Speakers

Thomas Brigandi
Organization: Moody's


Thomas Brigandi, CFA, is a Lead Analyst in the Global Project and Infrastructure Finance Group at Moody’s Investors Service, where he is responsible for a portfolio of 34 power, toll-road, airport, port, water, wastewater, natural gas pipeline and project finance credits that collectively have over $15 billion of debt outstanding. Brigandi also serves on Moody’s public pension steering committee, ESG Americas working group and formerly served on the veteran recruiting sub-committee. Brigandi previously worked at the ~$200bn NYC Pension Fund, where he focused on energy and natural resources and reported directly to the chief investment officer. Brigandi is a Board Director of the roughly 12,000 investment professional member CFA Society New York (CFANY), the largest CFA Institute Society globally. Brigandi, the CFA Institute Inaugural Global Outstanding Young Leader and CFANY’s 2016 Benjamin Graham Distinguished Service Award recipient, has organized 89 CFA Society conferences globally that were attended in-person by over 16,000 investment professionals. These events featured over 400 senior asset owner and investment consultant speakers who represent organizations that collectively oversee or advise on more than $72 trillion in fiduciary assets, in addition to over 200 senior asset manager speakers who represent firms that collectively manage in excess of $30 trillion in assets. Brigandi, the founder of CFANY’s Asset Owner Series, Emerging and Frontier Market Series, Investment Employment Outlook and Professional Development Series, Putting Beneficiaries First Series and Global Infrastructure Conference Series, leads a team of over 500 investment professional CFA Society volunteers globally. While serving as the Director of Global Volunteers of the American Foundation for African Children’s Education, Brigandi organized the NASDAQ Closing Bell Ceremony on September 23, 2011, hosted for the President of Sierra Leone. Brigandi maintains over 13,000 connections ‎on Li


Hank Kim
Organization: NCPERS


Hank Kim is executive director and counsel for NCPERS. Kim directs the day-to-day operation of the largest public pension trade association in the United States. His responsibilities include strategic planning for NCPERS, promoting retirement security for all workers through access to defined benefit pension plans, and the expansion of NCPERS’ role in the continuing debate on health care. Hank brings strong experience in healthcare policy, having assisted in drafting the Healthcare Enhancement for Local Public Safety (HELPS) Retirees provision in the Pension Protection Act (PL 109-280). He has worked for a hospital association, where he successfully advocated for passage of the Provider Sponsored Organizations legislation (PL 105-33). He began his career in the office of Senator Bill Bradley (NJ) and assisted on the Newborns’ and Mothers’ Health Protection Act (PL 104-204). Prior to joining NCPERS, Hank served for six years as a governmental affairs representative for an international public-sector union, working on benefits, appropriations, homeland security, and healthcare issues. During this period, he helped draft and lobby for the passage of Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Act (PL 108-136). Hank received his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his Doctor of Jurisprudence from Indiana University-Bloomington Maurer School of Law. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar. Hank currently serves a number of non-profit boards, including serving as Vice-Chair of the Fairfax County Uniform Retirement System, $1.5 billion public employee retirement system providing pension coverage for public safety employees of Fairfax, Virginia; as Treasurer of the National Institute on Retirement Security, a Washington, D.C. based think tank focusing on retirement security; on the Editorial Advisory Panel of the Benefits Law Journal, a quarterly law journal that features the most respec


Antonio Rodriguez
Organization: NYC Board of Education Retirement System


Antonio Rodriguez is currently Director of Investment Strategy at the NYC Board of Education Retirement System where he works with the Executive Director and Board of Trustees on creating and implementing investment policy and strategy. Prior to his role at BERS he was Senior Pensions and Investments Officer at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Pensions and Investments where he represented the Finance Commissioner as Trustee on the New York City Police Pension Fund board and New York City Fire Department Pension Fund board. He was also a designated alternate trustee for the Mayor on the New York City Employees Retirement System and Teachers Retirement System of New York City. Prior to working in the Mayor’s Office of Pensions and Investments, he was Research Director at SEIU Local 1107 in Las Vegas and a Financial Analyst with the SEIU Capital Stewardship program in New York. Antonio is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.


Sammy Suzuki
Organization: AllianceBernstein


Sammy Suzuki, CFA, is Portfolio Manager of Strategic Core Equities at AllianceBernstein (AB). He has been managing the Emerging Markets Strategic Core portfolio since its inception in July 2012 and the Global, International and US portfolios since 2015. The Strategic Core platform that he co-founded has grown to over $5B in assets. Sammy has managed portfolios for over 13 years and emerging-markets portfolios for a decade. From 2010 to 2012 he also held the role of director of Fundamental Value Research at AB, where he managed 50 fundamental analysts globally. Prior to managing portfolios, Sammy spent a decade as a research analyst. He joined AB in 1994 as a research associate covering the capital equipment industry, and then became an analyst covering the technology industry. From 1998 to 2004 Sammy served as senior research analyst for the global automotive industry. Before joining AB, he was a consultant at Bain & Company. Sammy holds a BS in materials science and engineering and a BS in finance from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a CFA charterholder.