Sage Advisory Services, Ltd. Co. Financial Management

our FIRM

Robert G. Smith
AIF® & CIMC | President & Chief Investment Officer, Principal
Bob began his career at Moody's Investors Service as a member of the Corporate Bond Rating Committee; he then went on to Loeb, Rhodes & Co. to cover the insurance industry in the Institutional Equity Research department. He then worked at Merrill Lynch & Co. for 13 years in a variety of institutional research, trading and portfolio management roles in New York and London. During this period, he was assigned to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency as a Resident Financial Advisor in Riyadh responsible for managing the foreign reserves of the Central Bank.
Bob's investment research and comments have been featured in a wide variety of media and publications including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Grant's Market Observer and Bloomberg Business News Services. He is a past recipient of the Stephen L. Kessler Award from the Investment Management Consultants Association.

Mark C. MacQueen
Executive Vice President
Mark has more than 25 years of domestic and international portfolio management and institutional securities trading experience. He began his career as a member of the Institutional Government Securities Trading desk at Merrill Lynch Government Securities in New York. He was later assigned to the Institutional Fixed Income Trading desk in London as Vice President and Senior Trader responsible for managing the firm’s European-based risk capital position. In this period, his responsibilities were extended to management of the firm’s corporate bond and U.S. dollar-based derivative product risk positions. Next, he assumed management responsibility for all fixed income trading at Merrill Lynch International in Sydney, Australia. After this assignment, Mark assumed risk management responsibility for the firm's global non-dollar fixed income trading operations in London. Following his Merrill Lynch tenure, Mark joined APS Financial Corp. in Austin, Texas as Director of Fixed Income Portfolio Research. He went on to become a principal of the Tejas Securities Group as Director of Fixed Income Trading and Research. Mark received his B.S. in Finance from the University of Delaware. Beyond his professional career, Mark is a member of the Fixed Income Analysts Society, a board member of Meals on Wheels and is active in other community-minded programs.

Robert C. Peck
Principal
Bob is a principal of the firm and a senior member of the investment committee. He received his M.B.A. in Economics from New York University Stern School of Business and his B.S. in Finance from Syracuse University. Bob is a former portfolio manager and investment strategist for Merrill Lynch Asset Management in New York. He then took the position of Senior Vice President and Manager of Fixed Income at Manufacturers Hanover Investment Corporation in New York. After his time in New York, Bob became the CIO and Executive Vice President of Fixed Income at Van Kampen American Capital in Houston. Adding to his investment experience, Bob then became CIO and Managing Director of Fixed Income Mutual Funds at Scudder Kemper Investments in Chicago. Bob brings over 35 years of experience in fixed income portfolio management and investment strategy to Sage and is an adjunct member of LeTourneau University.

Richard B. Williams
AIFA® | Principal
Richard is a principal of the firm and serves as the Chief Compliance Officer for Sage. He received his M.B.A. in Finance from St. Edward’s University and his B.B.A. in Finance and Accounting from Southern Methodist University. Richard came to Sage from Tejas Securities Group where he served as the Chief Financial Officer. He has over 12 years of experience in accounting, financial analysis and management and remains active in the community as President of the Lake Travis Youth Association.

Sean C. Krasan
Principal
Sean is a principal of the firm and has remained the head of systems and operations since the inception of the firm. He received his M.B.A. in Finance from St. Edward’s University and his B.A. from State University of New York. Sean came to Sage from Smith Affiliated Capital as a former associate trader and account executive. He has over 20 years of experience in the banking and investment management industry.

Gregory J. Figaro
AIF® | Principal
Greg is a principal of the firm and serves as the head of Client Services. He received his M.B.A. in Finance from Monmouth University and his B.S. from St. Joseph’s College. Before joining Sage, he was the former Executive Vice President of Operations for Tejas Securities Group. Greg is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) with over 30 years of domestic and international portfolio management and institutional research experience.

Robert D. Williams
CFA | Principal
Rob is a principal of the firm and a member of the investment committee. He serves as the Director of Research. He received his B.A. in Financial Management from the University of Colorado. Rob is a Chartered Financial Analyst Charterholder and member of the CFA Institute. Before joining Sage, Rob was a Fixed Income Strategist for UBS in New York. He was also a former Senior Wealth Management Strategist for Mutual of New York and a Research Analyst for Merrill Lynch. Rob brings over 10 years of experience in credit analysis and corporate finance to the firm.

Thomas H. Urano
CFA | Principal
Thomas is a principal of the firm and a member of the investment committee. He serves as a portfolio manager and senior trader for the taxable fixed income and equity strategies. Thomas received his B.A. in Economics from The University of Texas and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. Before joining Sage, he was a Fixed Income Trader with Credit Suisse Asset Management in New York. He was also a former Fixed Income Portfolio Accountant for Morgan Keegan. Thomas brings over 10 years of experience in client account management and fixed income trading to the firm and is a member of the CFA Institute.

Jeffery S. Timlin
CFA, CMT | Principal
Jeff is a principal of the firm and a member of the investment committee. He serves as a portfolio manager and senior trader for the tax-exempt fixed income strategies. Jeff received his B.S. in Business Administration from Villanova University, is a Chartered Financial Analyst Charterholder, and is a Chartered Market Technician. Before joining Sage, he was a Fixed Income Associate Trader with MFS Investment Management in Boston. He was also a former Client Account Manager with Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in Boston. Jeff brings over 9 years of experience in client account management and fixed income trading to the firm. He is a member of the CFA Institute, the Market Technicians Association, the National Federation of Municipal Analysts and the Southern Municipal Finance Society.

W. David McShane
CFP®, AAMS® | Vice President, Marketing, Southeast Region
David serves as Vice President of Marketing for the Southeast Region. David received his MBA Degree with honors from the University of Pittsburgh and is a graduate of the University of New Brunswick in Canada where he received his BBA Degree. He has also achieved the professional designations of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) and Accredited Asset Management Specialist (AAMS®) from the nationally recognized College for Financial Planning. He was previously employed with Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of America and Wachovia Bank working with their respective wealth management clients throughout Florida and the Southeast. David has a strong professional background in financial and investment management services with major domestic and international financial institutions.

Jeffery M. Thomas, J.D.
Vice President, Marketing, Western Region
Jeff serves as Vice President of Marketing for the Western Region. Jeff received his Juris Doctorate (J.D.) Degree in Law from Western State University and Bachelor of Arts Degree from California State University in Fullerton, California. He was previously employed with Affinity Investment Advisors Inc., Irvine, California, as Director of Sales & Client Service. While at Affinity, Jeff worked on identifying, acquiring and servicing key national accounts. Jeff has also worked in the past with Columbia Management Group, Citigroup Private Bank and Morgan Stanley Van Kampen Management in variety of senior marketing and client development roles for the Western Region of the United States. Jeff comes to Sage with a strong background in investment management services and product development.

Joseph G. Westerhaus
Vice President, Portfolio Management
Joe serves as a portfolio manager and senior taxable trader for the fixed income strategies. Joe received his MBA in Finance from Xavier University and his BA in Financial Management from Clemson University. He was previously employed with Fifth/Third Asset Management in Cincinnati, Ohio, as a Portfolio Manager-Fixed Income Officer. Prior to his professional experience with Fifth/Third Joe also worked for Bank of America in Chicago, Illinois, as a Credit Derivative Portfolio Analyst and Financial Analyst within their Global Markets Group. Joe brings a strong background in portfolio and risk management services, as well as credit derivative analysis to the firm.

Meghan P. Elwell
J.D., AIFA® | Vice President, Research
Meghan serves as the Vice President of Research at Sage. Meghan received her Juris Doctorate (J.D.) with honors from The University of Texas School of Law and practiced law with Bracewell & Giuliani LLP in Houston. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematical Economic Analysis from Rice University. Meghan brings over 5 years of professional experience in structured finance, economic analysis and quantitative modeling to the firm.

Alexander Pekker, Ph.D.
Vice President, Quantitative Analysis & Research
Alex serves as Vice President/Quantitative Analysis and Research. Alex received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Texas, an AM degree in Mathematics from Harvard University, a MS degree in Computer Science and BS with honors in Mathematics from Stanford University. Alex was previously employed with Wilshire Associates, Inc. in Santa Monica, California, within the Fixed Income Analytics Division. While at Wilshire Associates, Alex worked on developing portfolio investment strategies, value at risk analysis, asset allocation optimization strategies, performance monitoring, and investment management policy formation. Prior to his professional experience with Wilshire Alex also worked for Mercer Consulting in their Retirement Practice Group. Alex brings strong fixed income quantitative analytical skills, as well as a solid background in actuarial mathematical analysis to the firm.

Michael D. Walton
Vice President, Marketing & Product Development
Michael serves as Vice President for Marketing and Product Development of Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) investment management services. Michael received his Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Before joining Sage, Michael was previously employed with U.S. Fiduciary, LLC (USF) in Houston, Texas as the Director of Wealth Management services. While at USF Michael was responsible for the design, development and supervision of the USF Wealth Management Platform. Prior to his professional experience with USF, Michael worked from 1996 through 2007 with AIM Distributors, Inc. in a variety of senior marketing and supervisory roles within the organization's internal marketing and financial advisor sales group. Michael comes to Sage with a strong background in Wealth Management Services as well as institutional distribution system design and management.

L. Dustin Finley
Vice President of Consultant Services & Client Relations
Dustin serves as the Vice President of Consultant Services and Client Relations at Sage. Dustin received both his Master of Business Administration degree and Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Delta State University in Cleveland, MS. Before joining Sage, Dustin was previously employed with Consulting Services Group, LLC (CSG) in Memphis, TN as a Senior Consultant. While at CSG, Dustin worked extensively with foundation and endowment clients, high net worth family offices and public corporate pension plans. Prior to his professional experience with CSG, Dustin worked as an Operations Manager with Bank of America’s housing services division. Dustin comes to Sage with a strong background in Wealth Management Services as well as institutional consulting and financial analysis.