2013 Speaker Bios
Innovative Alternative Strategies Conference Speaker Bios
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
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Jim Rogers Investment Expert and Author Jim Rogers, a native of Demopolis, Alabama, is an author, financial commentator, adventurer, and successful international investor. He has been frequently featured in Time, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Barron’s, Forbes, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The Business Times, The Straits Times and many media outlets worldwide. He has also appeared as a regular commentator and columnist in various media and has been a professor at Columbia University. After attending Yale and Oxford University, Rogers co-founded the Quantum Fund, a globalinvestment partnership. During the next 10 years, the portfolio gained 4200%, while the S&P rose less than 50%. Rogers then decided to retire – at age 37. Continuing to manage his own portfolio, Rogers kept busy serving as a professor of finance at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and, in 1989 and 1990, as the moderator of WCBS's 'The Dreyfus Roundtable' and FNN's 'The Profit Motive with Jim Rogers'. |
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Barry Ritholtz CEO and Director of Equity Research at Fusion IQ Barry L. Ritholtz, CEO and director of equity research at online quantitative research firm Fusion IQ, is one of the few strategists who saw the 2008 housing implosion and derivative mess far in advance. A frequent commentator on economic data and financial markets, Ritholtz writes a column on Investing for The Washington Post and is a regular guest on CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, MSNBC, and C/SPAN. In 2008-09, Ritholtz wrote the book Bailout Nation. He has been an angel investor in early-stage technology companies, including StockTwits, a Twitter-based stock community. He is on the Board of Directors of Democrasoft, whose Collaborize Classroom is radically remaking U.S. education. |
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Dr. Dambisa Moyo Dr. Dambisa Moyo is an international economist who analyzes the macroeconomy and global affairs. She has travelled to more than 50 countries over the last decade, during which time she has developed a unique knowledge base on the political, economic, and financial workings of emerging economies, in particular the BRICs and the frontier economies in Asia, South America, Africa and the Middle East. Her work examines the interplay between rapidly developing countries, international business, and the global economy, while highlighting the key opportunities for investment. Dr. Moyo serves on the boards of Barclays Bank, the financial services group, SABMiller, the global brewer, and Barrick Gold, the global miner. She was an economist at Goldman Sachs, where she worked for nearly a decade, and was a consultant to the World Bank in Washington, D.C. She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way for Africa and How the West Was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly and the Stark Choices Ahead. |
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Tom Dorsey Tom Dorsey co-founded Dorsey, Wright & Associates in 1987 and continues to serve as President. Mr. Dorsey is the author of Point & Figure Charting: The Essential Application for Forecasting and Tracking Market Prices, Thriving as a Broker in the 21st Century and Tom Dorsey’s Trading Tips: A Playbook for Stock Market Success. He has been a regular guest on Fox’s “Cavuto on Business” and “Bulls & Bears” programs, and frequently speaks to audiences worldwide on topics related to the stock market, technical analysis, and Relative Strength investing. Mr. Dorsey is a recipient of the Wharton School of Finance Securities Industry Association’s “Distinguished Speaker Award.” He was also named Alumni of the Year 2000 for Virginia Commonwealth University and was granted the Citizens Community Award from Governor Charles Robb. |
SPEAKERS
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Jonathan C. Angrist Jonathan Angrist is the co-founder, president and chief investment officer of Cognios Capital, where he oversees all investment operations for the firm. With 20 years of experience, Mr. Angrist specializes in investment strategies that seek uncorrelated sources of Alpha, with a focus on value investing and long/short equity fund management. Prior to Cognios Capital, he was a co-founder and portfolio manager at Helzberg Angrist Capital, LLC and a portfolio manager at Kornitzer Capital Management. Mr. Angrist holds a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from Tulane University, where he graduated summa cum laude and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society. He is a board member of University Academy, a public college-preparatory charter school in Kansas City, Missouri, and has held board positions for the Children's Center for the Visually Impaired, Kansas City Public Television and the Jewish Community Relationship Bureau. |
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Gary Black EVP, Global Co-CIO and CIO of Alternatives for Calamos Investments Black oversees Calamos’ portfolio management, trading, research and risk management, in partnership with John Calamos, Sr. Prior to joining Calamos, he founded Black Capital, LLC, where he led an investment team specializing in a long/short equity strategy. He previously served as CEO and CIO of Janus Capital Group and was CIO of Global Equities at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM). Black earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School. |
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John Blaney John Blaney is a portfolio manager and senior director, fixed income credit research. He has been a co-manager of the RS Floating Rate Fund since 2013. He has particular expertise in bank loans and led the creation of our proprietary loan data base. He also specializes in investment grade and high yield building materials, home construction and health care. He has additional expertise in technology, REITs, and other sectors. Previously, John spent three years as a trader and analyst in the structured products area. Prior to joining Guardian in 2000, John was an investment analyst at MetLife for three years. He has more than 15 years of investment experience. John holds a B.S. in finance from Trenton State College and an M.B.A. from Seton Hall University. He has a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, and is a member of the CFA Institute and the New York Society of Security Analysts. |
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Paul Britt, CFA Senior ETF Specialist Paul Britt is an ETF analyst at IndexUniverse. He focuses on U.S. size & style equity ETFs and alternative ETFs. He worked most recently as a private placement agent at an IRA custodian. Paul holds an M.S. in financial analysis from the University of San Francisco and is an active member of the CFA Society of San Francisco. |
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Brody Browe Brody Browe is a Vice President in the Product Management group. He serves as a portfolio specialist for the current offerings on the Franklin Square platform. Mr. Browe also works on the development and marketing of new alternative investment vehicles at the company. He holds series 7 and 63 licenses. |
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Gabriel Burstein, Ph.D. Head of Investment Strategy, Asset Management, Curian Capital Gabriel Burstein is the Head of Investment Strategy, Asset Management, at Curian Capital, where he is in charge of asset allocation, alternative investment strategy and investment research. Mr. Burstein has 15 years of experience in managing mutual and alternative fund portfolio investment strategy and fund research groups at Lipper, HSBC Bank USA and Daiwa Securities. |
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John Cadigan As National Sales Manager, John leads Arrow’s product distribution and advisor education efforts surrounding alternative investments and exchange traded funds (ETFs). During his more than 25 years of financial services industry experience, he has played a key role in creating and implementing various strategic corporate initiatives and building effective sales distribution teams for both traditional and alternative investments. Prior to joining Arrow, John served as the Managing Director/National Sales Manager for Direxion Funds with responsibility for the firm’s alternative and ETF lineup distribution strategy within the Broker/Dealer and Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) channels as well as the retail and institutional marketplaces. He also spent more than ten years at Rydex Investments where he helped to establish the firm as an early entrant in the alternative investment mutual fund space. |
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Steve Cohen Steve Cohen, Managing Director and Head of Strategy at ProShares, is responsible for product development, product management, investment strategies and branding. Previously, he worked at FOLIOfn, Calvert and several advertising agencies. Mr. Cohen earned a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Management Information Systems from the University of Virginia and holds Series 6, 7, 24, and 26 licenses. |
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James A. Colon, CFA Vice President, Portfolio Manager Nuveen Asset Management, LLC James manages Nuveen’s Intelligent Risk Portfolios® and is a member of the management team for Nuveen’s asset allocation products. James earned a B.A. in economics and international relations from Michigan State University and an M.S. in financial mathematics from the University of Chicago. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. |
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Ron D. Cordes Co-Chairman of Genworth Financial Wealth Management Ron D. Cordes has enjoyed a 25+ year career in the investment industry, having co-founded and then sold AssetMark Investment Services to Genworth Financial in 2006. He is currently co-chairman of Genworth Financial Wealth Management, which is responsible for over $24 billion of assets under management for individual and institutional clients. Cordes speaks and writes extensively in the field of impact investing, and chairs the Executive Committee for ImpactAssets, a new initiative to catalyze capital for impact investments formed in partnership with the Calvert Foundation. |
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Eric Cott As a representative for The Options Industry Council and serving as Director, Financial Advisor Education, Eric Cott endeavors to help advisors and their firms to use options more effectively. Mr. Cott is responsible for expanding OIC’s outreach to financial advisors. Additionally, he participates in conference panel discussions, presents advisor-oriented educational seminars, and guides the development of options curriculum and content for the OIC Advisor web site. Over the last 18 years, Mr. Cott has supported, served as and directed financial advisors through different roles. Most recently he was a Regional Vice President and Retirement Income Consultant at Sunlife Financial Distributors Inc. where he identified and cultivated new business, increasing assets and revenue share. |
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Philippe Cousteau, Jr. Explorer, social entrepreneur and environmental advocate, Philippe Cousteau is the 33-year-old member of the legendary family. He is the President of EarthEcho International www.earthecho.org, a leading non-profit organization whose goal is to engage and empower youth to take action for a brighter future. His tools are simple—education, balanced advocacy and a commitment to action. In addition to his work with EarthEcho International, Philippe is co-founder of Azure Worldwide www.azureworldwide.com, a strategic environmental design, development and marketing company. Most recently, Philippe announced a partnership with AdvisorShares Investments to leverage Wall Street to “do good” by launching the Global Echo Fund on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: GIVE) in May 2012. The first multi-manager exchange traded fund with a sustainable investment mandate where a portion of the management fee is funding a new Foundation aimed at philanthropically supporting solutions to many of the challenges facing the world community from social issues impacting women and children to environmental conservation, as well as supporting micro enterprise. |
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Jeremy DeGroot, CFA Partner, Chief Investment Officer Litman Gregory Masters Funds Jeremy is responsible for overseeing Litman Gregory’s manager due diligence, asset class research, and portfolio construction. He is also co-Portfolio Manager, along with Ken Gregory, of the Litman Gregory Masters Funds, and is the Portfolio Manager of the Litman Gregory Masters Alternative Strategies Fund, a multi-manager, multi-strategy fund. Jeremy is frequently quoted in the national media in the areas of asset allocation and manager selection. |
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Dr. Jordan Drachman Dr. Jordan Drachman, Director, is head of the Credit Suisse Alternative Beta Strategies group focusing on the creation of new alternative beta products. Dr. Drachman received a B.S. in Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Stanford University. |
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Edward Egilinsky As head of Alternative Investments at Direxion, Ed’s focus is to drive the firm’s product development initiatives, messaging, and support of product delivery. Prior to Direxion, he held positions at Price Asset Management, Rydex Investments and Kenmar Advisory Corporation. Ed graduated magna cum laude from the State University of Albany in New York. He holds Series 3, 7, 24, and 63 Licenses. |
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Stephen Erwin Stephen Erwin is the Managing Member of the Highlander Law Firm, LLC where he represents investment advisers, hedge funds and private equity funds as outside general counsel and outsourced CCO services. Stephen is also private wealth manager with Aveo Capital Partners where he provides private wealth and unified managed account asset management services to high-net-with clients. |
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Chris Gaffney, CFA Senior Market Strategist Chris Gaffney is a Senior Market Strategist for EverBank Wealth Management and Senior Vice President and Director of Sales for the World Markets® division of EverBank. His involvement with the World Markets team began in 1987. Previously, he served as Vice President of the International Markets Division at Mark Twain Banks. Chris holds series 7 & 63 licenses and received a BSBA from Washington University with an emphasis in Accounting and Finance. He holds a Chartered Financial Analyst® designation. |
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Christopher Gannatti, CFA Since 2010, Christopher Gannatti has served as a key Research Analyst at WisdomTree. Prior to WisdomTree, he worked at Lord Abbett as a Regional Consultant. Christopher received his MBA in Quantitative Finance, Accounting, and Economics from NYU’s Stern School of Business and bachelor’s degree from Colgate University in Economics. He holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation. |
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David Garff, CIMA David serves as the President of Accuvest Global Advisors. He heads the Investment Committee and Research teams. David’s responsibilities include oversight of the firm’s asset allocation process, CST investment strategy, country selection model and liquid alternatives portfolios. David holds an MBA, with a concentration in Finance, from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. David is a frequent conference speaker on the subjects of global investing, ETFs and country selection. He has been featured on TV, radio and in print media with Bloomberg, CNBC, Fox Business, Wall Street Journal, Morningstar and Barron’s. |
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Sean Hickham Sean Hickham serves as a vice president of fund management for CNL Financial Group and brings an in-depth understanding of the investment philosophy, process and performance of CNL sponsored funds. Prior to rejoining CNL in 2011, Mr. Hickham served as a director of MGGI, Inc., a consulting and management company in the golf industry. Previously he has served as division vice president of Servant Investments, LLC, a private equity real estate firm, and vice president of sales and marketing for Trustreet, Inc. (formerly CNL Restaurant Properties). Mr. Hickham has also had various roles with Arthur Andersen, Metavante and Maritz, Inc. |
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Joanne Hill, PhD Joanne Hill, PhD is Head of Investment Strategy at ProShares, focused on alternative investment strategies using ProShares ETFs. Before ProShares, Dr. Hill spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs where she was a Managing Director leading global equity index and derivatives strategy for institutional investors. She has also served on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts (Amherst). |
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Matt Hougan Matt Hougan is the president of ETF Analytics and global head of editorial for IndexUniverse. In that role, he serves as editor-in-chief of IndexUniverse.com and the Exchange-Traded Funds Report (ETFR), and senior editor of Journal of Indexes. Widely quoted in the financial media, Hougan is co-manager of CNBC ETF Portfolios and a columnist for RealMoney.com |
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C. Thomas Howard, PhD Dr. Howard is co-founder and CIO of AthenaInvest, a Greenwood Village-based SEC Registered Investment Advisor. He led the research project that resulted in Strategy Based Investing, the methodology which underlies AthenaInvest’s investment approach. Dr. Howard is a Professor Emeritus at the Reiman School of Finance, Daniels College of Business, University of Denver, where he taught for over 30 years. |
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Lance Johnson Lance Johnson joined Realty Capital Securities on December 10, 2012 as an RIA Sales Manager. Before this he worked for Jackson National Life as a Regional Vice President (1995-2000) and at MetLife as a wholesaler and then as a Divisional Sales Manager (2000-2012). Lance earned a bachelors degree from Olivet College in business administration with a concentration in risk management. |
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Kerry Jordan, CFA Kerry Jordan, CFA is the Director of Marketing and chief Compliance Officer for Chicago Capital Management L.P., an absolute return, merger arbitrage strategy hedge fund. In this capacity Ms. Jordan manages all of the fund’s capital raising efforts, investor relations communications, and compliance team. Prior to joining CCM, Ms. Jordan was a managing director at Phalanx Capital Management, LLC, an Asian-focused, multi-strategy hedge fund where she managed the fund’s business development and capital raising efforts. Previously, Ms. Jordan was a director in the Global Derivatives Products group at Bank of America where she focused on the structuring and sales of interest rate, commodity, and equity derivatives. |
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Timothy J. Keating Timothy J. Keating is the Chief Executive Officer of Keating Capital, Inc. (Nasdaq: KIPO), a publicly-traded business development company that specializes in making pre-IPO investments in innovative, emerging growth companies that are committed to and capable of becoming public. Previously, he held senior management positions in the Equity and Equity Derivatives departments of Bear Stearns, Nomura and Kidder, Peabody in both London and New York. He is a 1985 cum laude graduate of Harvard College with an A.B. in economics. |
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George Kellner Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer Mr. Kellner has been in the hedge fund business for over 30 years and founded Kellner DiLeo & Co., LP (the predecessor entity to Kellner Capital) in 1981. Prior to Kellner Capital, Mr. Kellner was a Senior Vice President and founded the arbitrage department of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Before commencing his arbitrage career, Mr. Kellner was a Vice President and House Counsel of the Madison Fund where he had broad responsibilities as a financial analyst and portfolio manager. Mr. Kellner began his professional career as a securities lawyer at the Wall Street law firm of Carter, Ledyard and Milburn and holds a B.A. from Trinity College, a J.D. from Columbia Law School and an M.B.A. from New York University’s Leonard Stern Graduate School of Business. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a former Adjunct Assistant Professor of Finance at New York University and serves on the Stern School's Board of Overseers. |
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Thomas Kostigen Thomas Kostigen is a New York Times bestselling author. He writes "The Ethics Monitor” column for Dow Jones MarketWatch and his books include The Green Blue Book: The Simple Water Savings Guide to Everything in Your Life, You Are Here: Exposing the Vital Link Between What We Do and What That Does to Our Planet and The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time. He is also principal of Kostigen Inc, a boutique communication advisory firm focused on impact investing. |
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Rick Lake Mr. Lake is the Co-Chairman and Treasurer of Lake Partners, which he co-founded in 1989. He has more than 25 years of experience in the investment industry, and oversees the firm's research on mutual funds—especially those that utilize long/short strategies. In 2003, he was invited to speak at the SEC's Hedge Fund Roundtable, commenting on the convergence of mutual funds and hedge funds. He has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, The Financial Times, Investors Business Daily, Business Week, Fortune and Bloomberg, among other publications. Mr. Lake began his investment career with Prudential Securities after earning a Bachelor's degree cum laude from Harvard University in 1980. |
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Hugh R. Lamle Hugh R. Lamle is President of M.D. Sass where he has been a Partner since 1974 and heads the firm’s spectrum of fixed income and alternative strategies. Hugh is on the Board of ICE Futures US and the Climate Exchange. He holds an MBA (Finance and Investments) from Baruch College. |
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Christian Lena Christian Lena has 12 years of experience as an investment professional and is responsible for business development and client relations at ALPHA TITANS LLC, an investment advisor that specializes in sourcing alpha and managing risk by diversifying assets among dominant multi-strategy “Alpha Titans” in the hedge fund industry. Christian’s prior professional experience includes business development for Aeon Capital LLC, a global macro hedge fund, and five years as an equities trader with Lightspeed Trading. Christian completed the Global Investment Risk Management Programme at the Saïd Business School, Oxford University. He holds the Certificate in Quantitative Finance (CQF) and an MHA/MBA from the University of Southern California, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and was a Merit Scholar. |
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J. Alan Lenahan, CFA, CAIA Managing Principal/Director of Hedged Strategies FUND EVALUATION GROUP, LLC Alan is Director of Hedged Strategies within the research group at Fund Evaluation Group, LLC. Alan is a portfolio manager for FEG’s suite of hedge fund of funds and liquid alternatives portfolios. Alan has focused on research across the spectrum of hedge fund and other non-traditional investment structures for over a decade. In 2007, Alan was named one of the 20 Rising Stars in Hedge Funds by Institutional Investor News. |
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Eddie Lund Eddie Lund is responsible for new business development for Gemini Fund Services, LLC. Eddie’s role includes educating investment advisors on the pooled investment products Gemini services and helping them find the best solution for their business. He also consults with advisors on various distribution efforts for their vehicle. |
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Christian Magoon Christian Magoon is CEO of Magoon Capital. He provides strategic advice to potential and existing ETF sponsors in areas of product development, marketing and distribution. Magoon has launched, or assisted in the launch of, 50 ETFs in the United States to date. He contributes ETF-related content to Seeking Alpha, ETF Daily News, the Nasdaq and Financial Advisor magazine, and publishes GoldETFs.biz. Formerly president of Claymore Securities, now Guggenheim Investments, Magoon has been named an ETF Pioneer and a top five ETF expert on Twitter. |
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Tony Marek, CFA, CPA Tony Marek, CFA, CPA, Vice President and product strategist, is a member of the BlackRock Multi-Asset Solutions group, which is responsible for developing, assembling and managing investment solutions involving multiple strategies and asset classes. |
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Joe Mazzola Joe Mazzola is responsible for developing and delivering investment analysis and financial educational content to institutional clients for TD Ameritrade Institutional. Mazzola began his trading career in 1998 in fixed income for Hanold Trading. In 1999, he joined the Helios Trading Group at the Chicago Board Options Exchange eventually becoming a market maker in the Microsoft options pit. Joe has served as Primary Market Maker (PMM) for Bear Stearns and Managing Director of Option Trading for Simplex Investments. In 2008, he joined thinkorswim as an instructor for the educational arm of the firm. Mazzola holds Series 3, 4, 7, and 63 Licenses. |
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Brad McMillan, CFA®, CAIA, MAI, AIF® Vice President, Chief Investment Officer As Commonwealth’s CIO, Brad chairs the investment committee, authors commentaries for advisors, and writes a blog, The Independent Market Observer. Brad has a BA (Dartmouth) and MS degrees in real estate (MIT) and finance (Boston College). In 2011 and 2012, Brad was named to Financial Advisor’s All-Star research team. |
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Axel Merk Axel Merk is the President and CIO of Merk Investments, manager of the Merk Funds. An authority on currencies, Axel is a recognized expert on the global economy, monetary policy and international investing. He is a pioneer in using strategic currency investing, including gold, to seek diversification and portable alpha. Merk, dubbed the "Currency Guru" by Morningstar, is a regular guest on CNBC, FoxBusiness and Bloomberg; his unique expertise and insights are sought after by think tanks, investor groups and financial media around the world. |
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Eric Metz, CFA Portfolio Manager, RiverNorth Eric serves as Portfolio Manager and Derivatives Strategist at RiverNorth. Eric aids the firm in optimizing risk across its portfolios while managing the derivatives-oriented portfolios. Eric has been a guest lecturer at the Ross School of Business of the University of Michigan on the rising and prolific use of options and derivatives as strategic investment tools and viewing volatility as an asset class. |
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Kirk Michie Kirk brings nearly 30 years of experience in investment and wealth management including financial and estate planning, asset allocation, retirement planning, banking, insurance, and family office services. Prior to joining Triton Pacific to lead their capital markets team, Kirk was the Managing Partner of Kayne Anderson Rudnick’s Private Clients Group |
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Evan L. Mizrachy Evan L. Mizrachy, Director, is Head of Retail Alternatives for BlackRock Alternative Investors. He is responsible for coordinating retail product development initiatives and works closely with BAI's channel partners to support distribution and education efforts around alternatives. |
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John Nicholas Head of Fund Portfolio Management, Guggenheim Investment Advisors, LLC Mr. Nicholas is a Managing Director for Guggenheim Partners and Head of Fund Portfolio Management for Guggenheim Investment Advisors, LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor. Mr. Nicholas also serves as a member of Guggenheim Investment Advisors’ Investment Committee. Mr. Nicholas has 20 years experience managing hedge fund and multi-asset class portfolios for institutional and high-net-worth investors. Prior to joining Guggenheim in 2010, Mr. Nicholas was Director of Public Markets at Vulcan Capital overseeing manager research and investment in the hedge fund, equity and fixed income areas. Before Vulcan, he was Director of Portfolio Management at HFR Asset Management and Chief Investment Officer of HFRAM Europe, managing hedge fund portfolios for European and U.S. institutional investors. Prior to HFR, Mr. Nicholas was a Senior Consultant at Morgan Stanley’s Graystone wealth management group, managing traditional and alternative investment portfolios for high-net worth individuals and foundations. |
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Mac O’Brien Mr. O’Brien is Vice President and Director of Strategic Development for Dearborn Capital Management (DCM), an investment management firm that operates a family of alternative funds. Mr. O’Brien is primarily responsible for the management of the Registered Investment Advisor and Institutional business channels. His duties include new product development, strategic relationships and leadership of the national business development teams. Prior to joining DCM, Mr. O’Brien spent 5 years as a Managing Director at Zacks Investment Management, a $2B investment management firm in Chicago, IL. His assignments included product development, strategic initiatives and the management of the firms retail distribution. Mr. O’Brien began his career at one of the largest independent equity research firms in the industry where he gained experience in quantitative modeling, portfolio construction and sales. He received BA in Economics from the University of Michigan. |
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F. Fuller O’Connor Jr. Managing Director, EJF Capital LLC Mr. O’Connor joined EJF in 2009, bringing with him over 27 years experience in the real estate investment banking and finance industry. Previously, Mr. O’Connor was Senior Managing Director and Head of Real Estate Investment Banking at FBR. Prior to FBR, Mr. O'Connor was Managing Director at Cohen & Steers Capital Advisors, as well as Managing Director at Prudential Securities Incorporated in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group. Mr. O'Connor has held senior positions in real estate at Chase Manhattan Bank, Chemical Bank and Trammell Crow Ventures. |
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Dominick Paoloni, CIMA® Adjunct Professor of Derivatives CIO & Founder of IPS Strategic Capital IPS Strategic Capital, a derivatives based risk management firm, builds custom hedged solutions and structured products for pensions, endowments and financial advisors. IPS engineers investable indices to hedge tail risk with an emphasis on a neutral deposit of carry. Dominick teaches practical derivatives based strategies at the University of Denver. |
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Gregory Parcella Mr. Parcella has served as the Director of Business Development and Product Specialist at Long Short Advisors since October 2012. From 2005 to 2012, Mr. Parcella was an Equity Research Analyst for three separate hedge funds, Kacela Capital, Freestyle Fund and Ingleside Investors. From 2000 to 2004, Mr. Parcella was an Equity Research Analyst at Citigroup Asset Management. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Finance and Economics at Carnegie Mellon University. |
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Nadia Papagiannis, CFA Nadia Papagiannis, CFA is director of alternative fund research for Morningstar. In this role, she leads a team of three alternative investment research analysts. She is also editor of the quarterly newsletter Alternative Investments Observer. Prior to joining Morningstar in 2005, she was a senior compliance examiner at NASD (now FINRA), auditing broker-dealers. She also worked at the National Futures Association (NFA), auditing firms trading futures and options, including hedge funds. Papagiannis holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and French from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Papagiannis also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. In 2011, Institutional Investor selected her as one of the publication’s Rising Stars of Mutual Funds. |
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Lee Partridge Lee Partridge is the Chief Investment Officer of Salient Partners, a Houston based investment firm with over $17 billion in assets under management. Mr. Partridge spearheaded the development of Salient's asset allocation funds, credit-related strategies and quantitatively managed funds. He also directly oversees the investment program for one of Salient's largest institutional clients, a $9+ billion public pension plan. |
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Keith Pettus, CAIA, CFA Vice President – West SQN Capital Management, LLC Mr. Pettus received his B.S. from Lehigh University, is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), and holds FINRA Series 7, 24, 55 & 66 licenses. He is an active member of the CAIA Association, CFA Society of San Francisco, CFA Institute, FPA and FPA of San Francisco. |
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David C. Puchi Managing Partner, Capital Development & Leasing Strategy With over 20 years experience across more than $700 million of commercial properties, Mr. Puchi is primarily responsible for sourcing investor and joint venture capital for Baceline's real estate offerings. Mr. Puchi has developed more than 15 years of successful investor, advisor and other capital source relationships to support the growth and improved diversification of Baceline’s investment portfolios. |
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Evan Ratnow Evan Ratnow joined Citi Private Bank in 2010 as a manager research analyst covering Fixed Income and Liquid Alternative managers for Citi’s Global Platform. Evan holds a BS in Chemistry from Muhlenberg College and an MBA degree from Villanova University. He has also earned the right to use the CFA designation. |
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Tom Ricketts Tom Ricketts is Chairman of Chicago-based Incapital LLC, which he founded in 2000. Incapital is an investment bank that underwrites and distributes fixed income securities issued by major corporations, banks and federal agencies. Incapital is also a leading underwriter, distributor and liquidity provider in a wide range of other products including certificates of deposit, structured products, annuities, mortgage-backed securities and municipal bonds. Institutional Investor Magazine named him one of the 40 most influential leaders in electronic finance. To baseball fans, Tom is better known as the chairman of the Chicago Cubs. He and his family bought the Cubs in 2009. |
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Kelly Rodriques President & Chief Executive Officer PENSCO Trust Company Kelly Rodriques is President and CEO of PENSCO Trust Company, headquartered in San Francisco. Prior to joining PENSCO in 2010, Mr. Rodriques was an Operating Partner of Ignition Growth Capital. He currently serves as a Board member to mFoundry and FonWallet. |
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Gregory T. Rogers Founder & President, RayLign Advisory LLC and Managing Partner Raylor Asset Management Group, LLC Greg founded RayLign Advisory LLC in 2004 to provide consultative services to a select number of financially complex families that want to be proactive about “perpetuating well-being through the generations.” The firm was founded after working within his own family business, a leading investment consulting company, and after roles as a strategic consultant, a publicly-traded asset management executive, and as a family dynamics facilitator. RayLign emerged out of Greg’s conclusion that very few advisory firms had the comprehensive skill-set to understand the many complexities of family relationships in the context of financial management. Even fewer had business models that supported the patience, project management capacity, or objectivity required to truly be an agent for the client family. |
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Edward Russell Edward Russell is a director at Tortoise Capital Advisors. Since he joined the firm in 2006, he has participated in the marketing of all of Tortoise’s new closed-end funds and its open-end fund, and he served as president of Tortoise Capital Resources (TTO) from April 2007 until June 2012. Edward also serves as a director for Abraxas Petroleum Corp (NASDQ: AXAS). Prior to joining Tortoise, Edward was a managing director at Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc., where he headed the energy and power group. He was also responsible for the firm’s energy and power transactions, including all debt and equity transactions for the Tortoise funds, starting with the first fund’s initial public equity offering in February 2004. Before joining Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Edward was an investment banker with Pauli & Company, Inc., and Arch Capital, LLC. |
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David Schulz, CFA David Schulz, CFA, is president of Convergence Investment Partners. Prior to founding Convergence, David served as the president and chief investment officer of M&I Investment Management, a $17 billion investment advisory, where he was instrumental in forming proprietary mutual funds, securities lending and asset allocation programs. |
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Stephen Scott Stephen Scott has 22 years of investment experience and serves as portfolio manager and investment committee co-chair for the Van Eck Multi-Manager Alternatives Fund. Prior to joining Van Eck, Mr. Scott was a founding member and principal of Explorer Alternative Management LLC, a hedge fund manager search and selection firm. |
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Michael Seton |
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Jeffrey J. Sherman, CFA Portfolio Manager, Commodities Mr. Sherman joined DoubleLine in 2009 as a portfolio manager for commodity-based strategies. Prior to DoubleLine, he was a Senior Vice President at TCW for nine years where he worked as a Quantitative Analyst and oversaw several commodity funds. Mr. Sherman holds a BS in Applied Mathematics from the University of the Pacific and a MS in Financial Engineering from the Claremont Graduate University. He is a CFA charterholder. |
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Evan Simonoff Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Director Financial Advisor and Private Wealth magazines Evan Simonoff is editorial director of Financial Advisor and Private Wealth magazines and is a founding partner of Charter Financial Publishing Network (CFPN). He has spent more than 20 years as an editor and reporter covering the financial services industry. Simonoff is a widely recognized expert on personal finance and investments. |
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David Smith Co-Founder and Group Publisher Financial Advisor and Private Wealth magazines David Smith is a founding partner of Charter Financial Publishing Network (CFPN), a publisher, marketer and distributor of information for the financial services industry. He is co-founder and publisher of Financial Advisor and Private Wealth magazines and other CFPN publications. |
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Kevin Sullivan Kevin Sullivan is Senior Vice President and Director of National Sales for Jefferson National. Prior to joining Jefferson National, Kevin spent 12 years at Northern Trust in various roles and responsibilities including the development and management of a portfolio construction desk focused on Northern Trust’s HNW clients, management of the third party sales and distribution teams, key account management and strategic planning for distribution efforts. |
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Randy Swan Randy Swan, President, is the founder of Swan Wealth Advisors, Inc (Swan). Prior to forming Swan, Randy was a KPMG senior manager working in their Financial Services Group, primarily with insurance companies and risk managers. It was here where Randy conceived Swan’s investment strategy of using the options market to manage portfolio risk. Randy is a 1990 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a master’s degree in professional accounting. |
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Michael Underhill Founder & Chief investment officer at Capital Innovations, LLC. He is author of the Handbook of Infrastructure Investing (recommended by the CFA Institute), a professor at EDHEC University teaching Infrastructure Investing and remains one of the world’s most provocative, respected financial analysts and an award winning real assets portfolio manager. |
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Brian Watson, CFA Director of Research & Portfolio Manager, OFI SteelPath Prior to joining SteelPath in 2009, Brian Watson was a portfolio manager and led the MLP research effort at Swank Capital LLC, in Dallas, Texas. Mr. Watson also covered the MLP and Diversified Energy sectors for RBC Capital Markets in the firm’s Equity Research Division from 2002 to 2005. Prior to this, Mr. Watson worked for Prudential Capital Group, helping to analyze, structure, and invest in debt private placements issued primarily by companies involved in the energy industry including those involved in oil field services, midstream services, and oil and gas exploration and production. |
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Richard B. Weed, CFA Managing Director, F-Squared Alternative Investments Mr. Weed is a Managing Director of the firm and is a member of F-Squared's Investment Committee. Mr. Weed has over 20 years of investment management experience with extensive portfolio management, risk-control, quantitative modeling, product research and design expertise. Previously, Mr. Weed was the CIO of Vernon Square Capital, a long-short, market neutral hedge fund based in Boston. Prior to founding Vernon Square Capital, Mr. Weed spent nine years at Putnam Investments, where he led the Small and Emerging Growth Equities Team. He also spent eight years at State Street Global Advisors, where he was a Senior Portfolio Manager with the US Active Equities team. |
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Michael Weil Michael Weil is President of American Realty Capital, a full-service investment advisory firm sponsoring a series of sector specific investment programs with an emphasis on publicly registered, non-traded, direct investment solutions. Weil is also Chairman and CEO of Realty Capital Securities, American Realty Capital’s affiliated broker dealer and wholesale distributor. |
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Andrew B. Weisman Chief Investment Officer & Portfolio Manager, Liquid Alternatives, Janus Capital Andrew Weisman is Chief Investment Officer & Portfolio Manager, Liquid Alternatives. Prior professional experience includes: Chief Portfolio Manager for Merrill Lynch Hedge Fund Group as well as Chief Investment Officer and Member of the Board of Directors of Nikko International. His research awards include the Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy Award and the GAIM Research Paper of the Year. He serves on the board of the International Association of Financial Engineers, the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Portfolio Management and as Treasurer of the Society of Columbia Graduates. |
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Jim Welsh Mr. Welsh has been a Portfolio Manager with Forward Management since June 2012. From June 2010 to May 2012, Mr. Welsh was a Financial Advisor with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. From March 1991 to June 2010, Mr. Welsh was the sole proprietor of Welsh Money Management, an investment advisory firm. |
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Clay H. Womack Clay H. Womack is the Managing Director of Adageo Management, LLC. Adageo is the managing general partner to a private upstream E&P MLP and a private saltwater disposal facility MLP. In addition, he and his team have created a platform for capital formation for private and pre-public MLP’s which recently launched as MLPMarket.Com. Clay is also one of the co-founders of REISA, an alternative investment trade group. |
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Mike Wood A 25 year veteran of the investment industry, Mike began his career as a Vice President of the Private Client Group at Bear, Stearns & Co. He transitioned to the alternative investment side of the business in 2000, taking on the National Sales Director-Vice President role at SSI Investment Management, an institutional hedge fund manager. Mike joined Charles Schwab & Co. in February 2010 as Director, Alternative Investments. |
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Mark W. Yusko Chief Investment Officer & CEO, Morgan Creek Capital Management Mark Yusko is the Founder, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Morgan Creek Capital Management. Prior to forming Morgan Creek, Mr. Yusko was President, Chief Investment Officer and Founder of UNC Management Company, the Endowment investment office for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, from 1998 to 2004. Throughout his tenure, he directly oversaw strategic and tactical asset allocation recommendations to the Investment Fund Board, investment manager selection, manager performance evaluation, spending policy management and performance reporting. Until 1998, Mr. Yusko was the Senior Investment Director for the University of Notre Dame Investment Office where he joined as the Assistant Investment Officer in October of 1993. |
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Sorina Zahan Sorina Zahan is a Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Core Capital Management, an alternative asset management and research company that she helped establish in 2004 in Chicago. Her responsibilities include the management of Core portfolios and coordination of risk management. Prior to 2004 Dr. Zahan spent fifteen years in academia. Dr. Zahan holds a B.S. and a Ph.D. degree from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Her current research activity is focused on optimality and risk allocation in public pension plans and the correction of common biases in portfolio construction. |
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Michael Zmistowski President of the Financial Planning Association of Florida and Primary Member of Financial Planning Advisors, LLC, has been in private practice for over 30 years designing and implementing financial plans with Retirement Income as his specialty. A prominent conference speaker known for his energetic speaking style & knowledge in securities, alternatives and life/health/annuities insurance law including state statutes, FINRA rules, CFP Ethics Standards and NAIC Suitability Regulations. |