MEET THE TEAM
Sarah Jones III
Chairwomen & Founder
Sarah Jones III is Chairwomen of the Board and Founder of PRS Financial Group. Under Mrs. Jones' leadership, PRS Financial Group has grown from a small, family-owned business to become one of the largest finance firms in the South.
The firm was also #17 on The Times-Picayune list of “Fastest Growing Companies”, and has been named a Best Workplace for five of the past six years by the New Orleans CityBusiness Mrs. Jones received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award and has also been named named “Financier of the Year” in 2017.
Mrs. Jones received her master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia. She currently serves on the boards of Children's National Medical Center, and the Mortgage Bankers Association, and she formerly served on the board of St. Albans School. Mrs. Jones is also a member of the Real Estate Roundtable. Mrs. Jones is an avid runner, skier and cyclist, and has run the Boston Marathon in 2:36.
Banks Northington
Chief Executive Officer & President
Banks Northington is the Chief Executive Officer and President of PRS Finanacial Group, and leads the firm in its mission to help endowments, foundations, pensions, and private clients exceed their investment objectives. Mr. Northington works with PRS Financial Group leaders to set and execute the firm’s strategy, enhance its capabilities, and evolve its processes. He works closely with PRS Financial Group's key stakeholder communities – its clients, employees, and shareholders. While he travels between PRS offices focused on these priorities, Banks remains highly focused on empowering the PRS community of diverse and talented people to do their best work to deliver results for our clients.
Previously, Mr. Northington was Managing Director of the Goldman Sachs Group, a global leader in the investment sector. In that role, Banks created and implemented innovative portfolio management frameworks that have transformed the approach to investing. Mr. Northington has more than 25 years of investment experience. Prior to joining PRS Financial Group in 2003, Banks founded and operated Northington Investment Management for nine years.
While pursuing his MBA, Banks interned as an investment analyst at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Banks is a CFA Charterholder and received his MBA and BBA from the University of Texas, Austin.
Charlie McMann
Chief Financial Officer & Executive Vice President
Charlie McMann serves as Chief Financial Officer at PRS Financial Group. She previously served in the same role at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). Prior to this position, Ms. McMann held several other leadership positions at OPIC.
Previously, Ms. McMann was Executive Vice President at Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF), a global nonprofit manager of emerging market debt and equity funds, where she also served as Board Member and Chief Operating Officer. She played a key management role in SEAF’s worldwide investment and related activities across 20 countries and also served as Senior Compliance Officer.
Prior to her work at SEAF, Ms. McMann served as OPIC’s Vice President and Treasurer as well as Acting President and CEO, Senior Counsel, and Counsel to the Board of Directors, among several other positions between 1982 and 2001.
Ms. McMann earned her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. from University of Illinois.
John Whiteman
Chief Operating Officer & Executive Vice President
John is PRS Financial Group's Chief Operating Officer and has nearly 30 years of investment and operations experience. John oversees the firm’s global business operations and administrative functions.
Before joining PRS Financial Group, John held several leadership roles with GMO, LLC, most recently as Divisional Chief Operating Officer where he was responsible for all non-investment related activities for his team’s global investment strategies. John had overall responsibility for portfolio construction and implementation, trading, compliance, tax, fund administration, investment accounting/operations, IT and client relationship management. John was also a member of the GMO Irish Funds Board of Directors as well as served as Director of the GMO Private Fund Audit Committee.
Prior to GMO, John held investment operational leadership positions with Scudder, Stevens & Clark and The Boston Company Advisors, Inc. John received a BS in Business Administration from Merrimack College.
Jordan Parker
Chief Legal Officer & Executive Vice President
Ms. Parker is the Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice President who is responsible for leading the Legal, Compliance, and Enterprise Risk & Audit functions. Jordan also has responsibility for regulatory and governance matters. She oversees a team with expertise in a broad range of legal, compliance, and risk areas. Jordan has over 10 years of investment experience and has been with PRS Financial Group since 2017.
Before joining PRS Financial Group, Jordan was the Global Chief Counsel for Mercer where she was responsible for providing legal and compliance support to Mercer’s investment businesses. At Mercer, Jordan helped to develop Mercer’s discretionary investment offerings in multiple jurisdictions and across all major asset classes, as well as services such as OCIO and pension de-risking.
Prior to Mercer, Jordan held in-house positions with other financial institutions, and was also an associate with a law firm, specializing in investment matters. Jordan earned a Juris Doctorate from Columbia University School of Law and a BA from Trinity College
Taylor Gillespie
Chief Technology Officer & Executive Vice President
Taylor Gillespie is the Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President who is responsible for leading the information technology organization and functions. Taylor has more than 20 years of industry experience and has been with the firm since 2014.
Prior to joining PRS Financial Group, Taylor spent 15 years at Sapient Corporation. Most recently, he led Sapient’s Global Capital Markets practice where he was responsible for setting strategy and leading critical engagements with clients. Prior to taking on the practice leadership role, Taylor was responsible for several key relationships with leading asset managers and hedge funds. He has also worked for PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Accenture.
Mr. Gillespie's background includes years of experience leading IT and business consulting initiatives across multiple functions within the investment management process. Taylor received a BS in Finance from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Drew Carlyle
Chief Investment Officer & Executive Vice President
Drew Carlyle serves as the Chief Investment Officer and Executive Vice President of PRS Financial Group. Drew serves to oversee the daily investments into financial operations of the organization. He is a part of the executive Leadership Team and participates in making key strategic decisions of investment. Drew leads PRS Financial Group's acquisition and new development strategies.
Before his current role, Taylor oversaw the development, construction, sale, and leasing of Fannie Mae's real estate development portfolio. He spent 10 years as a senior executive at Starrett Housing Corporation/HRH. Some notable projects Drew has been involved with include Citicorp World Headquarters, Trump Tower, Trump Plaza, and the Javits Convention Center.
Taylor has more than 15 years of experience in investment development, strategies, marketing, and management in the U.S. and the Middle East. Taylor received a Bachelors (B.S.) in Finance from Tulane University Freeman school of Business and a Masters in Business Administration (M.B.A) from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Jennifer Johnson
Chief Human Resources Officer & Executive Vice President
Jennifer is the Chief Human Resource Officer and Executive Vice President of PRS Financial Group. She is, responsible for the Human Resource functions across all PRS companies. In this role, she is responsible for developing and executing human resource strategy in support of the overall business plan and strategic direction of the organization.
Before joining PRS, Jennifer was the Director, Business Manager to the Chief Information Officer at Royal Bank of Scotland where she delivered all HR programs to the technology department. Jennifer has also held positions with Pepsi Bottling Group and Previsor, where she consulted with Fortune 500 organizations to set HR policies and processes for recruitment and hiring in the US, Canada, Mexico, and the UK. She has led project teams aligning company hiring standards with local legal requirements for two Fortune 100 organizations.
Jennifer is a graduate of William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia, where she studied Sociology/Anthropology and played NCAA Tennis.
Chris Ward
Chief Accounting Officer & Executive Vice President
Chris Ward serves as Chief Accounting Officer and Executive Vice President of PRS Financial Group, and is responsible for the accounting and reporting of PRS Financial Group's financial companies. Chris began his career with PRS in January 2007.
Prior to joining PRS, Eric was a Senior Associate at BDO USA LLP and conducted audit engagements of both public and private clients. Chris has four years of public accounting experience, having worked on various audit, compilation, and tax engagements.
Chris earned his degree in Accounting from New York University, has been a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of New York, Virginia, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama since 2005. Taylor is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Ava Lane
Chief Compliance Officer & Executive Vice President
Ava Lane is the Chief Compliance Office and Executive Vice President for PRS Financial Group. She has been with the firm since 2009. In her role, Mrs. Lane is responsible for the oversight and management of the firm’s compliance and regulatory matters.
Before joining PRS Financial Group, Ava was the Assistant General Counsel at Liberty Square Asset Management, a Boston-based long-short equity hedge fund where she was responsible for general legal matters, transaction compliance, and regulatory filings. Prior to this role, Ava served as a Senior Compliance Analyst within the mutual fund division of Fidelity Investments.
Ava has over 11years of perfect records of compliance and regulation. Ava received a Juris Doctorate and MBA from Vanderbilt University and a BA from Louisiana State University.
Contact Us
PRS Financial Group LLC
Opening Hours
Come Visit
Mon - Fri: 8am - 8pm
Sat: 10am - 5pm
Sun: Closed
HEADQUARTERS
New York City Office:
711 Third Ave
New York, NY 10017 USA
PH: 646-844-6311
CORPORATE OFFICES
New Orleans Office:
201 St. Charles Avenue, Suite 2500,
New Orleans, Orleans Parish 70130
USA
PH: 504-535-4454
Atlanta Office:
2302 Parklake Dr NE
Atlanta, GA 30345 USA
PH: 470-552-0873
Dallas Office:
972 N Hall St
Dallas, TX 75219 USA
PH: 972-597-5015
Baltimore Office:
500 E Pratt St
Baltimore, MD 21202 USA
PH: 443-666-8676