Staff
John-Austin Saviano
In 2009, John-Austin Saviano was named the founding president and CIO of the Berkeley Endowment Management Company after a competitive, nationwide search. Prior to joining BEMCO, Saviano was a senior consultant at Cambridge Associates, where he advised the investment committees and internal staff of a broad range of endowment and foundation clients. Previously, Saviano served on the investment team that oversaw the $5.6 billion endowment at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. He began his career financing the growth and operations of public and private companies, as both a senior creditor at a commercial bank, and as venture investor for a small public company and a family office. Saviano earned a B.A. in economics from the UC San Diego and an M.B.A. from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. He has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Josh Piuma
Josh Piuma joined the Berkeley Endowment Management Company in early 2010 as a founding member of the investment team. Josh brings with him over five years of direct investing experience split between public equities at ValueAct Capital and private equity at Jupiter Partners. He has assisted in a range of public markets investments and negotiated transaction activity across industries and of varying size. Josh began his career as an investment banking analyst at Merrill Lynch. He earned a B.A. in Economics from Georgetown University and an M.B.A from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Nicholas Werner
Nicholas Werner joined the Berkeley Endowment Management Company in mid 2010 as a Director of Investments. For the eight years prior to joining BEMCO, Nick worked at Ironwood Capital Management, a multi-billion dollar fund of hedge funds, where he most recently served as a managing director, head of the research department, and as a member of the Investment and Management Committees. Nick began his career as an analyst in the real estate investment banking group at Banc of America Securities. Nick graduated with a B.A. in Economics from Dartmouth College and has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Christie Zarkovich
Christie Zarkovich joined the Berkeley Endowment Management Company in mid 2010 as a Director of Investments from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation where she focused on broad marketable and derivative investments strategies. Prior to joining the Hewlett Foundation, she was a member of the investment team at the A.I. duPont Testamentary Trust and responsible for establishing the Real Assets portfolio. Christie began her career in 1997 at the New York Mercantile Exchange. She has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, an M.B.A. and M.S. in Finance from the University of Denver, and a B.S. in Economics from The Colorado School of Mines.
