Schweser’s CFA^® Instructors and Faculty

Dr. Andrew C. Temte, CFA - President, Kaplan Professional Education

Andrew Temte, PhD, CFA, is president of Kaplan Professional Education (KPE), a division of Kaplan, Inc. As president of KPE, Dr. Temte oversees and leverages assets, capabilities, and talent across Kaplan’s global footprint. KPE offers a large portfolio of professional development programs and helps individuals earn industry-recognized licensures, certifications, and designations. Based in La Crosse, WI, KPE maintains operations throughout the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

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.

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. Dr. Temte 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.

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 an MS in finance from the University of Denver and a BS 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. Tim Smaby, CFA, FRM – Director of Product Management, Kaplan Schweser

Dr. Tim Smaby is the Director of Product Management for Kaplan Schweser. Tim joined the company in 2002 as the manager of the Level II CFA study materials. In his current role, Tim oversees product management and content development for the CFA, CAIA, and FRM product lines. Prior to joining Kaplan, Tim was an associate professor of finance at Penn State Erie. He has also held various positions in the banking industry with Bank One in Cincinnati, Ohio, and First Republic Bank in Dallas, Texas. Tim is a CFA Charterholder and has also been awarded the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designation. He holds a PhD 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.

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.

Adam Hardi, CFA

Adam currently works as an assistant 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.

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.

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.

Dr. Bijesh (B.J.) Tolia, CFA, CA - Vice President of CFA Education

As Vice President of CFA Education, B.J. is Kaplan Schweser’s CFA Level II Professor and is in charge of Schweser’s Chicago weekly program. He has taught CFA 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.

Bob Pugh, CFA, CFP

Bob Pugh, CFA, CFP® is president and founder of Insight Wealth Management, Inc. (IWM), an independent Registered Investment Adviser in Gainesville, Virginia. Bob was named one of the Best Financial Advisors for Doctors in the nation by “Medical Economics” for the past two years, and he is a NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor. Among many capacities in which he has served in the CFA community, Bob was elected twice as President of the CFA Society of Washington, D.C., from 2005 to 2007, and as Eastern Region Presidents Council Representative with CFA Institute, from 2009 to 2011. Bob has over 25 years of experience as a financial educator and analyst, portfolio manager, and financial planner in the private and public sectors. His experience as a professional educator includes nine years as a member of the practitioner faculty with The Johns Hopkins University’s Carey School of Business and School of Medicine teaching graduate-level courses in investment analysis, portfolio management, and corporate finance. Bob has taught CFA exam review since 1998.

Bob has graduate degrees in global political economy from The Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, and in financial economics from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is a member of CFA Institute, the CFA Society of Washington, D.C., the National Association for Business Economics, the Financial Planning Association, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, and Mensa.

Dr. Brian McKenna, CFA, CPA, CFP

Brian McKenna is the director of the Center for Financial Analysis at Saint Xavier University in Chicago. Brian earned his Juris Doctorate in 1977 and is doctorally qualified in the fields of law, accounting and finance. He has also earned a Master of Laws in taxation from DePaul University and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Chicago.

Brian served as adjunct faculty at Saint Xavier from 1977 to 1989 and joined the full-time faculty in 1989. He has taught over 20 courses in the undergraduate and graduate business curriculum and has served in a number of administrative positions. Prior to joining Saint Xavier full-time, Brian was a recognized national expert in railroad tax litigation. His career includes service as a Revenue Agent for the Internal Revenue Service, a senior accountant for Ernst & Young, a general tax attorney for Santa Fe Industries, Inc., and an attorney in private practice. In addition to his CFA charter, Brian also holds the Certified Financial Planner and Certified Public Accountant designations.

Bruno Meneguzzi, CFA

Bruno is a career banker with over 25 years of experience working in the capital markets and treasury departments of domestic, as well as foreign, banks at succeeding levels of management. Bruno is experienced in money market, fixed income, and foreign exchange trading and sales, including intra-day risk and position monitoring.

Bruno is a CFA Charterholder and holds a master’s degree in economics from York University. For the last 10 years, he has focused his teaching on economics and the capital markets at all three levels of the CFA curriculum.

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. Ms. Allen 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. Ms. Allen is a CFA charterholder.

Christiana Sembi, BSc, ACA

After graduating with a first class honors degree in mathematics and statistics, Christiana joined PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Christiana was awarded the Railton Prize by the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales (ICAEW) for achieving the highest mark in the Business Management paper of the ACA exams.

Christiana has been training analysts and associates in the finance industry since 2005. She has developed and delivered bespoke training courses to top tier investment banks in London, New York, and Zurich, specializing in equity and fixed income products and derivatives. At Kaplan, Christiana teaches across professional examinations, as well as tailored non-exam courses.

Christopher M. Lagan, CFA

Christopher Lagan currently works for Congress Asset Management, where he has been employed since 1993. Since 2002, he has been a principal and member of the Management Committee that formulates firm-wide strategic planning to advance the company’s mission and objectives. Christopher is also chair of the Private Equity Committee. In this role, he oversees sourcing, due diligence, and commitments to over $1 billion in private equity allocations for several of Congress’ institutional clients and serves as an advisory board member on several private equity funds. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Congress Wealth Management, LLC.

From 1998 to 2001, Christopher was a research analyst. He evaluated companies being considered for investment, performed financial analysis using discounted cash flow and other valuation methods, researched companies being considered for purchase, and made buy and sell recommendations to portfolio managers. Prior to 1998, Christopher was the operations manager for Congress Asset Management. From 1992 to 1993, he worked as a purchasing agent for Rentex Incorporated in Boston.

Craig Prochaska, CFA - Content Specialist

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.

Darren Lee, CFA, FRM, CPA, CA

Darren operates his own consulting practice in Toronto, dealing primarily with finance and tax solutions 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 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 the Schweser weekly CFA exam preparatory course in Toronto, as well as authoring/editing their FRM study materials. Darren has also taught courses for the University of Toronto and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario.

In addition to these activities, Darren maintains part-time careers as a real estate broker and a concert pianist. An avid runner, he has completed several marathons around the world, including Berlin, London, Paris, Boston, Chicago, Houston, and Fukuoka. Darren graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.

David Hetherington, CFA – Vice President of CFA Education and Level III Manager

David Hetherington is the Level III Manager and Vice President of CFA Education at Kaplan Schweser. David began his career as an economist at the Bureau of Labor statistics after receiving a BA in economics from Duke University. He then worked 10 years as an equity analyst and portfolio manager. Subsequent to that, he served for 10 years as Managing Director of Fixed Income Research at Nations Bank, where he was responsible for both fixed income securities and derivatives.

David also has over 20 years experience helping CFA candidates at all levels pass their exams. He has presented CFA exam preparation classes all over the world and served as national instructor for Stalla CFA Review for 10 years, winning the instructor of the year award multiple times. With his vast experience, keen understanding of the CFA curriculum, and engaging style, David has earned an international reputation for presenting the absolute best in CFA education and review.

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

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.

Dr. R. Douglas Van Eaton, CFA - Level I Manager and Vice President of CFA Education

Doug Van Eaton is the Level I Manager and Senior Vice President of CFA 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. Douglas Cumming, CFA

Douglas is a Professor of Finance and Entrepreneurship and the Ontario Research Chair at the Schulich School of Business, York University. He teaches the MBA course Venture Capital and Private Equity. His research includes venture capital, private equity, hedge funds, mutual funds, entrepreneurship, and law and finance. He is a co-editor of Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice and has been a guest editor for 12 special issues of top journals. He has published over 110 articles in leading refereed academic journals in finance, management, and law and economics.

Doug is a research associate with a number of institutions around the world and has consulted for a variety of governmental and private organizations. He has often acted as an expert witness in securities litigation and other matters involving valuation, the calculation of damages, and assessment of market impact.

Eric Smith, CFA, FRM - Senior Project Manager

Eric has over ten years of experience in product management and financial training and development. He is currently a product manager for Kaplan Schweser’s Financial Risk Manager (FRM) product line and develops training materials for the FRM, CFA, and CAIA exams. Before his product management role, Eric worked as a content specialist for CFA Level III products. Eric holds an MBA with a specialization in international business from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a BS in finance from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He has also completed graduate studies in e-learning, instructional design, and performance support from Boise State University. Eric is a CFA charterholder and a Certified Financial Risk Manager.

Gayle Buff, CFA, CFP^®, MBA

Gayle is founder and president of Buff Capital Management, a Boston-based investment advisory firm. She holds the designation of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP^®), and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). Gayle also holds an MBA and was a licensed clinical specialist with an MS in psychiatric nursing. Over the past 15 years, she has taught finance and business at various local colleges and CFA review classes for the Boston Security Analysts Society.

Gayle is past chair of the Private Wealth Advisory Committee at CFA Institute and was a director and former president of the Boston Security Analyst Society. She is a member of the Boston Estate Planning Council, Boston Economic Club, Boston Foreign Relations Committee, and on the advisory board and past director of the American Lung Association of Massachusetts. Gayle currently is a director of the Massachusetts Society for the University Education of Women and a speaker for the CFA Institute Speaker Retainer Program.

Dr. Greg Filbeck, CFA, FRM, CAIA

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 75 articles in refereed journals and authored five 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 BS in Engineering Physics from Murray State University.

Presentations

Publications

Dr. James C. Brau, CFA

Jim Brau, a Professor of Finance, is the editor of the Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance at the Marriott School. He received his undergraduate training at the United States Military Academy at West Point and served three years as an Airborne Ranger infantry officer in the United States Army and another five years in the Army National Guard and Army Reserves. While in the reserves, Jim earned his PhD from Florida State University in business administration and finance. Jim joined the Marriott School faculty in April 1999 and was honorably discharged as an Army Captain in June 1999. In 2004, Jim earned the Charted Financial Analyst designation.

Jim’s research interests include issues pertaining to initial public offerings, entrepreneurial finance, and real estate. He has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles to include articles in the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Business, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Real Estate Economics and Finance, and Journal of Real Estate Research among others. He teaches corporate and entrepreneurial finance to business management students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Along with being the editor of the Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, Jim is on the editorial review boards of the Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, and Financial Decisions.

Jeffery Chang, CFA, CPA, CFE

Jeff is the co-founder and managing director of Vest Financial, an investment management firm that is a majority-owned 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.

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.

Jodi Joachim, CFA - Vice President of Content Development/Professional Development

Jodi holds an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.A. in Economics from Gustavus Adolphus College. Jodi joined Kaplan Schweser in 2001 and until recently focused on CFA content development and support. Currently, she oversees the editing and online content teams and the professional development product line. Prior to joining Kaplan Schweser, she worked in the financial planning and analysis groups at the division and corporate levels of Gap, Inc. Prior to that, she was an examiner with the San Francisco office of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), specializing in real estate valuation and analysis. Jodi is an avid equestrian.

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.

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, CFA, CPA

John has taught for Kaplan and affiliates since 1996. He has more than 20 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.

Dr. Jonathan Haughton, CFA

Jonathan is a professor of economics at Suffolk University, Boston. He successfully completed his CFA Level 3 exam in June 2002. A prize-winning teacher, he has lectured in economics since 1978, and has taught for Kaplan/Schweser since 2000.

Jonathan has done research or taught in over two dozen countries, been an editor or author of four books, published over thirty articles in refereed journals, and written more than a hundred reports and papers. His recent work has included an examination of the competitiveness of metropolitan areas of the U.S., the refinement of a number of national and state-level computable general equilibrium tax models, and studies of the impact of microcredit in Thailand and of a social development fund in Egypt. Jonathan earned his PhD from Harvard University in 1983.

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 an Associate 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. 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 22 books and has more than 250 publications. He has also presented 165 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.”

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.

Kent Westlund, CFA, FRM, CAIA - Content Specialist

Kent joined the Schweser faculty in 2010, working primarily with Level III candidates, and currently serves as a Content Specialist for Level II of the CFA curriculum. Kent holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA), Financial Risk Manager (FRM), and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designations. Kent earned an MBA. degree from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and worked as an intern with Deutsche Bank in their asset management department in New York. He also holds a BS degree in electrical engineering and was a licensed professional engineer and global commodity manager for electronics manufacturing at Celestica prior to pursuing a career in finance.

Kurt Schuldes, CFA, CAIA - Project Manager

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.

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 Modelling 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.

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, joined the finance faculty at Babson College in 2015. For the preceding eight years, 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.

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.

Richie Owens, CFA

Richie has over 13 years of financial training experience, having previously worked in the financial industry with KPMG in the United Kingdom. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG, Richie moved into financial training, delivering a range of exam prep and in-house courses in Europe and the United States. For the last seven years, he has focused on delivering CFA training courses and writing CFA materials for Schweser, as well as other leading prep providers. Richie specializes in Level I and Level II programs and has spent the last two years delivering live classes in New York City.

Dr. Robert J. Atra, CFA

Bob Atra is Chair of the Department of Finance and Academic Director of the MS in Finance program at Lewis University in Romeoville, where he has taught for twenty years. He has an MS in Finance from Northern Illinois University and a PhD in Finance from the University of Illinois–Chicago.

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.

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.

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.