Our Independent Directors
Jonathan Gardner
Jonathan Gardner is one of our independent directors, a position he has held since May 2021. Mr. Gardner is a principal and founding partner at Gardner Batt, LLC, a Salt Lake City-based real estate development and investment firm. Mr. Gardner has developed or invested in over $2.0 billion of real estate in the last seven years, and he and his partners manage nearly two million square feet of office, multi-family, retail and warehouse space. Prior to starting Gardner Batt in 2014, Mr. Gardner spent four years with a family run real estate development office and, prior to that, four years as an investment banker handling corporate leveraged finance at CIBC World Markets’ Private Finance Group. Mr. Gardner graduated magna cum laude from the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business with an emphasis in Finance.
John Lunt
John Lunt is one of our independent directors, a position he has held since June 2018. In January 2003, Mr. Lunt founded Lunt Capital Management, Inc., a registered investment advisor, and since January 2003, he has served as its President. The firm builds and manages investment strategies used by financial advisors around the United States and provides research and advice for investments across asset classes, including U.S. equities, international equities, fixed income, real estate, commodities and currencies. Mr. Lunt co-created the methodology for eight index strategies calculated by S&P Dow Jones Indices. He is a charter member of the ETF Strategists Roundtable for key influencers associated with ETF management and writes regularly about financial markets for ETFTrends.com. From 2001 to June 2014, he served on the board of the Utah Retirement Systems, a $20 billion pension fund, and from 2004 to 2007, he served as board President. Since February 2013, Mr. Lunt has served on the investment advisory committee for the $10 billion Utah Educational Savings Plan (My529) and since August 2017, he served as Chairman of the committee. Since September 2014, he has served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the $2 billion Utah School & Institutional Trust Funds Office. He has been a featured speaker at investment conferences around the United States and has written extensively about financial markets.
Mr. Lunt graduated Magna Cum Laude with University Honors from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, and he later received a Master of Business Administration in Finance and International Business from New York University.
Philip White
Philip White is one of our independent directors, a position he has held since May 2021. Mr. White has been a partner at Inflection Financial LLC since 2020. His firm oversees more than $250 million for individuals and company retirement plans. Previously, Mr. White was a partner at Retirement Plan Fiduciaries LLC since 2015 and President at Ducere Capital, a wealth management practice he founded in 2006. Mr. White also previously directed executive compensation and company stock and retirement plans for Rackspace Hosting. Early in his career, Mr. White served his country as a civil engineer officer in the United States Air Force. Mr. White earned his Master of Business Administration with Honors from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and is also a Distinguished Graduate of The United States Air Force Academy. Mr. White is a CFA® charterholder and is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner.