Biographies
Get to know our leading experts
As one of the world’s foremost investment management firms, Vanguard benefits from the experience and expertise of a deep, diverse array of thought leaders, including economists, investment strategists, portfolio managers, product specialists, behavioral researchers, and advice professionals.
- Economy & markets
- Money management
- Implementation
- Portfolios
- Retirement
- Behavioral
- Advice methodology
Economics and markets
Joseph H. Davis, Ph.D., is Vanguard’s global chief economist and global head of the Investment Strategy Group. He leads teams that are responsible for Vanguard’s research and thought leadership agendas as well as the development and oversight of the firm's investment methodologies and models. His areas of expertise are economics, as Joe chairs the firm’s Strategic Asset Allocation Committee, which governs multi-asset-class investment solutions, and is a member of the senior portfolio management team of Vanguard’s Fixed Income Group.
The Investment Strategy Group is responsible for the firm's portfolio construction and investment advice methodologies as well as conducting research on economies and markets, investment strategies and asset classes, and investor behavior and retirement issues. The group also oversees Vanguard’s investment models, including the Vanguard Capital Markets Model, a proprietary forecasting tool that underpins the firm’s economic and capital markets outlook.
Joe joined Vanguard in 2002 and previously served as an economist with Moody’s Economy.com. He is a member of the board of advisors of the Global Financial Markets Center at Duke University School of Law.
Joe is a frequent keynote speaker, has published white papers in leading academic and practitioner journals, and currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Portfolio Management.
Joe earned his B.A. from Saint Joseph’s University, earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics at Duke University, and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Roger Aliaga-Díaz, Ph.D., is global head of portfolio construction and chief economist for the Americas. His areas of expertise are economics, macroeconomic forecasting, and portfolio construction.
As a senior leader in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group, Roger is the vice-chair of Vanguard's Strategic Asset Allocation Committee, which oversees the asset allocation of multi-asset-class funds such as the Vanguard Target Retirement Funds. He is also a member of Vanguard’s Advice Policy Committee and the Dynamic Asset Allocation Council, and chair of Vanguard’s Time-Varying Asset Allocation subcommittee.
Roger and his global research team develop multi-asset-class strategies and conduct quantitative research on asset allocation, investment solutions, and retirement topics. Along with his team, Roger built two proprietary portfolio construction models that underpin the firm’s investment advice methodology around the globe: the Vanguard Life-Cycle Investing Model and the Vanguard Asset Allocation Model.
Before joining Vanguard in 2007, Roger served as a visiting professor of macroeconomics at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business.
Roger has published numerous studies on investment and macroeconomic issues and has presented his research at various industry and academic conferences, including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, and the American Economic Association. He is frequently interviewed by financial media around the world. Roger earned a B.A. in economics from Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, and a Ph.D. in economics from North Carolina State University.
Jumana Saleheen, Ph.D., is chief economist and head of Vanguard Investment Strategy Group, Europe. She leads a team that conducts research on the global economy, with a focus on Europe, global capital markets, and related investment topics. Her specialty areas include monetary policy, international macroeconomics, ESG (environmental, social, and governance), and macroeconomics forecasting.
Jumana has extensive management and thought leadership experience, having previously served as the chief economist and head of sustainability at CRU, an economics consultancy in London. She also held several senior roles at the Bank of England, including head of division in the Financial Stability Directorate.
Jumana earned a Ph.D. in economics from University College London and a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the London School of Economics.
Qian Wang, Ph.D., is chief economist, Asia-Pacific, and global head of the Vanguard Capital Markets ModelTM team in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group. She leads a team that conducts research on the global economy with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region, global capital markets, and related investment topics. Her areas of expertise include macroeconomics, Asia and Chinese economies, fixed income strategies, financial simulation, asset-class modeling, and asset allocation strategies.
Qian is a member of Vanguard’s Strategic Asset Allocation Committee and Time-Varying Asset Allocation Committee, which oversee and determine the asset allocation strategies of more than $1 trillion in global multi-asset-class portfolios such as the Vanguard Target Retirement Funds.
Qian works closely with the senior portfolio management team of Vanguard’s Fixed Income Group, which oversees more than $2.1 trillion in assets under management. Her team also provides analytical support for various investment management initiatives and products, including the Vanguard Capital Markets Model®, Vanguard’s active management processes, and Vanguard’s advice platforms.
Prior to joining Vanguard in 2014, Qian served as the director of research at a sovereign wealth fund based in Asia and the chief China economist and head of greater China macro research at J.P. Morgan. Earlier in her career, she was an assistant professor in the business school of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and conducted empirical research in the fields of Asia and Chinese economies, international capital markets, and corporate finance.
Qian is a frequent keynote speaker on economic trends, capital market returns, and investment strategies and has published white papers in leading academic and practitioner journals.
Qian earned a Ph.D. in business administration from Stanford University, an M.A. in economics from Duke University, and a B.A. in international economics from Beijing University.
Andrew J. Patterson, CFA, is a senior international economist in Vanguard's Investment Strategy Group (ISG), where he leads a team charged with developing and communicating Vanguard’s economic and market outlook. The team also provides analytical support for various investment management initiatives and products, including the Vanguard Capital Markets Model®, Vanguard’s active management processes, and Vanguard’s advice platforms. Andrew’s areas of expertise include economics, investments, asset allocation, and investment strategy.
Andrew joined Vanguard in 2002 and served as an analyst in the Finance Division and Institutional Investor Group. He joined ISG in 2009, holding a series of economist and investment strategist positions before assuming his current responsibilities.
Andrew has co-authored research on a number of topics, including the global economy, fixed income, and asset allocation.
Andrew earned a B.S. in finance with a minor in economics from Pennsylvania State University and an M.B.A. from Villanova University. He is a CFA charterholder.
Alexis Gray is a senior economist in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group, a global research team that develops multi-asset-class allocation strategies and conducts research on the capital markets, the global economy, portfolio construction, and related investment topics. She works closely with the portfolio management team in Vanguard’s Fixed Income Group, which oversees more than $2.1 trillion in assets. Her areas of expertise include monetary policy and economic modeling and forecasting.
Alexis joined Vanguard in 2012 and previously worked on the economics team for Vanguard Europe and Vanguard Asia-Pacific. Prior to her Vanguard career, she was a quantitative analyst in global markets at the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and served as a full-time research assistant in the Department of Economics at the University of Melbourne.
Alexis has authored numerous research papers, primarily focusing on investment strategy and macroeconomics. She also regularly serves as an ambassador for Vanguard, speaking at client events and industry conferences on a range of topics.
Alexis earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance from the University of Melbourne and a master of statistics from the London School of Economics.
Kevin J. DiCiurcio, CFA, is a senior investment strategist in Vanguard Investment Strategy Group and head of the Vanguard Capital Markets ModelTM research team. Among his areas of expertise are portfolio construction, risk modeling, portfolio management, fixed income, and financial analysis.
The Vanguard Capital Markets Model team designs models for asset return forecasts and performs quantitative market strategy research. Within the team, Kevin is responsible for planning and directing the global research agenda, with a mission to facilitate portfolio decision-making, provide asset return outlooks, and deliver timely perspective on relevant capital markets topics.
Kevin joined Vanguard in 2007. Prior to his current role, he was responsible for managing the asset allocation of multi-asset portfolios using proprietary optimization models. Previously, he worked as an investment analyst in Vanguard Risk Management Group, where he focused on fixed income investment risk.
Kevin earned a B.S. in finance from the University of Richmond and an M.B.A. from Villanova University. He is a CFA charterholder.
Josh M. Hirt, CFA, is a senior economist in Vanguard Investment Strategy Group. He assists in the development of Vanguard's economic and market outlook, with a focus on the U.S. economy and monetary and fiscal policy, and authors research on related topics. His areas of expertise include macroeconomics, portfolio construction, financial analysis, and portfolio management.
Josh joined Vanguard in 2007. He previously served as an analyst in Vanguard Fixed Income Group, responsible for analysis related to the municipal bond market and risk positioning for Vanguard’s national and state-specific municipal bond funds.
Josh earned a B.A. from Liberty University and is a CFA charterholder.
Money management
Gregory Davis, CFA, is a managing director at Vanguard and its chief investment officer, responsible for all aspects of the firm’s in-house investment management. His areas of expertise include fixed income portfolio management, trading, credit research, and bond indexing.
As a managing director, Greg is a member of Vanguard’s senior leadership team. He also is a member of Vanguard’s Global Investment Committee, Global Remuneration Committee, Strategic Asset Allocation Committee, and Global Operational Risk Council.
Greg oversees Vanguard Fixed Income, Equity Index, and Quantitative Equity Groups, which manage approximately $7.5 trillion. The groups are responsible for portfolio and risk management, trading, and research for Vanguard’s equity index funds; actively managed and index bond funds; taxable and tax-exempt money market funds; stable value funds; and quantitative, factor, and alternative funds.
Greg joined Vanguard in 1999 and previously served as principal and global head of Vanguard’s Fixed Income Group, responsible for portfolio management, strategy, credit research, trading, and planning. He also served as Vanguard's Asia-Pacific chief investment officer and a director of Vanguard Investments, Australia. Prior to joining Vanguard, he worked at Merrill Lynch as an associate in global debt markets.
Greg is a member of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. He is also a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Investor Advisory Committee on Financial Markets. Greg also serves as the vice chair of the board of trustees for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In addition, he is a lifetime member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Greg earned a B.S. in insurance from Pennsylvania State University and an M.B.A. in finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Philadelphia.
Rodney Comegys is the global head of Vanguard’s Equity Index Group, which manages the firm’s equity index funds and ETFs. His areas of expertise include index fund management, securities trading, benchmark analysis, risk management, and operations.
As a senior member of Vanguard’s Investment Management Group (IMG), Rodney oversees the investment professionals responsible for more than 200 U.S. and international equity index funds and ETFs, representing more than $6 trillion in indexed assets. Since joining the IMG team in 2008, he has helped the firm expand its international business; launch new index funds, ETFs, and factor products; and build processes and technology for equity management and trading systems.
Rodney joined Vanguard in 1999. His past roles at Vanguard include head of investments, Asia-Pacific, and head of Equity Index Group, Asia-Pacific. He has directed the Index Analysis and ETF Trading Teams, as well as the Global Broker Relations Team. He managed risk analysis oversight for the Fixed Income and Equity Investment Groups, led Vanguard’s Six Sigma program management efforts, and managed Vanguard’s retail business in Arizona. Most recently, he was global head of risk management for IMG.
Before joining Vanguard, Rodney was a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine officer.
Rodney earned 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 the global head of the Vanguard Fixed Income Group and is responsible for all aspects of Vanguard’s in-house fixed income investment management. Among her areas of expertise: fixed income portfolio management, credit analysis and research, derivatives, and trading.
Sara is the chair of the senior investment strategy team for Vanguard’s actively managed fixed income portfolios and a member of Vanguard’s Global Investment Committee.
Vanguard Fixed Income Group focuses on portfolio and risk management, trading, and research for Vanguard’s internally managed fixed income funds, including actively managed taxable and tax-exempt funds, bond index portfolios, money market funds, and stable value trusts. The group manages more than $2 trillion in in assets.
Prior to her current responsibilities, Sara served as global head of rates, with oversight of all active rates, money market portfolios, and rates-related strategies for Vanguard’s active taxable fixed income fund roster. She also directed foreign exchange and derivatives trading activities.
Prior to joining Vanguard in 2019, Sara was a partner at Goldman Sachs, where she spent more than 20 years in mortgage-backed securities and structured products trading and sales. Earlier in her career, she worked at HSBC in risk management and interest rate derivatives structuring. She started her career as an actuary at AXA Equitable Life Insurance.
Sara 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.
Josh C. Barrickman, CFA, is co-head of fixed income indexing, Americas. He and his team manage bond index funds and ETFs invested in U.S. and international bond markets. His areas of expertise include portfolio management, ETFs, bonds, and indexing.
Josh, who joined Vanguard in 1998, has more than 20 years of fixed income management experience. He has served as portfolio manager of Vanguard’s largest bond fund, the Total Bond Market Index Fund, since 2013.
Josh earned a B.S. from Ohio Northern University and an M.B.A. from Lehigh University. He is a CFA charterholder.
Christopher W. Alwine, CFA, is head of global credit in the Vanguard Fixed Income Group, where he leads a global team of 60 investment professionals responsible for the management of Vanguard’s actively managed, credit-sensitive, taxable bond portfolios. Among his areas of expertise are portfolio management, fixed income securities, and credit analysis.
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 more than 30 years of investment management experience, spanning both taxable and municipal markets as well as active and index funds. He has served in multiple roles in the Fixed Income Group, including trading, portfolio management, and credit research.
Chris earned a B.B.A. from Temple University and an M.S. in finance from Drexel University. A CFA charterholder, Chris is a member of the Temple University Leadership Council and the Dean’s Council of the university's Fox School of Business.
Janel Jackson is the head of U.S. ETF capital markets, leading a team responsible for ensuring that Vanguard ETFs have active and liquid markets by monitoring secondary market conditions, interacting with market makers, collaborating on product management, and working to inform clients and the investing public about ETF trading. Among her areas of expertise: capital markets, ETFs, financial analysis, and portfolio management.
Prior to this role, Janel was a portfolio manager in Vanguard’s Asia-Pacific Quantitative Equity Group (QEG), where she was responsible for the daily portfolio management and oversight of quantitative active equity mandates operated through QEG’s Australia office. Janel also held the positions of chief of staff to Vanguard’s chief investment officer and senior investment analyst in Institutional Advisory Services.
Janel joined Vanguard in 2012 as part of Vanguard's M.B.A. Leadership Development Program, serving as an analyst in the Portfolio Review Department, Investment Strategy Group, and Institutional Consultant Relations. Prior to joining Vanguard, she worked as an investment analyst on the manager search and oversight team at Wilmington Trust Investment Management.
Janel earned a B.A. from Ohio University and an M.B.A. from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She also holds FINRA Series 7 and 66 licenses.
Warren Pennington is the global head of Vanguard’s Office of Investment Management Fintech Strategies, leading a team that explores new technologies to improve Vanguard fund performance, works to enhance the efficiency of the global capital markets, and serves as a catalyst for innovation in Vanguard’s Investment Management Group.
Before joining Vanguard in 2012, Warren worked for the Macquarie Group in various senior leadership roles in its investment management division. Prior to that, he was division controller and ran operations in the consumer lending and corporate trust businesses at Wel
Warren serves on the SIFMA Operations and Technology Steering Committee. He also serves on several advisory boards, including the Ben Franklin Fintech Accelerator Program in Philadelphia, Yale Institute of Sustainable Finance, and Stanford Advanced Financial Technologies Lab.
Warren is a certified public accountant with a B.S. in aerospace engineering and an M.S. in telecommunications from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Nick Eisinger is the global co-head of Vanguard emerging markets active fixed income, responsible for the firm’s active emerging markets strategy. Among his areas of expertise are portfolio management, emerging-market debt, credit analysis, and currencies. He is also a member of Vanguard’s Global Credit Asset Allocation Committee.
Prior to joining Vanguard in 2013, Nick worked at Fidelity Management and Research, where he was responsible for a range of government bond markets in developed and emerging markets. He was a member of the firm’s global FX research team and part of its international macro research group. He also worked at Deutsche Bank in London on the emerging markets trading desk, where he was part of a team that originated and structured asset-backed transactions in the Middle East and emerging Europe regions. Before that, Nick was head of the emerging markets securitization team at Fitch Ratings in London and worked in global sovereign ratings. He has also held positions with Oxford Economic Forecasting and Dun & Bradstreet in global country risk.
Nick earned a bachelor of arts in modern languages from the University of Edinburgh and a master of science in Latin American politics and economics from the University of London. He holds various qualifications in international banking and finance.
Investment implementation
Richard F. Powers is the head of ETF and index product management in Vanguard Portfolio Review Department. His areas of expertise are investment strategies including indexing, active, and factor, as well as investment products including mutual funds, collective investment trusts, and ETFs.
In 2015, Rich became the head of ETF product management, leading a team of experts responsible for conducting surveillance of competitors’ products and positioning, meeting with clients and prospective investors to discuss Vanguard's ETF lineup, publishing noteworthy developments in the ETF marketplace and Vanguard products, improving existing products, developing new products, and supporting ETF education initiatives. In 2020, Rich assumed his current role, expanding his team’s responsibilities beyond ETFs to include all of Vanguard’s equity and fixed income index products.
Rich joined Vanguard in 1999 and assumed an investment analyst role in the Portfolio Review Department (PRD) in 2003. For the majority of his tenure in PRD, he served as a senior member of the Oversight and Manager Search Team, which is responsible for identifying advisory partners for Vanguard’s actively managed funds lineup and monitoring the firms, people, processes, portfolios, and performance of all existing Vanguard funds on behalf of the firm’s Global Investment Committee and board of directors.
A frequent speaker at industry conferences, Rich is also widely quoted in the media and has made numerous national television appearances on the topic of ETFs.
Rich earned a B.S.B.A. in finance from Shippensburg University and an M.B.A. in investment management from Drexel University.
Douglas M. Grim, CFA, is a senior investment strategist in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group, conducting research and providing thought leadership on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues in investing and factor-based investing. His areas of expertise include ESG, portfolio construction, alternative investments, and factor investing.
Doug joined Vanguard in 2001 and previously served as a senior investment consultant in Vanguard Institutional Advisory Services®. In that position, he provided asset allocation and portfolio construction recommendations, investment policy consulting, and capital markets research to institutional clients. He also served as a team leader, responsible for assisting other consultants with all asset allocation and asset/liability modeling studies developed for clients. Previously, Doug held an investor relations position with Citi.
Doug is a member of the advisory board of the Journal of Impact and ESG Investing. He frequently presents at investment forums and has published research in the Journal of Portfolio Management and the Journal of Impact and ESG Investing.
Doug earned a B.S. from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Philadelphia.
Christopher Tidmore, CFA, CPA, is a senior investment strategist in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group (ISG), where he leads the team that conducts research and provides thought leadership on issues related to active management. He is also a member of the ISG team responsible for establishing and overseeing the investment philosophy, methodology, and portfolio construction strategies used to support Vanguard's advisory services, products, and strategies. His areas of expertise include portfolio construction and investment strategy, with specializations in alternative investments, derivatives, and wealth management.
Before joining Vanguard in 2015, Chris managed the Geneva Arbitrage Fund, which focused on event-driven investment strategies. In other capacities, he has worked as an arbitrage trader and portfolio manager for a large family office and as an options market maker on the American Stock Exchange. Before shifting to the securities industry, he was employed as an auditor, providing audit, accounting, and consulting services.
Chris is a member of the investment committee of the Chester County Community Foundation and a past president of the CFA Society of Philadelphia.
A frequent speaker at industry conferences, Chris has published white papers in leading journals on a variety of investment-related topics. He has also developed and taught classes on finance and investment topics for various institutions and universities.
He earned a B.S. degree in accounting at the University of Delaware and holds the CPA and CFA certifications.
Inna Zorina, CFA, CAIA, is a senior investment strategist, factors and environmental, social, and governance (ESG), in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group. She is responsible for conducting research and providing thought leadership on indexing, factor investing, ESG, and active management. Her areas of expertise include portfolio management, investment strategies, equity research, and capital markets.
Prior to joining Vanguard in 2018, Inna held various research and strategy roles at Property Investment Research, Renaissance Capital, and most recently, ISPT, where she led research into macroeconomics, commercial property, and cross-asset investment strategies.
Inna's research paper, "With Greater Uncertainty Comes Greater Volatility," was published in The Journal of Index Investing.
Inna is a CFA charterholder and president of CFA Society Melbourne and earned a CAIA® designation. She holds a Master of Science in theoretical physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and a Master of Economics and Finance from the Higher School of Economics in Moscow.
Nathan C. Zahm, CFA, FSA is the head of the target retirement and goals-based investing research in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group. Nathan leads the team responsible for creating the research underlying Vanguard’s target retirement, college savings, and other goal-based investing solutions in the US and abroad. His areas of expertise include investment strategy, retirement planning, and portfolio construction
Nathan joined Vanguard in 2011 as an investment actuary in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group (ISG). Before assuming his current role in 2019, he served as a senior investment strategist in ISG, leading teams in Vanguard’s Hong Kong and Australian subsidiaries from 2017‒2019 and 2015‒2017, respectively.
Prior to joining Vanguard, Nathan worked at Towers Watson as a consulting actuary for large U.S. defined benefit plans.
Nathan earned a B.S. in economics from the University of Maryland and is pursuing an M.B.A. at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a CFA charterholder as well as a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries.
Portfolio considerations
Roger Aliaga-Díaz, Ph.D., is global head of portfolio construction and chief economist for the Americas. His areas of expertise are economics, macroeconomic forecasting, and portfolio construction.
As a senior leader in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group, Roger is the vice-chair of Vanguard's Strategic Asset Allocation Committee, which oversees the asset allocation of multi-asset-class funds such as the Vanguard Target Retirement Funds. He is also a member of Vanguard’s Advice Policy Committee and the Dynamic Asset Allocation Council, and chair of Vanguard’s Time-Varying Asset Allocation subcommittee.
Roger and his global research team develop multi-asset-class strategies and conduct quantitative research on asset allocation, investment solutions, and retirement topics. Along with his team, Roger built two proprietary portfolio construction models that underpin the firm’s investment advice methodology around the globe: the Vanguard Life-Cycle Investing Model and the Vanguard Asset Allocation Model.
Before joining Vanguard in 2007, Roger served as a visiting professor of macroeconomics at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business.
Roger has published numerous studies on investment and macroeconomic issues and has presented his research at various industry and academic conferences, including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, and the American Economic Association. He is frequently interviewed by financial media around the world. Roger earned a B.A. in economics from Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, and a Ph.D. in economics from North Carolina State University.
Harshdeep Ahluwalia is head of asset allocation, Americas, in Vanguard Investment Strategy Group, where he leads a team of quantitative analysts that research portfolio construction topics and develop proprietary models for multiasset portfolio and glide-path construction. His areas of expertise include quantitative modeling, time-series analysis, forecasting, and asset allocation.
Under Harshdeep’s guidance, the team has developed the award-winning Vanguard Asset Allocation Model. His team also pioneered a quantitative glide-path construction model, the Vanguard Life-Cycle Investing Model, which is used to develop asset allocation and glide paths for Vanguard’s single-fund solutions.
Prior to his current role, Harshdeep led the research and development of the Vanguard Capital Markets Model® for forecasting capital market assumptions. He joined Vanguard in 2013 and served as a quantitative analyst. He previously worked for QS Pharma LLC and ValiMation Inc.
Harshdeep has published white papers and journal articles on topics such as asset allocation, glide-path construction, forecasting, and market outlooks. His publication in the Journal of Portfolio Management, “Portfolio Optimization With Active, Passive, and Factors: Removing the Ad Hoc Step,” won the 22nd Annual Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy Award for outstanding article published in 2020.
Harshdeep earned a B.E. in mechanical engineering from Osmania University, Hyderabad, India, an M.S. in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University, and an M.S. in financial engineering from Temple University.
Jan-Carl Plagge, Ph.D., is head of active-passive portfolio research in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group. The team conducts in-depth research that focuses on index, exchange-traded fund (ETF), factor, ESG, and active-passive portfolio considerations.
Jan-Carl has more than 15 years of experience in the development of passive investment strategies and index research. Prior to joining Vanguard in 2018, he was head of research and co-head of product at STOXX, working in Frankfurt, New York, and London. He also held index development roles with Deutsche Börse AG, where he was responsible for the development of international equity and strategy indexes.
Jan-Carl has published in peer-reviewed journals and has presented his work at various practitioner and academic conferences.
Jan-Carl earned a Ph.D. in finance from the EBS-Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht, Wiesbaden, Germany, and an MS.c. in business management from the University of Münster, Germany.
Giulio Renzi Ricci is head of asset allocation, Europe, in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group. Based in London, he is responsible for research on portfolio construction, single-fund solutions, active-passive blending, and global diversification. His areas of expertise include asset allocation, econometrics, portfolio optimization, and machine learning.
Prior to joining Vanguard in 2016, Giulio worked at NERA Economic Consulting, providing expert analysis on financial derivatives and investment strategies. He also held a quantitative analyst position at Banca IMI.
Giulio has published several papers and is a frequently requested speaker on his areas of expertise. His research on portfolio construction: "Portfolio Optimization with Active, Passive, and Factors: Removing the Ad Hoc Step", which he co-authored with colleagues at Vanguard, was recognized by the Journal of Portfolio Management with the Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy Award for outstanding article in 2021.
Giulio has a B.Sc. in economics from Bocconi University and an M.Sc. in finance and economics from the University of Warwick.
Todd Schlanger is a senior investment strategist in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group (ISG), where his responsibilities include research on portfolio construction, model portfolio development, and tailored portfolio solutions. Among his areas of expertise are asset allocation, investment strategy, equities, fixed income, and alternative investments.
Todd joined Vanguard in 2005 and has been a member of ISG for more than ten years. He has written extensively on portfolio construction topics. He has spent considerable time on international assignments to Vanguard’s offices in the U.K. and Canada, where he was ISG’s senior representative. Prior to joining ISG, he was a member of Vanguard Institutional Advisory Services®.
Todd earned a B.S. in business administration from The University of Scranton. He is a CFA charterholder.
Retirement
Jean A. Young, CPA, is a senior investment strategist, retirement and investment behavior, in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group. Her research focuses on the design of employer-sponsored retirement programs and the psychological and behavioral aspects of investor decision-making. Among her areas of expertise are behavioral finance, retirement plan design, and retirement policy.
Jean joined Vanguard in 1996. Before assuming her current position, she served as a client relationship manager in Vanguard's defined contribution recordkeeping business.
Prior to her Vanguard career, Jean served as a controller and vice president at Providian Direct Insurance. She also held a controller position at SEI and was a senior audit manager at Ernst & Young.
For many years, Jean was the lead author for Vanguard's annual publication How America Saves, the industry’s definitive report on Americans’ retirement saving habits. In forthcoming research, she will offer a unique, macroeconomic perspective on the retirement readiness and strengths and limitations of retirement systems in different countries.
Jean earned a B.A. in business administration from Franklin & Marshall College and an M.S. in taxation from Widener University. She is a Certified Public Accountant.
Andrew S. Clarke, CFA, is a senior investment strategist in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group, where he leads a team responsible for research on retirement planning issues. His areas of expertise include investments, investment strategy, financial planning, and investor education.
Andy joined Vanguard in 1997 and served as an assistant to Vanguard founder John C. Bogle. He also has held various leadership roles in marketing and communications at Vanguard. Previously, he served as an investment analyst at Morningstar.
Andy is the author of Wealth of Experience: Real Investors on What Works and What Doesn't (Wiley, 2003), an introduction to investing featuring personal accounts of hundreds of ordinary investors who share their insights on saving, investing, and managing money. He has published research in industry and academic journals.
Andy earned a B.A. from Haverford College and an M.S. from West Chester University. He also is a CFA charterholder and earned his CFP® certification.
Ankul Daga, CFA, is a senior investment strategist, retirement, in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group, where he co-leads a global research team focusing on portfolio construction, multiasset investing, passive and active investments, and advisor best practices. His areas of expertise include investment strategy, asset allocation, investment management, and quantitative analytics.
Prior to joining Vanguard in 2015, Ankul served as asset allocation director at Coutts, a large wealth manager in the U.K. He also has held investment strategist roles with Merrill Lynch and Barclays, where he had experience in trading and relationship management.
In addition to conducting research, Ankul publishes articles on a broad range of investment and retirement issues and meets with clients to provide Vanguard’s perspective on longer-term investment strategy issues.
Ankul has a B.A. in mathematics from St. Stephen’s College and earned his master's degree in financial mathematics from Warwick Business School. He is a CFA charterholder.
Kevin Khang, Ph.D., is a senior investment strategist, retirement, in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group and conducts research on portfolio construction, life-cycle investing, and retirement issues. Among his areas of expertise are risk forecasting and return attribution, direct indexing and tax-loss harvesting, factor investing, and household finance.
Kevin is a co-founder and organizer of the Monthly Investment Seminar Series—a forum where leading academics and practitioners present their latest research to Vanguard’s Investment Management Group.
Prior to his current role, Kevin was a senior risk manager with Vanguard’s Quantitative Equity Group. Before joining Vanguard in 2017, he served as a director at BlackRock and a senior quantitative research analyst at State Street Global Advisors.
Kevin’s papers on risk forecasting and factor portfolio construction have appeared in the Journal of Portfolio Management, and his piece on the unconventional monetary policy during the 2008‒2009 financial crisis was published in the IMF Economic Review. His latest research on tax-aware investing is published in the Financial Analysts Journal.
Kevin holds a Ph.D. in finance from Northwestern University, an M.A. in economics from the University of British Columbia, and a B.A. in economics from Queen’s University.
Behavioral research
James J. Rowley Jr., CFA, is Vanguard’s global head of investor research and a member of the senior leadership team of Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group. Among his areas of expertise are investment strategies, including indexing, active, and factor, as well as investment products, including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Jim and his team conduct research and provide thought leadership on issues related to indexing, ETFs, active management, alternatives, factor strategies, ESG, financial advice, retirement, health care, and investor preferences.
Jim joined Vanguard in 2005 and has held positions of increasing responsibility on the firm’s ETF Product Management Team and in the Investment Strategy Group. Before joining Vanguard, Mr. Rowley worked at Gartmore Global Investments, Lehman Brothers, and Merrill Lynch.
Jim’s research has been published in the Journal of Portfolio Management and the Journal of Index Investing, and he has presented to global regulators, policymakers, industry peers, and investors. He is also frequently interviewed by the financial media.
A CFA charterholder, Jim is a past president of the CFA Society of Philadelphia and is an advisory board member of the Journal of Index Investing.
Jim earned a B.S. degree from Villanova University and an M.B.A. degree from New York University.
Jane E. Henshaw is the head of investor behavior research in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group and oversees a team of researchers focused on investor behavior and decision-making. Among her areas of expertise are behavioral finance, design thinking, investor research, and digital strategy.
Through their research, Jane and her team seek to develop insights into the fundamental nature of investor decision-making, drawing from Vanguard administrative and digital data sets. The scope of their work includes investor biases, saving and spending behavior, and the varying impacts of mobile versus web technology in shaping investor choice and patience. One current research project is the role of neuroscience as a way to measure financial risk tolerance.
Jane spent 15 years working in Vanguard’s Information Technology Division before moving into behavior research. She led the implementation and evaluation of digital enrollment and savings campaigns directed at participants in defined contribution plans.
She graduated with a B.A. from the University of Richmond and an M.S. in behavioral science from the University of Pennsylvania.
Jean A. Young, CPA, is a senior investment strategist, retirement and investment behavior, in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group. Her research focuses on the design of employer-sponsored retirement programs and the psychological and behavioral aspects of investor decision-making. Among her areas of expertise are behavioral finance, retirement plan design, and retirement policy.
Jean joined Vanguard in 1996. Before assuming her current position, she served as a client relationship manager in Vanguard's defined contribution recordkeeping business.
Prior to her Vanguard career, Jean served as a controller and vice president at Providian Direct Insurance. She also held a controller position at SEI and was a senior audit manager at Ernst & Young.
For many years, Jean was the lead author for Vanguard's annual publication How America Saves, the industry’s definitive report on Americans’ retirement saving habits. In forthcoming research, she will offer a unique, macroeconomic perspective on the retirement readiness and strengths and limitations of retirement systems in different countries.
Jean earned a B.A. in business administration from Franklin & Marshall College and an M.S. in taxation from Widener University. She is a Certified Public Accountant.
Anna Madamba, Ph.D., is a senior investment strategist, investor preferences, in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group. She is responsible for producing research on the underlying factors and motivations that influence investor decision-making as it relates to portfolio construction and wealth planning. Among her areas of expertise are investor sentiment and decision-making, financial advice, and retirement issues.
Anna joined Vanguard in 2005 and held research positions in the firm’s Client Insights Group and Center for Investor Research. Prior to joining Vanguard, she worked in marketing research in the financial services industry.
Anna earned a B.A. in sociology from the University of the Philippines at Los Banos and an M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology and demography from Pennsylvania State University. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Carolina Population Center.
Cynthia A. Pagliaro is a senior investment strategist, advice and guidance, in Vanguard Investment Strategy Group. She conducts research on investor behavior with a focus on the value of financial advice on investor outcomes and the role of choice architecture in decision-making. Her areas of expertise include investor behavior, data mining, and global pension systems.
Cynthia joined Vanguard in 2004 as a Six Sigma Master Black Belt in the Vanguard Center for Excellence. She previously held positions with Motorola and Kulicke & Soffa.
Cynthia earned a B.S. in mathematics and an M.S. in applied statistics from Villanova University.
Thomas J. De Luca is a senior investment strategist, investor behavior, in Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group, responsible for conducting research on investor preferences and decision-making and applying behavioral insights to real-world settings. His areas of expertise include financial modeling, data analysis, and investor behavior.
Tom’s research examines the behavior of self-directed individual investors, including retirement withdrawal trends, ESG fund usage, and investor reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tom also serves as the research lead for Vanguard’s benchmark publication How America Invests.
Prior to joining Vanguard in 2014, Tom served as a captain and meteorologist in the United States Air Force.
Tom holds a bachelor of arts in mathematics from Cornell University, master of science in applied mathematics and meteorology from the Naval Postgraduate School, an M.B.A. with distinction from the Kellogg School of Management, and a master of professional studies in data analytics from Pennsylvania State University.
Advice methodology
Joel M. Dickson, Ph.D., is Vanguard’s global head of enterprise advice methodology. He oversees all investment methodology development for Vanguard’s advice programs, including Vanguard Personal Advisor Services and Vanguard Digital Advisor. Among his areas of expertise are investment strategy, portfolio construction, tax efficiency, portfolio management, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and alternative investments.
Joel chairs Vanguard’s Advice Policy Committee and is a member of Vanguard’s Strategic Asset Allocation Committee.
Since joining Vanguard in 1996, Joel has held a number of senior investment-related roles. He led Vanguard’s ETF Industry Thought Leadership Research Team in Vanguard Investment Strategy Group, analyzing trends and developments in the ETF market. He served as head of the Active Quantitative Equity Group with oversight responsibility for all research and portfolio management activities associated with Vanguard’s internally managed active equity portfolios. Prior to those roles, he held analyst positions in Vanguard’s Portfolio Review Group.
Before joining Vanguard, Joel worked as a staff economist at the Federal Reserve Board. He has testified before U.S. congressional committees on Social Security reform and mutual fund disclosure issues, and he is often quoted in the news media on tax-efficient investing, retirement savings strategies, and ETF industry and product issues.
Joel earned an A.B. from Washington University in St. Louis and a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University.
Maria A. Bruno, CFP®, is the head of U.S. wealth planning research, responsible for leading a team that conducts research and analysis on a wide range of retirement, wealth planning, and portfolio construction topics. Her areas of expertise include financial planning, asset allocation, and retirement.
In her current role, Maria also contributes to the oversight of investment philosophy, methodology, and wealth management strategies in support of Vanguard's advisory products and services. She joined Vanguard in 1990 and has held a variety of advice-related and leadership roles, including as a practitioner in Vanguard's Personal Financial Planning and Advice Services departments. In this position, she created comprehensive financial plans, managed a team of financial planners, and helped develop Vanguard's advice programs and educational materials.
Maria is a frequent commentator on wealth management topics, appearing on webcasts, participating in podcasts, and speaking to the news media.
Maria earned a B.S.B.A. from Villanova University and holds the CFP® certification.
Garrett Harbron, J.D., CFA, CFP®, is Vanguard’s head of U.K. wealth planning research. He leads a team responsible for producing research and thought leadership on financial planning topics and developing advice methodology for Vanguard’s retail advice offers in the United Kingdom and Germany.
Garrett’s areas of expertise include employer defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans, retirement planning, portfolio tax optimization, estate planning, asset allocation, passive and active strategies, and alternative investments. He also serves on Vanguard Europe’s Advice Investment Policy Council.
Garrett joined Vanguard in 2011 and served in the Investment Strategy Group as a member of a research team focusing on retirement planning, indexing, ETFs, and advice before moving to his current role in 2017. Prior to his Vanguard career, 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 earned a B.A. in economics from Indiana University and an M.B.A. and J.D. from the University of Cincinnati. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® and Certified Financial Planner™ certifications.
Stephen M. Weber, CFP®, is a senior investment strategist in Vanguard’s U.S. Wealth Planning Research Group, which is responsible for overseeing the investment philosophy, methodology, and wealth management strategies supporting Vanguard's advisory products and services. His areas of expertise include financial planning, health care planning, portfolio construction, and retirement.
Stephen joined Vanguard in 1992 and has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry.
He earned an M.B.A. and M.S.I.S. from Pennsylvania State University and has held the CFP® certification for more than 20 years.
Notes:
CFA® is a registered trademark owned by CFA Institute.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements.
