Paul Kenney

Paul Kenney (Paul R. Kenney), is an accomplished investment executive and advisor with 40 years of experience in asset allocation, manager selection, risk management, fintech innovation, and emerging technology.

Academic and Professional Credentials: B.A., Saint Michael's College (1983); M.S.F. (Master of Science in Finance), Bentley College (1988); CFA charterholder.

Career History: Kenney began his career at Ford Motor Company, where he rose to manage the company's U.S. Defined Benefit Plan, a $35 billion pension plan, and served as portfolio manager for multi-billion dollar annuity and bond portfolios. From 2002 to 2021 he was a Partner at NEPC, LLC, where he led the firm's Detroit office and served as Team Leader for its Corporate Defined Benefit and Healthcare practices, advising institutional investment committees on asset allocation and manager selection. NEPC's expansion of its Detroit office, and Kenney's role in it, was covered in an October 2003 PRWeb release. In March 2017 he was quoted in coverage of NEPC's use of the PFaroe asset-liability management platform (RiskFirst, now part of Moody's Analytics) with Rush University Medical Center.

In May 2021, Kenney joined Syntax Advisors, LLC, as Managing Director of Product Development and Client Solutions, a move announced via Business Wire. He currently serves as SVP, Client Solutions at Syntax Data / Syntax Advisors, LLC, leading the firm's public and private client solutions and published research efforts, with a focus on direct and custom indexing. He also advises investment managers, fintech firms, and family offices through River Road Advisors LLC.

Published Thought Leadership: Kenney has authored numerous bylined research papers for Syntax Data covering direct indexing, custom index construction, sector- and theme-specific indexes (cybersecurity, medical innovation, energy), ESG topics, and the financial advisor profession, including a February 2026 peer analysis of Anthropic. He authored a bylined article for Kiplinger (April 2026) on the case for advisor adoption of direct indexing, and was interviewed and quoted in a Benzinga feature (September 2025) on ETFs versus direct indexing. During his NEPC tenure he authored the paper 'Direct Investments' and contributed to a multi-part direct-investing series referenced in WealthManagement.com's 'Direct Investment Explained.' He is also active on LinkedIn, posting commentary on the Advyzon–Syntax Data custom indexing partnership, Preqin data-feed integration, T3 conference takeaways, and private-equity return research.