Ralph Layman

Background

About Ralph Layman

Ralph is the Chairman of Blue Ocean Technologies, LLC, a technology company facilitating the operation of the “Blue Ocean Session” which enables the trading of US listed equity securities from 8PM - 4AM ET; and is Chairman of the 20-20 Investment Association, a non profit emerging markets global peer group that engages in investment related dialogues with key stakeholders in developing markets. During Ralph’s 40 year investment career, he was Vice Chairman of State Street Global Advisors, serving on the Executive Management Group and Investment Committee For SSGA. Prior to SSGA’s acquisition of GE Asset Management in 2016, Ralph spent 25 years at GE, as EVP & CIO and lead portfolio mgr. for GEAM’s International Equity strategy. He was a Trustee for the GE Pension Trust & member of GEAM’s Asset Allocation Committee, which he chaired in 2003 & 2004. Ralph also served on the boards of the Elfun Funds, GE’s Savings & Securities Trusts & GEAM London office. Before joining GE, Ralph started his career as an analyst and portfolio mgr. for Wausau Insurance Company’s Retirement Trust, and moved on to become a global portfolio mgr. for Templeton Int'l. While there, he led the firm’s efforts in forming Templeton’s Emerging Markets Fund in 1987, the first listed emerging equity fund in the U.S. Ralph also represented Templeton on the advisory boards of two Unit Trusts—The India Fund & The Bangkok Fund—from 1985-1989. Ralph is a holder of the CFA designation, has served as a member of the New York Stock Exchange Int'l Capital Markets Advisory Committee; and from 2003 to 2016 represented GE as a delegate, including serving as Chairman in 2007, to the Int'l Pensions Conference, an annual CIO meeting of 40 large global pension & sovereign wealth funds. He also serves on an advisory board to BuildOn, a non-profit group that partners after school service programs in U.S. inner cities, with communities in developing countries to build schools internationally. Ralph holds a BS in Economics, an MS in Finance, and is a member of the class of 1979 Applied Security Analysis & Portfolio Mgt. Program of the Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison.