November 2018 Industry Speakers

Nariman Behravesh, Ph.D., is chief economist of IHS Markit and author of, "Spin-Free Economics: A No-Nonsense, Nonpartisan Guide to Today's Global Economic Debates," (McGraw-Hill).

He directs the entire economic forecasting process at IHS Markit and is responsible for developing the economic outlook and risk analysis for the United States, Europe, Japan, China and other emerging markets. He oversees the work of over 400 professionals, located in North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa who cover economic, financial, and political developments in over 200 countries. Dr. Behravesh and his team have received numerous awards, among them the 2017 Lawrence R. Klein Blue Chip Forecast Accuracy Award and top forecasters by Consensus Economics in 2013. Attaining consistently high annual ranking among US forecasters from The Wall Street Journal, Dr. Behravesh was ranked #3 (out of 56) for 2006, and was the only forecaster to place in the top six for 2003, 2004 and 2006. He frequently is cited by leading business publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Financial Times, Forbes and US News & World Report. He appears regularly on national radio and television programs, including BBC World Business Report, NBC Nightly News, CNN Headline News, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer (PBS), Fox News, CNBC, Bloomberg TV and Radio, All Things Considered and Marketplace on National Public Radio. He is a featured speaker at many of the top global conferences each year, including IHS Markit CERAWeek and the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Dr. Behravesh holds Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, where Nobel Laureate Lawrence R. Klein was his dissertation advisor, and a Bachelor of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US.

Dr. Swift is the chief economist at the American Chemistry Council (ACC) where he is responsible for economic and other analyses dealing with markets, energy, trade, tax, and innovation, as well as monitoring business conditions and identifying emerging trends. He assess the economic and societal contributions of the business of chemistry and disseminates general information about the industry to ACC member companies, the media, Wall Street analysts, the academic community and the public in general. Prior to joining the ACC, Dr. Swift held executive and senior level positions at several business research companies. He started his career at Dow Chemical USA.

Dr. Swift is a member of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), Society of Business Economists (UK), the Harvard Discussion Group of Industrial Economists, and the National Business Economics Issues Council (NBEIC), and the Charlotte Economics Club (CEC). He is a member of The Wall Street Journal Forecasters’ Survey panel, NABE’s panel of forecasters, and a participant in the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's forecasters' survey. After serving on the board of directors of NABE he chaired the NABE Education Committee and for his service as a professional economist and contributions to the profession, he was elected a NABE Fellow. Dr. Swift was also one of the first to achieve NABE’s Certified Business Economist (CBE) designation. He has begun serving as vice president of NABE for the 2017/18 term and is president-elect for the 2018/19 term. He is currently on the board of directors of the National Economists Club (NEC).

Dr. Swift is a graduate of Ashland University with a BA degree and a graduate of Case Western Reserve University with an MA degree in Economics. He is also a graduate of Anglia Polytechnic University with a doctorate in business administration (DBA) degree and has completed the Tax Analysis and Revenue Forecasting Program and other studies at Harvard University as well as studies at the University of Oxford.

Dr. Swift is an adjunct professor of business economics for the MBA program at the University of Mary Washington. He is also a member of the Heritage Council of the Chemical Heritage Foundation.

John Toohig is a Managing Director at Raymond James, a Board Member and Senior Vice President of Raymond James Mortgage Company, Inc and co-head of the Whole Loan Group.

John joined Raymond James (formerly Morgan Keegan) in September of 2006. As co-head of the Whole Loan group, Mr. Toohig’s primary responsibilities include day-to-day trading of whole loan packages, portfolio analysis, transaction management and the structuring of whole loan, participation and various structured products. Mr. Toohig’s product focus encompasses both seasoned and new production: residential mortgages, commercial mortgages, consumer lending, scratch and dent loans, and non-performing assets. Prior to joining the Whole Loan group at Raymond James, Mr. Toohig was a part of the firm’s Taxable Banking platform where he was responsible for corporate debt transactions, trust preferred securities, sale leaseback transactions and ABS transactions.

Previously, Mr. Toohig worked for FTN Financial in their Capital Assets department and primarily focused on automobile securitizations (ABS) for community depositories. Mr. Toohig was also responsible for the analysis and trading of whole loans – namely consumer and residential mortgages. Prior to that, Mr. Toohig was in a wealth management role at Wells Fargo.

Mr. Toohig received his undergraduate degree from the Houghton College and his MBA from the University of Mississippi with a focus in finance and IT. Mr. Toohig has his Series 7, 24 and Series 63 licenses. His community involvement includes currently serving as Member of the Board of Trustees for St. Agnes Academy / St. Dominic School. He is also a former chairman for both the Lafayette and DeSoto county American Cancer Society Relay for Life events and the former president of the Ole Miss MBA Alumni Board. Mr. Toohig resides in Memphis, TN with his wife Sha, and his two daughters, Helen Grace and Cressey, while he works in Raymond James’ east Memphis branch.