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Kerry Benson

Managing Director and Chief Information Officer

PFM

Kerry Benson Headshot

For more than 10 years, Mr. Benson has served as Managing Director and Chief Information Officer for the PFM group of companies (www.pfm.com). PFM is the nation’s leading provider of independent financial advisory, investment advisory, consulting, and strategic planning services to governmental and not-for-profit organizations, with 39 offices located throughout the United States. PFM Asset Management is among the leading investment managers in the United States, and provides cash management, multi-asset class investment management and consulting services to local governments and other tax-exempt institutions. PFMAM has $112.2 billion in total assets under management.

Mr. Benson leads the technology strategy and execution for PFM’s group of companies and oversees firm-wide information technology initiatives, capital budget, and resources. The scope of his responsibility includes: application development, infrastructure management, cyber security and data loss protection, telecom management, outsourcing, business process redesign, facilities, and business continuity and disaster recovery. Mr. Benson has worked in the Information Technology field for more than 25 years. Prior to joining PFM, he spent six years in the Global Technology Services division for State Street Corporation where he served as Vice President. In that role, he managed a full-service IT organization, which served the mutual fund accounting and administration services organization, supporting over $250 billion in assets under management for BlackRock.

Prior to joining State Street, Mr. Benson spent six years in management consulting at Deloitte, rising to the level of Senior Manager. While at Deloitte, he worked with clients in the Public Sector, Financial Services, Healthcare, and Manufacturing industries, providing systems integration, project and program management, strategy, and business process reengineering services.

Mr. Benson was raised in an urban community in Queens, NY. He was an entrepreneur early in his career, founding an industrial work clothing company that served midsize to large businesses throughout New York City. For several years, Mr. Benson provided entrepreneurship training and mentoring to youth in the central New Jersey region. Mr. Benson does public speaking based on a youth oriented model he developed entitled “Seeds and Seasons”, which is designed to provide youth with a practical framework for achieving success.

Mr. Benson is a 2nd term member of the Board of Managers for The Philadelphia Foundation, where he serves on the Finance and Development committees. He is also a 2nd term board member for the University Science Center, where he serves on the Audit Committee. He is a recipient of the Philadelphia Business Journal 2011 Minority Leader of the Year Award. This award is given to notable minority leaders who have contributed not just in business, but to the benefit of their communities Mr. Benson received his MBA in Finance from New York University, Leonard N. Stern Business School and BBA in Information Systems from Bernard M. Baruch College.