January 21, 2020

Alumni Voices Grow on University’s Board of Trustees

Welcome to the board: Financial Engineering alumnus Jeff Sherman (pictured here on CNBC's "Closing Bell") and Drucker School doctoral program member Rudolph Estrada are the two newest appointees to CGU's Board of Trustees

Earlier this month, the CGU Board of Trustees welcomed the arrival of two new members with outstanding professional records who are also members of the university’s alumni community.

At its first meeting of the new year, the board welcomed new trustees Rudolph I. Estrada, founder and chief executive officer of Estradagy Business Advisors, and Jeffrey J. Sherman, who is deputy chief investment officer of DoubleLine.

“Rudy and Jeff not only bring to our board their considerable experience as leaders in investment and banking circles, but they’re also part of the CGU family,” said Board Chair Tim Kirley. “They understand our university’s culture from the inside, and that’s an invaluable perspective to have.”

According to the Harvard Business Review, the best boards thrive and succeed with a mix of high-powered insiders and outsiders.

Estrada, who received his bachelor’s in business from Cal State LA and a master’s from USC in management, is an alumnus of the Executive Management program at the Drucker School of Management; his son, Mark, is a 2013 Drucker MBA graduate.

Sherman holds a bachelor’s in applied mathematics from the University of the Pacific and a master’s in financial engineering from CGU. He is a CFA charterholder.

Deep experience, strong CGU ties

With the addition of Estrada and Sherman, the roster of active members on the university’s Board of Trustees now increases to 24. Nearly half—ten members—are university alumni.

In addition to Estrada and Sherman, other recent trustee appointments are Wen Chang, Dallas Haun, and alumni Jeanne Holm, Tom Hsieh, and Carolyn Stephens. For more about the board, visit their biographies here.

“We have some truly outstanding new members of our governing board,” Kirley said. “It’s so important to have members who have a stake in the organization that they’re helping lead.”

It’s vital, says Board Chair Tim Kirley, “to have members who have a stake in the organization that they’re helping lead.”

Estrada founded his firm in 1987 to provide a full spectrum of banking support, ranging from asset allocation, business planning, and budgetary planning and analysis to corporate governance counsel, debt placement, equity fund management, and much more.

Today his firm serves as a principal business lending consultant to more than 65 commercial banks and supports hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses with their financial and strategic planning.

Estrada is also the lead board member on the Board of Directors for East West Bank, a $34 billion international commercial bank.

Sherman oversees and administers his organization’s Investment Management sub-committee as well as serves as lead portfolio manager for multi-sector and derivative-based strategies.

In 2018, Money Management Executive named Sherman as one of “10 Fund Managers to Watch,” and his face might be familiar to viewers of shows on CNBC, Yahoo Finance, and other media outlets.

In addition to contributing to these shows, Sherman can be heard regularly on his podcast The Sherman Show (@ShermanShowPod), featuring guest interviews and insights into DoubleLine’s views.