Public Advisors to the Investment Committee
Public Advisors to the Investment Committee
Selected for a 3-year term by the Board, based on their professional education and credentials in the investment industry, and with the approval of the Board of Public Works. Public Advisors are not members, retirees or beneficiaries under any of the several systems. They have experience with the management and control of large investments; and have at least 10 years of substantial experience in any one or a combination of the following:
- A portfolio manager acting in a fiduciary capacity;
- An employee or principal of a trust institution, investment organization or endowment fund acting either in a management-related capacity or an investment-related capacity;
- A Chartered Financial Analyst in good standing; or
- A professional engaged in a public or private financial or investment field that is comparable to the fields listed in this item.
Joanna Pratt Public Advisor to the Investment Committee
Term: July 1, 2025—June 30, 2028
Public Advisor since 2025
Joanna Pratt is a leader in endowment and foundation investment management, currently advising large non-profits independently. Previously, she was Deputy Chief Investment Officer of Investure, an investment office for a select group of endowments and foundations. Before Investure, Ms. Pratt was the Managing Director of Markets and Risk for the Johns Hopkins University Investment Office.
Prior to Johns Hopkins, Ms. Pratt was the Director of Risk and Head of Fixed Income and Capital Markets at Stanford Management Company. Between college and business school, Ms. Pratt spent five years at Citadel Investment Group where she was a portfolio manager in energy commodities.
Ms. Pratt holds an MBA from Stanford University, an AB in Economics and Certificate in Finance from Princeton University, and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. She is an active member of the Women’s Advisory Board of Girl Scouts Nations Capital.
Sharcus Steen Public Advisor to the Investment Committee
Term: July 1, 2026—June 30, 2029
Public Advisor since 2023
Sharcus Steen is Chief Investment Officer for the University System of Maryland Foundation. He joined the Foundation in 2017 as the Director of Investments, overseeing and monitoring all investments for the USMF portfolio. He served as interim CIO from July 2022 until his appointment as CIO in October 2023.
Mr. Steen’s prior experience includes serving as a Senior Investment Director for Cambridge Associates, where he worked with nonprofit clients on general investment issues such as asset allocation strategy, manager selection, and investment program evaluation. Prior to joining Cambridge Associates, he worked in consulting both at Ericsson as a senior consultant in their strategy consulting division and at Booz Allen Hamilton as an Associate. Prior to consulting, Mr. Steen worked at Citigroup in a variety of roles including the Investment Bank’s Treasury department, Citigroup’s Pension Fund, and in Strategy and Mergers/Acquisitions.
Mr. Steen earned a Master’s in Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Master of Arts in Organizational Behavior with dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics and Psychology from Stanford University.
Monte Tarbox Public Advisor to the Investment Committee
Term: July 1, 2024—June 30, 2027
Public Advisor since 2018
Monte Tarbox was appointed in January 2026 by New York City Comptroller Mark Levine as Interim Chief Investment Officer for the Comptroller’s Office’s Bureau of Asset Management (BAM). In this role, Mr. Tarbox is responsible for leading BAM and spearheading Comptroller Levine’s responsibilities as investment advisor and custodian, overseeing the $308.83 billion investment portfolio of the city’s five public pension systems during the ongoing search for a permanent CIO.
Mr. Tarbox was from 2013 to 2023 the Executive Director, Investments for the National Electrical Benefit Fund (NEBF) which provides pension benefits to IBEW members and the electrical industry nation-wide. NEBF has over 500,000 participants, over 9,000 contributing employers and assets of $14 billion. At NEBF, he is responsible for the investment program, including asset allocation, investment policy and oversight of external investment managers. Mr. Tarbox has over 27 years of experience as an investment officer and advisor serving multi-employer pension funds and other institutional investors in the United States and Australia.
Prior to joining NEBF, Mr. Tarbox was CIO at the IAM National Pension Fund in Washington. Previous experience included five years with IFM Investors, a global investment firm that is wholly owned by over 30 Australian superannuation (pension) funds. He was responsible for working with North American institutional clients in the IFM Global Infrastructure Fund. He has held senior positions with investment consulting firms in Chicago, Washington, and Melbourne, Australia. During his consulting career, Mr. Tarbox did extensive work in capital markets research, asset allocation, investment policy, manager structure and research, brokerage analysis, corporate governance and performance evaluation. He also spent two years as the Executive Director of the AFL-CIO Center for Working Capital where he developed a trustee training and education program and created a trustee curriculum on fiduciary duty and investment responsibilities.
Mr. Tarbox has a BA from Carleton College (Magna cum laude) and an MBA from the University of Chicago with a specialization in finance. He also holds the Certified Employee Benefits Specialist designation awarded by the International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plans and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He has also served for 16 years as a Board Member on the Board of Investments for the Montgomery County Public Schools Retirement System in Rockville, Md.