Change text size

A A A

Investment Team

William L. Cobb, Jr.
Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer

Mr. Cobb joined the Church Pension Fund as Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer in 1999 upon his retirement as Vice Chairman of J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. He had spent 28 years with that firm. Prior to serving as Vice Chairman, Mr. Cobb was responsible for all equity activities worldwide. Before that, he was head of the Equity and Balanced Accounts Group in the U.S. Mr. Cobb joined Morgan's Equity Research department as an analyst in 1971, becoming a portfolio manager in 1974 focusing on institutional clients. He received his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. Mr. Cobb is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Helen Fox-O'Brien
Senior Vice President

Ms. Fox-O'Brien joined the Church Pension Fund in 1993. She has overall responsibility for the Fund's private equity program and participates on partnership advisory boards. Her responsibilities also include non-U.S. public equities, distressed debt and hedge funds, and energy managers. Prior to joining the Fund, Ms. Fox-O'Brien held financial management positions at Exxon Corporation over a sixteen-year period. Her areas of focus included pension fund management, corporate finance, international finance, banking and cash management, and planning and budgeting. Ms. Fox-O'Brien received her M.B.A. in Finance with distinction from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and her B.A. in Economics summa cum laude from Newton College of the Sacred Heart (now Boston College).

Alan Snoddy
Senior Vice President

Mr. Snoddy joined the Church Pension Fund in 1996. He has overall responsibility for the Fund's global real estate portfolio and also works with several of the Fund's private equity investments. Previously, he worked at Sanford C. Bernstein Inc. as an analyst. He received his undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary, and an M.B.A. from Fordham University from which he graduated with a 4.0 GPA. Mr. Snoddy is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Paul J. Brignola
Vice President

Mr. Brignola joined the Church Pension Fund in 2000. He is responsible for administrative matters and reports directly to the Chief Investment Officer. Mr. Brignola retired from J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. at the end of 1999 after a 31-year career with that firm. Upon joining Morgan in 1968, Mr. Brignola was part of the Fund Accounting Group of the Trust & Investment Division and eventually headed up the Group until mid-1979. He then transferred to the Investment Department to become head of the Investment Assistants Group for the next two years. From early 1981 until his retirement, Mr. Brignola served in a senior client-servicing role for many institutional clients including Public Funds, Corporate Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution plans, and Endowments and Foundations. Mr. Brignola received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from St. Peter's College.

Robert R. ("Skip") Johnson
Vice President

Mr. Johnson joined the Church Pension Fund in 2000 after retiring from J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc., where he was a fixed income portfolio manager. At the Fund, he is responsible for fixed income, public real estate, and the investments of the insurance affiliates. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan in 1988, Skip held senior positions with the Bank of Montreal and U.S. Steel, and founded the merchant banking firm of R.R. Johnson Associates. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College.

Rhonda S. Kershner
Vice President

Ms. Kershner joined the Church Pension Fund in 2005. Her areas of responsibility include asset allocation, transition management, performance measurement, and back-up responsibilities in fixed income and the investments of the insurance affiliates. Previously, Rhonda served as a Vice President in various roles at J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. including portfolio manager and derivatives trader for institutional clients covering diversified and derivative strategies. She received her B.A. in Mathematics from Franklin and Marshall College and her M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University.

Nick Procyk
Vice President

Mr. Procyk joined the Church Pension Fund in 2001. His areas of responsibility include public equity managers, hedge funds and absolute return strategies, and various biotechnology and European private equity funds. Previously, he served as Director, Pension Investments at Merck & Co., Inc., where he spent most of his career. He received his B.S. in Economics cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from Columbia University.

June Yearwood
Vice President

Ms. Yearwood joined the Church Pension Fund in 2006. Her areas of focus include private equity managers, real estate and absolute return strategies. Prior to joining the Fund, Ms. Yearwood served as Vice President of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation where she had primary responsibility for Finance and Administration. Prior to holding this position, she served as Investment Director for the Foundation with responsibilities in all aspects of portfolio management. She received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Stanford's Graduate School of Business.

Robert Smulowitz
Assistant Vice President

Mr. Smulowitz joined The Church Pension Fund in 1998. He is primarily focused on the private equity portfolio. Previously, he worked at Venture Economics as an analyst. He received his Bachelor of Science in Finance cum laude from Touro College and an M.B.A. with a specialization in Finance and Investments from Baruch College.