Chris Brightman

Chris Brightman is Chief Executive Officer, Chief Investment Officer, a partner of the firm, and member of the board of Research Affiliates, a global asset manager dedicated to profoundly impacting the investment community through its insights and products. The firm creates investment strategies and tools based upon award-winning research and delivers these solutions in partnership with some of the world’s premier financial institutions.

As CEO, Chris leads the firm by establishing its business strategy and policies to execute on its mission of conducting cutting-edge research and advancing innovative product development for the benefit of investors. As CIO, Chris leads the investment teams and supervises research and development activities, provision of index strategies, and management of client portfolios. With Rob Arnott, he is co-portfolio manager on the PIMCO All Asset and All Asset All Authority funds and the PIMCO RAE™ funds. Chris joined Research Affiliates in 2010 as the director of strategy and head of investment management, became CIO in 2014, and CEO in 2021.

Chris has four decades of investment management experience in equities, fixed income, currency, and asset allocation. He has traded securities and derivatives, managed portfolios, supervised quantitative product development, and allocated assets to alternative investment strategies. He also has extensive organizational and people management expertise.

Before joining Research Affiliates in 2010, Chris was the chief executive officer of the University of Virginia Investment Management Company for five years and the chief investment officer of Strategic Investment Group for four years. He has also served as the board chair of The Investment Fund for Foundations (TIFF), director of global equity strategy at UBS Asset Management, senior portfolio manager at Brinson Partners, vice president and head of asset/liability management at Maryland National Bank, and associate national bank examiner at the Comptroller of the Currency.

Chris received a BS in finance from Virginia Tech and an MBA from Loyola University, Maryland. Chris holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of CFA Institute and CFA Society Orange County. He serves on the board and as chair of the Investment Committee of the Virginia Tech Foundation.