Speaker biographies

Matthew P. Fink was employed by the Investment Company Institute, the national association of the mutual fund industry, from 1971 to 2004, and he served as its president from 1991 until 2004. He is the author of articles about and regularly lectures on mutual fund history. His latest book is The Rise of Mutual Funds: An Insider’s View (Oxford University Press, September 2008). Mr. Fink is a trustee of the Committee for Economic Development, a member of FINRA Investment Company Committee, and an independent director of the Oppenheimer Mutual Funds.

Paul Stevens has been president and CEO of the Investment Company Institute (ICI), the national association of U.S. investment companies, since 2004. He is also a director of the ICI Mutual Insurance Company. From 1993 to 1997, he was general counsel of ICI. Outside ICI, Mr. Stevens’s career has included varied roles in private law practice, corporate counsel, and government service. He has worked as a partner and leader of the financial services practice at Dechert LLP and has been the chief counsel for mutual funds and international enterprise at Charles Schwab & Co. Between 1985 and 1989, Mr. Stevens served as special assistant for national security affairs to President Ronald Reagan, as executive secretary and legal adviser of the National Security Council, and in other senior positions at the White House and the Pentagon. Upon leaving government service, he was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the department’s highest civilian decoration.

Peter J. Wallison holds the Arthur F. Burns Chair in Financial Policy Studies at AEI, where he codirects the Institute’s program on financial market deregulation. He previously practiced banking, corporate, and financial law at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Washington, D.C., and New York. From June 1981 to January 1985, Mr. Wallison was general counsel of the U.S. Treasury Department, where he had a significant role in the development of the Reagan administration’s proposals for deregulation in the financial services industry. He also served as general counsel to the Depository Institutions Deregulation Committee and participated in the Treasury Department’s efforts to deal with the debt held by less-developed countries. During 1986 and 1987, Mr. Wallison was White House counsel to President Ronald Reagan. Between 1972 and 1976, Mr. Wallison served first as special assistant to Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller and, subsequently, as counsel to Mr. Rockefeller when he was vice president of the United States.

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