Mesirow

Brian Riordan is a Managing Director and Practice Leader for education institutions within Mesirow's Public Finance group. He has over 26 years of experience in public finance, commercial banking, and higher education finance, advising education borrowers on financing structures including fixed-rate revenue bonds, private placements, variable rate obligations, interest rate swaps, synthetic advance refundings, and student housing projects. Riordan holds an M.B.A. from John Carroll University and a B.B.A. in Finance from Ohio University, and previously worked at Ziegler, Huntington Investment Company, GE Capital Public Finance, and JP Morgan Chase.

Managing Director at Mesirow Investment Banking who led the deal team advising The Skin Center on its sale.

Mikiyon Alexander is a Managing Director on the Public Finance team at Mesirow, focusing on investment banking and municipal advisory for impact finance. He has more than two decades of capital markets experience across public finance, structured finance, and regulatory compliance. Alexander holds FINRA SIE, 79, 52, 53, 50, 54, and 63 licenses and is an S&P Global Certified Credit Analyst.

Dan Barlow is a Director in the Public Finance group at Mesirow Financial, where he works with municipal clients through the bond issuance process. Over a career spanning more than 15 years, he has participated in the execution of tax-exempt and taxable bond transactions for municipalities, special districts, P3 entities, and K-12 and higher-education clients in the Midwest and along the East Coast.

Jamie Wilson is a Director at Mesirow Financial, where he works with Texas school districts on bond financing, enrollment issues, charter school impacts, and capital planning. Prior to entering public finance, he spent over 30 years in public education, including 13 years as Superintendent of Denton ISD. Wilson holds Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees from the University of North Texas, holds FINRA Series 52, 53, and 63 licenses, and serves on the boards of KERA Public Broadcasting and the Children's Advocacy Center for North Texas.

Aaron Heltsley is a Senior Vice President in Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions, where he conducts quantitative and qualitative investment research supporting the group's fiduciary partnership, consulting, and institutional due diligence engagements. He has 14 years of experience in financial services and previously served as a Senior Investment Analyst at IRON Financial, leading manager research and serving on the Corporate Retirement Group's Investment Committee. He earned an undergraduate degree from the Ithaca College School of Business and an MBA from DePaul University.

Anand Akula is a Senior Technology Consultant in Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions with 17 years of experience building software products for the retirement industry and investment management. Before Mesirow, he worked as a full stack software consultant at BP, developing a proprietary product to manage defined benefit and defined contribution plans. He holds a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science from Jawaharlal Technological University and a Master's in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Christopher Fabian is a Senior Consultant in Mesirow's Fiduciary Solutions group, where he conducts quantitative and qualitative investment research for fiduciary partnership, consulting, and institutional due diligence engagements. He has eight years of experience in financial services and joined Mesirow in 2024, having previously been a Manager of the Client Reporting Group at Cambridge Associates. He holds a BS in Business Administration (Finance) and a BA in Economics from Christopher Newport University.

David Cohen is a Managing Director and Key Account Manager with Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions, where he works on strategic initiatives, business development, sales, and marketing. He has over 20 years of experience in financial services, having previously held roles at ADP's Retirement Services department, MetLife, and ING. He holds a Bachelor of Science from The College of New Jersey and is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

Jason Bianchi is a Senior Vice President in Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions, where he works as a Key Account Manager developing product solutions for recordkeeper and broker dealer relationships and supports large retirement plan clients. He is part of the senior management team working on product development for the HSA segment and represents the firm at the HSA Council. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Rowan University and an MBA in Finance from Loyola University.

John Evans is a Vice President in Mesirow's Public Finance group, where he handles quantitative analysis, transaction structuring, execution support, and market insights for municipal issuers including school districts, not-for-profit institutions, cities, and states. He holds a B.S. in Finance from The Ohio State University's Fisher School of Business and maintains Series 52 and 79 licenses.

Katie (Chenyu) Yin is an Associate Consultant in Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions, where she conducts quantitative and qualitative investment research supporting fiduciary partnership, consulting, and institutional due diligence engagements. She has two years of experience in the retirement services industry and previously interned with consulting and e-commerce firms focused on product research, pricing trends, and branding. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Environmental Studies with a minor in Data Analysis from Wesleyan University.

Keith Gustafson is a Managing Director of Asset Allocation and Retirement Income within Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions, where he works on manager selection, portfolio construction methodologies, and custom target risk and target date portfolio solutions. Before joining Mesirow in 2020, he was a Managing Partner at Chicago Equity Partners, serving as CIO of Equities and Head of Quantitative Research, and earlier held roles at Ibbotson Associates and SEI Corp. He holds a Master of Science in Financial Economics from the University of London, an MBA from Loyola University Chicago, and bachelor's degrees in Economics (Wharton) and History from the University of Pennsylvania, and is a CFA charterholder.

Kemp DeMarais is a Vice President in public finance at Mesirow, working in investment banking. DeMarais holds Series 7, 52, 63, and 79 licenses and studied mathematics and business at the University of Illinois.

Lavanya Batchu is a Managing Director in Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions, where she conducts quantitative and qualitative investment research supporting the group's fiduciary partnership, consulting, and institutional due diligence engagements. She has 26 years in financial services and, before joining Mesirow in 2009, spent nine years at Morningstar, Inc., most recently as an Investment Analyst researching mutual funds and building fund-level portfolios for managed accounts. She holds a bachelor's degree from Nagarjuna University, a Master of Science from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Melanie Castellanos is a Vice President in the Public Finance group at Mesirow Financial. Her work covers transaction execution, deal structuring, and quantitative analysis for municipal bond issuers.

Michael Annin is President and a founding member of Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions and sits on Mesirow's Board of Directors, overseeing client development, marketing, research, methodology, and project management. He has 35 years of experience in financial services, with a focus on the defined contribution market, and previously served as a Managing Director at Ibbotson Associates, in addition to roles at IPC Group, Abbott Laboratories, and Bear, Stearns & Company. He holds a BBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and is a CFA charterholder.

Michael Hellen is a Senior Consultant in Mesirow's Fiduciary Solutions group, where he conducts quantitative and qualitative investment research supporting fiduciary partnership, consulting, and institutional due diligence engagements. He joined Mesirow in 2021 after internships at Options Clearing Corporation and Aepos Group, LLC. He holds a Master of Science in Economics and Policy Analysis from DePaul University's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and History of Art and Architecture from DePaul University.

Olivia Liu is an Associate Consultant in Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions, where she conducts quantitative and qualitative investment research supporting fiduciary partnership, consulting, and institutional due diligence engagements. She joined Mesirow in 2024 after working as a research assistant evaluating economic pre-publication papers and interning at sales and trading and other financial services firms. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Statistical Science with a minor in Information Science from Cornell University.

Rafique Khan is a Managing Director of Technology in Mesirow's Fiduciary Solutions group, where he leads the firm's technology initiatives. He has 26 years of technology experience in financial services, and before joining Mesirow in 2014 he served as IT Project Manager and Lead Architect for BP America's Trust Investments group, building technology platforms for managing defined benefit and defined contribution assets. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and a Master's degree in Computer Science from Western Illinois University.

Richard S. Price is Executive Chairman and CEO of Mesirow, an employee-owned financial services firm founded in 1937, where he has worked for 50 years and held prior roles including Chairman and CEO, President and Chief Operating Officer, and President of Insurance Services. He joined the firm in 1972 to establish its insurance services business, which was sold to Alliant Insurance Services in 2016, and has served on the Mesirow Board of Directors since 1987. He was appointed to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council by President Barack Obama and to the Cook County Economic Advisory Council, and he serves on the boards of organizations including Northwestern Memorial Foundation, Navy Pier, Metropolitan Family Services, and Ravinia Festival.

Scott Blajszczak is a Senior Vice President in Mesirow's Fiduciary Solutions group, where he conducts quantitative and qualitative investment research supporting fiduciary partnership, consulting, and institutional due diligence engagements. He joined Mesirow in 2019 after working as a Financial Analyst at Kemper Corporation. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Science in Finance from Loyola University Chicago and is a CFA charterholder.

Sumit Saha Roy is a Technology Consultant in Mesirow's Fiduciary Solutions group, where he develops, maintains, and supports front-end applications and back-end systems. He has over 13 years of experience with Microsoft technologies across banking and finance, automotive, e-commerce, and insurance, and previously worked as a consultant at Tango Card. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the West Bengal University of Technology.

Vincent Vicidomini is a Managing Director in Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions, where he develops relationships with recordkeepers, HSA providers, broker-dealers, advisors, and defined contribution investment-only firms, and advises leadership teams on fiduciary program development and risk mitigation through outsourcing. He has 24 years of experience in the retirement services industry, having previously worked as a Pension Consultant at Retirement Alliance and spent nine years at ING before joining Mesirow in 2014. He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Florida and Series 6, 63, and 65 FINRA licenses.

Wenli Tan is a Managing Director in Mesirow Fiduciary Solutions, where she conducts quantitative and qualitative investment research supporting fiduciary partnership, consulting, and institutional due diligence engagements. She has 22 years of industry experience and joined Mesirow in 2009, having previously worked as a mutual fund analyst at Morningstar and an investment analyst at Ennis Knupp & Associates. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Rochester and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and is a CFA charterholder.