With over thirty years of collective experience Strategic Asset Alliance principals have backgrounds in the banking, thrift, investment, life/health and property/casualty insurance industries.
Our first priority is to see that our clients are successful and profitable. We continue to assess our talents in order to meet our clients’ investment needs and strengthen our partnership by adding value to their bottom line.
Alton Cogert President and Chief Executive Officer
Alton Cogert, CFA, CPA, President, founded Strategic Asset Alliance in 1994 as the first investment consulting firm that exclusively serves insurance companies. He is a former member of the Board of Directors and former chairman of the Investment Committee of the National Alliance of Life Companies. He has served as a technical advisor to the NAIC Invested Assets Working Group and the Model Investment Law Working Group. He has been a guest lecturer at the University of Texas, and is editor of Insurer Investment Strategies.
Mr. Cogert has written several articles for BestWeek, including: “Piercing the Seven Deadly Myths of Insurance Investing,” “Insurance Investment Management Shifts to the WIRE Paradigm,” “Achieving Higher Risk Adjusted Returns,” “Outside Money Managers Performance Depends Upon How Well They’re Managed,” “The Search for a Truly Customized Investment Benchmark,” and “The Roller Coaster Ride Of Interest Rates: How To Protect Against Falling Off The Track.” His articles about the regulatory process include, “After 125 Years, the NAIC Needs to Get Back to Basics.”
Mr. Cogert has more than twenty years of financial institution experience, with more than half of that time in senior financial management. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst, Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Altenative Investment Analyst. Mr. Cogert holds a BS from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the University of Southern California.
Alton Cogert President and
Chief Executive Officer
Daniel Smereck Managing Director
Daniel Smereck, Managing Director, has over twelve years experience in investments, corporate finance, statistical analysis, and information technology. He most recently was Senior Vice President, Investments and Information Technology for a $1.2 billion medical malpractice insurer.
Mr. Smereck has an MS in finance from Boston College and an MBA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Daniel Smereck Managing Director
Michael C. Koetters Managing Director
Mr. Koetters has recently retired as Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of WellPoint, Inc., after 12 years of service. WLP, a licensee of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, is a publicly traded company on the NYSE and provides health care administration for some 25 million members. Prior to joining WellPoint, he was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Cincinnati Microwave, Inc., a publicly traded NASDAQ company. CMI was a direct marketer and manufacturer of consumer electronics. Prior to that, Mr. Koetters was Vice President and Treasurer of Armco Leasing, Inc. and Vice President and Treasurer of Armco Insurance Companies, Inc. Both of these companies were subsidiaries of Armco, Inc. a worldwide manufactures of steel, oil and aerospace products and provider of financial services.
Mr. Koetters is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and has a MBA from Xavier University. He served in the United States Army Finance Corp as Lieutenant. He held teaching positions at both Miami University and Sinclair College. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the CFA Institute. He has served and is serving on community and corporate boards: Boy Scouts of America, American Red Cross, National Chapter of Multiple Sclerosis, DCL Medical Laboratories, Inc., the Tri-Health Hospitals, Inc., and Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.
Michael C. Koetters Managing Director
John W. Davidson Managing Director
John W Davidson, CFA, Managing Director, joined SAA in 2009 after retiring as President of PartnerRe Asset Management Corporation, where he was responsible for PartnerRe’s invested assets. He also served as Chief Investment Officer and as a Director of Partner Reinsurance Company of the U.S and a member of the Senior Operating Management of PartnerRe Ltd. Since joining PartnerRe in the fall of 2001, he hired the staff, built the trading floor, and created the infrastructure to manage manage the global investments of PartnerRe.
Mr. Davidson brings over 30 years of industry experience. Prior to joining PartnerRe Asset Management Corporation, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer for two other investment management companies and has held various investment management positions with different companies throughout the years including Chief Investment Officer, Chief Economist, Head of Fixed Income, and Portfolio Manager.
His experiences and credentials have brought John W Davidson to the forefront as a TV commentator and conference speaker. In addition to his frequent past appearances on CNBC, CNNfn, Bloomberg TV and Yahoo FinanceVision, he has appeared as a special guest on Wall $treet Week With Louis Rukeyser. Reuters, Bloomberg, and other business press services often quote his views on the market. He has taught CFA preparation programs, as well as other courses offered by the Stamford and Boston CFA Societies, and courses at the National Graduate Trust Officers’ School. In addition for the past five years he has led the CIO Roundtable for the Strategic Asset Alliance Insurers Investment Forum.
Mr. Davidson’s industry experience is backed by a strong academic foundation, which includes an MBA in Finance and an MA in Mathematics from Boston College, as well as a BA, cum laude, in Economics from Amherst College. He also retains the professional designation of Chartered Financial Analyst. In addition, Mr. Davidson served 3 years active duty and 24 years in reserves as a Naval Officer for the US Navy, from which he retired as a Captain in 1994.
