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Mark J. Higgins, CFA, CFP®
Senior Vice President, Institutional Advisor, Index Fund Advisors, Inc.
Mark J. Higgins, CFA, CFP® is a widely respected financial historian, author, and speaker. His works appear regularly in publications, such as the Museum of American Finance's Financial History Magazine and the CFA Institute's Enterprising Investor. His latest book is Investing in U.S. Financial History: Understanding the Past to Forecast the Future.
Mark also serves as a senior vice president for Index Fund Advisors Institutional where he provides discretionary investment advisory services to institutional investment plans. Prior to writing his new book, Investing in U.S. Financial History, Mark served as a senior investment consultant for more than twelve years. In this role, he provided investment advice to trustees of large institutional investment plans, such as endowments, pension plans, foundations, and corporate plans, with aggregate assets of more than $60 billion. Mark is also a frequent speaker both domestically and internationally on topics related to U.S. financial history and institutional investment management.
Mark graduated from Georgetown University Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in English and Psychology. He received an MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. Mark is a CFA charter holder and CFP® practitioner.
Michelle Seitz, CFA
Founder and CEO, MeydenVest Partners
Michelle Seitz is a purpose-driven executive with over three decades of success as both a CEO and investor. She founded Meyden Vest Partners in 2022 with the goal of ensuring that deserving businesses solving meaningful problems have access to seasoned strategic advice and patient capital.
At the age of 35, Michelle was tapped as the CEO of William Blair Investment Management. She drove five-fold growth and global recognition for the business during her 17-year tenure. She then served for five years as Chair and CEO of Russell Investments, one of the largest investment advisors in the world operating in over 30 countries. At each company she led, a hallmark of her approach was not just achieving financial returns for shareholders and clients, but also leveraging her platform and voice to push for systemic change to improve peoples' financial security.
Michelle has appeared regularly on Barron's list of "The Most Influential Women in Finance," and American Banker's list of the "Most Powerful Women in Finance." She was awarded an "Alumni Fellow" by Indiana University in 2017 and "Outstanding Contribution in Asset Management" by MMI in 2019. She serves on the boards of Sana Biotechnology (Nasdaq: SANA), a company dedicated to the development of engineered cells as medicines, the University of Chicago's Leadership & Society Initiative, and Indiana University's Kelley School of Business where she endowed a scholarship for women and diverse students. She is a member of YPO International, the Economic Club of New York, the Economic Club of Chicago, C200, and the International Women's Forum. She was past co-chair of Challenge Seattle and The Fortune CEO Initiative Collaborative on Building Stronger Communities, as well as a director of the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF), the governance board of FASB and GASB.
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