Speaker Profiles
Robert Becker
Chief Investment Strategist and Managing Director
Versus Capital
Robert Becker is the Chief Investment Strategist and Managing Director of Investments at Versus Capital. Prior to joining Versus Capital, Robert was director of investor relations at Eversource Energy, an electric, gas, and water utility and renewable energy developer. Previously, he spent 18 years at Cohen & Steers, where he was co-founder and co-head of the global listed infrastructure strategy and a portfolio manager for infrastructure securities.
Earlier, Robert was a portfolio manager for the Franklin Utilities Fund at Franklin Templeton Investments. He also worked in equity research of global utilities and global transportation companies at Salomon Smith Barney and Scudder, Stevens & Clark, respectively.
Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Economy of Industrial Societies from the University of California at Berkeley.
Howard Cure
Partner, Director of Municipal Bond Research
Evercore
Howard Cure is a partner and the director of Municipal Bond Research for Evercore Wealth Management. He has over 30 years of experience in analyzing municipal securities.
Prior to joining Evercore in 2009, Mr. Cure was a director at the Public Finance Department of Financial Guaranty Insurance Company for 11 years. He previously was a vice president with the investment banking firm of Prager, Sealy & Co., and earlier a vice president at Moody’s Investors Service. He began his career as an economist with the New York State Senate Finance Committee in Albany, New York.
Mr. Cure is widely quoted in the media, including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News/Business Week, Barron’s, Reuters, The Financial Times and The Bond Buyer, and he has appeared on CNBC, National Public Radio and Bloomberg News.
Mr. Cure earned a bachelor’s in economics from the State University of New York at Albany, a joint master’s in public affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and an MBA from the McCombs School of Business.
Chris Grizzard is a Director with Bayshore Capital and a member of the firm’s investment committee. He is responsible for investment research and due diligence, with a primary focus on private credit, private equity, and venture capital. He was previously in the Investment Banking division of Robert W. Baird & Co., completing M&A, IPO, and debt refinancing transactions for Baird’s global industrial clients. Chris graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Finance from Florida State University, and a Master of Science degree in Finance from the University of Florida. Chris is a CFA and CAIA charterholder.
Prior to joining EQT Partners, Arnav worked at Veritas Capital, a private equity firm based in New York that focuses on investments in technology and technology-enabled solutions to government and commercial customers. Previously, he worked as an Analyst in the Industrials Investment Banking group at Citigroup in New York.
Arnav holds a B.A. in Economics, Finance, and Entrepreneurship & Management from The Johns Hopkins University.