Board Officers
Chair
Thomas Brigandi, CFA
RisCura
2022-2023
Thomas Brigandi, CFA, is a Managing Director at RisCura, the largest emerging & frontier market-dedicated investment consultancy by assets under advisement (AUA), with over US$200 billion. RisCura also manages / administers roughly $10 billion in assets. Prior to joining RisCura, Brigandi served as a Vice President in the Global Investor Management Team at Moody’s Investors Service (MIS), where he was responsible for building and maintaining senior level institutional investor relationships. Prior to serving in the Global Investor Management Team, Brigandi served for nearly a decade in the Global Project and Infrastructure Finance Group at MIS, where he was a Lead Analyst responsible for a portfolio of 34 power, toll-road, airport, port, water, wastewater, natural gas pipeline and project finance credits that collectively had over $15 billion of debt outstanding. While a Lead Analyst, Brigandi served on Moody’s public pension steering committee, ESG Americas working group and veteran recruiting sub-committee. Prior to Moody’s, Brigandi worked at the ~$250bn NYC Pension Fund, where he focused on energy and natural resources and reported directly to the chief investment officer.
Brigandi is Chair of the Board of Directors of CFA Society New York (CFANY), one of the largest CFA Institute Societies. Brigandi, the CFA Institute Inaugural Global Outstanding Young Leader & 2021 Americas Volunteer of the Year, has organized over 90 in-person CFA Society conferences globally that were attended by over 17,000 investment professionals, in addition to over 50 virtual conferences that reached many thousands of participants. These events featured over 400 senior asset owner and investment consultant speakers who represent organizations that collectively oversee or advise on more than $75 trillion in fiduciary assets. Brigandi, the founder of CFANY’s Asset Owner Series, Global Policymakers Series, Emerging and Frontier Market Series and Putting Beneficiaries First Series, leads a team of several hundred investment professional volunteers globally.
Brigandi maintains over 14,000 connections on LinkedIn and holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance, Accounting and Economics from the Macaulay Honors College (MHC) at the City University of New York. Brigandi received the college’s inaugural Alumni Pioneer Award and serves on the MHC Foundation Board of Directors as Treasurer. Brigandi serves as a Board Member of The Ocean Foundation, an Advisory Board Member of the Singapore Economic Forum, a Bretton Woods Committee Member and a Fellow of the Foreign Policy Association.
Vice Chair
David Allen, CFA
Octane
2023-2024
David Allen, CFA, is the Vice Chair of the Board of the CFA Society of New York. He is also Managing Director at Octane Investments, a firm he founded to invest in traditional energy companies. Prior to this, he served large institutions at Schroders and served in a similar position at AB, for nearly a decade at each of those firms. He also has founded and ran two FinTech startups and he traded FX in the 1990s. He earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania in Economics and completed the Value Investing executive education curriculum at Columbia University. Allen is Chair of the NY Society’s Programming Committee, and recently passed the CFA Institute’s ESG certification.
Secretary
Marya Ann Savola, CFA, MBA
Customers Bank
2021-2023
Marya Ann Savola, CFA, MBA, is a Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Customers Bank in Fund Finance. Prior to Customers Bank, she worked at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from 1999 to 2020 within client relationship teams in corporate banking, capital markets, middle market banking, and business banking providing treasury solutions, credit financing, capital markets and asset management capabilities. Her sector experiences include healthcare services, alternative investment management, private equity, and professional services. Prior to JPMorgan Chase & Co., she worked at investor relations agency, The Financial Relations Board Inc. in Chicago, as a Market Intelligence Specialist from 1994 to 1997. While studying at Northwestern University as an undergraduate student, she worked during summer internships, at Bear Stearns & Co. (now JPMorganChase & Co.) in Chicago in 1991, and at The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in 1992.
Marya earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Northwestern University and a Master of Business Administration in Finance and Accounting from the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Rochester. She is a CFA Charterholder, a member of CFA Institute, and on the Board of Directors of the CFA Society of New York. She previously served as chairperson of the Audit Committee and of the Nominations Committee of the CFA Society of New York during her first term on the Board. She also previously served as a board member of the Simon Women’s Alliance at the University of Rochester for one three-year term, and is a member of China Institute in New York, and a member of the Finnish American Chamber of Commerce in New York.
Treasurer
Andrew Gordon Auslander, CFA, FRM
Agile Financial LLC
2021-2023
Andrew Auslander, CFA, FRM, has over 25 years of experience in the global financial markets. He has spent half his career as an enterprise risk manager experienced in developing risk frameworks to support overall business strategy for asset management, private banking, and investment banking. During this time, he managed market, traded credit, counterparty credit, liquidity, operational, vendor, and model risks. He was a repo and securities lending trader for twelve years for global firms Salomon Brothers and BNP Paribas.
Andrew earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Merchant Marine Academy. He holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Science and Information Systems from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and studied Finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business. Andrew is a CFA Charterholder and a Financial Risk Manager (FRM) certified by the Global Association of Risk Professionals. Mr. Auslander holds FINRA Series 7, 24, and 63 licenses.