Team - Evolution Global Advisors, LLC

Our Team Teamwork and Trust

Our team is led by EGA’s three principals, who each have decades of experience in global institutional investment management. Our investment team began working together in 2006 at a prior firm. EGA is a 100% employee-owned, close-knit team with a prior history of building and leading successful multi-billion-dollar AUM institutional investment divisions at leading global traditional and alternative asset managers. We have built EGA around a culture that respects our values - humility, optimism, passion, and a respect for people. We strongly support differentiated, independent thinking and we believe that people and culture are critical in generating superior investment returns.

EGA has a multi-decade international small cap specialist heritage. Vincent Willyard first managed an international small cap strategy in 2001 and Stephen Derkash launched and managed an emerging markets small cap strategy in 2012.

A man in a suit and tie standing up against a white wall.

Vincent Willyard, CFA

INVESTMENT EXPERIENCE: 30 YEARS

Founder, Chief Investment Officer, Lead Portfolio Manager for International Small Cap, Evolution Global Advisors
Managing Director and Head of Global Ex-U.S. Growth Equities, Lead Portfolio Manager for International All Cap and Small Cap, UBS Asset Management
Managing Director and Head of Global Ex-U.S. Growth Equities, Lead Portfolio Manager for International All Cap and Small Cap, Nicholas Applegate Capital Management (Allianz Global Investors company)
Head of Global Ex-U.S. Growth Equities, Lead Portfolio Manager for International All Cap and Small Cap, Duncan Hurst Capital Management

EDUCATION

Northeastern University, M.B.A in Finance
University of California, Los Angeles, B.A. in Economics/Business

Vincent Willyard founded Evolution Global Advisors in 2017, which became an RIA in 2018. He serves as the Chief Investment Officer and Lead Portfolio Manager for the International Small Cap equity strategy.

He formerly served as a Managing Director and Head of the Global Ex-U.S. Growth institutional equity asset management business at UBS Asset Management from June 2007 – August 2013. At UBS, he led his team in the launching and building of the Global Ex-U.S. Growth Equity Asset Management business. During his leadership, Mr. Willyard grew the firm’s Global Ex-U.S. Growth Equity assets to over $5 billion across multiple strategies. Before that he served as a Managing Director and Head of the Global Ex-U.S. Growth Equity Asset Management business at Nicholas Applegate Capital Management, an Allianz Global Investors company, from June 2005–June 2007. Prior to that, he worked at Duncan-Hurst Capital Management from September 1994 – June 2005, where he led his team in building the Global Ex-U.S. Growth Equity Asset Management business. He has 28 years of investment experience and started managing international equity strategies in 1997.

When not working, Vincent loves to enjoy the outdoors whether it’s fishing, golfing, hiking, bike riding or skiing. In 2016 he completed an Ironman Triathlon. Indoors, he loves cooking and watching movies with his wife and three kids.

Vincent graduated from both the University of California, Los Angeles with a B.A. in Economics/Business and from Northeastern University in Boston with an M.B.A in Finance. He received his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1997. He has been a board member for the restaurant chain Luna Grill since 2017.

A man in a suit and tie standing next to a wall.

Stephen Derkash

INVESTMENT EXPERIENCE: 27 YEARS

Co-Founder, Co-Portfolio Manager for International Small Cap, Evolution Global Advisors
Portfolio Manager for Emerging Markets, Millennium Management
Executive Director, Lead Portfolio Manager for Emerging Markets Small Cap, UBS Asset Management
Vice President, Senior Analyst for Emerging Markets, Nicholas Applegate Capital Management (Allianz Global Investors company)
Senior Financial Restructuring Analyst, Burger King Corporation
Senior Analyst for Global Equities, Globalvest Management
Vice President, Senior Equity Research Analyst, ABN AMRO Bank (Brazil)
Analyst, Emerging Markets Investment Banking, Lehman Brothers

EDUCATION

The Wharton School, M.B.A in Finance
The University of Pennsylvania’s Lauder Institute of Management & International Studies, M.A. in International Studies
Georgetown University, B.A, magna cum laude, in English/Spanish

Stephen Derkash is a Co-Founder and Partner at Evolution Global Advisors. He serves as the Co-Portfolio Manager of the International Small Cap equity strategy.

Stephen has more than two decades of global investment experience, including at Millennium Management and UBS Asset Management. At Millennium from 2016-2019, Stephen managed an emerging markets equity strategy and opened a California office to invest primarily in India and Asia, and opportunistically in Brazil and Mexico.

Prior to this from 2007-2016, he was a founding member of the UBS Non-US Growth equities division, which managed billions of dollars for institutional clients across multiple strategies. Stephen was a Portfolio Manager responsible for launching and managing the UBS Emerging Market Small Cap strategy,

His greatest professional interest has always been in international markets. His language skills and experience living abroad in six countries have helped him to create strong relationships with management teams and other investors across regions. Stephen spent part of his childhood in Mexico City, worked in Brazil from 1997-2001, and he began his career with Lehman Brothers’ emerging markets investment banking group in New York.

Stephen received an M.B.A in Finance from the Wharton School, an M.A in International Affairs from the University of Pennsylvania’s Lauder Institute of International Studies, and a B.A, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University.

Richard Torykian

INVESTMENT EXPERIENCE: 30 YEARS

Head of Business Development and Client Relations, Evolution Global Advisors
Managing Director, Client Relationship Management, Brookfield Asset Management
Vice President, Marketing and Client Service, Duncan Hurst Capital Management
Principal, Director of Marketing, Signia Capital Management
Vice President, Institutional Equity Sales, Robertson Stephens
Analyst, Fixed Income, Morgan Stanley

EDUCATION

University of California, Los Angeles, M.B.A
Yale University, B.A. in History

Richard Torykian joined Evolution Global Advisors as Head of Business Development and Client Relations in 2024.

His career spans 30 years in institutional capital raising roles and was previously a Managing Director in Client Relationship Management at Brookfield Asset Management for 17 years. During his tenure he secured mandates globally across the institutional spectrum as well as served as the Director of Marketing and Client Service for the Public Securities Group for a portion of his time at the firm.

Richard's fund raising and client service experience also includes roles at Duncan Hurst Capital Management, Signia Capital Management, and Robertson Stephens. He started his career in the analyst program at Morgan Stanley.

Richard graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in History and also holds an M.B.A from UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Lisa Martin – Chief Compliance Officer

Lisa has over 35 years of experience in the investment management industry. Prior to founding her own consulting firm, Lisa was CFO and COO of a multi-billion-dollar asset management firm overseeing HR, finance, compliance, IT, and trading for mutual fund, wrap, and institutional accounts.

The investment team is supported by our analyst interns who participate in the EGA Global Investment Talent Development Program.

We are also proud to have partnered with the Young Investors Society (YIS), a high school financial literacy program dedicated to preparing the next generation of investors, and to have hosted our first YIS scholar intern during the summer of 2023.