CFA Society New York Welcomes Four Prominent Members to Board of Directors

NEW YORK, JANUARY 31, 2019 — The results are in.

With pride and excitement following the conclusion of the 2019 Society Elections, CFA Society New York welcomes four longtime, dedicated members to its Board of Directors.

Presiding society leadership has overseen historic gains in recent years, attaining new heights in areas of membership, event attendance, volunteer participation, and revenue—and highlighting an auspicious overall trend that the incoming elected officials will be certain to leverage in both advancing the investment industry and forging new paths forward for the largest CFA Institute member society in the world.

“Given the diverse backgrounds and impressive track-records of each of the new members of our Board and our Nominations Committee, I am confident that their leadership will become an integral element of CFANY’s continued momentum in leading the global investment community,” Board of Directors Chair Phil Taylor, CFA, said.

Sanjay Arora, CFA, CMA, ACA

Is a Managing Director: Institutional Fixed Income Capital Markets at Raymond James Financial Inc. (listed “RJF”) and has over twenty-five years of global experience. He was re-elected to the Board of Directors this year and was formerly Vice Chairman of Institutional Asset Management Group.

Arora spent a decade in Bahrain, starting his professional career with PricewaterhouseCoopers and later as CFO for one of the largest local investment company. He was appointed by Morgan Keegan & Co, owned by Regions Financial (listed “RF”), at their head office in Memphis, TN to expand their Institutional Fixed Income Capital Markets. Raymond James bought Morgan Keegan and Arora was relocated to New York. Arora is Chartered Accountant, Cost & Management Accountant, Certified Management Accountant and CFA charterholder.


Carole K. Crawford, CFA

Is founder and Managing Partner of fincap360, developing venture portfolios for entrepreneurial family offices, often actively engaged with portfolio companies.Carole founded and chairs CFANY’s Fintech Thought Leadership Group. Focused on discussion and member participation across all career levels, the Group’s programming has attracted 1/3 of CFANY’s members.Prior to fincap360, she built a successful wealth management practice at Morgan Stanley, in addition to leading branch-wide business development for alternative investments and SMAs for two of the largest offices of the firm.

Through the years she has counseled the White House, Congress and other political leaders on issues related to financial services and entrepreneurship, called on by both sides of the aisle. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Michigan and completed the Certified Investment Management Analyst program at the Wharton School Aresty Institute of Executive Education. In 2018 she was a recipient of CFANY’s Volunteer of the Year Award.


Kris J. Thiessen, CFA, CAIA, EA

Is the Founder and Managing Partner of Helix Management, with over 20 years of finance experience.

Recognized as a CFANY 2018 Co-Volunteer of the Year, Kris serves as Chair of the Alternative Investments Group, the largest member interest group at the CFA Society New York. Kris co-created the Annual Private Equity and Venture Capital Conference, was elected to the Nominations Committee, and has served as an Election Inspector at CFANY.

Kris founded Helix Management in 2002 to focus on investments in public and private life sciences companies, royalties and funds, and he also advises on tax matters. Kris received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics cum laude from Harvard College, his Certificate in Income Tax Planning and Reporting from New York University, and his Master’s of Science in Taxation from Baruch College Zicklin School of Business.


Evelyn Yeow, CFA

Is an investment analyst at American Century Investments. In her role, she provides fundamental equity research and analysis for the emerging markets equity team. Prior to this, she was an investment analyst at John Hsu Capital Group, an institutional asset management firm, where she worked alongside the CIO on Asian equity investing. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from City University of New York. She is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute.

Ms. Yeow has been an active volunteer at the CFA Society New York (CFANY) since 2015. She has served various leadership positions including the Chair/Vice Chair of the Career Development group and a member of the Nominations Committee, and played a leading role from the early stages of the Asset Owners Series. In recognition of her integral role in the organization, she was awarded the 2016 CFANY Young Investment Professional Award.

Since 1937, CFA Society New York remains steady as a leading forum for the investment community. CFANY’s mission is to raise the standards of the investment profession by engaging a dynamic community of local investment professionals and creating thought leadership for the global industry.

“All four of the newly elected directors represent the commitment to excellence and ethics of our membership community,” Taylor said. “The talent, expertise and energy they’ll bring to the table will allow the society to rise to the challenge of leading our profession in a time of unprecedented transition in culture, structure, and technology. We have the opportunity to capitalize on our strong position and lead the global investment profession forward.”

CFA Society New York thanks all of its members for participating in its election process and expresses sincere appreciation and gratitude to each nominee and departing director for their invaluable contributions to the CFANY membership community.