David M. Killian
President and Chief Investment Officer
Mr. Killian is President of Birch Run Investments which he founded in 2016. He has over 23 years of experience in managing fixed income portfolios for Institutional and High Net Worth investors. His motivation to start Birch Run Investments stemmed from his belief that boutique sized investment firms are best equipped to deliver both the highest level of customer service and above average investment results for their clients.
Mr. Killian’s experience in managing fixed income portfolios began when he joined Stoneridge Investment Partners as Principal and Senior Portfolio Manager in 1999. While at Stoneridge he was successful in launching the firms multi product fixed income capability and overseeing all aspects of the fixed income investment process. Similarly in 2008 he joined Sterling Asset Management as Principal and Senior Portfolio Manager where he was again successful in launching that firms multiple fixed income strategies. Sterling Asset Management was acquired by BB&T Securities in 2011 and Mr. Killian served as Senior Portfolio Manager for BB&T Securities until December 2016. Mr. Killian has a B.S. from Villanova University and is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Philadelphia.
Connect with David on LinkedIn.Leigh M. Killian
Chief Operating Officer
Leigh Killian is a co-founder of Birch Run Investments and currently serves as the firm’s Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Ms. Killian is responsible for overseeing the firm’s administrative and operational activities. Additionally, Ms. Killian leads the firms diversity, equity and inclusion initiative ensuring that our goals are being met both internally and with respect to the vendors and third party partners we engage with. Prior to joining Birch Run, Ms. Killian was responsible for the monitoring of regulatory compliance and other administrative matters for an office of over sixty professionals in the real estate industry.
Ms. Killian holds a B.A. in Psychology from Rosemont College and a certification in Neurophysiology Technology from Drexel University.
Glenn E. Becker
Managing Director
Mr. Becker joined Birch Run Investments in August 2019 as Managing Director to oversee institutional client service and business development. Prior to joining Birch Run Investments Mr. Becker served for 12 years as President of The Swarthmore Group. Prior to his tenure at the Swarthmore Group he also held several other senior leadership roles in the investment management industry.
Mr. Becker served as Partner and Director of Client Service for Miller Anderson & Sherrerd. Following the acquisition of Miller Anderson & Sherrerd by Morgan Stanley, he held the role of Managing Director and Director of Client Services for Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Prior to joining Miller Anderson & Sherrerd, Mr. Becker served as Portfolio Manager and Director of Marketing and Client Services at Provident Capital Management.
Mr. Becker is presently a member of the Board of The Bee Foundation and Chairman of the Investment Committee of Angel Flight East. Mr. Becker is a former member of the Board of the Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS) where he served as Vice Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Investment Committee. He is also a former Trustee and Chairman of the Investment Committee of Germantown Academy. Mr. Becker holds a B.S. in Business Administration and an MBA from Drexel University.
John DeLaney, CFA
Senior Portfolio Manager
Mr. DeLaney joined Birch Run Investments in October 2022 as Senior Portfolio Manager. He has over thirty years of experience in the investment industry. Prior to joining Birch Run, he spent fifteen years as the Senior Fixed Income Portfolio Manager at The Swarthmore Group managing approximately $1 billion in separate accounts under the long credit, core, core-plus, intermediate government / credit, intermediate credit, TIPS, and short duration strategies. Before Swarthmore, he spent seven years as a Senior Portfolio Manager with Automatic Data Processing, where he was responsible for $7.5 billion in fixed income assets and investing and funding payroll float balances that periodically would exceed $10 billion.
Mr. DeLaney’s experience also includes being a member of SEI’s Global Fixed Income Management Unit, and serving as portfolio manager with The Fairfield Group, Independence Capital Management Inc. and Parkway Management Corporation. Types of portfolios managed include: pension, savings bank, insurance company, VEBA, nuclear decommissioning trust, bond proceeds, money market and mutual fund accounts. Mr. DeLaney holds a B.A. in Economics from Bucknell University. He has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
Connect with John on LinkedIn.John V. Thompson, Jr.
Vice President, Business Development
Mr. Thompson joined Birch Run Investments in December 2022 as Vice President of Business Development. Prior to joining Birch Run, he served for twenty one years as Senior Vice President at Emerald Advisors where he was responsible for the oversight and implementation of institutional sales, marketing and client retention and was instrumental in growing the firm from $75 million to $4 billion in assets under management.
Prior to Emerald, he served for seven years as Vice President of Portfolio Management and Marketing for Cashman Farrell and Associates. Mr. Thompson started his career as an Account Executive with Dean Witter Reynolds.
Mr. Thompson earned a B.A. in Business Administration from Gettysburg College and holds his Series 7, 63 and 65 licenses.