Governance
Investment Governance & Fiduciary Decision-Making
How fiduciaries and institutional decision-makers structure, document, monitor, and revisit investment decisions.
Retirement and investment expertise, grounded in research and practice
Dr. Brian Leite, CFA, CFP, CPFA, CEBS, works across retirement, investment governance, institutional strategy, and fiduciary decision-making, drawing on two decades of senior financial-services experience and his current research and academic work.
Bringing research and real-world experience to investment decisions
Dr. Brian Leite, CFA, CFP, CPFA, CEBS
Dr. Brian Leite is Director and Endowed Chair of the Jean and David W. Wallace Department of Business & Economics at Salve Regina University. He spent over two decades as a financial services executive, including Deputy Chief Investment Officer and Head of Consultant Relations at Fidelity Investments.
His research examines how behavior, institutional structures, and market forces shape investment decisions and financial outcomes, spanning behavioral finance, asset pricing, ESG investing, and retirement strategy.
DBA
DePaul University
CFA
Chartered Financial Analyst
CFP
Certified Financial Planner
CPFA
Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor
CEBS
Certified Employee Benefit Specialist
The Retirement Black Box
Decoding the Hidden Architecture of Target-Date Funds
Trillions of dollars are invested in target-date funds, which have become the default retirement investment for millions of American workers. Yet two funds both labeled "2035" can deliver very different outcomes. Brian's book explains why and what to look at instead of the year on the label.
What a glide path really decides. How a fund shifts risk over time, and why that shapes results more than the target year.
The choices behind the label. Asset allocation, active versus passive management, and fees are decisions that compound over decades.
How to evaluate a default. A practical framework for advisors and retirement committees comparing funds side by side.
Pre-order
Four areas that shape Brian’s work
What Brian Studies
Retirement
Retirement & Default Investment Design
How target-date funds, QDIAs, glide paths, fees, and embedded assumptions shape participant outcomes.
Institutional
Institutional Investment Strategy
Portfolio construction, investment platforms, product architecture, distribution strategy, and institutional market questions.
Behavior
Behavioral Finance & Decision-Making
How incentives, defaults, information, and cognitive bias influence investor and institutional behavior.
Salve Regina University
Director and Endowed Chair, Jean and David W. Wallace Department of Business & Economics
Ways to work with Brian
How Brian Helps
Brian works with fiduciaries, institutional organizations, retirement-plan stakeholders, advisory firms, and professional audiences on investment governance, retirement strategy, and complex investment decision-making. Engagements range from focused governance work to strategic institutional consulting, executive education, and speaking.
01
Investment Governance & Retirement Strategy
Governance assessments, default-investment and QDIA oversight, fiduciary process, and retirement-plan decision-making. Specialized governance engagements may be conducted through Fiduciary Governance Advisors.
02
Strategic & Institutional Advisory
Selected consulting engagements involving retirement strategy, investment platforms, product architecture, distribution strategy, and broader institutional investment issues, sometimes undertaken in collaboration with strategic partners.
03
Education, Speaking & Media
Plain-language presentations for boards, committees, advisors, students, industry audiences, and media that translate investment research and industry complexity into practical insights.
Insights on Investment Governance, Retirement & Investor Behavior
Articles from Brian
Press & Media
Research-informed, practitioner-grounded commentary on retirement investing, investment governance, financial decision-making, target-date funds, and the forces shaping individual and institutional investment outcomes.
Let's Talk
Questions about investment governance, retirement strategy, institutional consulting, speaking, media, or the book? Send a note, and Brian will get back to you.