Second Pillar Consulting is a boutique financial services consulting firm that specializes in model development and validation. Our consultants have constructed or validated over two thousand models on behalf of a variety of clients covering a wide range of model types:

  • anti-money laundering
  • allowance and CECL
  • stress testing
  • capital adequacy
  • capital contingency
  • credit scoring
  • interest rate risk
  • pre-payment modeling
  • deposit studies
  • funds transfer pricing
  • pipeline mortgage
  • valuation
  • trading, and margin (equity, commodity, fixed income, derivative, and options)
  • liquidity risk
  • pricing models
  • climate change modeling
  • climate change stress testing

The Second Pillar Team has completed model validations on behalf of a top three rating agency, a large multinational investment bank, a large clearing house, one of the world’s largest pension plans, an online brokerage, eight of the top fifteen banks, twenty-seven of the top one hundred banks, numerous regional banks, several foreign banks, and hedge funds. In our work with these clients, we worked with regulators from the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporations, numerous State Banking Commission’s, the Securities and Exchange Commission, Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, and the UK Financial Services Authority. Second Pillar consultants have also validated models on behalf of the Farm Credit Administration Office of Secondary Markets and performed model validations for several system associations.

The Second Pillar Team

William Nayda - Managing Partner & Founder of Second Pillar Consulting

William Nayda, Ph.D.

Managing Director & Founder Richmond, VA

Bill Nayda is the Managing Director and founder of Second Pillar Consulting. He has 20 years of banking and insurance experience, most of which has been focused on risk management, regulatory compliance, corporate governance and structure, and risk-based pricing. Prior to founding Second Pillar Consulting, Bill spent ten years at Capital One in balance sheet strategy, economic capital, regulatory relations and started the bank’s model risk management group. He also helped model and manage enterprise risk at Travelers companies and Allied Irish Bank’s U.S. subsidiary. Bill leads his firm in assisting banks with capital adequacy, regulatory compliance, and model validation. Developing stress testing, balance sheet and income statement forecasting solutions for community and regional banks, as well as various valuation models for Bloomberg and hedge funds. Bill has a passion for teaching and has developed and teaches Enterprise Risk Management for Community Banks as well as for the RMA, where he developed a stress testing workbook for community banks. He also teaches Bank Credit Analysis and Bank Enterprise Risk Management for S&P Global Market Intelligence.

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D. in Applied Economics from Texas A&M University
  • B.S. in Business and Economics from Rutgers University

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • CECL Modeling
  • Anti-Money Laundering
  • Enterprise Risk Management
  • Regulatory Exams & Relations
  • Capital Planning & Adequacy
  • Interest Rate & Liquidity Risk
  • Stress Testing – DFAST & CCAR
  • Model Validation

HIGHLIGHTS

  • While at Texas A&M Bill conducted research for Nobel Laureate Dr. Bruce McCarl on risk and global warming and was recognized by the Nobel committee
  • In his spare time, Bill runs a 250-acre grain and vegetable farm
  • Frequently published in the area of risk management and quoted in many banking periodicals; won an award for his three-part series on stress testing in the RMA journal
  • Farm Credit Fellow at Rutgers University
Susan Devine- Senior Consultant at Second Pillar Consulting

Susan Devine, CPA

Senior Consultant Fairfax, VA

Susan Devine, CPA, is a Senior Consultant with Second Pillar Consulting with over 30 years of audit and model validation experience. She serves as Lead Analyst on AML validations and specializes in model documentation and AML model validations and has validated PATRIOT Officer, Fiserv, and Banker’s Toolbox AML models. Susan started her career at Deloitte and then went on to become an auditor at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before leaving to start her own consulting company assisting financial institutions and government agencies with project management, audit, and technical writing. Some of her engagements include: Capital One, E*TRADE, Food and Drug Administration, Housing and Urban Development, Federal Aviation Administration, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Susan is a Certified Public Accountant.

EDUCATION

  • B.S. in Accounting from the University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • AML Model Validation
  • Model Technical Documentation
  • Model Validation

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Certified Public Accountant
  • Authored numerous procedure manuals, model technical documents, and policies for some of the largest financial institutions and government agencies in the country
  • Written several plays as well as directed plays in the DC area to critical acclaim including: August: Osage County, West Side Story, A Chorus Line, The Fantasticks, and Chicago, just to name a few

Suzanne Hayden

Consultant Santa Fe, NM

Suzanne Hayden is a consultant and subject matter expert in the area of anti-money laundering. Ms. Hayden is a former DOJ senior prosecutor and Special Advisor to the Attorney General, and a world-renowned expert in asset forfeiture who pioneered the use of financial investigations as means of undermining a criminal state and pursuing its leader. Currently she works as a consultant providing anti-money laundering and countering the finance of terrorism expertise to domestic and international clients. Former international prosecutor with over 30 years of experience in worldwide organized crime and narcotics prosecutions, technical assistance delivery in anti-corruption, ethics, transnational money laundering, terrorist financing, narcotics trafficking and war crimes. She led one of the earliest global stolen assets investigations against a sitting state’s leader, spearheading the financial investigation of then-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, locating billions of dollars stolen by him and orchestrating his eventual indictment as an international war criminal at the Hague. Ms. Hayden also was the lead prosecutor of one of the most important and effective Continuing Criminal Enterprise prosecutions of the Cali Drug Cartel in the 1990s, targeting its financial and logistical support lines from Colombia into the US. She has developed and conducted training modules for international police, judges and prosecutors on ethics, anti-corruption, asset confiscation and financial crimes; conducted consultations and prepared legislation at the request of over 25 countries. Served as senior advisor in International Organizations, the US Intelligence Community and the US Department of Justice. Ms. Hayden was a delegate to the Financial Action Task Force, addressing international best practices in the field of terrorist financing, money laundering and asset forfeiture.

EDUCATION

  • J.D. from the Oklahoma City University School of Law
  • B.S. in English Language and Literature from the University of Kentucky

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • FATF and OFAC
  • Country risk assessments
  • Know your customer investigations

HIGHLIGHTS

  • DOJ’s first national security coordinator and represented the DOJ in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
  • Resides on the Board of Trustees of the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute
  • Currently the legal strategist for International Wildlife Trust, an NGO formed to build prosecutable cases against organized crime groups involved in wildlife crimes
  • Working on a strategy to address the US tragedy of murdered and missing Native American women and girls
Bill Hood - Senior Consultant at Second Pillar

Bill Hood, Ph.D., ABD

Senior Consultant Cedar Grove, NC

Bill Hood is a Senior Consultant with Second Pillar whose career spans over 25 years in the financial services industry. Most recently he was a Senior Vice President at BB&T in charge of re-implementing QRM for ALM and FTP. Prior to that he was the Capital Management Production Manager where he led the production of the CCAR stress tests for the bank. As a Senior Consultant with Second Pillar, Bill has worked on model validations in the area of ALM, prepayments, deposit studies, liquidity, and anti-money laundering. Bill also headed up ALM for Hancock Holding Company, The South Financial Group, and Capital One as well as working in the ALM departments of First Union and Wachovia Corp. At Capital One Bill worked with BancWare and implemented BancWare at South Financial. He also implemented Empyrean at Hancock Financial and completed the third-party validation of the vendor model.

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D., ABD in Finance from the University of Georgia
  • MBA from Appalachian State University
  • BS from Elon in Chemistry

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • Model Validation
  • Interest Rate Risk, Liquidity Risk, Prepayment Modeling, Pipeline Mortgage modeling and Deposit Studies
  • Experience with QRM, BancWare, and Empyrean IR modeling systems
  • ALM compliance and ALCO reporting

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Prior to banking, Bill was an assistant professor of finance at Mercer University where he taught Investments, Corporate Finance and Banking at the undergraduate and graduate levels
  • Validated numerous interest rate risk models on behalf of venders and clients
  • Maintains Second Pillar’s bespoke interest rate risk model to evaluate model performance ensuring day count, cash flow and term structures
Elke Hood - Senior Consultant at Second Pillar

Elke Hood, Ph.D.

Senior Consultant Cedar Grove, NC

Dr. Elke Hood is a Senior Consultant with Second Pillar advising clients on model validations and providing guidance on econometric techniques, modeling theory, and model calibration. She implemented and ran the regional quarterly economic model for the State of Georgia. In addition, she co-directed the design, construction, and operation of historical databases and projections of major economic variables for the annual “Economic Yearbook” issue of Georgia Trend. Dr. Hood is frequently sought out by our clients for her in-depth knowledge of econometrics and programming skills. She is an expert in advanced econometric modeling techniques and has performed numerous validations of stress testing models as well as CECL models. Her areas of expertise encompass General and Generalized Linear models including Poisson, Negative Binomial and Tweedie models, Hazard models, ARIMAX models, Robust Linear models, LASSO regression as well as other advanced techniques. Dr. Hood was also an independent consultant for Capital One Bank where she worked on the firm’s economic capital and stress testing models.

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D. in Econometrics from the University of Georgia
  • M.A. in Economics from the University of Georgia
  • BS in business administration from Universität Bielefeld

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • Model Validation
  • Econometric Techniques, Modeling Theory, and Model Calibration
  • SAS, R and Python

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Prior to banking, she was an assistant professor at Mercer University where she taught courses in econometrics, statistics, quantitative methods, business calculus, microeconomics, and macroeconomics
  • Loves hiking and gardening in her free time
Lorraine Magee - Consultant at Second Pillar Consulting

Lorraine Magee, J.D.

Consultant Bristow, VA

Lorraine Magee, J.D. is a Consultant with Second Pillar and works on a variety of model validations, including AML, ALM, DFAST, and other stress testing models. She assists Second Pillar clients in conducting compliance gap analyses, completing quality assurance reviews, and developing model documentation and other technical documents. As an attorney, Lorraine began her career representing airlines, manufacturers, and their insurers in complex and multi-district cases at the trial and appellate levels. She co-authored a state-by-state manual on evaluating personal injury and wrongful death cases and lectured at a national aviation conference on that topic. After over a decade in private practice, she worked for several years with the Board on Professional Responsibility for the District of Columbia Bar. Lorraine’s focus on research and writing led her to leave law and expand her scope as a technical writer and editor for public, private, and non-profit organizations.

EDUCATION

  • J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center
  • B.S. in Criminal Justice from St. Thomas Aquinas College

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • Model Documentation
  • Model Governance
  • Model Policies & Procedures

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Began career as an attorney, practiced for over 15 years in trial and appellate courts with focus on complex multi-district cases, state and federal procedure, damages, and legal ethics
  • Co-authored a state-by-state manual on personal injury and wrongful death cases; lectured at national aviation conference on damages evaluation; developed and taught in-house CLE
  • J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where she was a Law Fellow and Senior Notes & Comments Editor of The Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics
  • Active member of the DC-area theater scene as an actor, director, and choreographer. Teaches acting and musical theater for children and teens at Encore Performers in Chantilly, Virginia, and provides audition coaching for teens and adults
Bill Nayda - Principal at Second Pillar Consulting

Bill Nayda, Jr.

Principal Austin, TX

Bill Nayda, Jr. is a Principal at Second Pillar Consulting where he develops and validates quantitative models for community and regional banks related to CECL, AML, and stress testing. Prior to joining Second Pillar, he was an associate at Promontory Financial Group assisting clients on matters related to model validation, model risk management, and the development of quantitative models for stress testing and CECL. While at Promontory, Bill worked with a number of clients conducting model validations in the areas of stress testing, project finance, structured finance, transaction monitoring systems, and sanctions screening systems. He has experience in developing PPNR models and credit models for several regional banks for DFAST as well as CCAR documentation remediation. Bill also assisted in the development of Promontory’s CECL modeling framework and application tool for calculating ACL. He previously interned at CPPIB in their portfolio management group as well as Contingent Macro Advisors performing quantitative analysis and market research.

EDUCATION

  • M.A. in Economics from the University of Texas – Austin
  • B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • CECL Modeling
  • Stress Testing
  • Model Validation
  • Valuation Modeling
  • Transaction Monitoring & OFAC Screening
  • Stata, R, Python, Java, VB, Bloomberg, SQL

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Led the development of Second Pillar’s CECL modeling platform Ionic ACL
  • Developed and validated stress testing models for over a dozen regional banks
  • Developed an alert workflow management tool for a large multinational bank
Nathan Nayda - Analyst Intern at Second Pillar Consulting

Nathan Nayda

Principal Austin, TX

Nathan Nayda is a Principal at Second Pillar, completing model validations in fair lending, anti-money laundering (AML), stress testing, asset liability management, and current expected credit losses (CECL). He has worked across numerous clients to install, tune, and validate AML models, for a variety of vendors, in the areas of transaction monitoring, sanctions screening, and customer risk rating. Key engagements include validating stress testing and fair lending models for top 10 banks (by asset size). Nathan has also assisted clients with model governance by developing and enhancing policies, standards, and procedures. Prior to joining Second Pillar, Nathan worked at Promontory Financial Group in the quantitative methodologies group.

EDUCATION

  • M.S. in Information Systems Management: Business Intelligence and Analytics from Carnegie Mellon University
  • B.A. in Financial Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Virginia

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • Anti-Money Laundering model validation and calibration
    • Transaction monitoring, sanctions screening, customer risk rating
    • Actimize, Prime, Mantas, BAM, and Patriot Officer
  • DFAST and CCAR model validations
  • Fair lending model validations
  • Model Governance

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Validated fair lending models for a top 10 bank
  • Validated credit models for a large rating agency
  • Developed model risk governance framework for several large banks, including standards around Artificial Intelligence
Brett Olsen - Consultant

Brett Olsen, Ph.D.

Consultant Cedar Falls, IA

Brett Olsen, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) and a Consultant to Second Pillar Consulting. Dr. Olsen works with Second Pillar on consulting engagements providing assistance in regression analysis and review of balance sheet and income statement modeling. Dr. Olsen is published in the areas of firm valuation, real estate finance, investment performance, and corporate governance. He currently teaches intermediate financial management and international financial management and has previously taught security analysis and corporate finance. He acts as an advisor to a student-managed equity investment portfolio, a position he also has held at two previous universities.

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Missouri
  • MBA from Illinois State University
  • B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from North Dakota State

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • Regression Analysis
  • Balance Sheet Modeling
  • Income Statement Modeling

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Teaches Intermediate Financial Management and International Financial Management
  • Research interests are corporate governance, valuation, ownership, and warrants
  • Advises the UNI Finance Club (FMA International chapter), which manages an equity investment portfolio
  • Published in the following academic journals: European Financial Management, Managerial Finance, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, and Accounting and Finance, among others
George Redka - Senior Consultant at Second Pillar

George Redka

Senior Consultant Leesburg, VA

George Redka is a Senior Consultant with Second Pillar and has completed numerous model validations and developed customized automated software tools for client’s needs. George is currently building the aggregator model platform, and has worked with many clients on large databases, working as a conduit between the data and the analysts. George started his career as a system engineer with Electronic Data Systems, and most recently, as a Senior Software Engineer with Real Networks. He has nearly 30 years of experience in software design and development and his diverse experience includes progressing through technical and leadership roles in the telecommunications, federal government application systems, and mobile entertainment industries. George has expertise in developing and managing client/server application software, proficient in Java EE, Oracle, SQL, SQL Server, Spring, XML, Python, Perl, Solaris, Linux, Unix, Confluence, Jira, JBoss, Tomcat, Apache and Git. He has significant experience with integrating mobile solutions and legacy systems, as well as software development methodologies to include Waterfall and Scrum (Agile). George is deeply skilled in the development and management of project schedules, coordination of project tasks and deliverables, customer relationship management, leadership, and improvement of business processes throughout the software development cycle.

EDUCATION

  • B.S. in Business and Economics from Rutgers University
  • Continuing education in software and technical designations

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • Expertise in developing and managing client/server application software, proficient in Java EE, Oracle, SQL, SQL Server, Spring, XML, Python, Perl, Solaris, Linux, Unix, Confluence, Jira, JBoss, Tomcat, Apache and Git
  • Replicated numerous AML models, credit risk models, and rating agency models on behalf of our clients

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Over 30 years of experience in software design and development
  • Started career as a system engineer with Electronic Data Systems and most recently as a Senior Software Engineer with Real Networks
  • Diverse experience, technical and leadership roles in telecommunications, federal government application systems, and mobile entertainment industries
  • Significant experience integrating mobile solutions and legacy systems and with software development methodologies to include Waterfall and Scrum (Agile)
Michelle D. Stafford - Senior Consultant at Second Pillar

Michelle D. Stafford

Senior Consultant Palmyra, VA

Michelle Stafford is a Senior Consultant at Second Pillar with over 20 years of experience in Learning & Development. She specializes in professional, leadership, and new hire development, and has built and managed L&D programs that have touched all levels of an organization. Having spent 22 years with Capital One, Michelle designed, developed, and delivered college campus hire rotation programs, as well as people leader and emerging leader development programs. As an expert in the area, Michelle consulted with Senior Leaders to build specialized programs designed to cultivate associates in the analyst and credit job families, ensuring these associates acquired the necessary skills to meet the ever-changing business and industry needs. She has a passion for helping associates gain the skills and competencies needed to deliver at their fullest potential, while working to meet the business’ needs. Michelle has a degree in Business Management from Virginia Tech and started her career as a Meeting & Event Planner. She leveraged the tools gained early in her career to build project management and organizational skills which have enhanced her learning and development expertise. Michelle has built a reputation as being a “fixer,” by taking programs that are not meeting their desired outcomes, working with leadership to identify new strategies, and restructuring and relaunching to meet the specific needs of both the learners and the organization. As a Leader, Michelle champions all aspects of program design and execution and empowers, guides, and develops her team through strategic deliverables, while also instilling in them a sense of dedication and excellence. As a life-long learner and advocate of the L&D realm, Michelle leads not only with a lens of strategy but also with her heart!

EDUCATION

  • B.S. Management from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • Professional competency and skill-based learning and development
  • Leadership Development
  • Adult Learning & Development
  • Process & Project Management
  • People Leadership

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Built and launched the Finance Rotation Program at Capital One which became the beacon for other programs across the organization
  • Avid baker and dreams of opening a bakery one day
Jeffrey R. Stokes - Senior Consultant

Jeff Stokes, Ph.D.

Senior Consultant West Lafayette, IN

Jeff Stokes is a Senior Consultant with over 20 years of experience building and validating economic models related to risk management at financial institutions.  Jeff has also held academic appointments at the University of Tennessee, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Northern Iowa, and the University of Nebraska, where he held the inaugural Hanson-Clegg-Allen Chair in Agricultural Banking and Finance.  Currently, he teaches Real Estate Finance at Purdue University in the Mitch Daniels School of Business.  Jeff has over 40 publications in refereed journals such as the Journal of Fixed Income, Journal of Forecasting, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Quarterly Journal of Finance, Journal of Real Estate Research, and Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics.

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D., Texas A&M University
  • M.S., University of Missouri
  • B.S., Purdue University

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • Asset Valuation and Value at Risk (VAR)
  • Term Structure Modeling
  • Default and Allowance Modeling
  • Stress Testing
  • Risk Rating Migration Modeling
  • Econometric Methods
  • Real Options Modeling

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Professor at Purdue University
  • Over 40 publications in refereed journals
  • Prior academic appointments at the University of Tennessee, Pennsylvania State University, University of Northern Iowa, and the University of Nebraska