On September 1st, 2023, The Certified Equity Professional Institute (CEPI) at Santa Clara University appointed Nathan O’Connor as the Chairman of their Advisory Board. Nathan O’Connor, who is a Managing Director at Equity Methods, has been involved with the CEPI for 6 years as an Advisory Board Member.   

“The Certified Equity Professional designation is our industry’s standard for quickly conveying mastery and expertise in the various aspects of administering equity compensation awards. In recent years, equity compensation has become a dynamic and fast-moving industry as practitioners struggle to stay on top of advances in technology, volatility in their share pools, changing award designs, higher demand in the labor market for more competitive compensation packages, and changing pay package structures. Also, geopolitical uncertainty and a changing economic climate have made equity markets relatively volatile in recent years. This directly increases the difficulty of designing, administering, and reporting for equity compensation, because there are more special cases that arise. In these cases, being connected to our CEP community can prove to be extremely valuable,” said Nathan.   

The Advisory Board helps guide the overall strategic direction of the CEPI, bringing expert thought leadership critical to the CEPI’s mission of expanding the visibility of the CEP designation into new markets. Nathan joined the advisory board in September 2017, holding roles in the finance committee, nominations committee, and the executive committee. Some of his prominent accomplishments on these committees include overseeing a substantial expansion of the size of the board, providing financial modeling support for the institute, as well as developing a plan for future continuity of leadership by identifying two future nominations committee chairman for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 business years respectively.    

Nathan brings over 17 years of quantitative consulting experience in the equity compensation industry to this role. He has previously served on the Board of the Las Vegas NASPP as Program Chair, as well as the Board of the Financial Executives International’s Arizona Chapter as the Chair of Communications. Nathan has instructed MBA students in Financial Management at the University of Arizona and led internal derivatives workshops at Equity Methods.   

As chairman, Nathan’s main responsibility will be to lead the advisory board in its mission to keep the CEP Institute apprised of the needs and best interests of the equity compensation profession. Serving as a liaison between the Institute and the broader equity compensation profession, the board has future plans including publishing a new reference resource about how equity compensation works at private companies, increasing networking opportunities within the CEP community, and preparing for the next elections cycle in 2024.   

Nathan will hold a one-year term as chairman, and from there will remain on the executive committee until late August of 2025 to assist the subsequent chair with their work.  

View Nathan O’Connor’s full professional biography here.