Robert E. “Emery” Pike is a Senior Advisor at Sheets Smith Wealth Management, an SEC Registered Investment Adviser in NC. He focuses on ETF and mutual fund research to deliver efficient asset allocation and investment solutions to private clients, retirement plans, and endowments and foundations as an outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO).
He was formerly a Senior Vice President with the Wachovia Corporation, where he managed portfolios and provided investment research in the Asset Management group for a variety of foundations, endowments, hospitals, corporations, mutual funds, common trust funds, and individuals. He also founded Stratford Advisors, an independent investment advisory firm, and ran it for 15 years before combining with Sheets Smith in 2020.
Emery serves on the Investment Committee of the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA), the leading voice for America’s retirement plans. For the past decade, he has had a unique opportunity to engage with managers of the largest retirement plans in the country as well as leading attorneys and regulatory experts in the field. He is a regular contributor to PSCA’s INSIGHTS quarterly journal, where his research articles provide timely updates and guidance to managers of retirement plans. In 2020, at the request of the plan sponsor community, he co-edited the “PSCA ESG Resource Guide”, one of the first nationally published comprehensive research guides to address the rise of sustainable investing.
Emery graduated cum laude with “Honors in History” from Wake Forest University and received an MBA from the Babcock Graduate School of Management of Wake Forest University. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) credential and is a past President the CFA NC Society. He also holds the Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®) credential from the Center for Fiduciary Studies.
Emery also served for many years as an Adjunct Professor of Finance at High Point University, where he taught courses on Managerial Finance, Investment Analysis & Portfolio Management, Fixed Income Investing, and Personal Finance.