and diversification strategies geared for high net worth clients and institutional clients. Prior to Alex. Brown, Dr. Merriken was the Dean of Graduate Business Education at Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland, and lead professor in the areas of Capital Markets and Financial Institutions. His academic instruction areas also included investments and corporate finance. Dr. Merriken also managed a consulting firm providing financial and management consulting services to small- and mid-market companies as well as Fortune 100 firms. Dr. Merriken holds a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Maryland, where he studied the fields of finance, econometrics, and statistics. He received his M.B.A. in Finance and B.A. in English Literature from Loyola College in Maryland.
Alan F. Rothschild, Jr.
Partner in the law firm of Hatcher, Stubbs, Land, Hollis & Rothschild, LLP, in Columbus, Georgia. He is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, serves on the council of the American Bar Association's Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law and is a trustee of the Southeastern Council of Foundations. Alan has spoken on estate planning, professional ethics and charitable giving at regional and national programs sponsored by the American Bar Association, ALI-ABA, the Georgia Federal Tax Conference, the Southeastern Council of Foundations and the University of Miami's Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning. His articles on these subjects have been published in ACTEC Notes, Estate Planning, Probate & Property, Taxation of Exempts and The Practical Tax Lawyer. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia, the University of Georgia School of Law, and received a Masters of Law in Taxation from Emory University School of Law.