Meet the Full Discretion Team

Matt Eagan is an executive vice president, portfolio manager and co-head of the full discretion team at Loomis, Sayles & Company. He is also a member of the firm’s Board of Directors. Matt has 31 years of investment industry experience as a portfolio manager and fixed income analyst. Matt joined Loomis Sayles in 1997 as a fixed income research analyst for the multisector fixed income team and became a portfolio manager in 2000. He was promoted to co-head of the full discretion team in 2012. Previously, Matt was a senior fixed income analyst at Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and a senior credit analyst at BancBoston Financial Company. He earned a BA from Northeastern University and an MBA from Boston University. Matt is a co-founder of the Loomis Sayles Allies group, which is dedicated to supporting the firm’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and a member of the leadership council for Boston Scores, a nonprofit that helps youth build essential life skills and character through soccer and team-based enrichment programs. He is also a member of the Boston Economic Club and CFA Society Boston.

Elaine Stokes is an executive vice president, portfolio manager and co-head of the full discretion team at Loomis, Sayles & Company. She is also a member of the firm’s Board of Directors. Elaine has 34 years of investment industry experience. Elaine joined Loomis Sayles in 1988. Prior to becoming a portfolio manager in 2000, she worked in high yield, global and emerging markets as a senior fixed income trader and portfolio specialist. Elaine was promoted to co-head of the full discretion team in 2012. She earned a BS from St. Michael’s College. Elaine is co-head and founder of the Loomis Sayles Women@Work network and an active participant in mentorship programs at Loomis Sayles and with external industry groups, including WOMEN Unlimited. She is a member of the Financial Services Women’s Executive Alliance (FSWE), a member of the St. Michael’s College board of trustees and board member emeritus for Strong Women, Strong Girls.

Brian Kennedy is a vice president of Loomis, Sayles & Company and co-portfolio manager on the full discretion team. He has 31 years of investment industry experience. Brian joined Loomis Sayles in 1994 as a securitized and government bond trader. He transitioned to the high yield trading desk in 2001, where he initiated the firm’s trading of bank loans, while also trading high yield, convertibles, derivatives and equities. Brian joined the full discretion team as product manager in 2009 and was promoted to co-portfolio manager of the investment grade bond product suite in 2013. In 2016, he began co-managing the entire multisector suite of products. Brian began his investment industry career as a fund accountant at the Boston Company. He earned a BS from Providence College and an MBA from Babson College. Brian is actively involved in the Loomis Sayles Undergraduate Women’s Investment Network (UWIN) and Undergraduate Summer Internship Development (USID) Program, as well as mentorship programs at Loomis Sayles and with external industry groups, including WOMEN Unlimited.

Todd Vandam is a vice president of Loomis, Sayles & Company and co-portfolio manager on the full discretion team. He co-manages a suite of high yield products, strategic alpha products and is the leader of the firm’s high yield sector team. Todd has 27 years of investment industry experience. Todd joined Loomis Sayles in 1994 as a member of the high yield trading desk and later became an investment strategist for the full discretion team. He was promoted to co-portfolio manager in 2009. Prior to joining Loomis Sayles, Todd completed the US Army Airborne and US Army Ranger Schools. He was a Field Artillery Officer in the US Army, most recently working as a Fire Support Officer stationed in Panama. He earned a BA from Brown University. Todd is a member of CFA Society Boston. He is actively involved in the Loomis Sayles Undergraduate Women’s Investment Network (UWIN) and Undergraduate Summer Internship Development (USID) Program as a mentor, as well as the firm’s internal mentorship program.

Brian Hess is a vice president of Loomis, Sayles & Company and a global markets fixed income strategist for the full discretion team. In this role, he focuses on evaluating opportunities within the international fixed income and currency markets, both in developed and emerging markets. Brian partners with the macro, sovereign, and credit research teams to perform targeted global macroeconomic research, provide comprehensive analysis of international bond and currency markets, and generate portfolio investment recommendations for the non-dollar and global sectors of the full discretion products. Brian joined Loomis Sayles in 2014 from Brandywine Global Investment Management, where he was an associate portfolio manager on a range of dedicated global and international fixed income strategies. Prior to that, he was a research analyst for Brandywine, where he focused on analyzing trends in economic growth, inflation, and sovereign creditworthiness around the world. Brian earned a BA from Ursinus College.

Peter Sheehan is a vice president of Loomis, Sayles & Company and a credit strategist for the full discretion team. In this role, he works in concert with the customized research analysts to identify potential high conviction discretionary alpha opportunities and oversees the underwriting and investment recommendation of each idea. Peter joined Loomis Sayles in 2012 from the MBA program at Boston College. Previously, he was an associate at CapX Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm, specializing in lower middle market and stressed credit investing. Peter began his investment industry career in the credit training program at Bank of America/LaSalle Bank. He earned a BA from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.

Scott Darci is a vice president of Loomis, Sayles & Company and an equity and derivatives strategist for the full discretion team. In this role, he focuses on the full discretion and strategic alpha products, and serves as a firm-wide derivatives resource. Scott is also a portfolio manager for the flexible income strategy. He has 15 years of investment industry experience in cross-asset derivative strategy, risk management and portfolio construction. Scott joined Loomis Sayles in 2008 as a member of the equity derivatives team responsible for researching, implementing and monitoring derivative strategies. Prior to Loomis Sayles, he worked for Anglo Irish Bank, where he was a senior associate focused on currency and interest rate risk management derivative strategies. Scott earned an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and an MS from Boston University.

Bryan Hazelton is a vice president of Loomis, Sayles & Company and a portfolio strategist for the full discretion team. In this role, he works directly with the portfolio managers on structuring the core plus and multi-sector products. Additionally, Brian works closely with the credit strategist on investment grade credit selection across all full discretion mandates. He has 14 years of investment industry experience. Bryan joined Loomis Sayles in 2011 as an investment analyst. Previously, he was an assistant portfolio analyst at Hartford Investment Management Company where he worked directly with portfolio managers helping structure the insurance portfolio mandate. Bryan earned a BS from Bentley University and currently is a Wharton MBA candidate.

Christopher Romanelli is vice president of Loomis, Sayles & Company and a portfolio strategist for the full discretion team. In this role, he works closely with the team’s credit strategist on the high yield credit portion of the team’s portfolios and directly with the portfolio management team on portfolio structuring. Christopher has 16 years of investment industry experience. Christopher joined Loomis Sayles in 2010 as a portfolio analyst and in 2013, he joined the full discretion team as an investment analyst, covering high yield. Previously, he was a senior associate at PanAgora Asset Management where he provided operational support to the investment process. Christopher earned a BS from Gordon College and an MS from Boston College.

Shong Xiao is an investment analyst on the full discretion team at Loomis, Sayles & Company. In this role, he focuses on securitized and convertible bonds, and serves as the dedicated support for the strategic alpha strategy. Shong creates frameworks to screen for attractive investment opportunities and is actively involved in investment strategy meetings on portfolio construction, tactical trading and relative value. Shong joined Loomis Sayles in 2010 as a performance analyst, working in tandem with portfolio management teams to create and maintain GIPS composites, and leading the annual GIPS verification process with external auditors. In 2014, he joined the client service group as a senior client portfolio analyst, responsible for maintaining and supporting a diverse group of clients across multiple strategies with account types including public and private pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and sub-advisory relationships. Shong joined the full discretion team in 2018. He earned a BA from the University of Rochester and an MBA from Boston University.

Chidie Okpoebo is an investment analyst on the full discretion team at Loomis, Sayles & Company, where he focuses on corporates. Chidie joined Loomis Sayles in 2013 as a client portfolio analyst, supporting client service teams and addressing client requests for investment information. He was promoted to senior client portfolio analyst in 2016, joined the high yield trading desk in 2018 and moved to the full discretion team in 2021. Previously, Chidie was a senior audit associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He earned a BA from the College of the Holy Cross and a joint MS and MBA from Northeastern University.

Elizabeth DiTomasso is an investment associate on the full discretion team at Loomis, Sayles & Company. In this role, she supports the team’s portfolio strategists by gathering portfolio and security data, building spreadsheets to monitor client portfolios and assisting in tracking and monitoring portfolio risks. Elizabeth began her investment industry career when she joined Loomis Sayles in 2020 after completing internship rotations in the finance department and full discretion team. She earned a BS from Bentley University.

Nicole Ranzinger is a vice president and senior research analyst at Loomis, Sayles & Company. As part of customized research, she provides deep-dive fundamental analysis focused on high-conviction investment ideas for the full discretion team. Nicole has 10 years of investment industry experience. Nicole joined Loomis Sayles in 2015 as a senior credit research associate and was later promoted to research analyst and then to senior research analyst covering distressed and special situation credits, with a primary focus on the energy and chemical sectors. She joined customized research in 2020. Previously, Nicole was an exploration and production (E&P) research analyst at Capital One Securities, where she covered 50 E&P companies. She earned a BS from Tulane University.

Ryan Yackel is a vice president and senior research analyst at Loomis, Sayles & Company. As part of customized research, he provides deep-dive fundamental analysis focused on high-conviction investment ideas for the full discretion team. Ryan has 14 years of investment industry experience. Ryan joined Loomis Sayles in 2013 as a credit research analyst and was later promoted to senior credit research analyst focused on the technology and media sectors. He also served as the high yield sector team coordinator, acting as liaison between the sector team and credit research. Ryan joined customized research in 2020. He earned a BS in finance from Boston College and an MBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Zach South is a vice president and senior research analyst at Loomis, Sayles & Company. As part of customized research, he provides deep-dive fundamental analysis focused on high-conviction investment ideas for the full discretion team. Zach has 14 years of investment industry experience. Zach joined Loomis Sayles in 2010 as a senior credit research associate, was later promoted to research analyst and then to senior credit research analyst where he focused on investments in the technology sector. He joined customized research in 2020. Zach earned a BS in business administration from Bowling Green State University and an MBA from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.

Fred Sweeney is a vice president of Loomis, Sayles & Company and investment director for the Loomis Sayles full discretion team. In this role, he is responsible for articulating the team’s investment process, performance, positioning and outlook with clients, consultants and prospects. Fred has 34 years of investment industry experience. Fred joined Loomis Sayles in 1995 as a fixed income client portfolio manager, responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with global institutional clients. He was later promoted to director of consultant relations, a role he held until joining the full discretion team as an investment director in 2013. Prior to joining Loomis Sayles, Fred was a senior investment consultant at Meketa Investment Group. Prior to that, he was a vice president of institutional sales at New England Investment Associates. Fred began his career at John Hancock as a pension analyst. He earned a BS from Bentley College. Fred is a member of CFA Society Boston and holds FINRA licenses 3, 7 and 63.

David Zielinski is a vice president of Loomis, Sayles & Company and an investment director for the full discretion team. In this role, he is responsible for articulating the team’s investment process, performance, positioning and outlook with clients, consultants and prospects. David has 24 years of investment industry experience. David joined Loomis Sayles in 2021. Previously, he was a managing director and client portfolio manager at Manulife Investment Management, where he represented the firm’s global multisector fixed income strategies. Prior to this, David was a vice president and senior product engineer for liability driven investing and fixed income index strategies at State Street Global Advisors. He earned a BS from Bryant University and an MBA from Babson College.

Kristen Doyle is a vice president of Loomis, Sayles & Company and an associate investment director for the full discretion team. In this role, she is responsible for supporting the growth and retention of full discretion assets. Kristen has 14 years of investment industry experience. Kristen joined Loomis Sayles in 2012 as a portfolio analyst where she completed client and ad hoc reporting, prepared meeting materials and provided support to the relationship managers. She joined the full discretion team as an investment analyst in 2014. Previously, Kristen was a registered client associate at Mayflower Advisors. She earned a BS from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College and an MBA from Boston University. Kristen is actively involved in the Loomis Sayles Undergraduate Summer Internship Development (USID) Program.