Dr. Tim Smaby, CFA, FRM

Biography:

Tim Smaby is Chief Learning Officer of Kaplan Schweser and Kaplan Financial Education, divisions of Kaplan Professional. Smaby joined the company in 2002 as the manager of the Level 2 CFA study materials. In his current role as CLO, Smaby oversees all content development and production for Kaplan Professional's insurance, securities, and advanced designations product lines.

Prior to joining Kaplan, Smaby was an associate professor of finance at Penn State Erie. Previously he held various positions in the banking industry with Bank One in Cincinnati, Ohio and First Republic Bank in Dallas, Texas.

Smaby is a CFA Charterholder and has also been awarded the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designation. He holds a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Cincinnati, an MBA in finance from the University of Wisconsin, and a BS in economics from the University of Minnesota.

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Derek Burkett, CFA, FRM, CAIA

Biography:

Derek is a Senior Content Specialist for Kaplan Schweser. He specializes in writing and editing CFA^®, FRM^®, and CAIA^® review material and is the CAIA product line manager. Derek holds an M.S. in finance from the University of Denver and a B.S. in economics from Texas A&M University. Prior to joining Kaplan Schweser in 2004, Derek worked as a business valuation consultant for a national consulting firm, performing various tangible asset and intangible asset valuations and damage analysis for securities litigation. Derek is a CFA charterholder, certified Financial Risk Manager, and CAIA member.

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Eric Smith, CFA, FRM

Biography:

Eric has been with Kaplan Schweser since 2003. He currently specializes in the development of CFA Level 3 content and is the team leader for the FRM designation product line. He earned his bachelor of science in finance from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and is currently enrolled in the MBA program at the University of Nebraska. Eric is a CFA charterholder and a certified Financial Risk Manager.

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Dr. John Paul Broussard, CFA, FRM

Biography:

John is an Associate Finance Professor at Rutgers University's Camden, NJ campus where he teaches investments and corporate finance courses. John's academic research has been published in Financial Management, Management Science, Journal of Financial Services Research, Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, European Journal of Operational Research and other journals. He received his BS and PhD from Louisiana State University and an MBA from Millsaps College. John has won and has been nominated for various teaching awards in his career, and has taught CFA® study review courses since 1999 in Europe, Asia and the US. John is a CFA Charterholder, a Certified Financial Risk Manager, and a Professional Risk Manager.

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Dr. Greg Filbeck, CFA, FRM, CAIA

Biography:

Greg joined the faculty of Penn State Erie as professor of finance in 2006 and holds the Black Family Endowed Professorship of Insurance and Risk Management. He has published more than 55 articles in refereed journals and authored 2 books. His research studies are focused within the investments, portfolio management, and behavioral finance areas. In addition to 10 years' experience in academia (Miami University and the University of Toledo), he has 7 years of experience as senior vice-president of Schweser, a division of Kaplan, Inc., where he headed the content and curriculum areas and started and led the marketing and sales areas. Greg has trained candidates for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Financial Risk Manager (FRM), and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designations on a worldwide basis

• Presentations
• Publications

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Dr. Walayet A. Khan

Biography:
Walayet received his PhD in finance from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He is currently a professor of finance at the University of Evansville. Walayet has published papers in numerous finance journals, including the Journal of Financial Research and the Financial Review and has presented papers in regional, national, and international conferences. He has served as consultant to many national and regional organizations, including the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, the Chicago Stock Exchange, Attain (Electronic Communications Network), and the Signature School in Evansville.

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Darren Lee, CFA, FRM, CPA, CA

Biography:

Darren operates his own consulting practice in Toronto, dealing primarily with tax and finance issues for both corporate and personal clients. He was formerly a tax manager with KPMG, an auditor with Deloitte, and an account manager at the Royal Bank of Canada. Darren graduated from the University of British Columbia with a bachelor of commerce degree.

Darren has extensive experience in lecturing and grading activities relating to professional finance and accounting programs. He has taught for Kaplan Schweser since 2004 and currently manages and teaches in their weekly CFA exam preparatory course in Toronto as well as authoring/editing their FRM study materials.   He also teaches taxation courses for the University of Toronto and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario.

In addition to those activities, Darren maintains part-time careers as a real estate broker and a concert pianist.  An avid runner, he will participate in the 2011 Boston Marathon after qualifying for it recently on his very first marathon attempt. 

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Dr. Ehsan Nikbakht, CFA, FRM

Biography:

A professor of finance at Hofstra University, Ehsan has more than 18 years of professional corporate training experience. He is a specialized CFA lead instructor for Level III who has trained more than 1,000 CFA and FRM candidates in the US, Canada, and Europe.

Ehsan served as the chairperson of the finance department and the associate dean of the Zarb School of Business, and was the editor of Hofstra Business Review. He currently serves on the editorial board of Global Finance Journal, and The Investment Professional. He is also Vice Chair of the Derivatives Committee of the New York Society of Securities Analysts.

Ehsan has conducted numerous workshops at leading institutions in the U.S. and abroad. In recognition of his teaching, he was voted the 2004 Executive MBA Teacher of the Year at the Zarb School of Business of Hofstra University, and is a recipient of the Dean's Award for Outstanding Teaching and Service. His research book on foreign loans received a Stessin Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication.

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Dr. Andrew Spieler, CFA, FRM

Biography:

Andrew is currently Associate Professor of Finance at Frank G. Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University and director of the Master’s program in Quantitative Finance. At Hofstra, Andrew was named “Teacher of the Year” and “Researcher of the Year”. He has previously taught courses at the State University of New York at Binghamton and Indiana University. His teaching experience includes graduate, undergraduate and executive courses in finance, economics, and statistics plus 10 years developing and teaching the CFA and FRM curriculum.

Andrew received his B.S., MBA, and Ph.D. from SUNY Binghamton and MS from Indiana University. He has had over 30 research papers presented at national and international conferences receiving 2 “Best Paper” Awards from the American Real Estate Society.  Andrew has successfully completed five actuary exams administered jointly by the ASA and CSA. Andrew is frequently interviewed and quoted by the financial media and regularly consults with hedge funds, quantitative mutual finds and law firms. He is the former research director for the IRAA, a shareholder advocacy group.

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