Client Summit 2025

Lindy Freeman
Managing Director, Global Head of Institutional
Russell Investments

Lindy serves as Global Head of Institutional at Russell Investments, where she leads institutional fundraising and client service across OCIO, customized portfolio solutions, trading and execution services, consulting services, and a range of investment funds and strategies. She also serves as a board member for the Russell Investments Trust Company. With a career spanning over two decades, Lindy brings a wealth of experience in fundraising across all asset classes. Before joining Russell Investments in 2023, Lindy made significant contributions to BlackRock for seven years, leading institutional distribution teams for Alternatives and the Financial Institutions Group in North America.

Shelly Heier, CFA, CAIA
Managing Director, Global Head of Institutional Client Service
Russell Investments

Shelly Heier joined Russell Investments as Global Head of Institutional Service in October 2024. She brings more than 26 years of industry experience in investment research, client service, and sales to her role.​

Based in the firm's Seattle headquarters, Shelly is responsible for implementing all client service strategies and initiatives, ensuring that Russell Investments delivers top-notch investment advice and service to its clients. She also serves on the Operating Committee.​

Previously, Shelly was President and Senior Consultant at Verus Investments, an institutional consulting and OCIO provider. In her 24 years at Verus, she participated in manager research, not-for-profit clients, and held leadership positions, including chairing the firm's OCIO Investment Committee and the Alternatives Investment Committee.​

In 2023, Pensions & Investments recognized Shelly as one of their "Influential Woman in Institutional Investing."​

Outside of her professional responsibilities, Shelly volunteers as a trustee and Treasurer of the University of Puget Sound and Seattle Children's Theatre. A native to the Pacific Northwest, she lives in with her husband, two teenagers, and a French bulldog. Shelly enjoys outdoor activities, actively skiing in the winter and aspiring to try wake surfing in the summer.​

Zach Buchwald
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Russell Investments

Zach Buchwald is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Russell Investments, the global investment solutions provider founded in 1936 with approximately $332 billion¹ in assets under management. Zach is responsible for driving the firm's global business strategy, fostering a culture of integrity and excellence, and championing solutions that simplify the complexities of customized, client-centric investing.

Zach joined Russell Investments in 2023 from BlackRock, where he served as the head of its $2 trillion Institutional Business. Throughout his nearly 15-year tenure with BlackRock, Zach led the company's Financial Institutions Group and helped establish its Retirement Solutions and Financial Markets Advisory platforms. Prior to this, Zach served as a managing director at Morgan Stanley.

Zach frequently addresses the challenges of financial security and retirement. His commentary has been featured in MarketWatch, Morningstar, Newsweek, and Fortune. Zach is part of the CEO council for Challenge Seattle and participates in the Washington roundtable. He is a graduate of Harvard University and lives with his family in Seattle.

¹ USD as of 3/31/2025

Barron's guest commentary: The Bold Move That Would Give Americans the Retirement Security They Crave

Jim Leggate
Managing Director, Head of Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA)
Russell Investments

Jim Leggate is Head of Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) for Russell Investments. Based in London, Jim oversees all business development and relationship management activities in the EMEA region. Jim, who joined Russell Investments in 2011, was instrumental in driving business growth in the Middle East and opening the firm's office in Dubai. With more than 25 years of experience in financial markets, Jim has served various institutions, including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, and private banks. Prior to joining the firm, Jim was Head of EMEA Asset Owners and Investment Consultants at Morgan Stanley Capital International. Before that, Jim worked at Bloomberg Tradebook in sales and trading. He started his career as an analyst at WI Carr.

Jason Edgar
Head of Asia Pacific (APAC)
Russell Investments

Jason Edgar serves as Head of Asia Pacific (APAC) for Russell Investments. Based in the firm's Sydney office, Jason is responsible for strategic oversight of the firm's business in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, Korea, China, Australia, and New Zealand. Prior to joining Russell Investments in 2023, Jason served as the Asia regional head of strategy and corporate development for MetLife, based in Hong Kong.

Kate El-Hillow
President & Chief Investment Officer
Russell Investments

Kate El-Hillow serves as President and Chief Investment Officer for Russell Investments, the global investment solutions provider founded in 1936 with approximately $332 billion¹ in assets under management. Based in New York, Kate oversees all aspects of the investment division, including asset management, implementation, and research to deliver overall client investment solutions. She also serves on the firm's Executive Committee. She chairs the Operating Committee, which ensures activities across divisions align with the company's strategic vision and long-term goals. Kate joined Russell Investments in 2021 and has over 25 years of proven success in investment management roles. She has deep expertise in outsourced CIO investment solutions and multi-asset portfolio management.

Most recently, Kate served as Deputy Chief Investment Officer of Multi-Asset Solutions with Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where she helped lead the firm's multi-asset investment process and investment team. Prior to Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Kate spent eight years at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., where she held a variety of investment positions, including a dual role as Client Portfolio Manager and Chief Operating Officer within the firm's asset allocation business.

Kate is a frequent guest speaker, sharing her insights on global markets, whole portfolio solutions, investment governance, and multi-asset and multi-manager investing. In 2024 she was named one of Pensions & Investments’ Most Influential Women in Institutional Investing.

Andrew Pease
Head of Investments, APAC
Russell Investments

Andrew Pease is Russell Investments’ Chief Investment Strategist based in London. He is responsible for the cycle, value and sentiment framework that guides the tactical positioning of the firm’s actively managed funds. Andrew has extensive financial industry experience as an economist, investment strategist, fund manager and central banker. ​

Andrew joined Russell Investments’ Sydney office in 2006 where he was Chief Investment Strategist for the Asia-Pacific region.​

Andrew previously worked for the funds management division of Macquarie Bank, as the Chief Economist for JPMorgan in Australia and as the Australian head of research at Nomura Securities. Andrew began his career as an economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia. ​

Paul Eitelman, CFA
Global Chief Investment Strategist
Russell Investments

Paul Eitelman joined Russell Investments in March 2015 as an investment strategist. His research and views help guide the firm’s multi-asset portfolios and services for institutional and retail investors.​

Previously, Eitelman served as Vice President and Senior Economist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank in New York, where his global macroeconomic research and analysis drove tactical investment ideas and asset allocation decisions on behalf of the firm’s ultra high net worth clients. Prior to that, Eitelman worked at the Federal Reserve Board, where he was the lead economic analyst for several emerging market economies in Latin America and Southeast Asia. In this role, he prepared country briefings and analysis for former Chairman Ben Bernanke and other members of the FOMC.​

Matt Gertken, Ph.D.
Chief Strategist, Geopolitical Strategy, U.S. Strategy
BCA Research

Matt is the Chief Strategist for both our Geopolitical Strategy and US Political Strategy services, where he oversees our coverage of market- relevant policy developments in the US and worldwide.

Providing data-driven, non-partisan, macroeconomic, and policy research, he and his teams take a geopolitical approach to making discretionary trade recommendations for investors. He is also a member of the BCA Research Leadership Team.

Before joining BCA in 2015, Matt served as a Senior Analyst at Strategic Forecasting, Inc. (Stratfor) and in multiple academic and publishing roles. Matt has 18 years of experience in the field and appears frequently in global news media. He’s often remarked that political strategy is about getting policy settings right, improving scenario analysis and probabilities, and capitalizing on risks and opportunities.

Matt holds an MPhil from the University of Cambridge and a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin.

Evgenia Gvozdeva, Ph.D.
Managing Director, Head of Research
Russell Investments

Evgenia Gvozdeva is the Head of Research for Russell Investments. She oversees all research activities of the Investment Division, including manager research, quantitative research and development, investment strategy, ESG and active ownership, and investment practice and analytics. Evgenia helps ensure our research produces powerful sources of return and insights, and that our tools help deliver superior outcomes and advice to clients.​

Before her promotion, Evgenia was a Senior Director of R&D where she focused on the research and development of various investment strategies, such as equity and fixed income proprietary strategies, tax management overlays and transitions, SMA models, and ESG overlays. She also worked on enhancing the investment process and analytics and providing thought leadership.​

Before that, she was a senior quantitative research analyst specializing in single-factor and multi-factor portfolio solutions, and dynamic equity strategies. ​

Evgenia joined Russell Investments in 2009 as a forecasting portfolio strategist. She worked on enhancing the long-term forecasting and simulation capabilities and providing strategic capital markets insights.​

Before joining Russell Investments, Evgenia completed her finance dissertation at the University of Houston where she also taught finance. Her research interests were in asset pricing theory, portfolio choice theory, and behavioral finance. She also worked as an analyst at URALSIB, one of Russia’s largest financial corporations.​

Eric Thaut, CFA
Director, Research and Development
Russell Investments

Eric Thaut leads the Research and Development team for Russell Investments. His responsibilities include overseeing research related to equity and fixed income factors, portfolio construction and optimization, equity risk models, and quantitative approaches to analyzing third party managers. He also leads our open-source python-based research platform design and construction.​

Prior to Eric’s current role, he was a Senior Quantitative Analyst on the Quantitative Analytics team, which supported Transition Management, Overlay Services, Trading, and Direct Investments through quantitative research and developing portfolio analytics tools. He also designed, built, and maintained custom performance and attribution systems for the derivative portfolio management teams. Eric joined the team in 2008. ​

Eric joined Russell Investments in 2006 as a portfolio trading analyst supporting derivative trading. Prior to this, he spent two years as an analyst at a pension consulting firm and two years teaching ESL and writing classes at the university level in China.​

Ashley Mawhorter
Director, Investments & Benefit Finance
Pacific Gas & Electric Company

Ashley Mawhorter has served as Director of Investments and Benefit Finance at PG&E since 2021.  The department is responsible for the oversight of all employee benefit investments sponsored by PG&E Corporation, as well oversight of PG&E’s Nuclear Decommissioning Trust and Customer Credit Trust investments.

Prior to working at PG&E, Ashley was a Fixed Income Portfolio Manager at Macquarie Asset Management and a Sales & Trading Analyst at Citigroup Inc.  She graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.

Sharon Moore
Treasury Director
Augusta Health

Sharon Moore serves as Treasury Director for Augusta Health, where she’s been a part of the health system for over 40 years and formally as the Treasury Director for over 15 years. Responsibilities include oversight of the health system’s operating assets, reserves, insurance captive assets as well as the retirement plans, working closely with the CFO, Investment Subcommittee, and investment managers. Ms. Moore earned her Bachelor of Science and a master’s in business administration from James Madison University. She also holds certificates in Risk Management from The Institutes and Captive Insurance from ICCIE.

Angus Botterell, CFA
Senior Managing Director, Active Public Equity and Public Market Alternatives
IMCO

Angus Botterell is senior managing director, head of active public equity and public market alternatives. In his role, Botterell is responsible for developing and executing IMCO’s global equities strategies. His focus is on identifying high-conviction global opportunities and leading a team dedicated to building portfolios across all aspects of public equity markets.

Angus joined IMCO in 2020 after spending close to 20 years at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan as a member of the global active equities team. As director, equities at Ontario Teachers’, Botterell was responsible for building, managing and overseeing multi-billion-dollar portfolios, and played a key role in a number of high-engagement structured transactions. He has diverse experience covering sectors and industries including industrials, transportation, automotive, consumer staples and discretionary, retail, healthcare and media.

Angus holds an MBA from The University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mining Engineering from Queen’s University. He is a CFA Charterholder and a Professional Engineer.