Board of Directors

RALPH DECESARE, CFA, CAIA is Managing Director and Head of Credit Research for TD Asset Management. As part of the Toronto-based TD Bank Financial Group, one of the largest banks in North America, TDAM manages over $400 billion in assets under management on behalf of pension, insurance, endowment/foundation and corporate clients, as well as for high-net worth individuals and retail mutual funds. Prior to joining TDAM, Ralph was a director of fixed income research at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers from 1990 to 2006. Responsibilities included leading a team of fixed income analysts that helped manage over $150 billion in fixed income assets. Ralph also has had two separate terms at Standard & Poor’s Corp. as a debt ratings analyst. Ralph earned an MBA in finance from Fordham University, and a B.S. in finance from the University of Arizona. Ralph is a past President and current board member of the Fixed Income Analysts Society, Inc., a 300+ member non-profit professional organization that furthers the education and careers of its members, and is the sponsor of the FIASI Hall of Fame. Ralph is a member of the CFA Society of New York. He is a CFA charterholder and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst and earned the Certificate in ESG Investing sponsored by the CFA Society.

HENRY SHILLING, Founder and Director of Research, Sustainable Research and Analysis LLC, a NYC-based firm sustainable investing research firm (https://sustainableinvest.com), providing research, sustainable finance consulting, and educational/training services.

Previously with Moody’s Investors in various capacities spanning 25-years, Henry in more recent years initiated and coordinated Moody’s efforts to expand disclosure and add transparency in research, ratings and analysis to the reflection of environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks. He also led the firm’s effort to launch and implement a methodology for assessing green bonds world-wide.

Henry is the author of The International Guide to Securities Market Indices which was published in 1996 by International Publishing Corp., Chicago, Illinois. He is a contributor to Money Market Funds in the EU and the US, published in 2014 by Oxford University Press.

He earned a B.A. in economics from Lehman College, City University of New York in 1971.

MARK HOWARD, CFA, is a Senior Multi-Asset Specialist at BNP Paribas. His analysis and work with investors cuts across the global markets, with a particular emphasis on Fixed Income. Previously, Mark spent 5 years at Barclays Capital, where he was a Managing Director and held the roles of Co-Head of Global Research and Head of Credit Analysis. Prior to joining Barclays in April 2004, Mr. Howard was at Lehman Brothers for 18 years, where he was a Managing Director and Global Credit Strategist. In that capacity, he was responsible for the firm’s high grade, high yield, emerging market and credit derivative strategy teams. As an active researcher, Mr. Howard has been recognized as a fixed income ‘All American’ by Institutional Investor magazine 11 times, including first place rankings in 7 of those years. Mr. Howard received his MBA in Finance from New York University and his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Colby College. Mark formerly chaired the Board of the University College Friends and Alumni Association, is on the Boards of the Friends of IHES and the Maine Community Foundation. He was president of FIASI in the fiscal years 2011—2012 and 2014—2015.