Geoffrey K. Alexander is CEO of R.M. Davis in Portland, Maine. Prior to assuming the role of CEO, Alexander served as president of the firm for seven years. He has also worked directly with high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients at R.M. Davis for more than 25 years. Alexander has served on numerous nonprofit boards at both the state and local levels. He has been very actively involved with the IAA, including serving as the current chair of the Board of Governors, as well as participating in numerous events and advocating for the industry on Capitol Hill. Alexander earned an MBA from Boston University and a B.A. from Colby College.
Karen L. Barr is president and chief executive officer of the IAA. Before assuming the role of president and CEO in 2014, she served as the IAA’s general counsel for 17 years, with responsibility for the wide range of legal and regulatory matters affecting the investment adviser industry. Prior to joining the IAA, Barr was in private practice at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale), where she represented clients in SEC investigations, securities class action litigation, internal corporate investigations, and securities regulatory matters. She received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.
Gail C. Bernstein general counsel and head of public policy for the IAA. She joined the IAA in 2017 from the law firm of WilmerHale in Washington, DC, where she had been a special counsel and before that a partner in the Securities Department. While in private practice, Bernstein counseled clients on all aspects of financial and securities regulation. Bernstein earned her B.A. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and her law degree from Harvard Law School in 1988. After law school, Bernstein clerked for the Honorable Douglas P. Woodlock of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Charles B. Burkhart, Jr. is chief executive officer of Rosemont Investment Group, LLC. Burkhart founded Rosemont Investment Partners, LLC, in 2000, prior to which he was the president of Investment Counseling, Inc., the asset management business consultant and industry strategy firm he founded in 1989. Over his career, he has worked on hundreds of advisory assignments on compensation, business strategy, valuation, partnering and best practices in the asset management industry. Prior to establishing Investment Counseling, he was a principal with the executive search firm of Lee Calhoon & Co., specializing in the field of pensions and investments. He holds a B.A. in English from Boston College.
Langston Emerson is a partner at Mindset, a policy advisory and advocacy firm in Washington, DC. Emerson leads the asset management practice, where he advocates on federal policy issues important to clients and their investors and shareholders. He also leads a team to conduct due diligence on behalf of private equity and venture capital investments. Previously, he was the head of government affairs for the American Investment Council, advising large private equity firms, and led the financial service government affairs practice at TIAA during the creation of the Dodd Frank Act. Emerson holds a B.A. from Howard University, magna cum laude, and a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School.
Jonathan W. Hubbard, CFA, is a managing director and lead asset allocation strategist within the Strategy and Insights Group for MFS Investment Management®. In this role, he focuses on portfolio design, including asset allocation strategy and portfolio structure as well as global macroeconomic and capital market trends. In addition, he works closely with the various investment teams across asset classes in determining capital markets expectations and asset class views. Hubbard joined the firm in 2000 and has held a variety of roles within the institutional and advisory departments. Prior to this, he was an investment specialist and associate regional vice president at CDC Nvest Funds. Hubbard earned a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and an MBA from Boston College.
Kurt Miscinski is a partner and the chief executive officer of Cerity Partners, responsible for the strategic direction and management of the firm. Prior to founding Cerity Partners, Miscinski was a managing director and an executive committee member of a global investment bank’s Private Wealth Management division, where he managed the bank’s U.S. wealth management offices, including the provision of the bank’s investment, credit, and wealth management services to individual, family, business, and nonprofit clientele. He is a member of Young Presidents’ Organization, Vistage International, and the CNBC CEO Council. Miscinski earned a B.S. from the University of Illinois and an MBA from DePaul University.
William A. Nelson is associate general counsel and director of public policy at the IAA. Previously, he was assistant general counsel and public policy counsel at CFP Board and chief compliance officer for Mercer Advisors. He has also held roles as an attorney with both the U.S. Departments of Justice and Veterans Affairs. Nelson has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and George Washington University Law School. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Tulsa, his J.D. with Honors from the University of Tulsa College of Law, and his LL.M. from the George Washington University Law School.
Jason Patel is chief technology and AI officer at Salus GRC. Patel is a hands-on technology executive with nearly two decades of experience driving innovation in governance, risk, and compliance. He has built award-winning code of ethics and RegTech solutions and, as the former global head of RegTech products at ACA Group, led the launch and expansion of the firm’s technology platform. in his current role, he is developing Vela, an agent-enabled AI platform that helps services firms keep pace with rapid AI advances. He also leads AI research in predictive, time-series risk analytics, applying techniques such as Gramian Angular Fields and 3D convolutional neural networks to surface early risk signals and improve decision-making.
Jonathan Stern, CFA, is a partner at Berkshire Global Advisors. He leads Berkshire’s Traditional Investment Management coverage, is a member of the Wealth Management coverage team and has extensive relationships across Berkshire’s coverage sectors. Stern joined Berkshire in 1998 and has 40 years of industry experience. During his 25 years at Berkshire, he has worked on transactions across all of the coverage areas including traditional investment management, wealth management, real estate and infrastructure, and the capital markets sectors. Prior to Berkshire, Stern worked at First Fidelity/First Union Bank in a number of finance and corporate development positions. He graduated from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Economics and received an MBA in Finance from Rutgers University.
David Wasserman is the senior editor and election analyst for the nonpartisan newsletter The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter and a contributor to NBC News. In an era of polling uncertainty, Wasserman is the rare analyst who has accurately forecast the last three presidential elections. His data-driven forecasting looks at both national and local trends, the relationship between consumer brand loyalty and voting, and what the future holds for American elections. Previously, Wasserman served for three years as House editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a widely respected political analysis newsletter and website founded by renowned University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia.