our team

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 Kathryn Wilkens, Ph.D., CAIA, is the president and founder of Pearl Quest LLC, providing a host of research, operational, and educational consulting services in the areas of investments and data science since 2011. The current focus is on product engineering with machine learning and AI agents.

Her other professional activities include teaching for Rutgers Masters of Financial Analysis program, and regularly contributing to Practical Applications which are reports written for Portfolio Management Research  of With.Intelligence. 

In the past she was an assistant editor for the Journal of Alternative Investments, a subject matter expertise for Wiley's Efficient Learning Platform (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst exams) and a curriculum advisor to the Financial Data Professional Institute, a program that provides financial practitioners with machine learning knowledge and basic programming skills. She is also a widely published research associate with the Center for International Securities and Derivatives Markets at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

  Tammi Edwards, MBA, brings a wealth of experience and expertise to our consulting firm.  Her distinguished career in the financial sector includes working in operations and business development at a prominent hedge fund, being a director at a private family office, and most recently as COO of an investment advisor.

Tammi’s understanding of the alternative investment landscape, including mutual funds and private funds, makes her an invaluable advisor to our team.  As an advisor, she lends her experience and knowledge to help drive our mission to provide top-tier consulting and academic services to clients.  Her leadership and expertise ensure that we remain at the forefront of industry advancements and consistently deliver value to our clients.

 Lyric Gibbs, BA, graduated cum laude from Florida International University with a bachelor's degree in biology and is now expanding her expertise by studying computer science. She originally joined Pearl Quest as an administrative assistant before pursuing a career in biology, gaining valuable procedural experience in research and environmental labs.

Recognizing her strong analytical and organizational skills, Pearl Quest welcomed her back in a more strategic operations role, where she now plays a key part in optimizing efficiency and supporting the firm’s growth in financial and machine learning initiatives. 

 Urbi Garay has a PhD in finance from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and holds an MA in International and development economics from Yale University and a BA in economics from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello. He is a full professor of finance at IESA Business School and a chaired member of the Venezuelan Academy of Economic Sciences. He has been a visiting professor at several business schools in the United States, Latin America, and Europe; and has been involved with CAIA since 2008. His research focuses on alternative investments (mainly real estate, hedge funds, and art) and emerging markets. 

Mr. Garay is the author of the real estate and structured products chapters of CAIA's Alternative Investments Level II book, as well as the Workbook, Level II. He has published seven books and more than 30 articles in peer reviewed finance and business journals, including the Journal of Alternative Investments, Emerging Markets Review, Corporate Governance: An International Review, and the Journal of Business Research.

  Stuart McCrary, CAIA, is a trader and portfolio manager who specializes in traditional and alternative investments, quantitative valuation, risk management, and financial software. Before joining BRG, he spent thirteen years consulting on a wide range of capital markets issues including litigation consulting, valuation, modeling, and risk management. Previously, he was president of Frontier Asset Management, a market-neutral hedge fund. He held positions with Fenchurch Capital Management as senior options trader and CS First Boston as vice president and market maker, where he traded OTC options and mortgage-backed securities. Prior to that, he was a vice president with the Securities Groups and a portfolio manager with Comerica Bank.

Mr. McCrary is the author of several books, including How to Create and Manage a Hedge Fund: A Professional’s Guide (John Wiley & Sons, 2002).