A shareholder of the firm since 2007, Ms. Heier is an integral part of the firm’s leadership, serving on the Verus board of directors and management committee. In addition to overseeing the broad investment division and consulting teams, Ms. Heier provides investment consulting services to a handful of clients, including foundations, university endowments, and hospitals. She also serves as chair of the Verus alternative investments committee, which provides strategic guidance on research initiatives and vets investment manager recommendations.
Ms. Heier joined Verus in 2000 as a member of the manager research group and was responsible for investment manager and market research. She served as director of manager research from 2002 to 2005. She began providing consulting services to institutional investors in 2005. Ms. Heier is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, where she has presented on a broad range of topics such as capturing alpha from quantitative strategies and portfolio operations efficiencies.
Ms. Heier serves as a trustee on the board of her alma mater, University of Puget Sound. She is also active in numerous civic and industry groups, including the CFA Institute, CFA Society of Seattle, CAIA Association, Western Pension & Benefit Conference, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’s Innovators Network. In 2012, Ms. Heier was recognized as a “40 Under 40” honoree by the Puget Sound Business Journal.
Ms. Heier graduated from the University of Puget Sound with a bachelor of arts (BA) in business and public administration with an emphasis in finance and a minor in economics. She earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2001 and the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation in 2011.