Leadership Teams | YMCA Retirement Fund (2024)

William D. Rueckert

Chair of the Board and the Executive Committee

also Serves On The Compensation, Governance & Nominating, Audit & Risk, And Investment Committees

Mr. Rueckert is president of Oyster Management Group, LLC., an investment fund that focuses on domestic, community banks. His career has also been highlighted by involvement in oil and gas exploration, real estate, and resort development.

He is an emeritus director of the YMCA of Greater New York and chair emeritus of the Board of Trustees of Teachers College, Columbia University.

Mr. Rueckert has served on many corporate boards in the banking and biotech industries. He is director and president of the Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation.

He earned a BA in Spanish from the University of New Hampshire.

Mr. Rueckert has been a Trustee since 2014.

Patricia Haverland

Vice Chair Of The Board And Chair Of The Governance & Nominating Committee

Also serves on The Executive, Audit & Risk, and Benefits & Operations Committees

Ms. Haverland is the retired vice president and chief investment officer for Siemens, North America Pensions.

During her time at Siemens, Ms. Haverland led the company’s efforts to reduce pension risk. Before joining Siemens, she carried broad industry knowledge gained from investment leadership roles at several Fortune 500 companies within the insurance, financial, and healthcare sectors.

Ms. Haverland is an innovator and leader within the pension industry. She completed a three-year term on the ERISA Advisory Council advising the U.S. Department of Labor secretary on key ERISA matters, including lifetime income solutions in 401(k) plans and cybersecurity considerations for benefit plans.

Currently, she is an adjunct business finance professor at Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business. Ms. Haverland sits on the board of directors of the Madison Area YMCA in New Jersey. She also served as a director or member of many other organizations, contributing her financial insight in various advisory roles.

She earned a BA in economics and political science from Duke University and completed her MBA at Columbia University.

Ms. Haverland has been a Trustee since 2020.

Mark Baumgartner

Chair of the Investment Committee

also serves on the Executive and Compensation Committees

Mr. Baumgartner is chief investment officer of the Dalio Family Office (DFO), which supports the Dalio family in their ventures and investments as well as in their work through Dalio Philanthropies.

Prior to joining DFO, he was CIO at Carnegie Corporation of New York, a private foundation supporting peace, democracy, and education, and CIO at the Institute for Advanced Study, a research foundation in Princeton, New Jersey. Previously, he served as director of asset allocation and risk at the Ford Foundation, and co-head of Morgan Stanley’s institutional solutions group. Mr. Baumgartner was a portfolio manager at two hedge funds, Quantal Asset Management, a quantitative equity market neutral fund, and Strategy Capital, a fundamental equity fund. He began his career as a management consultant.

Mr. Baumgartner is a member of the Board of Directors of Scientific Technologies Ltd, a startup focused on developing technologies that will have a transformative impact at a global scale, chair of The Investment Fund for Foundations Investment Program (TIP). He served on the Board of Directors and Investment Program Committee for the Foundation Financial Officers Group (FFOG).

He earned a BSE from the University of Florida and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering and a Certificate in Public Policy from Princeton University. He is a CFA charterholder.

Mr. Baumgartner has been a trustee since 2015.

Jayesh Bhansali

Serves on the Investment Committee

Mr. Bhansali is the chief investment officer at IRIQIV, a multi-family office. He currently serves as an independent director for VanEck Mutual Fund, as an advisor to the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Retirement Plan, and an adjunct faculty member at Fordham University’s Gabelli Business School.

Previously, he managed $70 billion across several portfolios at TIAA, where he served as a managing director for over two decades. During his tenure at TIAA, he was a member of the chief investment officer team to the General Account ($240 billion in AUM), where his responsibilities included strategic and tactical asset allocation, portfolio construction, risk budgeting, ALM, tail risk management, and capital optimization decisions. Prior to TIAA, he worked with Citibank and ICICI’s Investment Banking Group in India.

As an industry expert, he has contributed to the development of policy guidelines for the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, Federal Reserve Bank & Basel III forums, and the Counterparty Risk Management Policy Group. He is a member of the CFA Institute’s Standards of Practice Council, an Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Alternative Investments, and serves on other non-profit boards.

He earned a BS in Accounting and Finance at the University of Mumbai, and a MS in Financial Engineering from New York University – Polytechnic School of Engineering. Mr. Bhansali holds the CFA and CAIA designations. He is an avid follower of the ancient Vipassana meditation practice over the past 25 years.

Mr. Bhansali has been a trustee since 2023.

Christopher O. Blunt

Serves On The Governance & Nominating And Benefits & Operations Committee

For more than 30 years, Christopher O. Blunt has held senior leadership positions at several major insurance and financial services companies.

He joined F&G in 2019 and currently serves as the chief executive officer. Prior to that, he served as chief executive officer at Blackstone Insurance Solutions and spent nearly 13 years at New York Life in a variety of executive roles.

Mr. Blunt has served on several committees and boards, including the YMCA of Greater New York, the American College of Financial Services, LL Global Board LIMRA LOMA, and the University of Michigan Dean’s Advisory Committee.

He earned a BA in history from the University of Michigan and an MBA in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Blunt has been a trustee since 2023.

Scott C. Evans

Serves on the Investment and Benefits & Operations Committees

Mr. Evans is the retired Deputy Comptroller and chief investment officer for the NYC Office of the Comptroller.

During his time at the NYC Office of the Comptroller, Scott directed the Bureau of Asset Management, the investment advisor to all five NYC public Defined Benefit Plans, which collectively support 715,000 NYC employees with more than $190 billion in assets.

Previously, Scott spent 27 years at TIAA-CREF, where he led the asset management organization responsible for managing all of TIAA-CREF’s proprietary pension and mutual fund portfolios for it’s 3.5 million participants in the academic, medical, cultural and research fields.

Currently, Scott is a board member and chair of the finance & investment committee of the William T. Grant Foundation and a member of the investment advisory committee at UNOPS. Prior board assignments include serving as a trustee of the IFRS Foundation, external advisor to the ABP Pension Fund and as a member of an advisory committee to the Securities and Exchange Commission. He was chair of the finance committee of the Rockefeller Family Fund, a trustee of Barnard College, served as a member of the investment committee at Tufts University, and as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

He earned a BA in economics from Tufts University and completed his MM at Northwestern University, Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He is a CFA charterholder.

Mr. Evans has been a trustee since 2021.

Stephen A. Ives

Chair of The Compensation Committee

Also serves on The Executive and Investment Committees

Mr. Ives is the retired president of Cheyenne Petroleum Company, an oil and gas exploration company. He is also the retired CFO of a private family office, along with his positions as trustee and director of various entities.

Mr. Ives is a former adjunct professor at the Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma and continues his duties as chairman and board member of various advisory boards at Price College of Business.

He is a CPA and earned a BBA and Master of Accountancy from the University of Oklahoma.

Mr. Ives has been a Trustee since 2015.

Lauren A. Koontz

Serves On The Audit & Risk And Benefits & Operations Committees

Ms. Koontz is the president and chief executive officer of the YMCA of Metro Atlanta.

Her YMCA career has spanned more than 10 years. Ms. Koontz began her YMCA journey at the YMCA of Metro Atlanta in 2012 as the vice president & chief developmental officer. She was later the executive vice president and became president & chief executive officer in 2019.

Prior to joining the YMCA Movement, she worked at Mount Vernon Presbyterian School as director of development, Coxe Curry & Associates as senior campaign manager, Emory University School of Medicine as director of development, and held several leadership positions at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Ms. Koontz serves on the Board of Advisors for The J. Mack Robinson School of Business at Georgia State University, the Community Advisory Board of Truist Bank, the Advisory Board of Promise All Atlanta Children Thrive, the Youth Advisory Council for the Atlanta Police Foundation, the Board of Directors of The Fox Theatre, and is on the Board of Advisors for the Metro Atlanta Chamber.

She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia — Terry College of Business and an MBA from Georgia State University — J. Mack Robinson College of Business.

Ms. Koontz has been a Trustee since 2023.

Jurij Z. Kushner

Serves on The Compensation, Audit & Risk, and Benefits & Operations Committees

Mr. Kushner is a retired vice president and corporate controller of the optical health corporation Bausch & Lomb.

He is a respected supporter of the YMCA of Greater Rochester, serving on the board of directors from 1994 to 2005. He recently rejoined the Board of Directors of the Rochester YMCA, continues to serve on the finance committee, and was named the chair of the Strengthening Our Communities Comprehensive Campaign.

Mr. Kushner is also the former controller and director of administration at the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

He earned an MBA and a BA in economics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Mr. Kushner has been a Trustee since 2013.

Christine C. Marcks

Chair of the Benefits & Operations Committee

Also Serves on The Executive and Compensation Committees

Ms. Marcks is the retired president and CEO of Prudential Retirement.

Over her tenure as CEO, Prudential Retirement expanded beyond providing defined contribution and defined benefit plans for corporate and non-profit employers to become a recognized market leader and innovator in investment and risk management solutions.

She is a strong advocate for strategies to improve the financial security of women and the average American worker, earning a reputation as a thought leader in her industry and among her Prudential colleagues.

Ms. Marcks served as board chair of PRIAC, a Connecticut-based insurance company. She also held key roles on several corporate councils such as the Chair’s Senior Talent Advisory Council and served as chair of the U.S. Business Marketing Council.

Committed to giving back to her community, Ms. Marcks has held board leadership roles on the local, regional, and national levels for the YMCA since 1996. During her term as chair of the National Board, in 2014 she oversaw the selection and onboarding of Y-USA President and CEO Kevin Washington, a 38-year Y professional who is the 14th person and first African American to lead Y-USA.

She earned a BA in foreign affairs from Assumption College and an MA in economics from Georgetown University.

Ms. Marcks has been a Trustee since 2018.

Brian T. Pedersen

Serves on the Investment and Benefits & Operations Committees

Mr. Pedersen is vice president & actuary, Actuarial Enterprise Capabilities for Prudential, Hartford, CT and Newark, NJ.

He has a proven track record of leading large teams and collaborating with diverse business partners across large organizations. His responsibilities include enablement of agile and process improvement disciplines, development of modeling capabilities, and asset-liability management.

Prior to a variety of advancing positions at Prudential, Mr. Pedersen was vice president at the Hartford Financial Services Group and held leadership roles for CIGNA Investment Management and GE Asset Management.

He earned a BA in Mathematics and Actuarial Science from the University of Connecticut. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a CFA charterholder.

Mr. Pedersen has been a trustee since 2022.

W. Kelvin Walker

Serves on The Governance & Nominating and Investment Committees

Mr. Walker is the chief executive officer of the Dallas Citizens Council.

Throughout his career, he has gained experience in mergers and acquisitions, merchant banking, corporate finance, credit analysis, business planning, and strategic development.

He serves on the board of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Foundation and has served on the boards of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Business Community Advisory Council.

Mr. Walker is the former chair of the Board of the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas.

He earned a BA in finance from Morehouse College and an MBA from Northwestern University.

Mr. Walker has been a Trustee since 2018.

Joseph R. Weist

Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee

Also serves on the Executive and Investment Committees

Mr. Weist is the chief financial officer of the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA.

His YMCA career has spanned more than 30 years. Prior to joining the Tampa team in 2022, he was the chief financial officer at the YMCA of Greater Hartford in 2002 and director of finance for the YMCA of Greater Des Moines, Iowa in 1992.

In addition to his duties in Hartford, Mr. Weist is a national trainer in fiscal management for the YMCA of the USA.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and an MBA from Iowa State University. He is a certified public accountant.

Mr. Weist has been a Trustee since 2016.