Investor Advisory Group Members

James Andrus

Vice President Sustainability Global Markets
Franklin Templeton

James Andrus has served as the Vice President, Sustainability Global Markets for Franklin Templeton since March 2023. In that role, he is responsible for developing and executing Franklin Templeton’s Global Sustainability Strategy. Mr. Andrus draws on experience as the leader of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) Sustainable Investing program and a corporate partner at a global law firm (K&L Gates). James has served as a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council and currently serves on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee and the IFRS Advisory Council. He is the 2022 recipient of the Excellence in Corporate Governance Award from the International Corporate Governance Network. James graduated West Point and the University of Texas School of Law.

Mary M. Bersot, CFA

CEO and Chief Investment Officer
Bersot Capital Management LLC

Bersot Capital Management LLC was founded in 2006 by Mary Bersot, CFA to provide investment management services to individuals, families, foundations, and endowments. Mary Bersot has over 30 years experience managing investment portfolios for clients. Her years working with individuals, trusts and families, her mutual fund management experience, and her role with major pension funds offers clients of Bersot Capital Management the depth and experience needed to manage their assets to achieve their investment goals. Ms. Bersot is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the San Francisco Security Analyst Society.

Jack T. Ciesielski, CFA, CPA

President & Portfolio Manager
R.G. Associates, Inc.

Jack T. Ciesielski, founder of R.G. Associates, Inc., is the Firm’s investment manager. For 26 years through 2018, Mr. Ciesielski published The Analyst’s Accounting Observer, an accounting research service for security analysts. Mr. Ciesielski graduated from Loyola University, Maryland with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1976. He also completed his degree of Master of Science in Finance in 1984 from Loyola University, Maryland. He has been a Certified Public Accountant since 1978, and a Chartered Financial Analyst since 1988. Before founding R.G. Associates, Inc. in 1992, he spent nearly seven years as a security analyst with the Legg Mason Value Trust. Prior to joining Legg Mason, he held various positions in the accounting profession as an auditor and as an educator.

Alicia Damley, CFA, CPA (Canada), CA

Investment & Audit Professional

With over 25 years professional expertise, Ms. Damley’s career includes defining Board strategy, oversight and renewal; leading and implementing risk and assurance best practices; and generating superior investment returns over business cycles, combining this to bring a global, executable, and well-rounded perspective to her roles. Ms. Damley is a CFA Charterholder and holds Chartered Professional Accountant (Canada) and Chartered Accountant designations. Her academic credentials include an Honours Bachelor of Science and a Master of Business Administration from the Rotman School, both from the University of Toronto, Canada.

Parveen P. Gupta, LL.B., Ph.D.

Clayton Distinguished Professor of Accounting
Lehigh University College of Business

Parveen P. Gupta joined Lehigh University in 1987 and taught numerous courses in the areas of financial accounting, corporate governance, risk management, and internal controls. Dr. Gupta is nationally recognized in Sarbanes-Oxley, corporate governance, financial disclosure and internal control, audit committee effectiveness, and enterprise risk management. His current research focuses on understanding how a firm’s corporate governance practices affect quality of its financial reporting and consequently its financial and capital market performance. Additionally, his research also focuses on investigating the value relevance of the internal control disclosures under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the suitability of the various control models in helping management assess and auditors certify the effectiveness of a company’s internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404.

Jennifer R. Joe, Ph.D., CPA

John E Peterson Professor of Accounting
Virginia Tech

Jennifer R. Joe, Ph.D., CPA (NY, inactive), is the John E Peterson Professor in the Accounting and Information Systems Department of the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. She is an award-winning researcher who studies the role and impact of auditors and valuation specialists in financial reporting, and diversity and inclusion in accounting. Her work including studies on auditors’ use of artificial intelligence, audit regulation, and auditors’ evaluation of corporate internal controls, is published in many leading accounting journals. Dr. Joe is currently an editor at The Accounting Review, a member of the Inaugural Board of Trustees of the American Accounting Association Foundation, and President of the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association. She is actively engaged with the accounting profession and business community. Dr. Joe is a frequent keynote speaker and presenter at corporate and academic events and professional education programs. She enjoys volunteering on academic and civic boards and advocating for inclusive excellence in higher education.

Jeffrey P. Mahoney, J.D., CPA

General Counsel
Council of Institutional Investors

Jeffrey P. Mahoney joined the Council of Institutional Investors (CII) as general counsel in 2006. His responsibilities include advocating the Council’s membership-approved policies before standard setters, regulators, members of Congress, and other policy makers. Prior to joining the Council, Mr. Mahoney was counsel to the chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). From 1996-2006, he advised FASB and its parent entity, the Financial Accounting Foundation, on a variety of research, technical and administrative matters, and was primarily responsible for FASB’s Washington, D.C. liaison activities. Prior to joining FASB, Mr. Mahoney was a corporate securities lawyer at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP; a law clerk to the Honorable James G. Exum Jr., chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court; and an auditor at Arthur Andersen LLP. Mr. Mahoney holds a J.D. degree, served on the North Carolina Law Review, and was named to the Order of the Coif. He also holds a B.B.A. degree and an A.A. degree.

Amy Copeland McGarrity, CFA

Chief Investment Officer
Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association

Amy McGarrity is the Chief Investment Officer/Chief Operating Officer of the Public Employees’ Retirement Association of Colorado (Colorado PERA). She is responsible for managing over $60 billion for the pension plan in accordance with the Board of Trustees policies and state statutes. Ms. McGarrity oversees portfolio and risk management for global equities, fixed income, real estate, private equity, and new investment opportunities. She recommends investment policy to the Board of Trustees and contributes to strategic planning. As a member of the organization’s executive group, she also represents Colorado PERA to legislative bodies and other external entities. She has held previous investment positions at Buck Consultants, Prima Capital Holding, William M. Mercer Investment Consulting, and Caxton Corporation. Ms. McGarrity graduated from the University of Wyoming with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and earned her MBA at Rider University.

Sandra J. Peters, CPA, CFA

Senior Head, Global Advocacy
CFA Institute

Sandra Peters leads the Financial Reporting Policy Group at CFA Institute where she oversees a team responsible for tracking all corporate disclosure, accounting, auditing, and ESG issues of interest to investors globally. Ms. Peters has an extensive and well-balanced background as a user advocate, preparer, and auditor. Most recently, she served as Vice President and Corporate Controller at MetLife Inc. Prior to joining MetLife, she was a partner at KPMG LLP providing audit services primarily for insurance and financial services companies. She has been a member of the IFRS Interpretation’s Committee (IFRS IC), the FASB’s Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council and the PCAOB’s Standing Advisory Group. Ms. Peters is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in New York, Texas, and Nebraska. She is a CFA and a member of CFA Society of New York. She holds a B.S./B.A. in accounting from the University of Nebraska and an MBA in finance from Indiana University.

David Pitt-Watson

Visiting Fellow
Cambridge Judge Business School

David Pitt-Watson is a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge Judge Business School and former Chair of the UN Environment Programme's Finance Initiative. He is co-founder of Hermes (now Federated Hermes) "shareholder stewardship" businesses, which became the largest of any investment manager in the world. Under his leadership it was highly successful financially, and established Hermes as a global leader in good governance and responsible investment. He leads the influential initiatives at the RSA (The Royal Society for Arts), which has championed better pension arrangements in the UK. His early career was spent at Deloitte, where he was a partner for twelve years, ultimately running its strategy consultancy practice in London. A graduate of Oxford and Stanford Universities, Mr. Pitt-Watson was Visiting Professor at Cranfield University School of Management from 1990 to 1996. He has written widely on issues of governance and other aspects of institutional economics. His book, The New Capitalists, has been published in five languages.

Sanford Rich

Executive Director
New York City Board of Education Retirement System

Sanford “Sandy” Rich is the Executive Director of the NYC Board of Education Retirement System. Previously, Sandy was the Chief of Negotiations and Restructuring of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Sandy is an SEC audit committee financial expert having served on both public and private company boards as audit committee chairman. Sandy has served as CFO and CEO of both public and private companies. Sandy’s career included analyst, trader, investment banker, and portfolio manager positions in the non-investment grade debt capital markets. Sandy’s expertise includes bankrupt security investment, credit analysis, angel investing, pension system analysis and management, and corporate governance.

Gina Sanchez

Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Chantico Global

Gina Sanchez is CEO of Chantico Global, a global consulting firm with offices in Los Angeles and London that advises global pension, foundation, and family office clients, and she also serves as a Trustee of the Los Angeles County Employee Retirement Association (LACERA) as well as a member of the Board of Directors for Cedars Sinai Hospital. She previously served as the Director of Equity and Asset Allocation for Roubini Global Economics (RGE) and Co-Lead Portfolio Manager for American Century’s Strategic Asset Allocation family of funds, where she was American Century’s youngest ever Portfolio Manager, managing over $6.5 billion in assets under management. Ms. Sanchez holds an A.B. in economics from Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges of Harvard University, and an M.A. in economic policy from Stanford University.

R. Harold (Hal) Schroeder, CPA

Distinguished Executive-in-Residence
Rutgers Business School

A Member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) from 2011 to 2021, Mr. Schroeder is a Certified Public Accountant with over 40 years of diverse experience in investing and financial reporting. Most notably, he brings a strong investor perspective, with more than 15 years of experience working with all facets of the investment community. During his career, he has viewed the preparation of financial statements and the application of accounting standards from varying perspectives including auditor, preparer and investor. Prior to joining the FASB, Mr. Schroeder was a Partner at Carlson Capital, L.P., a Dallas-based money manager. He joined Carlson Capital’s relative value arbitrage team in 2000 and was a member of the firm’s management and investment committees. As a Senior Portfolio Manager, he focused on the financial services industry, including both public and private companies.

Nemit Shroff, Ph.D.

School of Management Distinguished Professor and an Associate Professor of Accounting
MIT Sloan School of Management

Nemit Shroff’s primary research interest concerns whether and why accounting disclosures such as audited financial statements, management forecasts, and press releases affect the corporate financing and investing policies of public and private companies. In addition, his research examines the reasons why corporate disclosure is regulated across the world and the economic consequences of regulating (or not regulating) disclosure. His research has been published in top accounting and finance journals and has received several awards. In addition, Shroff is an editor at one of the leading accounting research journals and has won multiple awards for his peer-reviewing service. Born in India, Shroff earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Mumbai and his MBA from Amrita School of Business. He then came to the U.S. to pursue his doctoral degree at the University of Michigan.

Lynn Turner

Senior Advisor 
Hemming Morse LLP

A senior advisor at Hemming Morse, Lynn Turner possesses over 45 years of auditing, business, regulatory, corporate governance, and academic experience related to financial reporting. Currently he consults on complex investigations involving financial reporting, corporate governance, securities litigation, accountant and auditor liability, and technical accounting matters. Courts and Congress have recognized Lynn as an expert witness on financial reporting requirements, financial statement audits, and corporate governance standards. He has also served as an arbitrator. In his former role as chief accountant for the SEC, Mr. Turner was the principal advisor to the SEC chairman and Commission on auditing, financial reporting, and corporate governance matters. He advised the SEC on issues including the oversight and development of U.S. auditing, accounting, and disclosure standards, as well as matters affecting audit committees of public companies. He has also served as a trustee of investment funds.

Gary G. Walsh, CFA, CPA

Principal
Luther King Capital Management

Gary G. Walsh, CFA, CPA, is a Principal of Luther King Capital Management (LKCM). He joined the firm in 1994 and serves as a portfolio manager and the communication services analyst. Prior to joining LKCM, Mr. Walsh worked in corporate finance/mergers and acquisitions and served as an auditor for Arthur Andersen and he worked in corporate finance for Dexter Corporation. Mr. Walsh graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University and a Master of Business Administration from Texas Christian University.