CFA Society Chicago is honored to welcome Shundrawn Thomas, Founder and Managing Partner of The Copia Group, LLC for our first Distinguished Speaker Series of 2025. 

Speaker: Shundrawn Thomas, The Copia Group, LLC, Founder and Managing Partner

Shundrawn A. Thomas is a professional investor and corporate executive with 30 years of impactful leadership in financial services. He is the Founder and Managing Partner of The Copia Group (Copia), a private investment firm which provides capital solutions to privately held, lower middle market companies and drives social impact through the power of scalable businesses.

Prior to founding Copia, Shundrawn served as President of Northern Trust Asset Management, a leading global investment manager with then $1.3 trillion in assets and served as a member of the executive management group of Northern Trust Corporation. His executive roles included Head of FlexShares ETFs, President of Northern Trust Securities, and Head of Corporate Strategy. Prior to joining Northern Trust, Shundrawn worked at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley in sales, trading, and research divisions.

Highly respected for his authentic leadership style, Shundrawn has earned numerous industry accolades. In 2017 Black Enterprise Magazine identified him among the Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America. In 2021, Shundrawn became a member of ThinkAdvisor’s 2021 class of industry luminaries, and InvestmentNews honored him with a lifetime achievement award for leadership in diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Shundrawn is an esteemed speaker, advisor, and published author. He serves as a Board Director of Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE: RGA), a global life and health reinsurance company. Shundrawn also supports a range of philanthropic causes including serving as a trustee for Rush University Medical Center and the Griffin Museum of Science & Industry.

Shundrawn received a B.S. degree in accounting from Florida A&M University and an MBA degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he was a Toigo Fellow. Shundrawn is a Fellow in the sixth class of the Finance Leaders Fellowship of the Aspen Institute. He is happily married to his lovely wife, Latania, and they have two young adult sons. 

Moderator: Kweku Obed, CFA, CAIA - Marquette Associates

Kweku Obed is a managing director for Marquette Associates and serves on the firm’s board of directors. An owner of the firm, Kweku has been with the company since 2014 and has 25 years of investment experience. Kweku chairs the firm’s defined contribution services committee and serves as the primary consultant on several client relationships. Kweku holds a B.S. with honors in economics from Queen Mary College, University of London, and an M.S. in development economics from SOAS, University of London. He is a recipient of the Bernard Corry Prize in Economics. Kweku is a CFA® charterholder and holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation. He is the author of The Stranded Fish: Decision-Making Through the Lens of a Fiduciary, and has previously contributed to the official CAIA textbook, CAIA Level I: An Introduction to Core Topics in Alternative Investments, Second Edition. Additionally, he has authored the children’s books Talking About the ABCs of Financial Literacy and Talking About the ABCs of Financial Responsibility. He has contributed two chapters on asset allocation and defined contribution plans to the IFEPB’s Trustee Handbook and he is a frequent speaker at industry conferences.

Fee*: 
Members - $60
Non-Members - $80
Student Members - $25
Please note: No Webcast Available

*Function Tickets can be used
*Refunds are only eligible if cancellations are made at least 24 hours prior to the event. Cancellations made within 24 hours of the event will not be eligible for a refund.

Location: 
Union League Club of Chicago 
65 W Jackson Blvd.

CFA Institute Qualified Activity: Eligible for 1 credit hour

Attire: Business Casual

Menu: Luncheon Served 

Agenda:
11:30 a.m.: Registration/Networking
12:00 p.m. - 12:50 p.m.:  Conversation
12:50 p.m.: Audience Q & A
1:00 p.m.: Conclusion/Networking 

Lunch will be served before and during the conversation.