Wally Fikri, CFA, Partner

Wally Fikri, CFA, partner, leads institutional business development in the Western region of the United States at William Blair Investment Management. He has significant experience working with sophisticated plan sponsors and investment consultants. Wally was the past chair of the investment committee overseeing the William Blair 401(k) plan and a cash balance defined benefit plan. Before joining William Blair in 2004, he was a partner with Brinson Partners (now UBS Global Asset Management). There, Wally managed multi-asset portfolios as a member of the asset allocation and risk management group. He started in client service and later established the consultant relations team. Wally began his career in the financial services practice at KPMG Peat Marwick in 1991. He has held leadership roles at SACRS, served as a board member of CFA Society Chicago, and is an active member of the CFA Institute, NCTR, and Institutional Investor. Wally currently serves on the governing board of the Civic Leadership Foundation. He is a CFA charterholder and successfully completed all levels of the CPA (CPA is inactive). Wally received a B.S. in accountancy from Northern Illinois University and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.