Finance Department Advisory Board
Mission Statement:
The purpose of the Advisory Board is to increase the reputation and standing of the College of Charleston's Business and Finance program by advising and actively developing work-ready graduates. For more information, click here.
Gregory Baker
Retired Partner, PwC Banking & Capital Markets Practice
E: gregorybaker7591@gmail.com
Gregory Baker is a CPA and recently retired assurance partner from PwC’s Banking & Capital Markets practice in New York City. He served numerous clients across a variety of financial service sectors, including online broker-dealers, exchanges and clearing houses, investment banks, hedge funds and private equity funds, and employee benefit plans.
Gregory has deep experience advising clients on valuation, internal controls, new accounting standards, organizational transformation, regulation, data security and data mining, and compliance. In addition, Gregory had engagements for litigation support, fraud examinations, IPO readiness, Erisa compliance, and SEC brokerage and investment management compliance examination readiness.
Gregory began his career at PwC in 1980 in New York City after graduation from Georgetown University, worked in Tokyo from 1986 to 1988, and became a partner in 1993. In addition to client service, Gregory was a frequent instructor of PwC technical training courses, guest lecturer for ten years at Wharton on developments in the derivatives markets, and PwC campus recruiter for fifteen years at University of Virginia.
Kerem Bolukbasi
Operations Executive, TPG Capital
E: Kbolukbasi@tpg.com
Kerem Bolukbasi is an Operations Executive for TPG Capital, where he provides interim executive leadership to the management teams and board of directors. Responsibilities include acting as the interim CFO or COO, building and executing mutli year value creation strategy, restructuring and turn-around initiatives, building finance organizations/processes, coaching CFOs on improving organizational and financial discipline and accountability, and driving due diligence projects. He joined TPG in 2014 from GE Energy, where he was the CFO of the $2B Gas Engines business based out of Munich, Germany.
Kerem is a graduate of the GE's Financial Management Program and the Corporate Audit Staff. He obtained his MBA from the University of North Carolina and bachelor's degree from the College of Charleston, S.C. in International Business. He currently serves as a Reserve Officer in the SC State Guard, as part of a Search & Rescue Unit, and as a member of the Advisory Board for the College of Charleston Finance Department.
David Haythe
Senior Advisor, Morgan Stanley
E: David.Haythe@googlemail.com
David Haythe is a senior advisor at Morgan Stanley. He was head of Morgan Stanley’s Private Wealth Management EMEA.
Haythe joined Morgan Stanley in 1975 as part of the Institutional Equity Division and transferred to the firm’s London office upon its inception in 1986. He has had a long and diversified career in International Finance.
Haythe holds a master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Mario Nardone, CFA
Founding Partner, East Bay Investment Solutions
E: mario@eastbayis.com
Mario began his investment career in 1999 with Vanguard mutual funds in Valley Forge, PA, where he consulted institutions and financial advisors on investment policy, portfolio construction, and Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). He also held roles as a research analyst, a municipal bond specialist, among others during his tenure. In 2003 he earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, and he continues to mentor aspiring Charter candidates and young investment profesionals.
As a Partner at East Bay, Mario serves a select group of Registered Investment Advisor firms as their outsourced Chief Investment Strategist. Responsibilities of this role include continuous oversight of advisor clients' investments, bespoke strategies for unique situations, client communications, and more.
Mario is Past President of CFA Society South Carolina and Former Chairman of the College of Charleston Finance Department Advisory Board.
Bernard Peters
Chair, Finance Department Advisory Board
CFO at Sloan Valve Company
E: bernard.peters@sloan.com
Since November 2014, Bernard Peters has been the CFO of Sloan, a Chicago based fourth-generation family owned business and a leading manufacturer of commercial plumbing systems. He is responsible for all financial functions of the company including finance, accounting, treasury, capital investment, budgeting, and tax. In 2019 he also became President of Sloan Flushmate, the Pressure Assist Division of Sloan.
Prior to joining Sloan, Mr. Peters was the EVP and CFO for EveryWare Global Inc., a global marketer of tabletop products for the consumer and foodservice markets, which he took public. Previously, Mr. Peters was the CFO at Heartland Automotive Services Inc., a Blackstone Group portfolio company and the largest Jiffy Lube International franchisee. In this role, he was part of the management team that successfully turned the business around and managed the sale of the company.
Mr. Peters started his career wih Ernst&Young and worked at the Coca-Cola Company, NCR Corporation, Marriott International and The Pampered Chef where he held financial and management roles.
Mr. Peters is a native of Belgium and speaks 5 languages. He earned a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from the College of Charleston in South Carolina, a Masters of International Business Studies from the University of South Carolina and is a certified public accountant.
Paul Shorter
Senior Vice President and Wealth Advisor, Truist Bank
E: paul.shorter@truist.com
Paul Shorter is the Senior Vice President/ Wealth Advisor with Truist Bank for the coastal region of SC offering clients more than 18 years of financial services, retirement planning, and investment management experience. He coordinates with a team of financial specialists who, working together, provide comprehensive and highly customized financial advice and solutions, including investment management, retirement planning, depository, lending and trust/estate planning strategies, to help the unique needs of high-net-worth individuals, business owners and families. He takes the time to understand his clients' complete financial picture, including their goals and circumstances, to help improve their financial wellbeing.
A native of Chesterfield, VA, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the College of Charleston's School of Business, major in business administration and a double minor in finance and economics in 2003. He is a member of the Advisory Board for the College of Charleston Finance Department.
Dean T. Smith
Founder and Senior Advisor, Stonehenge Financial Partners
E: dtsmith@stonehengefp.com
Dean Smith has been active in the structured finance markets for more than 25 years and is known throughout the industry as one of the pioneers of the non-prime and alternative mortgage.
He began his financial career at FSA, a monoline insurance company, where he designed credit enhancement technology for private label Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS). He then went to work at a series of Wall Street investment banks, running securitization programs and trading new issue and secondary MBS.
In 1996, Smith launched Stonehenge Financial Partners, a financial advisory firm that manages residential and commercial MBS portfolios for institutional clients. Stonehenge currently advises a large private equity fund on all of its mortgage-related investments and oversees several of their portfolio companies.
Smith received a bachelor’s degree in economics from University of California, San Diego as well as an MA and MPhil in economics from Columbia University.
