Speakers
Daniel G. Sullivan
Executive Vice President and Executive Director of the Economic Mobility Project
Daniel G. Sullivan is an executive vice president and executive director of the Chicago Fed’s Economic Mobility Project. His research has been primarily in labor economics, especially issues related to displaced workers and alternative work arrangements.
Sullivan joined the Chicago Fed as a senior economist in 1992, after serving as an assistant professor of economics at Northwestern University. He also taught at Princeton University and is currently a lecturer at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy. From 1994 to 2007 Sullivan led the Bank’s applied microeconomics group, from 2007 to 2019 was director of research and from 2019 to 2021 was director of economic outreach.
He has published articles in leading academic journals including the American Economic Review, Econometrica, the Journal of Political Economy and the Quarterly Journal of Economics. He received a B.A. in mathematics from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University.
Lauren G. Henderson
Sr. Economist, Director • Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated
Lauren Henderson is a Sr. Economist for Stifel Financial. She focuses on the research and analysis of economic trends and activity, world economies, financial markets, and monetary and fiscal policies. She has been with the Stifel Economics Department for nine years and provides commentary and interpretative analysis on economic data, as well as supportive insights for economic forecasting. Her reports provide support across all business lines at Stifel Financial. Additionally, she has also been quoted in the business press.
Henderson is a member of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE). She holds two degrees from Loyola University Chicago in marketing and economics, and earned her MBA with a focus in economics from Loyola University Chicago. She is based in Stifel’s downtown Chicago office.
Rob Martinson
President of The Garrett Companies
Rob Martinson serves as the President of The Garrett Companies, leading the organization’s strategic growth, investment vision, and operational excellence. With over 25 years of real estate and construction experience, Rob has held diverse roles in investment oversight, construction, financial analysis, and development. Under his leadership, The Garrett Companies continues to expand its national presence while maintaining a culture of innovation and excellence.
Rob Langrick, CFA, CIPM
Chief Product Advocate, CFA Institute
Rob Langrick, CFA, CIPM, is Chief Product Advocate of the CFA Program based out of the New York office. He was previously Head of Practice Analysis, overseeing annual curriculum updates to the CFA Program. Before joining CFA Institute, he lead Bloomberg’s finance education division where he built and launched Bloomberg’s certification product. He began his career as a sell-side equity research analyst in London and after earning his MBA from Dartmouth worked in the private equity diligence unit of Bain & Company in New York.
Chris Hentschel
Senior Director of Investments, The Garrett Companies
Chris Hentschel works with various departments within The Garrett Companies to identify investment opportunities, manage risk effectively, and develop financial strategies that maximize returns, are strategically aligned with the long-term financial health of the company, and enhance our investment portfolio. He plays a pivotal role in optimizing financial assets and is focused on financial strategies that align with the company’s financial objectives and growth targets.
Nathan Branaman
Capital Markets Analyst, the Garrett Companies
Nathan Branaman supports the design, development, and implementation of financial strategies through effective capital management and asset optimization. He works closely with a variety of departments to identify investment opportunities, build scalable methods of financial analysis and initiatives to improve portfolio performance, risk management, and return on investment.
Blake Shaffer, CFA
Director, Corporate Capital Markets
Blake is a Director in JLL’s Corporate Capital Markets and Net Lease practice, advising clients—from Fortune 10 corporations to private equity portfolio companies—on capital strategies to optimize and monetize real estate portfolios. His expertise spans capital structuring, financial analysis, and transactions including sale-leasebacks, net lease sales, build-to-suits, and structured financings such as synthetic and credit tenant leases. He has extensive experience across industrial, office, retail, and data center assets nationwide.
Previously, Blake was a commercial credit analyst at MB Financial Bank (now Fifth Third), underwriting $100M+ in commercial real estate loans. He holds a B.B.A. in Finance and a Certificate in Leadership Studies from the University of Iowa, earned his CFA charter in 2019, and is a licensed Illinois real estate broker. Blake is an active member of the CFA Society Chicago and its Member Engagement Advisory Group.
Josiah Hood, CFA
Vice President and Portfolio Manager, Northern Trust, Chicago
Josiah is a Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Northern Trust in Chicago. He has been in the industry since 2013. Prior to Northern Trust, he worked as a Portfolio Manager at Covenant Trust. He previously worked at BMO Global Asset Management as a Relationship Manager and BMO Private Bank as a Portfolio Manager. His experience also includes a tenure as an Equity Research Analyst at Seafarer Capital Partners. In his capacity as a Portfolio Manager, Josiah
works closely with high-net worth individuals and families – designing and implementing tailored investment solutions that reflect their unique circumstances. Josiah specializes in providing comprehensive investment advice around global asset allocation, alternative investments, and tax and liquidity management.
Josiah earned his B.S. in Finance from University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Josiah also earned his M.B.A. with concentrations in Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management from University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Josiah holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is an active member of CFA Society Chicago.
Eric Compton, CFA
Director of Technology Equity Research at Morningstar.
Eric Compton, CFA, is director of equity research, technology, for Morningstar. He covers a variety of hardware- and software-related technology names across several industries while overseeing the technology team.
Before joining Morningstar in 2015, Compton was a business analyst for ESIS, a global provider of risk management products and a subsidiary of Ace Group. Before becoming technology sector director in late 2023, he was an equities strategist and covered the US and Canadian banking sectors. Compton joined Morningstar in 2015 as an associate on the financials team, covering banks for eight years before transitioning to the technology team.
Compton holds a bachelor's degree in applied health science from Wheaton College and a master’s degree in business administration, with high honors, from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Tarek Zaher
SMIFC Managing Director & Co-founder, Professor of Finance, Scott College of Business, Indiana State University
Dr. Zaher is the Managing Director & Co-founder of SMIFC, and president of SMIFC South Corporation. Dr. Zaher has held a number of academic and professional positions with the industry. He is currently Professor of Finance at Scott College of Business, Indiana State University. He also provided consulting services to a number of international institutions including the World Bank, the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan, and the Academy for Educational Development in the United States and the Ministry of Work in Dubai. He has also offered a number of seminars in investment and international financial management at a number of institutions around the world.
Dr. Zaher is Advisor of the Investment Club at Indiana State University. He also manages and supervises other international portfolios for individuals and institutions. Dr. Zaher’s research has been published in numerous prestigious professional and scholarly journals, including the Journal of Financial Research and Journal of Banking and Finance. Dr. Zaher received three research awards from professional conferences and one research certificate of excellence. He was also recognized by the Scott College of Business as the winner of the faculty research award in 2002 and the winner of the exemplary service award in 2004, and received "Under the Buttonwood" award in 2018 for my role in growing the SMIF consortium.