Risk Parity

Alex Shahidi is a managing partner and cochief investment officer at Evoke Advisors, a $21 billion registered investment advisor. Alex has more than twenty years of experience as an investment consultant managing billions of dollars for institutional and ultra-high-net-worth clients. He began his career at Merrill Lynch, where he led one of the firm's largest institutional consulting groups, advising more than $10 billion in assets with an average client size of approximately $300 million. After Merrill, Alex cofounded Advanced Research Investment Solutions (ARIS), where he, along with cofounder Damien Bisserier, oversaw the firm's research and client service efforts. Alex is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®), a Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®), a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), and a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®). Barron's magazine has repeatedly ranked him as one of America's Top 100 Independent Financial Advisors, Top 1,200 Financial Advisors, and Top 1,000 Financial Advisors. Alex graduated cum laude from the University of California, Santa Barbara, with degrees in business economics and law. He earned a JD from the University of California, Hastings Law School, and is a member of the bar in California. Alex's first book, Balanced Asset Allocation: How to Profit in Any Economic Climate, was published by Wiley in 2014. The article introducing the premise of the book was recognized with the IMCA 2012 Stephen L. Kessler Writing Award as well as in the Wall Street Journal, Market Watch, Money News, Fidelity.com, and Wall Street Daily. Alex has been interviewed on Bloomberg Television and Radio, BBC World News, and Yahoo Finance and for articles in the Wall Street Journal, Barron's, and other major publications. He has also been featured in numerous podcasts, including Capital Allocators, The Investor's Podcast, and Seeking Alpha.

Daniel Henning is a director, producer, actor, and writer. His work has been seen on HBO, CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, MTV, Comedy Central, and on stages throughout Southern California. He won a 2017 Telly Award for "Best Writer" for the film version of his play The Tragedy of JFK (as Told by Wm. Shakespeare). As director and writer, his TV and film work includes MTV's Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory and the film Critic's Choice. He won the NAACP Theatre Award for "Best Director of a Musical" for The Wild Party. He is the Founding Artistic Director of Hollywood's The Blank Theatre, winning over 200 awards for his productions, including "Best Production," from LA Drama Critic Circle, LA Weekly, Ovations, NAACP, etc. Henning has been inspirational to thousands of young artists through his creation of The Blank's Young Playwrights Festival (the only professional nationwide competition for playwrights aged nine to nineteen). He directed the first play by 2016 Tony Award Winner for "Best Play" Stephen Karam when Stephen was seventeen and a winner in The Blank's Young Playwrights Festival. Henning has also been an acting teacher and coach and is known for his ability to spot young talent. He has given opportunities to many young actors who later went on to success in Hollywood including Tessa Thompson, Noah Wyle, Alison Brie, Molly Shannon, Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer, and Sarah Michelle Gellar. He coached Sarah Michelle Gellar on her auditions for the landmark TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and they shared a close personal friendship, even traveling to Australia together with family for New Year's Eve 2000, where the paparazzi photographed Henning and Gellar dancing. For several months, Henning was rumored to be dating Gellar in the Australian fan magazines (including Big Hit Magazine), which, of course, was inaccurate as Henning was traveling with his husband, Rick Baumgartner. He is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, Circle in the Square Theatre School, and American Conservatory Theatre. His work for LGBTQ Equality includes creating the fiftieth Anniversary Celebration of the Black Cat Protests (the first major LGBTQ Demonstration in the US) and directing and hosting the 2017 LA City Council LGBTQ Pride Ceremony. He was recently honored by the CA State Legislature for his work in LGBTQ Equality and nurturing the future of the Arts. He has also narrated dozens of audiobooks, both nonfiction and fiction.