In accordance with Article VII, Section 2.2 of the Bylaws of the CFA Society of New Mexico, the Nominating Committee is required to submit to the Secretary the slate of Society Board candidates. The Secretary hereby submits the Nominating Committee’s slate to the CFA Society of New Mexico membership for election.
There are four positions for the Board of Directors open for 2-year terms from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2012: President, Vice President, Membership/Scholarship Chair, and At-Large. Per Article V, Section 2.1 of the By-laws, the Immediate Past President will fill the open At-Large position. Additionally, there is an At-Large position open for a 1-year term from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011. The one-year term is the result of movement of a current director from an At-Large position to an officer's position. The Nominating Committee has contacted candidates and has placed the following names on the slate:
President: Gautam Vora, CFA
Vice President: Stephen Spence
Membership/Scholarship Chair: Johnathan Burnham, CFA
At-Large: Joni Pierce, CFA (Term ends June 30, 2011)
Continuing officer, with term of office through June 30, 2012 is as follows:
Immediate Past President: Laura Hall, CIMA®, AIF®
Continuing officers, with terms of office through June 30, 2011, are as follows:
Treasurer: Peter Lehrman, CFA
Secretary: Chris Daniel, CPA, CTP
Brief biographies of the four candidates follow:
Nominee for office of President:
Gautam Vora has been a professor of finance at the University of New Mexico since 1989 and teaches at the undergraduate, graduate and executive levels, concentrating on corporate finance, investments, derivatives and applied investment management. He holds a Ph.D. in finance and four master's degrees in banking and international finance, accountancy, finance, and economics. He is a CFA Charterholder.
Nominee for office of Vice President:
Stephen Spence is a Senior Research Analyst with The Stoneharbor Group in Santa Fe dedicated to equity research for the Stoneharbor Income Strategy. Prior to joining the firm in February 2007, Stephen served as an equity research analyst for 12 years in regional investment banking and independent research firms. Stephen received his BA from Northwestern University and an MBA in finance from Washington University in St. Louis where he was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma, the National Business Honor Society.
Nominee for Board Membership/Scholarship Chair:
Johnathan Burnham is a Managing Director and the Director of Research Communications for Thornburg Investment Management. Prior to that, he was the Manager of Investment Strategy and Research for Advised Assets Group, LLC, a registered investment advisor. He graduated with a degree in finance from Colorado State University and was awarded an MBA from the University of Colorado, Denver. He completed the series 7 and 63 exams, and is a CFA Charterholder.
Nominee for At-Large:
Joni Pierce joined Wells Fargo in 2006 and is currently a Regional Investment Manager with Wealth Management Group. She focuses on managing investment portfolios for high net worth clients. Prior to joining Wells Fargo, Joni worked at a major financial firm for seven years and has been in the financial services industry for over thirty years. Joni received an M.A. and B.S. in Business Administration from University of Nebraska. Joni is a CFA Charterholder.
Please vote either affirmatively or negatively for the proposed slate. Note that per Article VII, Section 2.3 of the Bylaws, “any Regular Member may offer nominations for Directors or Officers from the floor at the Annual Meeting, subject to qualifications set forth herein, provided that such Regular Member has submitted to the Secretary not later than five (5) days before the Annual Meeting a notice stating the names of the proposed nominees signed by not less than five percent (5%) of the Regular Members of the Society.”