Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is responsible for implementing the investment policy and asset allocation, monitoring investment performance and other investment decisions. These individuals were selected for their professional or personal knowledge and experience in the area of investments along with a demonstrated interest in the university and its mission.

Board members are elected for a one, four-year term and may be reelected for one additional four-year term.

2024 Board of Directors Bios

NCSIF Board of Directors Org Chart [PDF]

Mr. Alex Wallace, Chair | Board Member, 2020
Alex Wallace is a Managing Director of Higher Education/Not-for-Profit Business at Loop Capital Markets. Alex Wallace is an 18-year veteran of the municipal securities industry with broad experience across many aspects of municipal finance. Prior to Loop Capital Markets, Alex was Head of the Public Finance Banking Team of the U.S. Bancorp Municipal Securities Group. Alex joined U.S. Bancorp in August 2009.

At Wachovia Securities (1996 – 2008), Alex was Co-Head of the Municipal Securities Group and was responsible for the Public Finance Group. Alex also led a number of other businesses including Municipal Credit Origination, Syndications, and Municipal Leasing. He also spent a year as the Head of the Mid-Atlantic Region for Loop Capital Markets. Prior to joining Wachovia Securities, Alex worked for the State Treasurer’s Office of the State of North Carolina.

Alex currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University and the Board of Advisors for the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy Center for Municipal Finance. He is the current Secretary-Treasurer and a member of the Executive Committee for the Bond Dealers of America (BDA). In addition, Alex serves on the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (“SIFMA”) Municipal Securities Executive Committee. He is a Past Chairman of the Carolinas Municipal Advisory Council and Past President of the CityWest Community Development Corporation. He has also been a long-time member of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts and the New York Municipal Forum.

Mr. Jeff Brock, Vice Chair | Board Member, 2016
Jeff Brock is an investment management professional with 15+ years of private equity, investment banking and corporate banking experience in business development primarily focused on providing debt capital solutions to middle market companies across multiple industries and with particular concentrations in restaurants, beverage distributors and domestic subsidiaries of foreign-based parent companies.

He currently serves as managing partner at Hargett Hunter Capital Partners which he founded in July of 2015. He also co-founded Triangle & Two Hospitality Group LLC in June of 2015 which is a restaurant operating company. Prior to his current entrepreneurial ventures, Mr. Brock held several prominent roles at Morehead Capital Management, General Electric, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase Bank. He currently sits on the board of Stealz, Inc. and has been a board member for PlotWatt, Chop’t Creative Salad Company, and Run Hargett Run, LLC.

Mr. Brock graduated from North Carolina State University in 1993 with a degree in Business Administration concentrating in Finance and HR Management. He also completed an MBA in Corporate Finance at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2001. He served previously as a board member for the NC State University Foundation, Inc.

Mr. Craig Demko | Board Member, 2018
Craig Demko is the Director of Private Equity at the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer – Retirement Systems Division. He joined the North Carolina Retirement Systems in 2005 as the Alternative Investments Portfolio Manager. Since that time, he participated in expanding the portfolio with more than 100 fund transactions across Venture Capital, Growth Equity, Buyout, Secondary and Co-Investment strategies. In 2010 he was promoted to Director of Private Equity. As of 2Q18, the Private Equity portfolio represented 5.2% of the Pension Plan with a market value of $5.1 billion.

Mr. Demko began his career in New York City with Oppenheimer & Company Inc., which subsequently became a subsidiary of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and renamed CIBC World Markets. Within the Equity Research Department, he began as an Associate, later to be promoted to Director, contributing to the management of a staff of 150 investment professionals and an equity research universe consisting of approximately 1000 public companies across multiple industries.

In 2000, he relocated to Boston and worked for two companies, as Vice President with HC Wainwright & Co., and as Senior Vice President for Josephthal and Co., in both cases coordinating an Institutional Equity Research platform with institutional clients. Mr. Demko attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he received a BA in Economics.

Mr. Randall Dishmon | Board Member 2023
Randall Dishmon is a Senior Portfolio Manager for Invesco Global Focus Strategy. Mr. Dishmon joined Invesco when the firm combined with OppenheimerFunds in 2019. His previous positions at OppenheimerFunds included serving as co-manager of the global multi-cap growth strategy and senior research analyst for the global equity strategy. Before joining OppenheimerFunds, Mr. Dishmon served for two years as a management consultant with Booz Allen and Hamilton. He also served four years as a manager with UtiliCorp United and for seven years as a Vice President and Division Chief with KCI Technologies.

Mr. Dishmon earned a BS degree in Engineering from North Carolina State University, an MS in Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Mr. Ty Huggins | Board Member, 2023
Ty Huggins is a Vice President in the Private Wealth Management Group of Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he advises institutions, wealthy individuals, family groups and foundations. For the last 18 years, Mr. Huggins and his team have been advising clients located throughout the United States; concentrated in the Southeast. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Mr. Huggins was responsible for business development and technical sales with Ciba Specialty Chemicals, a Swiss conglomerate where he served large manufacturing clients. Mr. Huggins joined Goldman Sachs after earning his MBA from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management in 2000. He also has a BS in Textile Chemistry from the Wilson College of Textiles. Mr. Huggins has demonstrated his personal commitment to philanthropy and service to the NC Textile Foundation and the Wilson College by serving on the Investment Committee and building an endowed scholarship – The Huggins Family Endowed Scholarship Fund.

Ms. Rhonda Smith | Board Member, 2024
Rhonda is an accomplished institutional investment professional. With more than 20 years in institutional investment management. She currently works as Director of Public Equity for the 11th largest institutional public pension plan in the United States at over $110 billion in assets under management. Rhonda has developed a deep expertise in identifying, evaluating and mitigating investment risk while serving as a subject matter expert to boards and senior leadership. She has a proven track record in designing, implementing and managing investment portfolios, as well as manager search and selection, investment and operational due diligence and portfolio risk and asset allocation. Rhonda is a graduate of North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Mr. Richard Speers | Board Member, 2024
Rick is a co-founder and an Investment Advisor Representative with Private Wealth Management of NC. Prior to working with Private Wealth Management of NC, he was an independent contractor with Raymond James Financial Services from 1999-2009. Rick graduated with a B.A. in History from North Carolina State University and earned his Juris Doctorate degree from the University Of North Carolina School Of Law. Rick is former President of the North Carolina Services for Dentists Board of Directors and former Chairman of the North Carolina Heart Association planned giving program.

Mrs. Nan G. Strader | Board Member, 2016
After graduating from North Carolina State University, Nan was an Account Executive for Kidder Peabody & Co., San Francisco, and Assistant Vice President of Asset Management Marketing in New York. In 1989, she was an Institutional Consultant for the Manager’s Funds, Norwalk, CT; and in 1992, became Managing Director of Institutional Marketing and Client Service for Trainer, Wortham & Co., New York City. In 1997, she joined Seneca Capital Management, headquartered in San Francisco, CA, as Managing Director of Institutional Business Development.

In 2002, Nan co-founded Virginia Ventures, LLC, with her husband and Partner, Leighton Strader. They serve as Business Advisors and interim COO’s to Institutional asset management platforms, Multi-Family and Single Family Offices, and Consultants. Virginia Ventures is headquartered in Williamsburg, VA, and its clients are located in NYC, San Francisco, and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Nan’s speaking engagements include topics covering Marketing/Sales and establishing marketing platforms; fiduciary responsibility and managing the RFP process. She served 10 years on the NC State University Foundation Board and currently serves on the NC State Investment Fund Board (past Chair) and the Fund’s Private Assets Committee and Nominations Committee. Nan has served on several Boards including Angel Guardians for the Elderly in NYC and Dream Catchers Therapeutic Riding Center, and the Williamsburg Winery in Williamsburg, VA. She also worked as a Development Coordinator for Saint Francis Service Dogs for over two years.  

NCSIF Board of Directors

Call for Nominations

The Office of Investments is pleased to issue a Call for Nomination for the NCSIF Board of Directors. We invite you to submit names of persons with investment experience for consideration. Submissions will be accepted and reviewed annually from April – June.