Leadership

Gregory Stumm is president and CEO of American Beacon Partners and American Beacon Advisors, and holds additional senior leadership positions with other affiliated organizations, including president of the American Beacon Funds complex. He also serves as a member of the companies’ Product Management Committee. During his tenure with American Beacon, Mr. Stumm has served as a senior vice president and head of Distribution. He has also held two national sales manager positions, separately managing Institutional & Platform Sales and Retail Sales. Mr. Stumm joined the organization in November 2012 as a vice president of National Advisory Sales. Prior to joining the organization, Mr. Stumm was an investment director for RS Funds, a subsidiary of Guardian Investor Services, where he was responsible for supporting their advisory clients and representing investment strategies at industry events and conferences. Earlier in his career, Mr. Stumm was a product specialist for the Investment Research Group at PLANCO, a division of The Hartford Mutual Funds, where he was responsible for internal manager research and competitive analysis, supported national key accounts and advisory relationships, and delivered training programs for The Hartford Mutual Funds’ sales representatives. Mr. Stumm earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied Philosophy and Politics with a concentration in Economics. He holds FINRA Series 6, 7, 63 and 24 securities licenses. He also is a CFA^® charterholder and a CAIA^® charterholder.

Rebecca L. Harris is the senior vice president and chief operating officer of American Beacon Partners and American Beacon Advisors. In that role, she has oversight responsibility of the Fund Solutions, Information Technologies and Product Solutions departments. Ms. Harris also serves as vice president of the American Beacon Funds complex. In addition, she is a member of the companies’ Product Management Committee. Previously, Ms. Harris was a senior vice president and the head of Product Management, Corporate Development and Affiliate Relations for American Beacon. Since joining American Beacon in 1991, Ms. Harris has held other leadership roles, including those of chief financial officer from 1995 to 2010, mutual fund treasurer from 1995 to 2010, and director of Product Management from 2010 to 2015. Prior to joining the company, Ms. Harris was a financial analyst at Sabre Travel Information Network from 1990 to 1991. She began her career at Ernst & Young after receiving a BBA in Accounting from Texas A&M University. She is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Texas.

Rosemary K. Behan serves as senior vice president and general counsel of American Beacon Partners and American Beacon Advisors. In that role, she has oversight responsibility of the Legal and Compliance departments. Ms. Behan also serves as vice president and chief legal officer of the American Beacon Funds complex. Prior to joining American Beacon in January 2006, Ms. Behan served as assistant general counsel of First Command Financial Planning, Inc., a financial planning organization registered with FINRA as a broker-dealer and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment adviser. Ms. Behan also worked in the Enforcement Division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from February 1995 to June 2004 and was an associate attorney at the law firm of Cantey & Hanger, LLP, in Fort Worth, Texas, from September 1990 to February 1995. She also served as a briefing attorney for the Court of Appeals for the Second Judicial District of Texas from 1989 to 1990. Ms. Behan received a J.D. from St. Mary’s University in 1989 and a B.A. from The University of Texas at Arlington in 1983. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Melinda G. Heika serves as senior vice president and chief financial officer of American Beacon Partners, American Beacon Advisors and other affiliated organizations. Ms. Heika also serves as vice president of the American Beacon Funds complex. She served as the treasurer of the American Beacon Funds from 2010 to 2021. Ms. Heika is responsible for directing the organizations’ financial activities, including treasury, accounting, tax, audit, financial planning, financial control, and oversight of the American Beacon Funds’ custody and accounting agent. Ms. Heika joined American Beacon in July 1997, serving as a senior analyst and controller. Prior to joining the company, she managed financial reporting for Liberté Investors Inc. and First Nationwide Bank. Ms. Heika started her career with Ernst & Young after receiving a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from Central Michigan University. Ms. Heika is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Texas.

Donna S. Merchant serves as vice president of Human Resources of American Beacon Partners and American Beacon Advisors. Ms. Merchant is responsible for all aspects of human resources, including recruiting, compensation and benefits, and training and development. During her tenure, the company was one of eight global asset managers named to the 2013, 2014 and 2015 “Focus Elite” lists, as well as one of three firms considered “Super Elite” for having made the list for three consecutive years. The company was also named as one of Pensions & Investments “Best Places to Work in Money Management” in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Prior to joining the company in 2004, Ms. Merchant spent 17 years in Human Resources at American Airlines, with responsibilities including compensation strategy and design, recruitment of MBA and undergraduate students, professional recruitment, and training and development. Ms. Merchant holds the SPHR® and SHRM-SCP® designations, which are competency-based certifications awarded by the HR Certification Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management, respectively. From August 2015 through April 2024, Ms. Merchant served on the Governing Board of Directors for Easter Seals Lone Star Texas. From January 2023 through April 2024, she also served on the Executive Committee for Easter Seals Lone Star Texas. Ms. Merchant attended the Baptist University of Florida.

Terri L. McKinney serves as senior vice president of Fund Solutions of American Beacon Partners and American Beacon Advisors, and another affiliated organization. She also serves as vice president of the American Beacon Funds complex. Ms. McKinney is responsible for oversight of business processes, organizational efficiency, and fund operations and shareholder servicing relationships. Ms. McKinney joined American Beacon Advisors in June 1996 as director of Marketing. Prior to joining the firm, she managed the Equity Administration team for Goldman Sachs Asset Management in New York. Ms. McKinney started her career with the investment management firm of Fayez Sarofim & Co. after receiving a BBA in Business Broadcasting and Marketing from Baylor University.

Bo Ragsdale serves as vice president of Information Technologies of American Beacon Partners and American Beacon Advisors. Mr. Ragsdale is responsible for leading the company’s enterprise-wide technology strategy, cybersecurity program and data governance initiatives. Prior to joining American Beacon in 2006, Mr. Ragsdale served as a program manager at American Airlines from 2002 to 2006 and as a senior technical architect at Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2002. Mr. Ragsdale earned an MBA from Southern Methodist University in 2006, as well as a B.A. in Business from Trinity University in 1998. He also holds executive certifications in cybersecurity from Harvard University and artificial intelligence strategy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Jay Schilling serves as vice president and national sales manager of Wealth & Institutional Sales of American Beacon Partners and American Beacon Advisors. He is responsible for leading the American Beacon Sales teams, supporting National Accounts, Institutional & Platform Sales, National DCIO Sales and ARK Invest. Mr. Schilling also supports consultant and advisory relationships and is a member of the companies’ Product Management Committee. Before his 2022 promotion to national sales manager, Mr. Schilling was vice president of Institutional & Platform Sales. Previously, he served as the company’s vice president of National Advisory Sales and Retail Sales, supporting the External Sales team’s relationships with registered investment advisers, banks and broker/dealers. Prior to joining American Beacon in 2014, Mr. Schilling served as an investment director of RS Investments, a subsidiary of Guardian Investor Services, where he was responsible for supporting advisory clients of the firm and representing investment strategies at various industry events and conferences. Mr. Schilling also served as a research analyst with Lockwood Advisors, a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, where he performed due diligence for third-party money managers within the International Developed and Emerging Markets asset classes. Mr. Schilling earned a B.S. in Finance from State University of New York at Oswego. He is a CFA^® charterholder and holds FINRA Series 6, 7, 24 and 63 licenses.

Christina E. Sears serves as vice president of Compliance of American Beacon Partners, American Beacon Advisors and another affiliated organization. She also serves as Chief Compliance Officer for American Beacon Advisors, the American Beacon Funds complex and other affiliated organizations. Ms. Sears has over 25 years of experience in investment compliance. Prior to joining American Beacon in 1998, she performed middle office operations for an independent broker-dealer. Ms. Sears earned an M.S. in Economics from Baylor University – Hankamer School of Business, as well as B.A. degrees in Economics and Philosophy from Southern Methodist University.

Laurel Tucker serves as vice president and chief of staff of American Beacon Partners and American Beacon Advisors. In her role, she supports the companies’ senior leadership team with a demonstrated passion for innovation and efficiency. She reports directly to President & CEO Gregory Stumm. Prior to her promotion in 2024, Ms. Tucker served on the Sales team, overseeing business intelligence data and contributing to the strategic planning process from 2017 to 2024. Before joining the company, Ms. Tucker served as a senior sales and marketing analyst at RidgeWorth Investments. She earned a B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Ted Wozniak serves as vice president and head of Retail Sales of American Beacon Partners and American Beacon Advisors. He is responsible for the sales and leadership of American Beacon’s team covering the retail sales channel. Before joining American Beacon, Mr. Wozniak served as managing director, head of U.S. Asset Management Distribution at SEI Investments Co. His professional background also includes leadership positions at RS Investments/Victory Capital Management and PLANCO/Hartford Mutual Funds. Early in his career, he worked at Lockwood Financial/BNY Mellon and Rittenhouse Financial/Nuveen Asset Management. Mr. Wozniak graduated from King’s College in Pennsylvania, where he earned a B.S. in Finance in 1996. He is a CFA^® charterholder and holds FINRA Series 7, 24 and 66 licenses.