Biographies

Rodney Comegys is chief investment officer of Vanguard Capital Management and head of Global Equity. He oversees the investment professionals responsible for more than 200 U.S. and international equity index funds and ETFs. He also serves as a member of firm’s Global Investment Committee and the SEC’s Investor Advisor Committee. Previously, he was global head of Risk Management for Vanguard’s Investment Management Group.

Since joining the investment management team in 2008, Rodney has helped Vanguard expand its international business, launch new exchange-traded funds, and build processes and technology for the company’s equity management and trading systems.

Past roles at Vanguard include head of Investments, Asia-Pacific, head of the Equity Index Group, Asia-Pacific, and head of the Index Analysis, ETF Trading, and Global Broker Relations teams. He also served in risk analysis oversight for the Fixed Income and Equity teams, Six Sigma program management, and leadership of Vanguard’s Personal Investor business in Arizona, and retirement plan operations. Before joining Vanguard in 1999, Rodney was a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine officer.

Rodney holds a B.S. in Engineering and an M.Sc. in Regional Science Economics, both from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Sara Devereux is chief investment officer of Vanguard Capital Management and global head of Fixed Income. She oversees the investment professionals responsible for portfolio management, trading, and research for Vanguard's internally managed fixed income funds and ETFs, including actively managed bond and money market portfolios and bond index portfolios. She is also the chair of the Senior Investment Committee responsible for Vanguard's actively managed fixed income portfolios, a member of the firm's Global Investment Committee, and a member of its Investment Risk Council.

Prior to her current role, Sara served as global head of rates, with oversight of all active rates, money market portfolios, and rates-related strategies across the active taxable fixed income franchise. She also had oversight of foreign exchange and derivatives trading activities.

Before joining Vanguard in 2019, Sara was a partner at Goldman Sachs, where she spent over 20 years in mortgage-backed securities and structured products trading and sales. Earlier in her career, she worked at HSBC in risk management advisory and interest rate derivatives structuring. She started her career as an actuary at AXA Equitable Life Insurance.

Sara serves as a member of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and as a member of the Financial Markets Advisory Council to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

She is also a member of the Honors Carolina Advisory Board. She holds a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

John Ameriks, Ph.D., is chief investment officer, Vanguard Portfolio Management, and head of quantitative and strategic equity. He oversees the portfolio management and trading of Vanguard's strategic equity index assets and the portfolio management, trading, innovation, and research teams for Vanguard's quantitative equity funds.

John previously served as head of Vanguard Investment Counseling and Research, which, in conjunction with Vanguard Investment Strategy Group, develops the firm's advice methodology and conducts investment research.

John's research has been published in The Journal of Finance, The American Economic Review, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, The Review of Economics and Statistics, and the Journal of Financial Planning. He is coeditor, with Olivia Mitchell of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, of Recalibrating Retirement Spending and Saving (Oxford University Press).

His current research interests include quantitative equity investment strategies, behavioral economics, issues in retirement finance, and solutions-oriented single-fund investments.

Before joining Vanguard in 2003, John was a senior research fellow at the TIAA-CREF Institute.

John holds an A.B. from Stanford University and an M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University.

Christopher Alwine, CFA, is Global Head of Credit in Vanguard’s Fixed Income Group. He leads Vanguard’s Global Credit Team, with responsibility for active, credit-sensitive taxable fixed income portfolios across investment-grade credit, high yield, emerging markets, structured products, and related multi-sector strategies.

Chris is a member of the Senior Investment Committee at Vanguard responsible for developing macro strategies for the firm’s internally managed active fixed income funds.

Chris joined Vanguard in 1990 and has extensive fixed income experience across trading, portfolio management, and credit research. His portfolio management background spans taxable and municipal markets, as well as active and index strategies. He is a member of Vanguard’s Senior Fixed Income Investment Committee, helping shape macro strategy, risk posture, and portfolio construction across internally managed active fixed income funds.

Chris holds a B.B.A. from Temple University and an M.S. in Finance from Drexel University. He serves on the Board of Visitors of Temple University’s Fox School of Business, contributing to the advancement of business education and leadership development. 

Roger Hallam, CFA, is global head of Rates in Vanguard’s Fixed Income Group, where he oversees the Global Rates, Treasury, Mortgages and Volatility, Currency, and Money Market teams. He is a member of the Vanguard Senior Leadership Team and the Senior Investor Team.

Prior to joining Vanguard in 2022, Roger had been at J.P. Morgan Asset Management for more than 20 years as a senior global fixed income portfolio manager, and more recently as chief investment officer for currencies. He served as chair of the Currency Investment Policy Committee and was a member of the Global Fixed Income, Currency, and Strategy team.

Roger holds a B.S. in Virology from the University of Warwick in England.

Geoff Parrish, CFA, is global head of Fixed Income Indexing in Vanguard’s Fixed Income Group. He is responsible for the firm's fixed income index funds and ETFs and the teams that manage them across the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, and the United States. He is a member of the Fixed Income Group's Leadership Team.

Geoff brings a global perspective shaped by senior leadership roles across three regions. From January 2024 through June 2026, he served concurrently as European Head of Investment Management, leading the firm's regional investment management functions—portfolio management and trading, research and thought leadership, and ETF capital markets. Earlier in his career, he led Vanguard's Fixed Income Group in the Asia-Pacific region. During his time in Europe, he contributed to investment policy and strategy through membership on the European Investment Committee, the European Advice Investment Policy Committee, and the Strategic Asset Allocation Committee, which governs multi-asset-class investment solutions.

Geoff joined Vanguard in 2009 and the Fixed Income Group in 2010. Over his career, he has held a variety of trading and portfolio management roles supporting both active and index mutual funds and ETFs.

Geoff holds a B.S. in finance and management from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. in decision sciences and strategy from Duke University.

Paul Malloy, CFA, is the head of Municipals at Vanguard. Previously, he was head of Vanguard’s Fixed Income Group, Europe. In that role, Paul managed portfolios that invested in global fixed income assets. He also oversaw Vanguard’s European Credit Research team.

Paul joined Vanguard in 2005 and became a member of the Fixed Income Group in 2007. He has held various portfolio management positions in Vanguard’s U.S. and U.K. offices. In past Vanguard roles, he was responsible for managing U.S. fixed income ETFs as well as overseeing a range of fixed income index mutual funds.

Paul holds an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Economics and Finance from Saint Francis University.

Michelle Louie is the U.S. head of Trading and Portfolio Management for Global Equity. She leads a team responsible for executing equity trading strategies and managing mutual funds, ETFs, and trusts across global markets.

Michelle holds a B.S. from American University and an M.B.A. from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Carole Okigbo is global head of ETF Capital Markets & Broker and Index Relations at Vanguard. She leads teams that advance the firm’s global ETF ecosystem and help to optimize the liquidity, efficiency, and performance of Vanguard ETFs across markets. Carole also oversees the Investment Management Group’s strategic relationships with broker-dealers and its enterprise-wide engagement with index providers, advancing Vanguard’s investment capabilities and supporting product innovation. She is a member of Vanguard’s Global Equity Leadership Team.

Prior to her current role, Carole led Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group, Asia-Pacific, overseeing teams spanning economics and capital markets, retirement research, and portfolio construction. She joined Vanguard in 2020 as a senior strategist and chief of staff, helping to shape strategic priorities across Vanguard’s global investment management business.

Before joining Vanguard in 2020, Carole was a senior investment professional in the private equity group of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. She was responsible for the execution, management, and realization of buy-side investments across Africa and Latin America at IFC. Prior to that, she worked in the investment banking division at Standard Bank, advising corporate and financial sponsor clients on mergers and acquisitions across emerging markets.

Carole began her career in investment banking with Citigroup and Savvian Advisors, advising corporate and private equity clients in New York and San Francisco. Outside of Vanguard, Carole serves on the Board of Directors of the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia.

Carole holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Cesar Orosco, CFA, is the head of Quantitative Equity within Vanguard Portfolio Management. His team manages domestic active equity mandates using proprietary quantitative methods. He has more than 25 years of quantitative research and investment experience.

Before joining Vanguard, Cesar was head of research and portfolio management at AJO, a boutique quantitative investment manager in Philadelphia. He also has worked at State Street Bank & Trust and Credicorp Securities.

Cesar holds a B.S. in Economics from the Universidad de Lima and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the CFA Society of Pennsylvania. 

Sharon Hill, Ph.D., is a senior portfolio manager and head of Global & Income and Alternatives within Vanguard Portfolio Management. Her team manages active equity income-oriented mandates, global factor funds, and select multi-asset strategies using quantitative methods.

Prior to joining Vanguard in 2019, Sharon spent almost 20 years at Macquarie Investment Management (formerly Delaware Investments), now part of Nomura, where she was head of equity quantitative research and analytics. Earlier in her career, she worked as a fixed income software developer at Bloomberg L.P. and taught mathematics at Rowan University. She is a member of the Program Committee of the Journal of Investment Management and has published research in the Journal of Wealth Management. In 2026, Sharon was recognized by Barron's as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance.

Sharon holds a B.S. in Mathematics from The City University of New York at Brooklyn College and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Connecticut.

Scott Rodemer, CFA, is a senior portfolio manager and head of Vanguard’s U.S. Alpha Equity. The team manages active U.S. all-cap strategies, including long-only, long-short, and U.S. factor strategies targeting high and consistent exposure to certain factors such as value and momentum.

Scott joined Vanguard in 2004 and has been a member of Vanguard Quantitative Equity (QE) since 2007. Scott has held a variety of roles in QE including managing the Global Trading desk and leading a team of quantitative portfolio managers overseeing U.S. equity portfolios.

Scott holds a B.A. from Villanova University and an M.S. in Finance from the University of Notre Dame. He is a member of the CFA Society of Philadelphia. 

Robert Louka, CFA, is the head of Quantitative Trading in Vanguard Quantitative Equity. He joined Vanguard in 2021 and has spent most of his career in investment management primarily focusing on trading and transaction cost research. He leads Active Equity Trading as well as daily ETF Basket Construction and daily ETF Portfolio Management.

Prior to joining Vanguard in 2021, Rob was co-head of the trading desk at AJO, another quantitative equity portfolio manager. He was also a trader and portfolio manager for a subsidiary of BNP Paribas in the equity derivatives division.

Rob holds a B.B.A. in Accounting from Loyola University, an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a Master of Information and Data Science from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Paul Musella is the head of Quantitative Development and Innovation in Vanguard Quantitative Equity (QE) and sits on the leadership team of Quantitative and Strategic Equity.

Paul is primarily responsible for QE’s quant technology and data strategy, quantitative signal generation systems, research technology capabilities, and production processes, including all proprietary models.

Paul leads a team of quantitative developers that actively collaborates with portfolio managers, researchers, and traders across the full investment lifecycle. Paul has led a complete transformation of QE's research platform, a build out of QE’s trading infrastructure, and the implementation of Vanguard's first AI models for internally managed active equity funds and evolving generative AI efforts. Paul also provides strategic leadership and oversight for QE’s cross-functional team of full-stack engineers.

Paul previously held roles within Vanguard's Global Risk and Security Group. Prior to joining Vanguard in 2012, he held various roles in the credit and equity derivatives space at Morgan Stanley.

Paul holds a B.B.A. with a concentration in Finance and Economics from Loyola University and an M.B.A. from Drexel University.

Jan-Carl Plagge, Ph.D., is global head of Indexing, Active, and ESG Research and the head of the Investment Strategy Group, Asia-Pacific. In the first of those roles, Jan-Carl leads a research team that analyzes the benefits of index, active, and ESG investing. In the second role, he leads a research team that produces thought leadership across the areas of asset allocation, asset-return forecasting, economics, goals-based investing, and retirement.

Jan-Carl has over 20 years of experience in the financial industry, has published in peer-reviewed journals, and has presented his work at various practitioner and academic conferences.

Prior to joining Vanguard, Jan-Carl was head of research and co-head of product at STOXX. He also held product development roles with Deutsche Börse AG, where he was responsible for the development of international equity and strategy indexes.

Jan-Carl holds an M.Sc. in Business Management from the University of Münster and a Ph.D. in Finance from the EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht.

Ankul Daga, CFA, is an investment strategist specializing in private markets portfolio research in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group. His responsibilities include research on private market strategies, target-date and 529 products, building enterprise research models, and meeting clients to provide Vanguard’s perspective on long-term investment implications. His work also covers portfolio construction issues and a broad range of investment topics, including multi-asset investing, retirement strategies, passive and active investments, and advisor best practices.

Ankul holds a Master’s Degree from Warwick Business School and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Senior Fellow with the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance at The Wharton School, Research Fellow with the Retirement Income Institute, and an active member of various industry trade bodies in the U.S. and the U.K.

Andrew Patterson, CFA, is the head of Active and Alternatives Research in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group (ISG). He leads Vanguard’s research efforts on active management, alternative investments, and indexing. He and his team provide analytical support for various investment management initiatives and products, including Vanguard’s Active Management processes and Advice platforms. Andrew’s areas of expertise include economics, investments, asset allocation, and investment strategy.

Andrew joined Vanguard in 2002 and served as a client representative associate and an analyst in the Finance Division and what is now the Workplace Solutions Group. He joined ISG in 2009 and has held a series of investment strategist and economist positions. He led the Economics Research team charged with developing and communicating Vanguard’s economic and market outlook before taking on his current role. 

Andrew has co-authored research on a number of topics, including equity and fixed income investing, asset allocation, and global economic trends. He also regularly serves as an ambassador for Vanguard, speaking at client events and industry conferences on a range of topics, and is frequently cited in the financial media.

Andrew holds a B.S. in Finance from The Pennsylvania State University and an M.B.A. from Villanova University. 

Douglas Grim, CFA, is a senior researcher in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group, where he conducts research and provides thought leadership on issues related to private assets, ESG investing, factor strategies, active management, and indexing.

Earlier in his Vanguard career, Doug served as a senior investment consultant to Vanguard institutional clients, providing strategic advice on asset allocation and portfolio construction, investment policy consulting, and capital markets research. He also served as the team leader responsible for supporting other consultants with asset allocation and asset/liability modeling studies developed for clients.

Doug currently serves on the editorial boards of The Journal of Private Markets Investing and The Journal of Impact and ESG Investing. He presents at investment forums and has published research in The Journal of Portfolio Management, The Journal of Impact and ESG Investing, The Journal of Beta Investment Strategies, and the Journal of Investment Management.

Doug holds a B.S. from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Philadelphia.

Daniel Reyes, CFA, is the head of Vanguard’s Portfolio Review Department, which is responsible for overseeing Vanguard’s mutual funds, ETFs, and their advisors. The department is also responsible for developing the optimal fund lineup for investors, as well as analyzing the health, usage, and competitive landscape of Vanguard funds and ETFs, while supporting clients and crew by serving as specialized product experts.

Prior to his current role, Dan led Vanguard’s team of investment management professionals in Australia as the head of Investments, Asia-Pacific. He simultaneously served as the head of the Investment Strategy Group, Asia-Pacific. Since joining Vanguard in 2004, Dan has held several roles spanning the areas of Advice, Fixed Income Portfolio Management, Human Resources, and Education Savings. Before joining Vanguard, he worked in executive compensation for Towers Perrin’s consulting practice.

Dan holds a B.S. in Economics with concentrations in Finance and Management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Bill Stout leads the Private Markets Strategy in Vanguard’s Product Review Department. His team is responsible for developing the private markets product strategy, building the investment vehicles, and supporting Vanguard’s client channels to commercialize each capability.

Bill joined Vanguard in July 2025 from Nuveen where he was senior managing director, head of global client group strategy and business development with responsibility for creating and managing the execution of Nuveen’s distribution and product strategy for private and public markets within all client channels across the globe.

Prior to joining Nuveen in 2016, Bill held several alternative investments distribution and product leadership roles including serving as managing director of business development and investor relations at Corsair Capital Management, an event-driven hedge fund. He also held sales, business development, product, and investor relations leadership roles at hedge fund-of-funds firm Robeco-Sage and Arden Asset Management.

Bill holds a B.S. in Finance from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania.

Rich Powers is head of Private Markets Product Management in Vanguard Portfolio Review Department (PRD). In this role, Rich leads the team responsible for the commercial health of Vanguard's current private equity offer, long-term private markets product strategy, and crew and client education initiatives. Beyond private markets, his areas of expertise include indexing, active, and factor investment strategies, as well as investment products such as mutual funds, collective investment trusts, and ETFs.

Prior to his current role, Rich was the head of ETF Product Management as he does private markets for our ETF franchise. Rich was also a senior member of Vanguard’s Oversight and Manager Search Team in PRD. 

Rich has spoken frequently at conferences and has been widely quoted in the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times. He has made numerous national television appearances on CNBC and Bloomberg.

Rich holds a B.S.B.A. in finance from Shippensburg University and an M.B.A. in investment management from Drexel University.

Jeffrey Johnson, CFA, is the head of U.S. Fixed Income Product in Vanguard Portfolio Review Department. His team of fixed income specialists and strategists monitors the ongoing health of the company’s fixed income product lineup and recommends and implements changes to existing products or additions of new products. The team also drives thought leadership about the fixed income product category and serves as an ambassador through client and media engagements.

Previously, Jeff was co-head of U.S. bond indexing in Vanguard’s Fixed Income Group. Jeff was also based in Vanguard Australia for six years, first as head of investment strategy, Asia-Pacific, and later as head of fixed income, Asia-Pacific.

Jeff joined Vanguard in 2000, initially working with high-net-worth individual clients. He was also a senior investment director in Vanguard’s Portfolio Review Department, serving as an investment consultant to Vanguard’s senior management and board of directors.

Jeff holds a B.A. in Finance and Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an M.B.A. from Villanova University. He is a member of the CFA Society of Philadelphia. He is a board member of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Foundation and serves on its investment committee. 

Kathy Kellert, CFA, CAIA, is the head of Index Equity Product in Vanguard’s Portfolio Review Department. Her team is responsible for developing the optimal index equity fund lineup for investors, as well as analyzing the health, usage, and landscape of Vanguard’s funds and ETFs, while serving as specialized product experts. 

Kathy joined Vanguard in 2014 as a member of the MBA Leadership Program. Prior to her current role, Kathy was head of Vanguard’s Model Portfolios. In that role, she was responsible for overseeing the growth and health of Vanguard’s model portfolios offer. She also previously worked in Vanguard’s Retail Advice and Corporate Strategy groups.

Prior to joining Vanguard, Kathy worked for a private asset management and wealth advisory firm.

Kathy holds a B.A. in Mathematical Economic Analysis from Rice University and an M.B.A. from the University of Georgia—Terry College of Business.

Kelly Hahn is the head of Retirement Research in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group. Her focus is on improving people’s retirement outcomes through examining saving and investing behaviors and the surrounding retirement ecosystem. She leads a dedicated research team studying retirement planning, savings, spending, and access, with the goal of providing solutions and education that enhance people’s chances of achieving retirement success. Her areas of expertise include retirement readiness, defined contribution plans, multi-asset solutions, and investor education.

Kelly joined Vanguard in 2023 from J.P. Morgan Asset Management, where she led outcomes-driven retirement research that harnessed behavioral insights from massive consumer and defined-contribution administrative datasets. Earlier in her career, she was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and a consultant at BearingPoint and Arthur Andersen.

Kelly holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an M.B.A. in Finance from Columbia Business School.

Fu Tan, Ph.D., is a senior investment strategist in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group and Global Public Policy Group, specializing in retirement research and policy. She leads research on retirement readiness, retirement income adequacy, and the evolving global retirement landscape. She is a principal author of Vanguard Retirement Outlook, a flagship initiative that aims to inform policy engagement, product design, and enterprise strategy in the U.S. and other global markets.

Fu’s research sits at the intersection of household finance, retirement planning, and portfolio construction, with a focus on how retirement systems and defined contribution plan design shape financial security across countries. She has contributed to policy and business initiatives addressing U.S. auto-portability and retirement reform, U.K. pension policy, global retirement-system comparisons, and retirement-income tools for Germany. Across this work, she translates rigorous research into practical policy recommendations, business insights, and investor-focused solutions.

Fu holds a B.A. in Finance from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, an M.A. in Economics from Duke University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

David is the head of Strategic Retirement Consulting and Investment Solutions in Vanguard Workplace Solutions. Prior to his current position, David led the small-and mid-market full-service client teams. Since joining Vanguard in 1996, David has worked in a variety of roles, including corporate strategy analyst and head of Vanguard Institutional Asset Management.

David holds a B.A. in Political Science from Hobart College and a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Jeffrey Clark is the head of Defined Contribution Research in Vanguard Workplace Solutions where he leads thought leadership initiatives on employer-sponsored retirement plans. He is the author of How America Saves and How America Retires, as well as other retirement research. In addition, Jeff provides strategic and customized analytics and benchmarking designed to help plan sponsors better understand their participants' behavior and plan design effectiveness.

Jeff joined Vanguard in 1998 and has spent nearly 30 years working with retirement plan participants and plan sponsors. Prior to his current role, Jeff worked in Vanguard Participant Services and Compliance Testing and Analysis, assisting plan sponsors with compliance solutions.

Jeff holds a B.A. in Economics from Bucknell University.

Andy Reed, Ph.D., is head of Behavioral Economics Research in Vanguard's Investment Strategy Group. He leads a team of behavioral scientists who study how investors think, feel, and make decisions, cultivating insights and strategies to promote better choices for millions of investors. His research blends psychology and economics to explore how investors’ portfolios and decisions are shaped by emotion and cognition, behavioral biases and risk preferences, and choice architecture and regulatory policy.

Before joining Vanguard, Andy was a vice president at Fidelity, where he established a behavioral economics practice. Previously, he was an associate research scientist at Columbia University and a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University.

Andy holds a B.A. in History and Psychology from Swarthmore College and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Cornell University.

Georgina Yarwood is a senior investment strategist in the Investment Strategy Group, the global team responsible for developing Vanguard’s portfolio construction methodology and conducting research on economics, portfolio strategies, and investor behavior. She is responsible for developing insights on a wide array of behavioral economics topics.

Georgina joined Vanguard in 2016. Her current research examines the behavior of self-directed individual investors, including trading behavior, portfolio choices, and the factors that motivate participation in the capital markets. She has also conducted research on retirement readiness in the United Kingdom and published research exploring the value of financial advice.

Georgina holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Bath. 

Xiao Xu, Ph.D., is a senior investment strategist in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group. As a behavioral economist, he examines investor decision-making across the household balance sheet and collaborates across Vanguard to translate research into actionable strategies that improve client outcomes. In addition to conducting research, he regularly briefs clients and business partners on Vanguard’s thought leadership in investor behavior.

Xiao is the lead author of Principles for Behavioral Design: Nudging for Better Investor Outcomes, Vanguard’s foundational framework for applying behavioral science to digital experiences. His recent research also explores AI and financial advice, generational investing patterns, investor beliefs and biases, private assets in 401(k) plans, and debt behavior.

Xiao’s work has been featured by The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, and MarketWatch; his academic research has appeared in the Journal of Financial Economics and received an honorable mention for the Moskowitz Prize in sustainable finance.

Xiao joined Vanguard in 2022. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University.

Garrett Harbron, J.D., CFA, CFP, is the head of Advised Wealth Management Strategies in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group. His team is responsible for developing the financial planning strategies that are incorporated into Vanguard’s advice and guidance globally, including Roth conversions, Social Security claiming, savings and spending strategies, and financial wellness. His team is also responsible for the Vanguard Financial Advice Model (VFAM), a tax-aware, utility-based model that evaluates various financial planning strategies based on an investor’s personal preferences and circumstances.

Since joining Vanguard in 2011, Garrett has served as the head of European advice methodologies, the head of global wealth planning methodology, and held positions as an investment analyst. Prior to joining Vanguard, Garrett worked for Merrill Lynch as a financial advisor, at Oppenheimer Funds as a retirement plan consultant, and at Wells Fargo Advisors as a compliance consultant. He also practiced law in the United States for five years.

Garrett holds a B.A. in Economics from Indiana University and an M.B.A. and J.D. from the University of Cincinnati. 

Stephen Weber, CFP, is a senior researcher in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy group, specializing in Advised Wealth Management Strategies. He is responsible for developing the financial planning strategies that are incorporated into Vanguard’s advice and guidance products and services. His areas of expertise include retirement planning, health care planning, Medicare, IRAs, goals-based planning, tax planning, and advised strategies.

Stephen joined Vanguard in 1992 and has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry.

Stephen holds an M.B.A. and a Master of Science in Information Systems from The Pennsylvania State University.

Megan Finlay is a senior investment strategist in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group, specializing in topics related to asset allocation and portfolio optimization. She is part of the team responsible for overseeing Vanguard’s Portfolio Construction Advice.

Previously, Megan was a vice president at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where she focused on equities trading as part of a portfolio management team.

Megan holds a B.S. in Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Boris Wong, Ph.D., WMCP®, is a senior manager and investment strategist for Advised Wealth Management Strategies in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group. He leads a team that conducts research and analysis on a wide range of financial planning and wealth management topics to support Vanguard’s advisory products and services.

Boris and his team oversee the Vanguard Financial Advice Model, a proprietary model that evaluates financial strategies and their potential trade-offs. His research focuses on retirement income and tax-efficient wealth planning, including Social Security claiming, Roth conversions, tax-efficient portfolio withdrawals, health savings account strategies, and child savings strategies for families. He led the development of Vanguard’s retirement income principles, a practical framework designed to help investors make more confident and informed decisions in retirement.

Boris holds a B.S. in mathematics and a B.A. in quantitative economics from the University of California, Irvine, and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, San Diego.

Thomas Paradise, CFA, is a senior manager and investment strategist in Vanguard’s Advice and Wealth Solutions Group. He leads a quantitative engineering team responsible for research enablement and advice solution prototyping. His research includes advised portfolio construction and household risk-based optimization.

Prior to his current role at Vanguard, Thomas held positions in Wealth Planning Research and Model Development. His work has been published in The Journal of Beta Investment Strategies and the CFA Institute’s Financial Analysts Journal.

Thomas holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Bucknell University.

Jonathan Kahler, CFP®, is a Senior Investment Analyst on the 529 Investment Product team for Vanguard Education Savings. He is responsible for maintaining oversight of 529 portfolios, supporting investment reviews, and directing research on 529 investors and topics related to planning and saving for education expenses.

Since joining Vanguard in 2004, Jonathan has worked in various departments, including Asset Management Services, Investment Strategy Group, and Enterprise Advice. He has conducted research and provided thought leadership on retirement, education savings, portfolio construction, and financial planning. He has also overseen the investment philosophy, methodology, and wealth management strategies supporting Vanguard’s advisory products and services.

Jonathan holds both a B.S. in Marketing and an M.B.A. with a Finance concentration from Saint Joseph’s University.