N.C. Investment Authority Board

Treasurer Bradford B. Briner was sworn in on January 1, 2025. Prior to running for office, the Treasurer was most recently the Co-Chief Investment Officer for Willett Advisors, where he worked from 2012-2023.  Willett manages the philanthropic and personal investment assets for Mike Bloomberg.  Before Willett, Mr. Briner held positions at Morgan Creek Capital, the UNC Management Company, ArcLight Capital and Goldman Sachs.

Mr. Briner graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a Morehead Scholar with a degree in economics with distinction. Mr. Briner also received an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.  He currently serves on the Board of Trustees and as chairman of the investment committee for Phillips Exeter Academy and formerly served on the Board of Trustees for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Board of Directors of the Boston Omaha Corporation (NYSE: BOC) and the Debt Affordability Advisory Committee for the State of North Carolina. Mr. Briner and his wife reside in Chapel Hill with their four children.

Stephanie Lynch is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at GEM, where she sets strategic direction and leads key client relationships, supporting investment policy development and partnering with client leadership teams. Previously, she was the Chief Investment Officer at The Duke Endowment and a portfolio manager at both INVESCO Capital Management and Trade Street Investment Services. Stephanie currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the New York Life Investment Funds (NYLIF), the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Investment Authority (NCIA), and the Investment Committee for the Baby J Fund. She has previously held numerous other trustee and board membership roles, including the Florida State University Foundation, Novant Asset Management Company (NAMCO), The Thacher School, the Presbyterian Medical Center, Avalon Advisors, and CBAM. She holds a B.S. in Finance from Florida State University and is a CFA Charterholder.

Mark E. Roberts, CFA serves as the Chief Investment Officer for Ironsides Asset Advisors, LLC, as well as a Managing Director for the Tuscarora Company (a family office). Immediately preceding, Mr. Roberts was the Director of Global Equities and Hedged Strategies for the North Carolina Retirement Systems where he and his team were responsible for the management of the $33 billion Global Equity and Hedge Fund portfolios for the State of North Carolina. Additionally, Mr. Roberts has provided consulting services for endowments and foundations. Mr. Roberts served as Director of Risk Management for Centura Bank and had asset – liability management responsibilities. Mr. Roberts received his Master of Science degree in finance from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the Calloway School of Business at Wake Forest University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the North Carolina Society of Financial Analysts and the American Finance Association.

Mr. Roberts serves on the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine Philanthropic Advisory Board and on the NC Investment Authority Board for the State of North Carolina Retirement System. Mr. Roberts is the past Chairman of the Board for the NC State University Investment Fund and has served on multiple non-profit boards.

Sallie Shuping-Russell managed institutional investment portfolios for over 35 years, overseeing assets at BlackRock, Duke University and Intersouth Venture Partners.  She also spent 25 years on the Investment Fund Board at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she was vice chairman.  Sallie was a co-founder and vice president of DUMAC and built the endowment’s private alternative asset portfolio from the mid-1980s until 2000.  Following that, she was a general partner at Intersouth Partners, a leading early-stage venture capital firm.   In 2004, she moved to Quellos, a boutique alternative asset fund out of Seattle and New York, which was acquired by BlackRock in 2007.  For the next 10 years Salie was a managing director at BlackRock, spending most of her time in its Private Equity Partners group, but also responsible for certain inflation hedge and energy assets at its BlackRock Alternative Assets unit.   She retired in 2017.  

Since retiring, Sallie has served on various public and private boards of directors and investment funds, including as a trustee of UNC-Chapel Hill and as a trustee of the SACSCOC, the accrediting body for most higher education institutions in the southeast.  

Sallie holds an MBA in finance and economics from Columbia University and a BA in English and political science from UNC-CH.  She and her husband have six children and seven grandchildren. They enjoy everything about North Carolina- from the mountains to the coast!

Dan Ward is currently CIO at Greenhawk Family Office in Raleigh, where he leads investment strategy and portfolio management. Greenhawk is a private investment firm with a focus on real estate investment and development, private equity, venture capital and public equity investments. He was previously CIO for the Virginia Tech Foundation for nearly 15 years and prior to that was Director of Research for a multi-family office. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, an MBA in finance from the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business, and is a CFA Charterholder.