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Schweser’s CFA® Program Instructors and Faculty

Any educational program is only as good as the people who construct and deliver it. We have assembled the most effective, well-respected, and competent team of professional writers and instructors to create and deliver Kaplan Schweser’s content and instruction.

Prepare with the most experienced team in CFA Program exam prep:

  • Learn from a group of experts that includes over 60 CFA charterholders
  • Get motivation and support from industry professionals who know what it takes to pass
  • Receive guidance to navigate through the toughest curriculum in the finance world
  • Prepare with the most accurate and current content, ensuring wise use of your study time

Meet Our Level Experts

Dr. Bijesh (B.J.) Tolia, CFA, CA

Level II Manager and Vice President of CFA Program Education, Kaplan Schweser

As Vice President of CFA Education, B.J. is Kaplan Schweser’s Level II CFA Program Professor and is in charge of Schweser’s Chicago weekly program. He has taught CFA Program review courses for more than 10 years in Chicago and around the world. B.J. has also served as the Associate Dean and Department Chair in the College of Business at Chicago State University.
He is a CFA charterholder who earned his MBA and doctorate in finance from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Apart from academia, B.J. has experience in commercial banking and public accounting, and has published papers in the areas of IPOs, executive compensation, and international finance.

Dr. R. Douglas Van Eaton, CFA

Level Expert, Faculty, Instructor

Doug Van Eaton is the Level I Manager and Senior Vice President of CFA Program Education at Kaplan Schweser. Before joining Kaplan, Doug taught finance at Texas Christian University, the University of North Texas, and the University of Washington.

Prior to that, he spent six years with the brokerage firm of Dean Witter. He has published articles in both academic and professional journals, including the Financial Analysts Journal, Journal of Investing, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, and the Financial Services Review. His work has been cited in the CFA Digest and won an award from the CFP Board of Examiners.

Doug also has many years of experience teaching financial professionals, including CFA exam review courses for the Dallas Society of Financial Analysts (DSFA) and JKE (Excel) Exam Review, as well as seminars for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in finance, accounting, and funds management. Doug’s education includes a master’s degree in economics and a doctorate in finance, both from the University of Washington.

Dr. Greg Filbeck, CFA, FRM, CAIA

Kaplan Schweser Level III Expert

Greg joined the faculty of Penn State University, the Behrend College, as professor of finance in 2006, and holds the Samuel P. Black III Professorship of Finance and Risk Management. He has published more than 100 articles in referenced journals and authored 10 books.

Greg is the recipient of the Penn State 2010 and 2012 Outstanding iMBA faculty member, 2011 Council of Fellows Outstanding Research Award, and 2013 Outstanding Service Award.

His research studies are focused within the investments, portfolio management, and behavioral finance areas. In addition to ten years of experience in academia (Miami University and the University of Toledo), he has seven years of experience as senior vice-president of Schweser, a division of Kaplan, Inc. At Kaplan, Greg headed the content and curriculum areas and started and led the marketing and sales areas. He has trained candidates for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Financial Risk Manager (FRM), and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designations on a worldwide basis. Greg earned his Doctorate in Finance from the University of Kentucky, his Master’s in Applied Statistics from Penn State University, and a Bachelor of Science in in Engineering Physics from Murray State University.

Connect with Dr. Filbeck on LinkedIn.

Amy Drury, ACA

Amy is a financial professional with over 20 years of experience. She has trained financial experts across the globe with stops in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Her students represent all the world’s top 20 banks and numerous top-rated business schools.
Amy is a Chartered Accountant in the UK and started her career with Deloitte, later transitioning into Corporate Finance. Her expertise includes accounting, valuation, credit and financial modeling, and the Level I CFA® Program curriculum.

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Dr. Andrew Spieler, CFA, FRM, CAIA

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–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 BS, MBA, and PhD from SUNY–Binghamton and his 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. He is frequently interviewed and quoted by the financial media and regularly consults with hedge funds, quantitative mutual funds, and law firms. He is the former research director for the IRAA, a shareholder advocacy group.

Bruno Meneguzzi, CFA, MA

Bruno is a career banker with over 30 years of experience working in the capital markets and treasury departments of domestic, as well as foreign, banks at succeeding levels of management, including time as a Director in the Capital Markets Internal Audit Group at the Royal Bank of Canada.

He is currently the Chief Compliance Officer at Black Swan Dexteritas, Inc. Bruno is experienced in money market, fixed income, and foreign exchange trading and sales, including intra-day risk and position monitoring.

Bruno earned his CFA Charterholder in 2001, and holds a master’s degree in economics from York University. For the last 15 years, he has focused his teaching on economics and the capital markets at all three levels of the CFA curriculum. When he's not busy at work, Bruno teaches wine studies for the Wine & Spirits Education Trust Guild and is an accredited Wine Judge in Canada.

Caroline Allen, CFA

Caroline Allen is a vice president at Creation Investments, a Chicago-based private equity firm that makes investments in social enterprises around the world with a focus on microfinance banks.
Prior to joining Creation Investments in 2009, she was an Associate in the investment banking group at William Blair & Company working on both public and private equity deals, including mergers and acquisitions and equity offerings across a broad range of industries. Caroline received her MBA from the Tuck School of Business (2007) and her BS with Distinction from the University of Virginia (2002), where she majored in Business and minored in Psychology. Caroline is a CFA charterholder.

Craig Prochaska, CFA

Craig joined Kaplan Schweser in July 2006 as a Content Specialist. He spent 18 years with Bank One Corporation and its predecessor, First Chicago Corporation, in positions including Forecast Economist and editor of capital markets research. Craig holds an MBA in business economics from DePaul University and a bachelor of science in finance from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

David W. Wiley, CFA

David has more than 37 years of experience in the investments industry. David has taught classes with Kaplan since 2003, serves as an expert witness on securities cases, teaches CFA classes for the CFA Society of Dallas-Fort Worth, assists with curriculum development for GARP®, and consults for United Capital on their centrally managed investments platform. He also graded CFA Exams for 13 years.
David received his MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in 1982, and received his CFA charter in 1986. He offices out of Whitefish, Montana where he invests in various real estate projects.  

Debi Rossi, CIPM

Debi is a principal with Kyza Performance Consulting, LLC. She has over 20 years experience in the investment performance measurement industry. Debi is a member of CFA Institute, Boston Security Analysts Society (BSAS), the Performance Measurement Forum, and CIPM association.
From 2006 to 2011, she served on the United States Investment Performance Committee (USIPC). Debi is also currently serving on the Advisory Board of The Journal of Performance Measurement and is a member of the CIPM Advisory Council. Prior to building Kyza Performance Consulting, Debi was a principal and senior performance specialist with Turner Investments of Berwyn, PA, and a performance analyst with Independence Capital Management, Inc., a subsidiary of Penn Mutual. A graduate of Temple University with a BA in psychology, Debi went to work for a retail brokerage firm in 1988 and has been involved with performance measurement and analysis ever since.

Don Chance, CFA

Don holds the James C. Flores Endowed Chair of MBA Studies and is Professor of Finance at LSU. He has had extensive involvement in the CFA® program in writing, curriculum development, and editing, and he received the C. Stewart Shepard Award from the CFA Institute for years of service to the CFA Institute.
He also has 13 years of experience in teaching CFA prep courses in the US, Switzerland, Thailand, and Austria. He has given many presentations before CFA societies, and he is the author of Analysis of Derivatives for the CFA Program, which was used for more than 15 years in the CFA curriculum.

Dr. Abbas Kazemi, CFA

Abbas has over 15 years of teaching experience in economics and finance. As an associate professor of finance at Rhode Island College, he teaches corporate finance, investment theory, quantitative methods, international finance, and portfolio management. He also developed and currently supervises the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF).
Abbas earned his PhD from SUNY at Stony Brook. Since receiving his CFA charter, he has presented CFA review programs and written questions for practice exams. He has had several articles published in economics and finance journals and has been invited to present his work at numerous conferences both in the U.S. and abroad. His current research project involves the use of credit derivatives to manage credit risk for financial institutions. Abbas received the prestigious Fulbright scholarship in 1994 to conduct research in Turkey.

Dr. Andrew Holmes, CFA

Andrew is a finance faculty member at Brigham Young University. Before returning to academia, he was the former Senior Editor of Kaplan Schweser’s CFA Level II study notes and has worked with the CFA curriculum and CFA candidates for a number of years.
In addition to his instruction with Kaplan Schweser, he has accumulated well over 15 years of full-time teaching experience and has published or presented numerous articles in several areas of finance, including banking, real estate, personal finance, and investments. Andrew brings substantial academic and industry experience as well as excellent teaching credentials. He is a sought-after presenter for CFA Level I and II preparation seminars.

Andrew obtained his doctorate from the University of Houston and has taught at the University of Houston, Sam Houston State University, and Brigham Young University. In addition to being the recipient of several teaching awards, he also has significant experience with executive MBA programs and executive development programs.

Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn.

Dr. Bijesh (B.J.) Tolia, CFA, CA

Level II Manager and Vice President of CFA Program Education, Kaplan Schweser

As Vice President of CFA Education, B.J. is Kaplan Schweser’s Level II CFA Program Professor and is in charge of Schweser’s Chicago weekly program. He has taught CFA Program review courses for more than 10 years in Chicago and around the world. B.J. has also served as the Associate Dean and Department Chair in the College of Business at Chicago State University.
He is a CFA charterholder who earned his MBA and doctorate in finance from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Apart from academia, B.J. has experience in commercial banking and public accounting, and has published papers in the areas of IPOs, executive compensation, and international finance.

Dr. H. Kent Baker, CFA, CMA

Kent is University Professor of Finance in the Kogod School of Business at American University. He served as the Chair of the Department of Finance and Real Estate for 11 years and headed the Finance Center of Excellence for 8 years. Kent has more than 35 years of teaching experience at the university level and has received numerous teaching awards.
Kent has presented more than 100 CFA prep programs in the United States, Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom, and he currently coordinates CFA programs for Kaplan Schweser in Washington, D.C. He has consulting and training experience with more than 100 organizations and has presented more than 650 training and executive programs on such topics as asset allocation, quantitative methods, credit analysis, and financial management. Kent has authored or edited 33 books and has more than 250 publications. He has also presented 175 papers at professional meetings and currently serves on six editorial boards. The Journal of Finance Literature recognized him as among the top 1% of the most prolific authors in finance during the past 50 years, while The CFA Magazine profiled him as “most credentialed.” His book Investment Traps Exposed: Navigating Investor Mistakes and Behavioral Biases was the 2017 Book Excellence Award Winner in personal finance and a winner of the 2018 Axiom Business Book Award in personal finance, retirement planning, and investing.

Kent received a BSBA (Management) from Georgetown University; an MBA (Finance), MEd (Educational Administration), and DBA (Finance) from the University of Maryland; an MS (Quantitative Methods), MA (Training and Career Development), PhD (Educational Administration and Organizational Development), and PhD (Counseling and Student Development) from American University. He also holds CFA and CMA designations.

Connect with Dr. Baker on LinkedIn

Dr. John Paul Broussard, CFA, FRM

John is an Associate Finance Professor at Rutgers University’s Camden, New Jersey, campus, where he teaches investments and corporate finance courses. John has won and been nominated for various teaching awards in his career, and has taught CFA study review courses since 1999 in Europe, Asia, and the US.
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.

Dr. Joseph Vu, CFA

Joseph earned his MBA and PhD, both in finance, from the University of Chicago. He has taught CFA review courses at all three levels for more than 20 years in Chicago and around the world. He is a Professor of Finance at DePaul University in Chicago teaching investment, corporate finance, options, and mergers and acquisitions courses.
He has published articles in both academic and professional journals, including the Journal of Financial Economics, the Financial Analyst Journal, the Financial Management, the Financial Review, the Journal of International Finance, and the Review of Futures Markets. Joseph also serves as an arbitrator for FINRA in Chicago.

Dr. R. Douglas Van Eaton, CFA

Level Expert, Faculty, Instructor

Doug Van Eaton is the Level I Manager and Senior Vice President of CFA Program Education at Kaplan Schweser. Before joining Kaplan, Doug taught finance at Texas Christian University, the University of North Texas, and the University of Washington.

Prior to that, he spent six years with the brokerage firm of Dean Witter. He has published articles in both academic and professional journals, including the Financial Analysts Journal, Journal of Investing, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, and the Financial Services Review. His work has been cited in the CFA Digest and won an award from the CFP Board of Examiners.

Doug also has many years of experience teaching financial professionals, including CFA exam review courses for the Dallas Society of Financial Analysts (DSFA) and JKE (Excel) Exam Review, as well as seminars for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in finance, accounting, and funds management. Doug’s education includes a master’s degree in economics and a doctorate in finance, both from the University of Washington.

Jeffery Chang, CFA, CPA, CFE

Jeff is the co-founder and managing director of Cboe Vest, an asset management firm subsidiary of the Chicago Board Option Exchange (CBOE), the largest US options exchange and creator of listed options.

Jeff started his career at the World Bank in its East Asia Pacific sector, and he continued on at Freddie Mac and Primatics Financial Consulting.

He also worked for FBR, a middle market investment bank, working with their trading platform. Jeff is currently a CFA charterholder. He was also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and held Series 7, 24, and 63 securities licenses. He attended the United States Naval Academy and Georgetown University.

Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn

Jeffrey Bierman, CMT

Jeff is one of the security industry’s leading technical analysts with more than 27 years of experience under his belt. He is currently a daily lecturer on TheoTrade.com which is an online educational resource platform for professional market traders. Prior to joining TheoTrade, Jeff spent 8 years at TD Ameritrade serving as the company’s Chief Market Technician.

Jeff started his career as a NASDAQ market maker assistant, and shortly thereafter decided to make the jump to running his own hedge fund which he successfully managed for over 10 years. He has worked in a variety of roles within the securities industry including portfolio manager, buy-side analyst, sell-side analyst, market technician and sales trader.

Jeff is also currently employed as an adjunct professor of finance at Loyola University Chicago Quinlan School of Business where he teaches FINC 335–“Investments” in the undergraduate program, and FINC 452 --“Investment Management” and FINC 553–“Applied Portfolio Management” in the graduate program. In addition, Jeff is employed as an adjunct professor of finance at DePaul University Driehaus College of Business where he teaches FIN 380–“Cases in Financial Decision-Making,” a capstone course designed to provide undergraduate students the opportunity to apply and integrate knowledge acquired over their previous breath of finance courses.

Jeff earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at University of California at Berkeley where he was accorded the summa cum laude designation in English Literature and the phi beta kappa designation in Sociology. Jeff earned his Master of Business Administration degree at University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business with an emphasis in Finance. He also holds a Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designation.

Jeremy Smith, ACA, MCS

Jeremy qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Touche Ross in 1994, having read economics and accounting at Newcastle University. He started his City training career in 1998 with the Financial Markets Division of FTC London, where he taught UK Benchmark exam courses and a range of tailored and public in-house courses.
In 2000, Jeremy left FTC to become a founding member and director of 7city Learning, where he worked for seven years. During this time, Jeremy taught toward the Certificates and IAQ qualifications and acted as the main tutor contact for several clients. In 2010, Jeremy joined Kaplan Financial as Head of UK Benchmark Examinations, where he currently designs, oversees, and delivers Kaplan’s range of UK Benchmark solutions.

Jhan Burger, CFA

Jhan is an expert financial markets lecturer with many years of experience lecturing in the United States, Europe, Asia, and his native South Africa. Jhan teaches toward the CFA® Program and the IMC. He specializes in courses on equity, fixed income, derivatives, accounting, valuation, and pricing on an in-house basis.

John Cook, CFA

John qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1980, having read maths and music at the University of Cambridge. John moved to Kaplan in 1982, where he taught all levels of the professional accountancy exam syllabus. John joined the Financial Markets team in 1990 and has developed and delivered a large number of courses in both the exam and non-exam arenas throughout Europe and Asia.

John Harris, CPA, CFA

John has taught for Kaplan and affiliates since 1996. He has more than 24 years of experience in credit and financial management, with particular emphasis in the areas of commercial loan valuation and asset recovery.
In addition to his accounting practice, John operates Financial Accounting Workshops, a provider of accounting education and training to business professionals. He has a comprehensive grasp of financial accounting issues, as well as the ability to make those issues understandable and applicable in daily practice.

John earned both an MBA and MS from the University of North Texas and a BBA from Texas Tech University. He is a Certified Public Accountant and CFA charterholder. John has lectured for dozens of universities and CFA societies.

John P. Swift, CFA, CPA

John is the Managing Partner at GSV Investment Advisors. In this role, he specializes in building client relationships and developing and maintaining their financial plans. John works with outside and inside advisors on tax, trust & estate, family office and wealth succession planning.
He effectuates capital market transactions of private equity and alternative investment positions, and provides consulting on investment hedging, asset/liability analysis and low-basis stock diversification strategies. He determines asset allocation of investment portfolios and provides capital market updates and strategic asset allocation directives for the firm.

John earned his MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. He is a CFA charterholder, as well as a Certified Public Accountant registered in the state of Illinois. John has spent the better part of three decades on Wall Street managing both institutional and private investment portfolios. He has won the coveted “Top Private Wealth Manager” award from Five Star Professional for 2010, 2011 and 2012, as seen in Chicago Magazine. John is an instructor at Loyola University, currently an instructor with Kaplan Schweser CFA Review, and formerly an instructor for five years with the Becker Stalla CFA Review program.

Jonathan Bone, ACA, CFA

Jonathan graduated from University College London with an economics degree. He went on to qualify as a Chartered Accountant (ACA) before moving into corporate finance roles. Jonathan joined the Financial Markets team as a lecturer in 2001. He has gained considerable experience teaching both exam-based training and non-exam-based courses for clients of leading financial markets.
Jonathan currently heads up the Kaplan CFA team in the UK and is responsible for all aspects of material, course design, and delivery. He also has global recognition as one of the core tutors in the Kaplan Schweser video series. Jonathan also plays a key role in developing tailored courses for clients’ graduate development programs.

Kent Westlund, CFA, CPA

Senior Content Specialist, Kaplan Schweser

Kent joined the Schweser faculty in 2010 and currently serves as a Senior Content Specialist for Level II of the CFA curriculum. He came to Kaplan from CFA Society New York, where he supported professional development programs for the Wall Street community.
Kent has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, and prior to his career in finance was a licensed professional engineer. He earned an M.B.A. from The University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, and during his graduate studies interned with Deutsche Bank’s asset management division in New York City. Kent was awarded the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation in 2012, and currently holds a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license, the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designation, and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Kevin Tilley

Kevin has been preparing investment professionals for a wide variety of financial examinations, including CFA and FRM, for over 12 years. He is confident covering a wide variety of topics and has trained a broad selection of individuals, from apprentices to senior directors, both in the classroom and online.
Kevin started his financial services career at JP Morgan Asset Management, working on performance measurement and attribution analysis. He moved to currency portfolio management, becoming a vice president and the head of the implementation team. Kevin had a particular focus on fixed income portfolios and worked on the coordination of investment strategy between the currency and bond teams. Subsequently, he worked for JPM Securities Services, where he undertook value at risk (VaR) analysis at the custodial level and oversaw a team of performance and risk analysts.

Kevin earned a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in Chemistry & Biochemistry from Southampton University. Among his professional designations, Kevin has earned the FRM® designation, CFA® charter, and Investment Management Certificate (IMC).

Kurt Schuldes, CFA, CAIA

Project Manager, Kaplan Schweser

Kurt is a Project Manager at Kaplan Schweser, where he works in the content department, primarily at CFA Level III. Kurt earned his MBA with a concentration in economics from the University of Tampa and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse.
Prior to joining Kaplan Schweser in 2000, Kurt worked as a financial advisor for a national broker dealer, managing client accounts for eight years. Kurt received his CFA charter in 2005 and the CAIA designation in 2010.

Michael Slemmer, CFA

Mike has over 30 years of experience in investment management technology, banking and investment industry consulting. He is currently Director of Business Development for SS&C Technologies, responsible for sales of its performance measurement and attribution products—Anova Performance and Sylvan.
He is a past Advisory Board member of the Journal of Performance Measurement and member of the Boston Security Analysts Society’s Quantitative Technology and Performance sub-committee. Mike is a CFA charter holder, having earned the designation in 1994. He’s a graduate of the University of Delaware with a BA in Economics and Political Science, and earned an MBA in Finance from the University of Houston.

Patrick Gregory, CFA

Patrick Gregory, CFA, is the Managing Director of the Stephen D. Cutler Center for Investments and Finance, the Director of the Babson College Fund, and a Senior Lecturer in the Finance Division at Babson College. Prior to joining the faculty at Babson, Patrick was a portfolio manager and senior analyst at FM Global, where he managed the healthcare, telecom, and Internet sectors of a $6 billion equity portfolio.

Prior to working at FM Global, Patrick was a full-time faculty member at Bentley College. While at Bentley, he was the director of Graduate Programs in Finance and Managing Director of the Hughey Center for Financial Services. Patrick was the recipient of the Davis Fellowship, Masnicki Award, and Innovation in Teaching Award. Patrick is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and Boston Security Analysts Society (BSAS). He has an Advanced Certificate in Risk Management from the University of Chicago and holds a Master of Science degree from Bentley College and an MBA from St. Bonaventure University. Patrick is the co-author of Why Stocks Go Up and Down and author of two editions of Financial Management: A Guide to Value Creation. He has also appeared on CNN and CNBC and provided commentary to a number of news sources including the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, The Boston Globe, and the LA Times.

Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn.

R. Travis Upton, CFA, FRM, CAIA

Travis is Director of Portfolio Management for The Joseph Group, Inc., a registered investment advisory firm in located in Columbus, Ohio. In that capacity, Travis is responsible for development of the firm’s core investment strategy and is director of research.

Prior work experience includes positions as an Institutional Portfolio Manager with Fifth Third Investment Advisors, and institutional sales for the Harbor Funds. Travis has worked with Kaplan Schweser since 2000.

Travis is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Toledo with a B.B.A. in Finance and is a CFA charterholder. Travis is also a past president of the Financial Analysts Society of Toledo.

Randy Nordby, CFA, FSA

Randy Nordby is an experienced financial professional with over 14 years of experience in managing and monitoring investments, investment research, security valuation, economic analysis, preparing customized Investment Policy Statements (IPS), and portfolio implementation. Currently, Randy is the Graduate Director of Finance and Real Estate at American University, where he also taught for 3 years as an adjunct professor.
His courses included CFA Level I Intensive Review, Introduction to Finance, and Managerial Economics.  Randy earned his BA in political science from Virginia Tech, an MA in economics from George Mason University, an MBA in economics and finance from Shenandoah University, an MS in finance from American University, and is currently a doctoral candidate in business administration at Temple University. Randy is a member of CFA Society of Washington, DC, and has served as the Membership & Communications Chair since 2012.

Vishal Awatar, CFA, ACA

Vishal has been teaching finance for over 10 years. Initially specializing in the higher level strategy papers of the ICAEW syllabus, he then progressed to teaching the IMC, CISI, and all levels of the CFA syllabi. Currently, Vishal is head of CFA Level I in London, producing material for Kaplan Schweser’s courses worldwide.

Vishal Iyer, CFA

Vishal has over 12 years of experience from which around 6 years have been spent in the corporate world. He started his career by advising clients in foreign exchange risk management after which he moved into the treasury of Adani Enterprises Ltd., one of the largest company’s in India, where he spent close to 4 years.

The next 2 years of his career were spent in corporate finance with activities involving working capital management, cash flow management and risk management with Netafim Irrigation Private Ltd., an MNC of international repute. While at Netafim, he also won the prestigious annual award for Outstanding Young Managers. In his last assignment in the corporate world, he was a part of Group CFO’s office overlooking the operations of 12 businesses and 8 services.

He has spent the last 4 years in Education, an area he is very passionate about, with one of the leading academic institutions promoted by an academically inclined corporate organization, Arvind Mills. As an academician, he has taught finance related subjects in prominent programs such as CFA, ACCA, CIMA, CA, CMA & CS. He has also been invited as a visiting faculty for finance by various premier universities. Besides teaching he was also a part of the management committee and was instrumental in leading a path breaking initiative into e-learning for the organization.

He is a CFA charterholder and has Bachelors in Commerce from Gujarat University. He also holds a M.S. (Finance) from ICFAI University.

Dr. Greg Filbeck, CFA, FRM, CAIA

Kaplan Schweser Level III Expert

Greg joined the faculty of Penn State University, the Behrend College, as professor of finance in 2006, and holds the Samuel P. Black III Professorship of Finance and Risk Management. He has published more than 100 articles in referenced journals and authored 10 books.

Greg is the recipient of the Penn State 2010 and 2012 Outstanding iMBA faculty member, 2011 Council of Fellows Outstanding Research Award, and 2013 Outstanding Service Award.

His research studies are focused within the investments, portfolio management, and behavioral finance areas. In addition to ten years of experience in academia (Miami University and the University of Toledo), he has seven years of experience as senior vice-president of Schweser, a division of Kaplan, Inc. At Kaplan, Greg headed the content and curriculum areas and started and led the marketing and sales areas. He has trained candidates for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Financial Risk Manager (FRM), and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designations on a worldwide basis. Greg earned his Doctorate in Finance from the University of Kentucky, his Master’s in Applied Statistics from Penn State University, and a Bachelor of Science in in Engineering Physics from Murray State University.

Connect with Dr. Filbeck on LinkedIn.

Stuart Jackaman, CFA, CAIA, FRM

Stuart’s first role in financial markets was as a trainee actuary before moving into the fund management industry. He has over 10 years of financial markets experience with a focus on portfolio management and equity trading.
In 2007, Stuart moved into professional education and now teaches those looking to earn their CFA, CAIA, and FRM designations. He also designs and delivers bespoke financial markets courses in topics such as quantitative finance, equity valuation, behavioral finance, and equity day trading. Stuart graduated with a degree in mathematics from Oxford University.

Tim Greive, CFA, CAIA

Senior Content Specialist, Kaplan Schweser

Tim is a Senior Content Specialist at Kaplan Schweser and is the Content Manager for the CAIA program. Tim has a bachelor's degree in finance from The Ohio State University and an MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management.
Tim’s entire career has been in investment management and wealth management and includes working at Chicago Partners Wealth Advisors and with some of the largest single-family offices and hedge funds in the world.

Tim is a CFA charterholder and CAIA charterholder.

Derek Burkett, CFA, FRM, CAIA

Vice President of Advanced Designations, Kaplan Schweser

Derek is the Vice President of Advanced Designations for Kaplan Schweser. His responsibilities include strategic planning, product management, and content development for the CFA, CAIA, and FRM product lines. Derek holds a master's degree in finance from the University of Denver and a bachelor'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 charterholder.

Dr. Andrew C. Temte, CFA

President and Global Head of Corporate Learning, Kaplan Inc.

Andrew Temte, PhD, CFA, is the President and Global Head of Corporate Learning at Kaplan North America. He earned his doctorate in finance from the University of Iowa with a concentration in international finance and investment theory. He holds the CFA®designation and has over 14 years of university teaching experience in the areas of corporate finance, investments, and international finance.

Dr. Temte started his professional education career in 1990, working with Dr. Carl Schweser to build Schweser Study Program into the leader in CFA exam review. Upon the acquisition of Schweser Study Program by Kaplan, Inc., in 1999, Dr. Temte assumed leadership of the Kaplan Schweser organization. Under his direction, Kaplan Schweser became a leading global provider of innovative, efficient, and effective financial education solutions.

In addition to his current role, Dr. Temte has served in the following professional positions:

  • CEO of Kaplan Professional, a division of Kaplan, Inc., where he oversaw and leveraged assets, capabilities, and talent across its global footprint. 
  • Dean of Kaplan University School of Professional and Continuing Education, Interim President of Mount Washington College, President of Kaplan University College of Business and Technology.
  • Outside of his professional career, Dr. Temte serves on the Board of Directors for the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Foundation, his alma mater. He and his wife Linda, are also active in numerous fundraising events and committees in the community.

Eric Smith, CFA, FRM, FDP

Director, Advanced Designations, Kaplan Schweser

Eric is a Director of Advanced Designations at Kaplan Schweser. He has over 20 years of financial training experience in the areas of investment analysis, risk management, and data science. Eric holds an MBA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with specializations in international business and finance.
Eric also holds a BS in finance from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and a graduate certificate in e-learning design and development from Boise State University. Prior to his current role, he managed and developed training materials for the FRM and CFA Level III exams. Eric is a CFA charterholder, certified Financial Risk Manager, and Financial Data Professional charterholder.

Adam Hardi, CFA

Adam currently works as vice president at Moody’s, conducting credit analysis of a portfolio of provinces, municipalities, universities, and government-related issuers in Canada. He has been teaching CFA seminars for Kaplan Schweser since 2008. Adam’s specialties are in the areas of finance, risk management, securities, derivatives, and portfolio management.
Adam holds an MBA in finance from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Prior to joining Moody’s, he worked in capital markets credit policy and on the credit side of investment banking at some of the Big 5 Canadian banks. He also spent long hours on the trading desk as an institutional equity and options trader and managed a team of equity and fixed income traders.

Darren Lee, CFA, FRM, CPA, CA

Darren obtained his CPA and CFA designations while working at a Big Four accounting firm and continued to work there for several years as a tax manager. He now operates a tax and finance consulting practice in Toronto that focuses on advising high-net-worth clients and small businesses.

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

Knowing that success on the CFA exams requires a good work-life balance, Darren continues to apply it in his life. He travels the world as a competitive and award-winning marathon runner who is always in search of the perfect race. Any other spare time is spent with his first love, the piano.

David McMeekin, CFA, CAIA, FRM, PRM, ERP

David is an experienced financial tutor with many years of teaching experience and assists in running the CFA, FRM, and CAIA courses. Originally from a banking background, David later moved into wealth management, advising high-net-worth clients in the areas of investments, pensions, and tax planning.
Since gaining his CFA charter in 2003, David has worked extensively in the field of risk management, teaching toward a variety of qualifications, as well as tailoring risk programs to financial institutions. He has gained the FRM, PRM®, and CAIA designations. Most recently, David has earned the Energy Risk Professional (ERP®) Certification.

Martin Stoynov, CFA, CAIA, FRM

Martin joined Kaplan in 2007 and delivers courses for the CFA, CAIA, and FRM programs. He has also delivered bespoke courses to top tier investment banks and asset managers across mainland Europe and the United States.
Course titles include Structured Products, Investment Management, Financial Modeling with Excel, and The Credit Crisis. He is currently the academic head of FRM at Kaplan Financial. Martin’s blend of banking experience, coupled with strong academic knowledge, adds depth to his delivery in a wide range of financial markets topics.

Dr. Robert J. Atra, CFA

Robert has 30 years of experience in international banking, valuation, and corporate training including almost 10 years of working with Kaplan Schweser. He is currently the Associate Professor of Finance at Hillsdale College.
Robert earned his BA in Business from College of the Ozarks, an MS in Finance from Northern Illinois University, and a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Illinois-Chicago. He is also a graduate of the College for Financial Planning’s CFP® Program. Prior to academia, Bob was a project finance officer for Mitsubishi Bank and a consultant, valuing private equity. He has published papers on investment strategies and equity returns and is co-author of three chapters in the Valuation Handbook.

Paul Knight, CFA

After graduating with a degree in accounting/economics, Paul qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Coopers & Lybrand (now part of PWC, Price Waterhouse Coopers). Paul spent time in both consulting and corporate finance before moving into training, initially training towards the major accounting qualifications before moving back to the City and training financial markets courses.
Paul has taught clients, including most of the top tier Investment Banks and Asset Managers, across a wide range of non exam courses all over the world. Deliverables have ranged from 1 day Introductory courses to multiple week Associate graduate courses for the Sales & Trading recruits at the major Investment Banks. Paul also teaches a wide range of exam courses, including all 3 levels of the CFA program (Paul was awarded his Charter in 2000). His wide-ranging technical knowledge is supported in the classroom by his renowned ability to engage participants, generate rapport, and encourage networking across desks.

Philip Morey, CFA, FCCA, MSI

Phil has over 17 years experience as a financial trainer as well as many years as a financial and management accountant.
Between 1994 and 2010 he worked for BPP Holdings plc in London, initially as a tutor and subsequently as Chief Executive of the UK Financial Services Division and Managing Director of UK Professional Education. Phil currently provides consulting and training services to educational institutions and professional organizations through the firm he founded in 2011.

Richard J. McCarthy, CFA, CFP

Since 1991, Richard has acted as principal of Net Worth Management, a fee-only financial consulting and investment advisory firm in New Hampshire, as well as general partner of Palmyra Capital Management, LP. Previously, he worked for 16 years as an international management consultant, primarily with Arthur D. Little, Inc.
Richard has taught in the CFA review program of the Boston Security Analysts Society/Kaplan since 1996 and in the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) review program of Merrimack College from 2003 until 2013. As an adjunct faculty member at Merrimack, Richard has taught undergraduate finance courses in portfolio management, behavioral finance, derivatives and risk management, international financial management, and corporate finance. Since 2013, he has taught in the CFP review program of Suffolk University. Richard received SB degrees in Electrical Engineering and Management from MIT. In addition to the CFA charter, he also holds the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designations.