Jeff Shen, PhD, Managing Director, is Co-Chief Investment Officer and Co-Head of Systematic Active Equities within BlackRock’s Systematic investment team. He is a member of the BlackRock Global Operating Committee, BlackRock Systematic Management Committee and the BlackRock Asian Middle Eastern & Allies Network Executive Committee.

Dr. Shen's service with BlackRock 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.

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.

Dr. Shen is an adjunct professor at NYU teaching an MBA class on international investment. He also serves on the advisory board of the Clausen Center at UC Berkeley.

Richard Mathieson, CA, Managing Director, is a portfolio manager for global equity strategies within BlackRock’s Systematic investment team. Mr. Mathieson is a portfolio manager for several funds in the systematic equities team and leads the management of our Global Equity Market Neutral strategy.

Prior to this, he led the Investment Strategy team in EMEA for systematic equities. Mr. Mathieson's service with the firm dates back to 2002, including his years with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which merged with BlackRock in 2009. Prior to rejoining BGI in 2008, Mr. Mathieson was an equity analyst for a specialist investment company focused on European financial stocks. Previously he was with BGI as a senior portfolio manager, where he was responsible for managing both long only and market neutral strategies.

Mr. Mathieson qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2000 and holds a Bachelor of Accountancy from the University of Glasgow.

David Piazza, Managing Director, is a member of the Systematic Active Equity (SAE) division within BlackRock's Active Equities Group. He is responsible for SAE's Emerging Market Equity Strategies.

Mr. Piazza's service with the firm dates back to 1997, including his years with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which merged with BlackRock in 2009. Prior to assuming his current role, he led the Equity Investments team within the Global Market Strategies (GMSG) business of BlackRock's Multi-Asset Investments Group. In earlier roles within the Multi-Asset organization, he led the creation of various new investment strategies, including sector and industry selection, and global tactical asset allocation models. Previously, Mr. Piazza was a portfolio manager for global tactical asset allocation overlay accounts for BGI's Asset Allocation Strategies Group (AASG).

Mr. Piazza earned a BA degree in political science from Emory University 1994.

Gerardo Rodriguez, Managing Director, is the Chief Operating Officer of BlackRock Systematic and Global co-Head of Product Strategy for the Systematic Equities Team. He is a member of BlackRock’s Portfolio Management Group’s Executive Committee and the C20.

Mr. Rodriguez's service with the firm dates back to 2013. Prior to his current role he had portfolio management and research responsibilities within the systematic equities team’s Emerging Markets and China platform.

Before joining BlackRock, Mr. Rodriguez had a career of more than 14 years in the Mexican Ministry of Finance where he last served as Undersecretary of Finance and Public Credit. He has extensive experience in macroeconomic policy, financial market development and infrastructure financing. His responsibilities included public debt management, exchange rate and fiscal policy and regulation and the supervision of local financial institutions. During his tenure at the Ministry of Finance he was also the Head of Public Debt Management, where his main responsibilities included the development of the local government bond market, the design of the Treasury Direct platform (cetesdirecto.com) and the creation of the National Infrastructure Fund.

Mr. Rodriguez earned a BS degree in economics from Universidad de las Americas-Puebla (Mexico) and an MSc in Engineering-Economic Systems and Operations Research from Stanford University.