2025 Investment Portfolio Case Competition Judges

Ren Cheng is a senior advisor in FMR’s Enterprise Service Group. Fidelity Investments is a leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, benefits outsourcing and other financial products and services to more than 20 million individuals, institutions, and financial intermediaries.

In this role, Mr. Cheng is responsible for training analysts and developing new ideas and helping Fidelity build next generation of asset management and distribution business in Greater China region

Prior to assuming his current advisory position in 2009, Mr. Cheng held various roles within Fidelity Research & Management’s (FMR) Global Asset Allocation Group, including Portfolio Manager, Managing Director and Chief investment officer.  He was responsible for being the founder of the GAA Group, inventing and managing FMR’s Freedom Funds, launched in Oct. 1996. He also created and managed FMR’s 529 College Investments Plans and Global Investment Services product, a specialized service for Defined Benefits Plans and other Institutional clients.

His creation of Freedom Funds and 529 College Investments Plans, now known as Target Date Funds (TDF), played a decisive role in helping people save for retirement in 401K and IRA. In 2006, US Congress passed Pension Protection Act, which made TDF one of the two allowed Automatic Default choices for 401K Plans. At year end 2022, FMR managed about $500 Billion of TDF assets.

Before joining Fidelity in 1994, Mr. Cheng was an analyst and portfolio manager at Putnam Investments. He has been in the investments industry since 1985.

Mr. Cheng earned his bachelor of arts degree in economics from National Taiwan University and his master of arts degree in economics from Brown University. He is currently a PhD candidate in economics at Brown University.

Todd Edmonds graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2016 receiving degrees in Mathematics and Physics before attending Cornell University where he received a MEng in Financial Engineering.

Currently, Todd is a Vice President in Equity Derivative Trading for Goldman Sachs overseeing Illiquid and OTC Index Volatility markets. Previously, Todd traded products in Index Exotic Derivatives, Single Stock Exotic Derivatives and managed Global Credit Valuation for the Equity business.

Outside of work, Todd is a guest lecturer at Cornell University where he lectures on complex financial derivatives. He serves on various non-profit boards such as the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics Foundation, Guggenheim’s Young Collectors Council, Eastin Center for Career Readiness at Oklahoma State University.

Todd is married to fellow Oklahoman Victoria Som de Cerff Edmonds, who is Principle Developer for Schrodinger, published Nature Communications author, and multiple patent holder. Together they work to support first generation college students as well as mentoring athletes through recruiting processes and transitions into careers.

Glenn Friedman joined Morgan Stanley in 2022 as a Client Portfolio Manager in the Wealth Management Global Investment Office.  As part of the Morgan Stanley Portfolio Solutions team, he discusses the MSPS suite of portfolios with financial advisors and contributes to ongoing analytical and field support efforts.  Previously, he was a Director at TIAA where he led client investment discussions and asset allocation recommendations for the firm’s $40 billion education savings platform.  His earlier experience includes positions in active equity portfolio management at AllianceBernstein and as a performance analyst in retirement services.  Glenn is an honors graduate of Tufts University, a CFA charterholder, and a member of CFA Society New York.  He holds licenses for FINRA Series 7 and 63.

Apurv is a Managing Director within the Global Client Group at Nuveen, leading the firm’s product and distribution strategy. He joined Nuveen in 2021 and is responsible for defining the firm’s medium-term and long-term growth strategy, including product development roadmap, demand assessment, market prioritization and go-to-market strategy. He acts as a trusted advisor to Nuveen’s Head of Global Client Group and the Executive Committee. He also supports Nuveen’s inorganic growth initiatives.

Before joining Nuveen, Apurv worked as an Engagement Manager at Casey Quirk, Deloitte Consulting’s investment management focused strategy practice. In that role, Apurv advise C-suite leadership of some of the largest global asset managers on their growth strategy, both organic and inorganic.

Apurv is an active member of Defined Contribution Alternatives Association (DCALTA), contributing to a number of their thought leadership efforts around use of alternative investments in DC plans.

Apurv completed his MBA from Cornell University in 2016.

Doug Moon co-founded O.F.O. Partners to create a world-class outsourced family office for entrepreneurs and successful families.

Prior to founding O.F.O., Doug ran an advisory team at J.P. Morgan Private Bank where he oversaw investing, lending, fiduciary, banking, and philanthropic needs for ultra-high net worth families and their related trusts and foundations.

Previously Doug co-founded an investment group at Goldman Sachs that managed capital for entrepreneurs and public company executives.  His early career included roles at Cambridge Associates and Harvard University.

Since 2001, Doug has been a member of the Boston Securities Analysts Society.  He enjoys supporting others through the South Shore Hospital’s Foundation Board, the UNH Dean’s Committee for Liberal Arts, and the Norwell Company Theatre.  Doug has degrees from U.N.H. and Cornell.

Christopher Piros was an active investment practitioner and educator for more than 30 years. As managing director of investment strategy for Hawthorn, PNC Family Wealth and PNC Institutional Asset Management he led overall strategic and tactical guidance of client portfolios and oversaw the evolution of investment processes. At CFA Institute he was jointly responsible for developing the curriculum underlying the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation. Previously, he established and led the discretionary portfolio management activities of Prudential Investments LLC, the wealth management services arm of Prudential Financial. Earlier he was a global fixed income portfolio manager and head of fixed income quantitative analysis at MFS Investment Management. Dr. Piros began his career on the finance faculty of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. In subsequent years he was an adjunct faculty member at Boston University and Reykjavik University. He is a co-author of Portfolio Management: Theory and Practice and co-editor of Economics for Investment Decision-Makers. Dr. Piros, a CFA® charterholder, earned his PhD in Economics at Harvard University.

Jonathan Shelon is the Chief Operating Officer at KraneShares and joined the firm in 2015. He oversees several business functions that drive efficient growth, and serves on the leadership team.

Jonathan has extensive experience in managing investment portfolios and diverse teams at leading asset management organizations. Prior to Krane, Jonathan was the Chief Investment Officer of the Specialized Strategies Team at J.P. Morgan, overseeing $40 billion in AUM. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, Jonathan was a portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments where he was responsible for $150 billion in assets for over five million shareholders in Fidelity’s target date strategies, the Freedom Funds. Before Fidelity, Jonathan was a quantitative consultant in the Capital Markets Research Group of Callan Associates where he developed strategic investment plans for institutional clients.

Jonathan received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in actuarial science from the Fox School of Business and Management at Temple University, and is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and Chartered Financial Analyst charter holder.

Lindsey Staley is the Global Strategy Leader and Chief of Staff to the President of Global Investments & Retirement at Mercer. In this role, she oversees strategic initiatives and complex projects for Mercer’s Investments & Retirement line of business, which has $500B+ in assets under management and $17T+ in assets under advisement. Since 2023, she has also served as the Integration Leader for Mercer’s acquisition of Vanguard’s OCIO business.

Lindsey is based in Atlanta, GA and has been with Mercer since 2013. She began her career as an institutional investment consultant advising corporate retirement plans and endowments & foundations, eventually specializing in defined contribution and financial wellness research and serving as lead researcher for target date funds.

Lindsey earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Columbia University – Barnard College and a Master of Business Administration degree from Cornell University, where she was a Roy H. Park Leadership Fellow, a portfolio manager for the Cayuga Fund, and received the Class of 2019 Finance Award.

She serves on the Board of Directors for the Ithaca Ballet and before graduating from college, danced professionally with the Nashville Ballet and trained at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City.