Executive Team and Key Professionals
Principal Management Team
Orison 'Kip' Chaffee, CFA
Jack Hansen, CFA
Thomas Lee, CFA
Investment Professionals
Jay Strohmaier, CFA
Justin Henne, CFA
Andrew Spellar
Daniel Wamre, CFA
Jeffrey Rodgers, CFA
Christopher Haskamp, CFA
Alex Zweber, CFA
Matt Liebl, CFA
Additional Professionals
Kelly Shelquist
Amanda Barhite Carter, CFA
Vladimir Gomelsky
Michelle Tressel
Business Development
Benjamin Lazarus, CFA
Christopher Uhas, CFA
Gregory Baranivsky, CFA
Principal Management Team
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Orison 'Kip' Chaffee, CFA
Managing Principal
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Kip Chaffee joined The Clifton Group in 2008 as Managing Principal. His responsibilities include formulating strategic direction and day to day management of the firm. Kip has held a number of executive positions within the financial services industry including VP of Corporate Strategy and Development for Ameriprise Financial Services and President and COO of Hantz Financial Services. Kip earned his BS in Economics from Harvard University and an MBA with a finance concentration from The Wharton School of Business. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Minnesota.
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Jack Hansen, CFA
Chief Investment Officer & Principal
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Jack Hansen joined The Clifton Group in 1985. As Chief Investment Officer, his responsibilities include the management of investment operations and portfolio management. Jack has traded futures, swaps, options, and other contracts in the overlay program since 1986. He continues to develop the overlay and core programs to better serve client needs with a focus on U.S. Equity strategies and risk control policies. Jack earned a BS degree in finance and economics from Marquette University and a MS in finance from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. A CFA charterholder and member of the CFA Society of Minnesota, Jack writes and lectures on the use of derivatives in portfolio management.
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Thomas Lee, CFA
Senior Portfolio Manager & Principal
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Thomas Lee joined The Clifton Group in 1994. Tom has traded futures, swaps, and other contracts in the overlay program since starting with the firm. Tom heads up a Portfolio Management team that provides customized solutions for institutional investors’ risk management needs and is responsible for research required to manage the firm’s overlay portfolios. Tom has been instrumental in developing and enhancing synthetic fixed income strategies which track commonly referenced fixed income benchmarks. Prior to joining Clifton, he spent two years working for the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C. In this position, he gained experience in modeling and forecasting interest rates and related monetary variables. Tom earned a BS in economics and an MBA in finance from the University of Minnesota. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Minnesota.
Investment Professionals
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Jay Strohmaier, CFA
Senior Portfolio Manager
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Jay Strohmaier returned to The Clifton Group in 2009. Jay has extensive experience with futures and options-based strategies and has been active in the investment industry since 1984. As a Sr. Portfolio Manager, Jay leads a team of investment professionals responsible for designing, trading and managing overlay portfolios with an emphasis on commodity index strategies and hedging. Prior to rejoining Clifton, Jay worked for Cargill, Peregrine Capital Management, and Advantus Capital Management where his responsibilities included research, portfolio management, trading, marketing, and client service. Jay was a member of Clifton in 1995 and 1996 when his responsibilities included new business development and consultant relations. He holds a BS degree in Agricultural Economics from Washington State University and Masters of Science in Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota. Jay is a CFA charter holder and a member of the CFA Society of Minnesota.
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Justin Henne, CFA
Senior Portfolio Manager
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Justin Henne joined The Clifton Group in 2004 as an Investment Analyst. In 2012, he was promoted to Senior Portfolio Manager and is a member of the Portfolio Management Team. He has overlay portfolio management responsibilities with an emphasis on international index and currency management strategies. He leads a team which continues to enhance overlay programs to meet clients ever changing risk management needs. Justin holds a BA in Financial Management from the University of St. Thomas. Prior to joining Clifton, he was a fixed income research analyst intern at Jeffrey Slocum & Associates. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Minnesota.
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Andrew Spellar
Portfolio Manager
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Andrew Spellar joined The Clifton Group in 2011. Andrew joined Clifton as a dedicated resource for the portfolio management of Clifton’s Risk Parity programs. Prior to joining Clifton, Andrew held the position of Senior Investment Manager at the Fairfax County (VA) Retirement Administration Agency where he served as the internal consultant to the Board of Trustees of the Employees’ Retirement System (FCERS). While at Fairfax County, Andrew steered the FCERS to top decile performance overseeing all aspects of a broadly diversified portfolio which made extensive use of derivative overlays and Risk Parity strategies. Prior to serving at Fairfax for over 12 years, Andrew was also a Registered Investment Advisor and held a number of positions within the GIT Investment Funds (now Mosaic) mutual fund complex. He holds a BA in History and European Studies from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Marymount University in Arlington, VA.
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Daniel Wamre, CFA
Portfolio Manager
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Daniel Wamre joined The Clifton Group in 1995 working part-time in the company’s internship program and started full-time in 1998. As a Portfolio Manager, he is responsible for overlay trading with an emphasis on international index strategies and hedging. Dan earned a BS from North Dakota State University and an MBA in finance from the University of Minnesota. Prior to joining Clifton, Dan spent four years as a Platoon Commander/Executive Officer in the United States Marine Corps. Upon completion of graduate school, Dan spent ten months working as a commercial banking credit analyst for U.S. Bank in Minneapolis. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Minnesota.
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Jeffrey Rodgers, CFA
Portfolio Manager
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Jeffrey Rodgers joined The Clifton Group in 2004. Jeff is dedicated to portfolio management in the areas of Alpha Transport, Risk Parity, Duration Management and Options Hedging. Jeff has a specialized knowledge of exotic derivatives. Jeff interned with The Clifton Group and was subsequently hired as an Investment Analyst and now serves as Portfolio Manager. Jeff holds a B.S.B. in Finance and Accounting from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Minnesota.
Christopher Haskamp joined The Clifton Group in 2006. Chris is dedicated to portfolio management and leading research projects in the area of risk management. Chris manages portfolios for the enhanced index programs, risk parity programs, models securities, and trades fixed income and enhanced cash securities. Prior to joining The Clifton Group, he spent three years as a scientist at the medical device firm Beckman Coulter Inc. Chris earned a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Minnesota and a M.S. in chemistry from the University of California, San Diego. Chris earned an MBA in finance from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management in May of 2007 and started full time at The Clifton Group in June of 2007. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Minnesota.
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Alex Zweber, CFA
Portfolio Manager
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Alex Zweber joined The Clifton Group in 2006 as an Investment Analyst. In 2010, he was promoted to Portfolio Manager working mainly in the Policy Implementation Overlay (PIOS®) and Option Hedging programs. His current responsibilities include trading and managing overlay portfolios, management of commodity exposures and index strategies, option modeling and trading, and assisting in research projects. Alex earned a BA in Economics from Macalester College. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Minnesota.
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Matt Liebl, CFA
Portfolio Manager
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Matthew Liebl joined The Clifton Group in May 2007 as an Investment Analyst. In 2012, he was promoted to Portfolio Manager working primarily in the Policy Implementation Overlay (PIOS®) program. His current responsibilities include designing, trading and managing overlay portfolios with an emphasis on international index strategies. He also assists in the currency and commodities areas as necessary. Mr. Liebl holds a BA in Finance from the University of Minnesota Duluth. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Minnesota.
Additional Professionals
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Kelly Shelquist
Director of Operations
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Kelly Shelquist joined The Clifton Group in 2010. She is responsible for leading and managing all aspects of Operations related to both exchange traded and over-the-counter markets. Kelly has over twenty years of industry experience working for retail brokerage firms, custodian banks, and private investment companies. The past fourteen years she has been in the investment management industry, where she served as the Director of Operations for TPG Credit Management and Operations Manager for EBF & Associates. Kelly earned Bachelor’s degrees in Business and Psychology from Gustavus Adolphus College, and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas.
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Amanda Barhite Carter, CFA
Project Manager
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Amanda Barhite Carter joined The Clifton Group in 2004 as the Project Manager. Her responsibilities include the management of over-the-counter documentation, and the creation of presentation materials, newsletters, and special interest articles. Prior to joining Clifton, Amanda was employed for ten years as a Senior Consultant with Global Markets Consultants Ltd. where she worked with investment banking clients in the area of derivatives and capital markets training. Amanda has also worked at JP Morgan as a Vice President in Global Derivatives Sales and Trading where she executed over-the-counter transactions for institutional clients. In addition, Amanda has experience in corporate finance at DLJ and Merrill Lynch. Amanda holds a BA in economics from Yale and an MBA with a concentration in finance from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. Amanda currently holds the professional designation of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and is a member of the CFA Society of Minnesota.
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Vladimir Gomelsky
Chief Technology Officer
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Vladimir Gomelsky joined The Clifton Group in 2009. He is responsible for leading and managing all aspects of the company’s technology, including software development and maintenance (both proprietary and third party applications), local and wide area networks, hardware, and all other data and voice related infrastructure and services. Prior to joining Clifton, Vlad was a Director of Real Estate Technology at Johnson Controls, a Director of Software Development at United Systems Integrators Corp., and a Senior Consultant at Tallan. Vlad holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Connecticut, and an MBA from the University of Connecticut in Finance and Technology.
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Michelle Tressel
Director of Marketing
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Michelle Tressel joined The Clifton Group in 2010 as Director of Marketing. Her responsibilities include the development and implementation of Clifton’s marketing strategy. Michelle has in excess of nine years of industry experience working for Ernst &Young, Morgan Stanley, and most recently, Galliard Capital Management. She has also served as an adjunct professor of finance at both the graduate and undergraduate level at Stetson University. Michelle holds a BA in Finance from Stetson University and a Master of Science in Accountancy from the University of Notre Dame.
Business Development
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Benjamin Lazarus, CFA
Director, Institutional Relationships
Western North America
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Benjamin Lazarus joined The Clifton Group in 2004. He is responsible for developing, coordinating, and executing the sales and marketing strategies for Clifton’s unique family of products with special emphasis on business development in the Western region of the United States and Canada. Prior to joining Clifton, Ben was the Director of Sales Strategy at Deluxe Corporation in St. Paul, Minnesota. His work outside of the investment management field focused on client service, corporate finance, and governance. Ben holds a BA in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego and an MBA in Marketing and Strategic Management from the University of Minnesota. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Minnesota.
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Christopher Uhas, CFA
Director, Institutional Relationships
Eastern North America
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Christopher Uhas joined The Clifton Group in 2007. He is responsible for developing, coordinating, and executing the sales and marketing strategies for Clifton’s unique family of products with special emphasis on business development in the Eastern region of the United States and Canada. Prior to joining Clifton, Chris was involved in public and private equity portfolio management with a boutique asset management firm. Before entering the investment management field Chris served as the Director of New Product Launch for Seagate Technology, based in Singapore. Additionally, he spent five years as a nuclear-trained submarine officer in the United States Navy. Chris holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Minnesota.
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Gregory Baranivsky, CFA
Director, Institutional Relationships
Central and Southeast
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Greg Baranivsky joined The Clifton Group in 2010. He is responsible for developing, coordinating, and executing the sales and marketing strategies for Clifton’s unique family of products in the Central and Southeastern sales territory. Prior to joining Clifton, Greg spent 12 years at First American Funds/FAF Advisors (now Nuveen Asset Management) in various sales, national accounts, and product management leadership roles. Before joining First American Funds in 1998, he spent over three years at Van Kampen Investments (today INVESCO) finishing in the product management department. Greg holds a B.A. from Benedictine University and an M.B.A. from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Greg holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Minnesota where he previously served as a member of its board of directors.