Board of Directors: Biographies
Rob Sparling, Dow Inc.
Chair: Mr. Rob Sparling
Chief Investment Officer, Dow Inc.
In his role as Chief Investment Officer since late 2015, Rob Sparling and his team are responsible for assets of approximately $40B, which includes assets for defined benefit plans, defined contribution plans, other employee benefit plans, and captive insurance companies.
The Dow Portfolio Investments Team manages pension assets in several countries, including the US, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium, and works collaboratively by sharing best practices and strategies to source top quartile performance. The Dow Team employs active and passive strategies, including in-house asset management and derivative overlays for tactical asset allocation, and various strategies to manage to duration targets
Mr. Sparling serves on several Dow committees including the Investment Committee for the DB plans in the US, the Canadian Finance Committee, the UK Trustee Board, the 401(k) Savings Plan Committee. As a director of Liana, Dow’s captive insurance subsidiary, Mr. Sparling chairs the Liana Finance Committee.
Mr. Sparling joined Dow Inc. in 1995 after earning his MBA degree in Finance at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, and a BSE in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from The University of Michigan in 1989. He earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 2000.
Mr. Sparling stays active in his community and serves as an adjunct professor and has taught various finance classes to graduate and undergraduate students at local state and private universities. Mr. Sparling also serves on the Board of the Midland Center for the Arts and has been a member of the investment committee for the MidMichigan Health System since 2017.
Neil Roache, Johnson & Johnson
Vice Chair: Mr. Neil Roache
Assistant Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer of Johnson and Johnson Pension Trust
Neil Roache joined the Johnson & Johnson benefit investments team in April of 2016 as Assistant Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer of the Johnson and Johnson Pension Trust. Neil and his team of professionals are responsible for managing all investment related activities for Johnson and Johnson’s defined benefit plans globally as well as the US defined contribution investments, which together total $55 billion. His team is also responsible for 401k administration, share buyback programs, and administration of the company’s long term incentive programs. He is a member of the Johnson and Johnson Benefit Investment Committee.
Prior to joining Johnson and Johnson Neil was Vice President of Private Markets and Investment Strategy at Exelon Corporation in Chicago. Neil and his team of three were responsible for private equity, real estate, and private credit mandates as well as strategy across $35 billion of trust assets. He previously served on the investment teams at United Parcel Service and Telcom Ventures (a family office in Washington DC).
Neil received his undergraduate degree in Finance and Accounting from Bowling Green State University and his MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He also spent 6 years in the US Marine Corps Reserves and is a licensed CPA. Neil lives in Green Brook New Jersey with his wife and two sons.
Carol Tusch, International Paper
Treasurer: Ms. Carol Tusch
CIO, International Paper
Carol Tusch is the Chief Investment Officer for International Paper’s pension and savings plans valued at over $14 billion. She is responsible for the investment oversight of all asset classes as well as asset allocation and risk management. She also serves as the Treasurer for IP’s Foundation, Employee Relief Fund and Quarter Century Society.
Prior to joining International Paper in 1999, Ms. Tusch spent 16 years at Verizon where she worked in the pension area and was responsible for investments in various asset classes including stocks, bonds, private equity, real estate and timber. She was also responsible for the oversight of the savings plan investment options as well as management of the Canadian pension plan.
Carol received her MBA from University of Connecticut and has a BS in finance from Fairfield University.
Carol lives in Stamford, CT with her husband and has three adult children.
Ruth Bosco, Xerox Corporation
Assistant Treasurer, CIO Global Pensions at Xerox Corporation
Ms. Bosco is the Director, Trust Investments, at Xerox Corporation where she oversees all aspects of portfolio management for the $7.5 billion U.S. pension and savings plans and the $1 billion Canadian pension and savings plans. In addition to her investment responsibilities, she provides funding analysis and support to Xerox management. She is secretary to Xerox’ U.S. Retirement Investment Committee and is a member of Xerox’ Canadian Pension Board.
Ms. Bosco holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with concentrations in accounting and information systems from Boston College and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Doug Brown, Exelon Corporation
Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, Exelon
Douglas J. Brown joined Exelon Corporation as Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer in November 2009. As Chief Investment Officer, Doug leads a team of professionals responsible for managing all investment activities including pension funds, nuclear decommissioning trusts, defined contribution plans and other employee benefit trusts totaling $45 billion. He is a member of Exelon’s Corporate Investment Committee and the Exelon Foundation Board of Directors.
In 2012, Doug was named Large Corporate Pension Manager of the Year by Institutional Investor. The award recognizes institutional investors whose innovative strategies and fiduciary savvy have resulted in impressive returns. From 2013 through 2019, he was named to Chief Investment Officer Magazine’s Power 100 list of most influential asset owners.
Prior to joining Exelon, Doug was Chief Investment Officer at Chrysler LLC with responsibility for all asset management activities globally, including pension funds, defined contribution plans and other employee benefit trusts totaling $30 billion. Chrysler’s $20 billion U.S. pension fund has been consistently among the top performing funds.
Doug’s career with Chrysler and its affiliates began in 1983. He was advanced to positions of increasing responsibility, including Treasurer for DaimlerChrysler Canada and Director, Corporate Finance and Capital Markets for DaimlerChrysler Corporation. He was a member of the Chrysler LLC Investment Committee and previously served on the DaimlerChrysler Investment Committees in the United States, Germany and Canada and on the Board of Directors and Investment Committee for the DaimlerChrysler Insurance Company.
Doug is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and is on the Board of the Committee on Investment of Employee Benefit Assets (CIEBA) in Washington, DC. From 2018 to 2020, he served as Chairman of the CIEBA Board of Directors. Doug also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and on the Board of Directors of the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund. From 2013 to 2015, Doug served on the Board of the CFA Society of Chicago.
Doug was born in Paterson, New Jersey and holds a B.A. in economics from Albion College and an MBA from the University of Detroit Mercy.
Ernie Caballero, United Parcel Service
Ernie is the Chief Investment Officer for UPS. Ernie has the fiduciary responsibility for all aspects of the investment portfolios for UPS’ Single Employer Defined Benefit Plans. Assets under management are in excess of $50 billion. Prior to this he was domiciled in Europe, between Brussels & London, overseeing various aspects of the UPS businesses. While in Belgium, he held the roles of CFO for UPS Europe & Emerging Markets Strategy Coordinator for Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. While living in London, he was responsible for Treasury Operations, Risk Management, and Mergers Acquisitions within the Europe, Middle East and Africa Asia Pacific Regions. He has held many other Audit, Finance, & Treasury leadership positions throughout his career.
Caballero is a current board member of CIEBA and Chair of the CIEBA Defined Benefit Committee. He is a Certified Internal Auditor and a Certified Investments and Derivatives Auditor. He also holds an MBA in Finance from Kennesaw State University, GA, an MBA in Total Quality Management from Dowling College, NY, and a BS in Electrical Engineering/Industrial Technology from SUNY Farmingdale.
Paul Cavazos, American Beacon Advisors
Chair: Mr. Paul Cavazos
Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, American Beacon Advisors
Paul Cavazos joined America Beacon Advisors as chief investment officer and senior vice president in June 2016. Mr. Cavazos is responsible for overseeing corporate pension plan investments and the investment sub-advisors to the American Beacon Funds. His comprehensive background includes leading defined benefit and defined contribution plans, conducting investment manager searches, due diligence and risk-control oversight.
Before joining American Beacon, Mr. Cavazos served as chief investment officer and assistant treasurer at DTE Energy Company in Detroit. He was responsible for the development of asset allocation strategies, as well as fiduciary oversight for DTE’s $10 billion in retirement trust assets. In 2014, Mr. Cavazos received the prestigious CIO Industry Innovation Award of the Year from Chief Investment Officer magazine. Previously, Mr. Cavazos served as chief investment officer at Navistar, where he was responsible for all investment aspects of the company’s $5 billion in retirement trust assets. His experience also includes investment and finance roles at The Boeing Company and Chrysler Corporation.
Mr. Cavazos earned a B.S. in Finance from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. He also holds an MBA in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin.
Robin Diamonte, RTX
Diamonte joined Raytheon Technologies (RTX) as Chief Investment Officer in December 2004. She is responsible for overseeing Raytheon’s $115+B in global retirement assets. This includes $44B in domestic pension plans, $5B in foreign and non-qualified pension plans and $48B in the defined contribution plan. Diamonte serves on RTX’s Finance Leadership Team and their Global DE&I Advisory Board.
Prior to joining Raytheon, she spent thirteen years with Verizon Investment Management. She served as Managing Director of Global Investments, responsible for asset allocation and management for their $40B pension plan.
In 2013, Robin was appointed by President Obama and served as a member and chair of the Advisory Committee for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation for six years. Ms. Diamonte has been an Independent Director of Morningstar, Inc. since December 2015. She also serves on the board for the Committee on Investment of Employee Benefit Assets (CIEBA), representing more than 100 of the country’s largest private sector retirement funds on fiduciary and investment issues in Washington. Robin also serves on the board of Miss Porters School where her daughter attends. Diamonte earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and her MBA in finance from the University of New Haven.
Vicky Lynn Erwin, Eli Lilly & Company
Executive Investment Director for Eli Lilly & Company’s $30 billion pension, savings, and retiree health benefit plan assets and exposures. Her current area of focus is strategy and investment oversight of ~40 institutional investment managers for the US savings plan, retiree health plans, and public mandates in the US pension plans. She has 30+ years of financial experience with over 25 years in treasury management: including investment management of pension and benefits, treasury operations, capital markets, global working capital, affiliate financing, and international treasury operations. In addition, she has held various financial leadership positions as affiliate CFO and Controller. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Accounting and an MBA from Morehead State University.
Jon Glidden, Delta Air Lines
Managing Director - Pension Investments
Jon is responsible for Delta Air Lines’ defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans. In this role he oversees all aspects of the plans including asset allocation, alpha generation, and plan level risk management.
Prior to joining Delta in 2011, Jon was Director of Manager Research at Wilmington Trust. There he constructed and provided oversight of multi-manager portfolios across both traditional and alternative asset classes. Jon was also a member of Wilmington’s Investment Strategy Team which set strategic and tactical asset allocation for Wilmington’s clients. Prior to joining Wilmington Trust in 2007, Jon spent six years with Emory University’s Endowment Fund, most recently as the Director of Investment Analysis. In this position, Jon sourced and conducted due diligence on global equity managers, global fixed income managers, and hedge funds.
Jon holds a master’s degree in Financial Mathematics from the University of Chicago, an MBA from Emory University, and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He served as an officer in the US Navy as the Tomahawk Missile Officer on USS Stout (DDG-55) and the Weapons and Boarding Officer on USS Firebolt (PC-10).
Walter Kress, Director – Finance, Chief Investment Officer, EY US LLC
Walter is the Chief Investment Officer for EY Americas and leads the team that oversees the qualified and non-qualified retirement plans for the Partnership. He is a voting member of the firm’s Retirement Investment Committee and sits on the investment Committee for EY Global’ s captive insurance company.
He has 35 years of investment experience and prior to joining EY, Walter spent 10 years as member of the JPMorgan Retirement Plan Investment Group, the investment manager of the JPMorgan Retirement Plan. He was COO responsible for the investment operations of the JPMorgan’s Retirement and 401(k) Savings Plans, Portfolio Manager for private equity, real estate and real assets and a designated advisor to the firm’s largest international retirement plans’ investment committees.
From 1999 – 2006, Walter worked for Mellon and its Dreyfus subsidiary in roles including National Sales Manager of Retail at Dreyfus, President of Mellon Advisors, and Executive Vice President of Defined Contribution Distribution at Mellon Institutional Asset Management. Before joining Mellon, he spent 14 years at Prudential Securities in various roles including Branch Manager and Associate Regional Director and began focusing on the qualified retirement plan market in 1990.
In 2021, Chief Investment Officer included Walter in their Power 100 list and awarded him Most Collaborative CIO He is a member of the Executive Committee and Vice Chair of the Defined Contribution Committee for the Committee for the Investment of Employee Benefit Assets, (CIEBA), and holds a Certified Financial Planner designation. Walter received a B.S. in Finance from Syracuse University. He is an active supporter of several Veteran focused initiatives.
Jay Vivian
Jay Vivian is Secretary of CIEBA, a member of the Board of Directors, and does on-site 'real-time' surveys at CIEBA meetings. He has been a member of CIEBA since 1995, joined the Executive Committee in 2000, founded and chaired the Investment Committee in 2002, and became Vice Chair of CIEBA in 2006.
He retired 9 days before the market peak in 2007 as head of the $135 billion IBM Retirement Funds system. He led the Funds' successful weathering of 2001-2002's 'perfect storm' and a number of benefit redesigns, oversaw implementation of major programs in DB asset diversification and LDI, and continued development of IBM's award-winning 401(k) plan.
He holds an AB in math from Bowdoin, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and is a CFA charterholder. He was vice chair of CIEBA and remains active. He has served on a number of non-profit boards, and is now on advisory boards for Rebalance and Club Vita.
Plan Sponsor gave him their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010, and he has been featured in articles and interviews in NYTimes, WSJ, USA Today, MSN Money, P&I, Institutional Investor, and aiCIO.
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