Speakers

Frank Burke


As Chief Investment Officer, Frank is a valuable resource for wealth advisors as they look for guidance when sourcing or allocating to new private investment strategies or hedge funds. Frank is a thought leader in strategy implementation and he has extensive experience in the portfolio construction process for both individual client portfolios and custom fund of funds. Frank has 20+ years of asset management, portfolio construction & financial advisory experience. He is a former senior member of the portfolio management team at Hatteras Funds, managing several of the firm’s alternative investment fund of funds and co-investment strategies. Earlier in his career, he helped source managers and build alternative investment portfolios at various multi-family offices including Abbot Downing (formerly Calibre Investment Consulting) and GenSpring Family Offices. Frank holds the CFA and CAIA charters and earned an MBA from the Fuqua School at Duke University and a B.S. from Villanova University. Frank, his wife, and daughter are avid college basketball fans & Villanova season ticket holders. Attending games regularly since their daughter was born in 2008, including the national championship games in 2016 and 2018 among numerous Big East, Final Four and other NCAA Tournament games over the years.


Jared Gross
Organization: JPMorgan Chase & Co.


Jared Gross is the Head of Institutional Portfolio Strategy of JPMorgan Chase. He has 25+ years of investment experience. Jared comes to the firm from Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO) where he was Head of Institutional Business Development focusing on investment consulting firms, institutional clients and developing new client relationships. In this role, he partnered closely with portfolio managers and product strategists to design products and formulate marketing plans for investment strategies across traditional and alternative asset classes. Prior to this role, he also was a leader in the Pension and Investment Solutions groups at PIMCO, where he was responsible for designing and presenting customized asset allocation solutions to senior decision-makers at institutional clients with focus on fixed income strategies including long duration/LDI, multi-sector credit, and opportunistic (public and private) investments. Prior to joining PIMCO, Jared was Co-Head of the Pension Strategy Group at Lehman Brothers and worked with large corporate and public pension plans. He previously held a similar position at Goldman Sachs. Jared also spent five years in Washington, DC: two years as an advisor to the executive director on investment policy at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and three years at the Treasury department, focusing on debt financing and management and domestic securities market issues. Jared holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy from Williams College.


Christopher Schelling
Organization: Venturi Private Wealth


Chris is the Director of Alternative Investments for Venturi Wealth Management. Chris is focused on sourcing, performing due diligence, and building portfolios of alternative investments for clients. As an institutional investor, Chris has invested roughly $5 billion and met with over 3,000 managers across hedge funds, real assets, private credit, and private equity in his career. Previously, Chris was a managing director at Windmuehle Funds, a boutique investment firm, leading sourcing and structuring for niche alternative investments. Prior to this, Chris was the Director of Private Equity at the $30 billion Texas Municipal Retirement System, and before that, the Deputy Chief Investment Officer and Director of Absolute Return at the $15 billion Kentucky Retirement Systems. Chris has over 20 years of experience in the investment industry, nearly all focused on alternatives. Chris is currently a contributing columnist for Institutional Investor and has authored over 60 articles on investing. He is also the author of Better than Alpha: Three Steps to Capturing Excess Returns in a Changing World. Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Illinois. He received an MBA from the University of Illinois-Chicago and a master’s degree in financial markets from the Illinois Institute of Technology as well. Chris was named one of Money Management Intelligence’s 2012 Rising Stars of Public Funds, a Rising Star of Hedge Funds by Institutional Investor in 2014, received the Institutional Investor Intelligence Award for Absolute Return Strategies in 2016, and was named a Top 30 Private Equity Investor by Trusted Insight in 2018.


Emily Sumner
Organization: Gilder Office for Growth LLC


Emily serves as the senior investment manager and chair of the investment committee at the firm. In her role, Emily provides oversight and guidance in managing and coordinating all aspects of investment activities and strategies consistent with its mission, objectives, and established policies. Prior to joining the firm, Emily was an Investment Officer at Oklahoma State University and a Vice President within the Investment Management Group at Hatteras Funds where she focused on sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio management of alternative investments strategies across public and private asset classes. Emily received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Randolph Macon College with majors in both Business/Economics and Accounting. Emily also obtained her Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in finance from the University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School. Emily is a CFA® charterholder and a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst.