Our experienced and knowledgeable staff is available to share their expertise at your next event or seminar. To schedule one of our members to speak to your group, call The Baker Group at: 800.937.2257 or send an email inquiry directly to your speaker of choice.
1601 NW Expressway, 20th Floor
Oklahoma City, OK 73118-1426
Phone: 405.415.7200
Toll-Free: 800.937.2257
Fax: 405.415.7392
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Managing Director
Ryan W. Hayhurst joined The Baker Group in 1991 and is a Managing Director and member of the Board of Directors. Hayhurst serves as Manager of the Financial Strategies Group and oversees the design and implementation of investment and asset/liability strategies for financial institutions. He is also integrally involved in the continued development of the firm’s proprietary software designed to assist clients in the management of their investment portfolios and their overall interest rate risk profiles. Hayhurst regularly develops and presents educational seminars nationwide, with a focus on investment and interest rate risk management. He is a frequent speaker at financial institution conventions and investment conferences, and has served as a faculty member of several national and regional banking schools. Hayhurst holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Oklahoma.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Jeffrey F. Caughron is a Managing Director with The Baker Group, where he serves as President and Chief Executive Officer. Caughron has worked in financial markets and the securities industry since 1985, always with an emphasis on banking, investments, and interest rate risk management. He previously served as the Chief Operations Officer of the firm, and has been Director of Asset/Liability Management since 2008.
Caughron’s trading experience includes several years on the Treasury desk for an international bank on Wall Street, with subsequent positions trading mortgage-backed securities and other taxable fixed income products for regional broker/dealers. He has expertise in broad asset/liability management issues, working with institutional accounts on controlling interest rate risk exposures and maximizing returns. He has published numerous articles on various risk management topics throughout the years, and is frequently quoted in the financial press. Caughron has served on the faculty of several banking schools, and has done consulting work overseas for foreign banks. He earned his degree in economics from the University of Oklahoma.
Managing Director
Phil Stenseth is a Managing Director of The Baker Group, where he is responsible for directing the firm’s fixed income trading operation. He is instrumental in the firm’s development of bank investment portfolio and interest rate risk management strategies, researching new investment products, and monitoring bank regulatory and compliance issues. Stenseth has revised and continues to enhance the firm’s proprietary software programs designed to assist clients in the management of their investment portfolios and the overall interest rate risk of the financial institutions. He regularly conducts educational seminars for banking groups and associations nationwide. He has addressed various bank trade associations, serves as a faculty member of several national and regional banking schools, and has been frequently published in many banking journals and periodicals.
Stenseth holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from the University of Arizona and is a Chartered Financial Analyst®. He is a member of the Association for Investment Management and Research and the Financial Analysts Society. Stenseth is registered as a general securities principal with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Associate Partner
Lester F. Murray joined The Baker Group in 1986 and is an Associate Partner within the firm’s Financial Strategies Group. He helps community financial institutions develop and implement investment and interest rate risk management strategies. Before joining The Baker Group, he worked at two broker/dealer banks in Oklahoma City and was also an Assistant National Bank Examiner. Lester also authors the firm’s weekly newsletters and maintains the Market Moment Blog. A graduate of Oklahoma State University, he holds Bachelor of Science degrees in finance and economics.
Director of Credit Union and Municipality Strategies
Andrew Okolski is the Director of Credit Union and Municipality Strategies at The Baker Group. He works directly with clients in a broad range of areas, including ALM, education, portfolio management, interest rate risk management, strategic planning, regulatory issues, and wholesale market strategies for credit unions. Before joining the firm, he spent 15 years building and managing a financial strategies group at a New York broker/dealer with a specific focus on the credit union industry. Okolski holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Long Island University – C.W. Post.
Senior Vice President
Matt Harris, CFA, is Senior Vice President at The Baker Group, where he serves as Assistant Director of Asset/Liability Management. He started with the firm in 2007 as an intern while attending the University of Texas-Austin, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in government and economics. In 2010, he joined the firm’s Financial Strategies Group at the home office in Oklahoma City, where he works directly with bankers, examiners, and auditors regarding fixed income portfolio analysis and asset/liability management. Harris is also involved in the development and testing of The Baker Group’s proprietary bond accounting and interest rate risk software.
Senior Vice President
Drew Simmons has worked in the field of finance since 2003. He serves as Senior Vice President at The Baker Group, where he works with community bank needs pertaining to interest rate risk, asset/liability management, and fixed income portfolio management. Simmons created The Baker Group’s municipal credits database, which provides clients with specific credit merits essential to the credit analysis process. He also provides research and data analysis of mortgage-backed securities and other structured products related to client positions. He regularly speaks at banking schools and financial seminars, and consults with banks on a wide array of asset/liability management issues. Simmons holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and earned his master’s degree in finance from Oklahoma City University’s Meinders School of Business.
Vice President of Financial Strategies Group
Dana Sparkman, CFA, is Senior Vice President in the Financial Strategies Group and runs the firm’s Municipal Credit Department. She manages a municipal credit database that covers more than 150,000 municipal bonds, providing clients with specific credit metrics essential in assessing municipal credit. Sparkman earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Central Oklahoma.
Vice President of Financial Strategies Group
Dale Sheller is Senior Vice President in the Financial Strategies Group at The Baker Group. He joined the firm in 2015 after spending six years as a bank examiner with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Sheller holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and a master’s degree in business administration from Oklahoma State University. He works with clients on interest rate risk management, liquidity risk management, and regulatory issues.
