Philip Hodges, PhD, Director, is a member of BlackRock's Factor Based Strategies Group (FBSG). Dr. Hodges is head of research for the Market Advantage Group which manages factor based risk parity strategies for institutional and retail clients. He is also a member of the Global Markets Strategies Group Research Oversight Board.

Dr. Hodges' service with the firm dates back to 2007, including his years with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which merged with BlackRock in 2009. Previously, Dr. Hodges has served as a research officer within the Client Solutions group in San Francisco and a quantitative analyst within the Liability Driven Investment team in London. Prior to joining BGI, Dr. Hodges was a post-doctoral research associate in physical chemistry at the University of Oxford and University Lyon I.

Dr. Hodges earned a MChem degree, with honors, in chemistry and a D.Phil in molecular spectroscopy from the University of Oxford in 2002 and 2006, respectively.

Jeff Shen, Managing Director, is Co-CIO of Active Equity and Co-Head of Scientific Active Equity (SAE). He is responsible for Asia Pacific and Emerging Market Active Equity Strategies. He is the firm's Head of Emerging Market and a member of the Global Operating Committee.

Dr. Shen’s service with the firm dates back to 2004, including his years with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which merged with BlackRock in 2009. At BGI, he was the Head of Investment for Asia Pacific and Emerging Market active equities. Prior to joining BGI, he began his career in 1997 with JP Morgan where he held numerous positions in global macro investment and asset allocation research in both New York and London. In addition, he is an adjunct professor at NYU teaching an MBA class on international investment.

Dr. Shen earned a BA degree in Economics from Hobart College, a MA degree in Economics from University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a PhD degree in Finance from New York University.