Global Equity Factor Advantage

Paul Moghtader is a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager/Analyst, leading Lazard's Equity Advantage team. He began working in the investment field in 1992. Prior to joining Lazard in 2007, Paul was Head of the Global Active Equity Group and a Senior Portfolio Manager at State Street Global Advisors (SSgA). At SSgA Paul was the senior manager responsible for the research and portfolio management of all multi-regional active quantitative equity strategies. Previously, Paul was an analyst at State Street Bank. He began his career at Dain Bosworth as a research assistant. Paul has a Master of Management (MM) from Northwestern University and a BA in Economics from Macalester College. Paul is a CFA® charterholder.

Taras Ivanenko is a Portfolio Manager/Analyst on Lazard's Equity Advantage team. He began working in the investment field in 1995. Prior to joining Lazard in 2007, Taras was a Senior Portfolio Manager in the Global Active Equity group at State Street Global Advisors (SSgA). Earlier at SSgA, he was a Principal and Senior Application Development Architect in the Equity Systems group. Previously, Taras was an analyst in Quantitative Research and Trading Systems at Oxbridge Research. He has a PhD in Physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an Engineer-Physicist degree from Moscow Physical-Technical Institute. Taras is a CFA® charterholder.

Peter Kashanek is a Portfolio Manager/Analyst on Lazard's Equity Advantage team. He began working in the investment field in 1994. Prior to joining Lazard in 2007, Peter was a Principal and a Portfolio Manager in the Global Active Equity group at State Street Global Advisors (SSgA). Previously, Peter was an investment analyst in the Institutional Equity Research Group at Bank of Montreal where he focused on global energy companies. Prior to that, he was an Associate in the Global Equity Research Group at Deutsche Bank Securities. Peter also worked at Reliant Energy in Houston as a member of its Corporate Development team. Peter has an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Vanderbilt University and a BA in Government from St. Lawrence University.

Alex Lai is a Director and Portfolio Manager/Analyst on Lazard's Equity Advantage team. He began working in the investment field in 2002. Prior to joining Lazard in 2008, Alex was a Vice President and Quantitative Portfolio Manager in the Global Active Equity group at State Street Global Advisors (SSgA). Prior to that, Alex was an investment-banking analyst at Lehman Brothers Asia in Hong Kong. He has an MSc in Finance from Boston College and a BBA (Hons) in Finance and Accounting from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Alex is a CFA® charterholder.

Ping Liu is a Quantitative Researcher on Lazard's Equity Advantage team. He began working in the investment field in 2021. Prior to joining Lazard in 2021, Ping Liu was an associate research scientist at Yale University. He has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University and a B.E. in Chemical Engineering from National University of Singapore (First Class Honours).

Ruihan Liu is a Portfolio Manager/Analyst on Lazard's Equity Advantage team. She began working in the investment field in 2015. Prior to joining Lazard in 2016, Ruihan was an applications developer with Arrowstreet Capital. She has a Master of Science in Mathematical Finance from Boston University and a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Zhejiang University. Ruihan is a CFA® charterholder.

Kurt Livermore is a Portfolio Manager/Analyst on the Lazard Equity Advantage team. He began working in the investment field in 1997. Prior to joining Lazard in 2023, he was a senior quantitative equity Portfolio Manager with Acadian Asset Management. Previously, Kurt served as a Partner and Portfolio Manager for U.S. and global equity strategies at GlobeFlex Capital, and beforehand was a portfolio manager for U.S. equity market-neutral strategies at FrontPoint Partners/Matikos Capital. Kurt started his career at BGI/BlackRock. He has a B.S. in business administration from the University of Arizona. Kurt is a CFA® charterholder.

Ciprian Marin is a Director of Quantitative Research and Portfolio Manager/Analyst on Lazard's Equity Advantage team. He began working in the investment field in 1997. Prior to joining Lazard in 2008, Ciprian was a Senior Portfolio Manager at State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), managing European, UK and Global funds. He was also responsible for quantitative research on the European team of the Global Active Equity Group. Prior to joining SSgA, Ciprian was a Quantitative Analyst at Citigroup where he focused on developing stock selection models, statistical arbitrage trading strategies and factor research. Previously, he was a quantitative research associate at Nikko Salomon Smith Barney. Ciprian has an MBA in Finance from the International University of Japan and a BS in International Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest. Ciprian is a Certified Investment Adviser (UK).

Ashok Kumar Muthusamy is a Portfolio Manager/Analyst on the Lazard Equity Advantage team. He began working in the investment field in 2011. Prior to joining Lazard in 2023, Ashok was a Partner and Senior Quantitative Researcher with Man Numeric. He has a master’s in financial engineering from Columbia University and a bachelor’s in electrical and electronics engineering from PSG College of Technology - India.

Craig Scholl is a Portfolio Manager/Analyst on Lazard's Equity Advantage team and leads the team’s sustainable investing program. He began working in the investment field in 1984 and became involved in sustainable investing by creating a values-tilted strategy in 1998. The team created an active sustainability-tilted strategy in 2005 and has continued to expand and develop this capability within Lazard. Prior to joining Lazard in 2007, Craig was a Principal and a Senior Portfolio Manager in the Global Active Equity group at State Street Global Advisors (SSgA). Previously he was Managing Director of Public Equities for the Virginia Retirement System, where he was responsible for internally and externally managed portfolios. Prior to that, Craig was a pension investment manager for two large corporations. He also worked as a consultant with InterSec Research and a vice president in data analytics at Lynch, Jones & Ryan. Craig has a BS in Finance and Public Communications from Syracuse University. He is a member of the CFA Society Boston.

George Ssali is a Portfolio Manager/Analyst on the Equity Advantage team. He began working in the investment field in 2008. Before joining Lazard in 2021, George was a Portfolio Manager and Head of Product Development at Arabesque Asset Management, where he led the design of Paris-aligned equity strategies. Prior to this, George was a Portfolio Manager at Ninety One Asset Management (formerly Investec Asset Management) focusing on risk premia (factor-based) strategies across asset classes. He began his career as a Research Analyst for Macquarie Securities Group. George holds a Master of Finance degree from INSEAD and a BSc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand.

Kohei Watanabe is a Quantitative Research Analyst on Lazard's Equity Advantage team specializing in textual data analysis. He began working in the investment field in 2020 upon joining Lazard. Previously, Kohei taught political text analysis at Waseda University, quantitative political methodology at Kobe University, University of Innsbruck and London School of Economics. During the past 8 years, Kohei has worked a Chief Developer for Quanteda Initiative – open-source text analysis software supported by a European Research Council Grant. Kohei has a PhD in Political Science Methodology from London School of Economics, an MA in Political Science from Central European University, MA in Sociology from Musashi University and a BA in Literature from Seikei University.

Susanne Willumsen is a Portfolio Manager/Analyst on Lazard's Equity Advantage team. She began working in the investment field in 1993. Prior to joining Lazard in 2008, Susanne was Managing Director, Head of Active Equities Europe with State Street Global Advisors (SSgA). During her 13 year tenure at SSgA, Susanne was responsible for the research and portfolio management of all UK and European equity strategies. Prior to joining SSgA Susanne traded equity derivatives for the proprietary desk at Investcorp. Susanne received an MSc in Shipping, Trade and Finance from City University and a BSc in Management Studies from the University of Surrey.

Chris Pope is a Client Portfolio Manager, Product Manager and Business Manager of Lazard's Equity Advantage team. He began working in the investment field in 1976. Prior to joining Lazard in 2007, Chris was President at Boston Private Value Investors. Prior to that he was at State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) for 18 years, where he served as Director of US Institutional Sales, Client Service and Consultant Relations. Previously, Chris worked in institutional Sales and Marketing for Travelers Insurance Company. He has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.