Our People

Written for plan sponsors and advisors in the field, Smart Choices remains a classic guidebook through the confusing world of retirement plan choices.

Matt’s areas of expertise include Fiduciary-based Investment Consulting™, fee analysis and negotiation, stable value investments, strategic plan design, custom target date funds and risk mitigation.  He writes and speaks regularly on important and timely institutional retirement topics and is frequently quoted by the national media.

Matt holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management. Working to keep the prairie metaphor real, Matt grows prairie flowers and raises bees in his suburban Chicago backyard.

Prior to joining Blue Prairie Group, Gary was CEO of Netvestment, Inc., an internet-based platform that, in partnership with Standard and Poors, enabled online researching and monitoring of institutional investment managers. Before founding Netvestment, he was principal of Fairview Analytics, an investment consultancy providing asset allocation and mutual fund selection guidance, primarily to the bank brokerage channel. Earlier in his career, Gary was vice president and general manager for institutional services with Morningstar, Inc., and before that served as director of sales and marketing at Morningstar.

Gary earned his BA from Vassar College and an MBA from Harvard University. He is a member of the CFA Institute.

Prior to joining BPG, Kevin was an investment executive at Paulson Investment Company , one of the largest independent brokerage firms in the northwest, and a leading underwriter of small and micro-cap companies in Portland, Oregon. At Paulson, Kevin worked with both individuals and institutions, providing asset allocation recommendations and  implementing active trading strategies.

Kevin holds a BS  from Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon in economics and finance. He passed his CFA level 1 exam, and he will be sitting for the CFA level II exam in 2011. Kevin holds series 7 and 63 licenses along with life, health and variable insurance licenses.

Earlier in his career, Don worked in finance and marketing for SBC (now AT&T) as a professional contract negotiator. He also worked as an independent financial advisor with a focus on equity evaluation.

Don has a BS degree from Bradley University and an MBA from the University of Chicago with a concentration in finance. He holds his Certified Fiancial Planning (CFP®)designation and his series 65 license.

She started her career at Western Asset Management (WAMCO) in its client service group, and  then spent several years working at Bank of America/ Countrywide as a financial analyst, where she developed and managed the relationships of large brokerage firms and banking institutions. Most recently, she worked as a senior associate at a boutique investment bank, assisting with domestic and international M&A and capital raising transactions.

Ingrid received her BA from Washington State University, with a double-major in finance and accounting. She is currently finishing the final requirements for her CPA designation.

Earlier, Jennifer worked at Milliman, Inc. as an operations manager, where she was responsible for the overall management of the defined benefit administration practice with client participant groups ranging in size from 200 to over 100,000 members. Prior to that, she was a client manager for health and welfare and defined benefits at Merrill Lynch / Howard Johnson & Company and held positions at DSC Logistics and at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Jennifer has worked with many Fortune 500 clients including Lear Corporation, The Kroger Co. and Macy’s.

Jennifer has a BA in finance from the University of Illinois at Chicago and an MBA, with a concentration in international business, from DePaul University.

In his review and redesign of benefits packages, he engineered multi-million dollar savings for several clients. He is responsible for numerous company turnarounds, including three successful Chapter 11 filings, with cost reductions ranging from $6 to $60 million.

Warren holds BA and MA degrees in organizational psychology from Temple University. He is a member of the human resources management association of Chicago, where he co-chairs the talent acquisition interest group, and  is also a member of the association for corporate growth.

In addition to her own consulting practice, she has worked for LifeSource, University of Chicago, Mercy Hospital & Medical Canter, Ernst & Ernst, Marsh & McLennan, and the Maremont Corporation.

Jan holds a BA degree from Ohio Wesleyan University, an MA from Loyola University’s Institute of Industrial Relations, and an MS in managerial communication from Northwestern University. Jan has held leadership positions in many local and national human resource professional associations, as well as Chicago neighborhood improvement organizations.