Allocator Insights: Geopolitics

Walter is the Chief Investment Officer for EY Americas based in Secaucus, New Jersey and has 35 years of investment experience. He and his team are responsible for managing over $21B of ERISA assets in 5 DB and DC Plans for EY’s 80,000+ participants. Walter is a voting member of EY’s Retirement Investment Committee and of Gloucester Insurance Ltd., EY’s captive insurance group.

Prior to joining EY in 2016, Walter spent 10 years as member of the JPMorgan Retirement Plan Investment Group, the investment manager of the JPMorgan Retirement Plan. He was COO responsible for the investment operations of the JPMorgan’s Retirement and 401(k) Savings Plans, Portfolio Manager for private equity, real estate and real assets and a designated advisor to the firm’s largest international retirement plans’ investment committees.

From 1999-2006, Walter worked for Mellon and its Dreyfus subsidiary in roles including National Sales Manager of Retail at Dreyfus, President of Mellon Advisors, and Executive Vice President of Defined Contribution Distribution at Mellon Institutional Asset Management.

Before joining Mellon, he spent 14 years at Prudential Securities in various roles including Branch Manager and Associate Regional Director and began focusing on the qualified retirement plan market in 1990.

Walter is a member of CIEBA’s Executive Committee and Vice Chair of its DC Committee and received his B.S. in Finance from Syracuse University

Phillip Nelson leads NEPC’s asset allocation research and is responsible for the firm’s macroeconomic outlook, dynamic asset class views, and capital market assumptions. Nelson’ responsibilities also include maintaining and developing asset allocation models and frameworks used broadly by NEPC clients when constructing a strategic asset allocation for their portfolio. Nelson joined NEPC in 2011 having been in the investment industry since 2002. Phillip received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of California Irvine. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Christine Giordano has been managing editor of ai-CIO.com (Chief Investment Officer’s digital news site) since 2016. The ai-CIO brand was honored with the prestigious Best Media Brand award in 2016, 2018, and 2019 in the Jesse H. Neal Awards.
A career journalist, prior to joining the company, Giordano wrote in-depth news for daily newspapers and as a staff writer for The New York Times Company, winning the team NYT Chairman’s Award, the Florida Bar’s Grand Prize award, and various first place awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. She is a fellow of both the National Press Foundation and the American Institute for Economic Research.

Jason Thomas, CFA, managing director and Head of Global Research at The Carlyle Group, focuses on economic and statistical analysis of Carlyle portfolio data, asset prices and broader trends in the global economy.
Based in Washington, D.C, is Economic Adviser on corporate Private Equity, Real Estate and Credit Investment Committees. His research helps to identify new investment opportunities, advance strategic initiatives and corporate development, and support Carlyle investors.
Prior to joining Carlyle, Thomas was vice president, of Research at the Private Equity Council and also served on the White House staff as Special Assistant to the President and director for Policy Development at the National Economic Council. In this capacity, Mr. Thomas served as primary adviser to the President for public finance. He holds an MS and PhD in finance from George Washington University.