Brian Fikkert

Author, Founder and Executive Director | The Chalmers Center

Bio:

Dr. Brian Fikkert is the founder and executive director of the Chalmers Center for Economic Development, a research and training center that is dedicated to helping churches and missionaries to declare the kingdom of God by bringing economic development and spiritual transformation to the poor.

Brian also serves as a professor of economics and community development at Covenant College. Brian received a Ph.D. in economics with highest honors from Yale University, and a B.A. in mathematics from Dordt College. Specializing in Economic Development and International Economics, Brian has been a consultant to the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the United States Agency for International Development.

He has published articles in both leading academic and popular journals and has recently co-authored the book When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor…and Yourself (Moody Publishers). Prior to coming to Covenant College, he was a professor at the University of Maryland and a research fellow at the Center for Institutional Reform and the Informal Sector.

He, his wife Jill, and their three children live in Chattanooga, Tennessee where he is an active member of New City Fellowship Presbyterian Church (PCA).

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Brian McClard

Director of Investments | RonBlue

Brian McClard is the director of investments at RonBlue. He is responsible for managing the company’s Investments Strategy Group (ISG) and overseeing the Investment Operations team. Brian and his team develop and implement investment strategies for the company that seek to increase the probability of successfully meeting clients’ financial planning goals. The ISG is responsible for constructing model portfolios, selecting investment instruments, and performing ongoing due diligence of those investments. The Investment Operations team executes daily investment operations and manages relevant operational business partners.

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Brad Webb

 Links:

Bio:

Brad Webb serves as Executive Vice President at RREAF Holdings. RREAF is a private real estate investment firm that currently holds over >$1B in assets under management, including 36 multifamily properties, 5 hospitality properties, and several multifamily and hospitality ground up construction projects. Brad has over 10 years’ experience in commercial real estate underwriting & finance. He began his career on church staff where he served as a Youth Pastor and then as the Missions Pastor. During that time Brad also co-founded a tee shirt design & printing company, which he ran for several years before making the transition into Banking.

Brad began his Banking career as a credit analyst and commercial real estate underwriter for Independent Bank. He was quickly promoted to Vice President, where he grew and managed a large commercial real estate loan portfolio. He then served as Senior Vice President at Bank OZK for several years before joining the RREAF team in late 2018. Brad has a BBA in Business from Baylor University.

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Brandt Brereton

Links: 

  • LinkedIn

Partner | Perpetuate Capital

Brandt Brereton is co-founder and partner of Perpetuate Capital. Perpetuate is a structured equity fund that marries Christian capital providers with Christian business owners seeking liquidity or growth capital and who also want to ensure the independence and ministry legacy of the business remains unchanged during and subsequent to their involvement.  

Prior to his participation in Perpetuate Capital, Brandt served as the President of Brereton, Hanley & Co., Inc. a boutique investment bank in Silicon Valley he founded in 1995 that advises middle market companies on M&A, Private Equity and Employee Stock Ownership (ESOP) / Employee Share Ownership Trust (ESOT) transactions.

God benched Brandt from investment banking two-thirds of the way through his thirty-year business career, and he became a senior executive of City Team Ministries International for two years. He was released back into investment banking after the Lord acutely focused him on His agenda for the world, infusing a renewed passion for educating Christian business owners on the ESOP sale alternative in order to perpetuate ministry supported by those client businesses.

With an equal depth and breadth of experience across the three most common liquidity events and leveraged finance generally, Brandt offers comparative education, advice and execution to owners struggling with the tension that exists between perpetuating the ministry impact of the business and the need for it to receive outside capital for either shareholder liquidity or growth.  

Brandt earned a BA in Finance from San Jose State University and has attended executive education courses at Harvard Business School.

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Brent Beshore

Links: 

CEO/Founder | Permanent Equity

Brent leads the firm, and more specifically the acquisition and diligence teams, while supporting portfolio company operators.  

Brent serves on the board of Love Columbia, a mid-Missouri-based non-profit. 

Brent is raising three young daughters with Dr. Erica Beshore, participating in church activities, and occasionally enjoying competitive tennis and bad golf. 


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