|
WORLD ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT SUMMIT CANADA 2008 Keynote Speakers |  |  |  |  |  | | Jonathan Boersma Global Investment Performance Standards, CFA Institute Centre for Financial Market Integrity | Katherine Burton
Bloomberg News Author, Hedge Hunters | Robert Johnston
Energy & Natural Resources, Eurasia Group | Marianne K. Smythe Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP - Washington, D.C. | Gregg Berman Founding Member, RiskMetrics Group | Not familiar with a speaker? Click on the speaker's name to review their biography. | Speakers | | | | ² Christopher Addy, President and CEO, Castle Hall Alternatives | | | | ² Alok Aggarwal, Chairman, Evalueserve | | | | ² Suhail I. Ahmad, Co-Founder, President & CEO Ittihad Capital Corporation | | | | ² Andrew Alford, Managing Director, Senior Portfolio Manager and Senior Researcher, Goldman Sachs & Co. | | | | ² Howard J. Atkinson, President, BetaPro Management Inc. | | | | ² Matt Auriemma, Principal, Co-Head of Due Diligence, Barclays Global Investors | | | | ² Alka Banerjee, Vice President of Global Equities Standard and Poor's | | | | ² Tim Baron, Partner, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP | | | | ² Gregg Berman, Founding Member, RiskMetrics Group | | | | ² Larry Berman, Co-Founder of ETF Capital Management | | | | ² Jonathan Boersma, Executive Director of the Global Investment Performance Standards, CFA Institute Centrefor Financial Market Integrity | | | | ² Pat Bolland, Host of BNN’s Market Morning | | | | ² Scott Brusso, Director , FX Products | | | | ² Colin Bugler, Managing Director, RBC Capital Markets | | | | ² Michael Burns, Partner, McMillan LLP | | | | ² Katherine Burton, Reporter, Bloomberg News & Author of HEDGE HUNTERS, Hedge Fund Masters on the Rewards, the Risk, and the Reckoning | | | | ² Blair Carey, Investment Analyst, Abacus Private Equity | | | | ² Alex Chapman, Vice President, Commonwealth Fund Services | | | | ² Shaykh Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo, Chief Shariah Officer & Board Member, Shariah Capital | | | | ² Peter Everett, Vice-President, Planning and Business Development, PPI Financial Group | | | | ² Laurent Ferreira, Executive Vice-President, Head of Derivatives, National Bank | | | | ² Michael Finkelstein, President and CEO, Whalehaven | | | | ² Alan Fish, Partner, Ernst & Young | | | | ² Stephen Foster, Director, Head of Investment Management, Single Manager Portfolios, Credit Suisse | | | | ² Frank Gesuale, Manager, Jefferson Wells International | | | | ² Alison Graham, Chief Investment Officer, Voltan Capital Management, LLC | | | | ² JoAnne Halpern, Head of Institutional Sales, Venator Capital Management | | | | ² Ernesto Higueras, President, Intercapital Canada Inc. | | | | ² Michael Hlinka, Business Commentator, CBC Radio and Television | | | | ² Bryan Hunter, Partner, Corporate & Commerical , Appleby Global | | | | ² Amin M. Husain, Associate, King and Spalding's | | | | ² Mark Jarvis, Chairman and President, Hard Creek Nickel Corporation | | | | ² Robert Johnston, Director, Energy & Natural Resources, Eurasia Group | | | | ² Ronald M. Kosonic, Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP | | | | ² Patricia Koval, Partner, Torys LLP | | | | ² John Lee, Manager, Mau Capital Management | | | | ² Scott P. Lennon, Senior Vice President, Walkers | | | | ² James Loewen, Audit Partner, KPMG LLPs Financial Services | | | | ² Ian Matheson, Chief Development Officer, AON Reed Stenhouse | | | | ² Tom McDonnell, Partner, Thorsteinnsons LLP | | | | ² Michael Newallo, Managing Director, Securities Finance, National Bank Financial | | | | ² Kevin J. O'Connor, Associate Attorney General, U.SDepartment of Justice | | | | ² Niket Patankar, CEO, Adventity Inc | | | | ² Heather Pelant, Head of iShares™ Canada, Barclays Global Investors Canada Limited | | | | ² Ingrid Pierce, Partner, Walkers’ Hedge Funds Department | | | | ² Eric R. Roper, Esq., Senior Partner ,Gersten Savage LLP | | | | ² Marc J. Ross, Founder, Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference LLP | | | | ² Andres Rueda, Counsel, Lowenstein Sandler | | | | ² Michael T. Ryan, Associate Analyst, Moodys | | | | ² Pierre Saint-Laurent, President, Asset Counsel Inc. | | | | ² Mustafa Saiyid, International Monetary Fund | | | | ² Greg Scarffe, Director Hedge Fund Services Credit Suisse First Boston ,New York | | | | ² Som Seif, Chief Executive Officer and Director, Claymore Investments | | | | ² Marianne K. Smythe, Partner, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP - Washington, D.C. | | | | ² Walied Soliman, Lawyer, Ogilvy Renault LLP | | | | ² Dr. Benn Steil, Senior Fellow & Director of International Economics,Council on Foreign Relations NY | | | | ² Howard Steinberg, Managing Director, Fortress Investment Group | | | | ² Bob Thompson, Senior Investment Advisor and Alternative Investment Strategist, Canaccord Capital | | | | ² John J. Tobin, Partner, Torys LLP | | | | ² Richard Zack, Managing Director, Head of U.S. Equity Derivatives Sales, National Bank of Canada Financial | | | | ² Walter Zebrowski, JD, CPA CIO Hedgemony, Partners; Chairman, Regulatory Compliance Association | | | | Speaker profiles are listed below in alphabetical order | | | |  | Christopher Addy |  | Christopher Addy, CA CFA, is the President and CEO of Castle Hall Alternatives, a specialist provider of operational risk due diligence services based in Montréal, Canada. Castle Hall’s clients include leading institutions, fund of funds and family offices, currently allocating more than $15 billion to hedge funds.
Chris has been involved in the analysis of hedge fund operations for more than a decade and has completed significantly more than 500 operational due diligence reviews of hedge funds, fund of funds and administrators. He was previously Principal and co-founder of Amber Partners, a Bermuda company providing operational certifications to hedge fund managers.
Prior to forming Amber, Chris was a member of management of Union Bancaire Privée Geneva, currently one of the world’s largest fund of funds groups with hedge fund assets in excess of $45 billion. At UBP, Chris was Senior Vice President of UBP Asset Management (Bermuda), where he supervised a team of analysts responsible for operational due diligence on a large number of hedge funds and administrators. Chris previously held the position of group financial controller of The Atlantic Philanthropies (Bermuda) Limited, a multi-billion dollar foundation with a significant allocation to hedge funds. He began his career as an auditor with Deloitte in the United Kingdom and PricewaterhouseCoopers in Bermuda, where he became lead manager in the firm’s investment company audit group.
Chris is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec. He is also a CFA charterholder. | | | | | Alok Aggarwal |  | Alok Aggarwal is Chairman and Co-founder of Evalueserve, a Research and Analytics services providers to buy-side/sell-side firms globally. Alok has overseen Evalueserve’s meteorical 5000% growth over the last 5 years.
Prior to this, Alok was the Director of Emerging Business Opportunities for IBM Research Division Worldwide. In this capacity, he headed IBM's India Research Laboratory where he was managing a team of 55 researchers involved in research and development of major IBM products and technologies. Alok received his B. Tech. in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and his Ph. D. in Computer Science from the Johns Hopkins University.
He has published over 50 research papers, 12 patents, and has received 2 Outstanding Invention Awards. Recently, Alok has authored various papers on private equity and venture capital activity in Emerging Markets.
Evalueserve is a Knowledge services company providing worldwide and multi-language Business and Market Research, Data Analytics, Investment Research and Intellectual Property services to clients globally. Since being founded in December 2000, Evalueserve has doubled in size each year and today employs 2000 professionals at Operational Centers in Gurgaon, India, Shanghai, China and Valparaiso, Chile. | | | | | Suhail I. Ahmad |  | Mr. Ahmad is the visionary Co-Founder and CEO of Ittihad Capital Corporation, a private equity and financial services firm founded in 2004. Mr. Ahmad is a pioneer in ethical socially responsible investments and Financing in Canada. With the launch of Ittihad Securities Inc. in 2006, Mr. Ahmad helped establish the first North American Islamic Investment Bank and develop the firm as global leader in Ethical Islamic Investments and structured products.
Prior to joining Ittihad Mr. Ahmad served over 7 years as the President and CEO of Alberta based Everest Financial Group Inc., and helped establish the firm’s financial advisory and risk management business. Mr. Ahmad also held the position of Vice-President Finance with an IT company for three years prior to relinquishing his role as a National Sales Manager with an emerging telecom firm, giving him a spectrum of “hands-on” management experience of small and mid-market enterprises (SME). Canadian born, Mr. Ahmad has a Bachelors in Economics from the University of Calgary and has completed numerous financial and professional courses including earning the prestigious Canadian Investment Manager (CIM) designation from the Canadian Securities Institute. With over 10 years of investment and financial services experience, Mr. Ahmad sits on several business advisory boards and is a recipient of the Alberta Centennial Award issued by the Government of Alberta for his outstanding contribution to Canadian business. | | | | | Andrew Alford |  | Andrew Alford, Ph.D. is Managing Director, Senior Portfolio Manager and Senior Researcher at Goldman Sachs & Co. Andrew is responsible for the Flex equity long-short strategies managed by the Global Quantitative Equity Group. He is also a member of the Group’s Investment Policy Committee.
Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in 1998, Andrew was an accounting professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and then the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. He has also served as an Academic Fellow in the Office of Economic Analysis at the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington DC. Andrew has a B.S. degree in information and computer science from the University of California at Irvine and an MBA and a Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago. | | | | | Howard J. Atkinson |  | Howard Atkinson has 21 years of investment management industry experience, including positions with a national investment dealer and major mutual fund companies. Prior to joining BetaPro, Howard was responsible for business development of the Exchange Traded Products business at Barclays Global Investors Canada Limited. He is the immediate Past President of Toronto CFA Society board of directors and is a member of the S&P/TSX Canada Index Advisory Panel.
Mr. Atkinson is the author of four books including "The New Investment Frontier III: A Guide to Exchange Traded Funds for Canadians," and “Les Fonds Négociés en Bourse: Un outil de placement novateur pour l'investisseur avisé”. He has been a contributing writer and frequent analyst reference in many major Canadian newspapers, including The Globe & Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, Vancouver Sun, and Ottawa Citizen. Howard has appeared on Global TV and can be seen regularly on BNN (Business News Network) and CP24. | | | | | Mattia (Matt) Auriemma |  | Matt Auriemma joined BGI in December 2005.
Prior to joining BGI, Matt was the Senior Qualitative Analyst overseeing operational due diligence for the Alternative Investment Group at Julius Baer Investment Management.
Prior to Julius Baer, Matt worked in hedge fund operations and administration for Reservoir Capital Group, AQR Capital Management and Citco Fund Services. He spent the first five years of his career as an auditor handling hedge fund, broker dealer and pension fund clients.
Matt holds a B.S. in Business from St John University and is a Certified Public Accountant in New York State. | | | | | Alka Banerjee |  | Alka Banerjee is vice president of Global Equities within Standard &Poor’s index Services group. Alka is responsible for the design and methodology governing these indices. She oversees the creation and management of Standard & Poor's global indices, focusing on creating new benchmarks for international equity markets and promoting their use amongst global clients.
Alka was closely involved with the transition of the premier IFC’s Emerging Market Indices to Standard and Poor’s Index Group in 2000, and in the integration of the S&P/Citigroup Indices into the Standard and Poor’s Index family in 2004. Alka is also responsible for the S&P/Citigroup GlobalProperty/REIT Index methodology, guidelines and maintenance procedures.She works closely with S&P’s business development and the sales team.Alka’s special areas of interest are emerging and frontier markets, Islamic Finance and global REITs.
Prior to joining Standard & Poor's in 2000, Alka worked for The Bank of New York where she was responsible for the creation, maintenance and marketing of The Bank of New York ADR Index. Before coming to the US, she worked for the State Bank of India for ten years in India.
Alka holds a Masters in Economics from Lucknow University in India and an MBA in finance from Pace University, New York. | | | | | Tim Baron |  | Tim’s practice is transaction-oriented, focusing on corporate finance, investment funds, derivatives and domestic and off-shore structured finance. He is regular counsel to various investment fund advisors and managers and has assisted with the establishment of numerous alternative investment funds, including hedge funds, fund of funds, exchange-traded funds and other investment vehicles. Tim regularly advises financial intermediaries and end-users with respect to over-the-counter and exchange traded derivatives, including structured fund products, equity derivatives, credit derivatives and financial product development.
In addition to advising lenders and borrowers on syndicated and asset-based lending facilities, Tim has advised numerous construction companies and sponsors and lenders on the financing of public-private infrastructure projects. | | | | | Gregg Berman |  | Gregg Berman co-heads RiskMetrics Group’s Risk Management unit, covering institutional and wealth management offerings that serve Hedge Funds, Asset Managers, Prime Brokers, Banks, Financial Advisors, Insurance Companies, and Corporates. Berman joined RiskMetrics Group as a founding member during the time of its spin-off from J.P. Morgan in 1998.
Prior to joining RiskMetrics Group, Berman co-managed a number of multi-asset Hedge Funds within the ED&F Man umbrella. His start in the Hedge Fund space began in 1993, researching and developing multi-asset trading strategies as part of Mint Investment Management Corporation, a $1bn CTA based in New Jersey.
Berman is a physicist by training and holds degrees from Princeton University (Ph.D. 1994, M.S. 1989), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (B.S. 1987). | | | | | Larry Berman |  | Larry M. Berman is a Co-Founder of ETF Capital Management, and brings nearly twenty years of industry experience to the role of Chief Investment Officer. Larry has been consistently ranked as one of Canada’s “Top 3 Analysts” according to institutional investor surveys.
Larry began his career as a Toronto based investment advisor in 1989 and completed a technical internship in New York with the Market Technicians Association (MTA) in 1994, where he studied the techniques of many top Wall Street technicians. Prior to founding ETFCM, he was Chief Technical Strategist and Managing Director for CIBC World Markets since 1997. Larry was a senior technical analyst for Thomson IFR in Boston and senior technical analyst and trader for Marleau, Lemire Futures in Toronto.
Larry is a Chartered Market Technician (CMT), a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), and is a US registered Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA). Larry is the primary author of the textbook for the technical analysis course offered by the Canadian Securities Institute (CSI), which is the primary source of education for technical analysis in Canada. Larry is past President of the Canadian Society of Technical Analysts (CSTA), past Vice-Chairman (Americas) of the International Federation of Technical Analysts (IFTA), and is currently the Vice-President of the Market Technicians Association (MTA). Larry’s opinions frequently appear in the media, and he is a featured weekly on BNN’s (formerly RobTV) Berman’s Call.
Larry graduated from York University with a BA in Economics. | | | | | Jonathan Boersma |  | Mr. Boersma is Executive Director of the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®) at the CFA Institute Centre for Financial Market Integrity. Mr. Boersma is responsible for the oversight of all aspects of the GIPS standards, which includes initiating, directing, and managing the creation of solutions and practices to improve the comparability and transparency of investment performance information as well as promoting the adoption of the Standards globally. Mr. Boersma also serves as a permanent member of the GIPS Executive Committee.
Previously, Mr. Boersma held the position of director of standards of practice at the CFA Institute Centre, where he was responsible for managing and directing the development, promulgation, and maintenance of the CFA Institute Standards of Practice, including the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct, Soft Dollar Standards, Trade Management Guidelines, Research Objectivity Standards, and other standards of practice under development. Mr. Boersma is a frequent speaker on ethics in the investment industry.
Prior to joining CFA Institute, Mr. Boersma worked in the investment management industry in various roles including portfolio management, trading, and performance measurement. He has experience in asset allocation, fundamental and quantitative research, risk and performance measurement, investment policy and portfolio strategy development, and investment manager selection. Mr. Boersma is a member of the Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM) Association advisory council, the Journal of Performance Measurement advisory board, the advisory board of Investorside Research Association, and the CFA Magazine editorial advisory team. Mr. Boersma holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin and is a CFA charterholder. | | | | | Pat Bolland |  | Pat is the former on-air Stocks Editor at CNBC. Pat broke stories on stocks in the early days of after-hours trading before his move to mornings, where he set the tone for the rest of the day.
Before CNBC Pat was a leading business figure in Canada as host and business editor for several national shows on TV and radio. Pat comes from the investment industry. He began his career as a floor clerk on the Toronto Stock Exchange. For over a decade Pat sold stocks at the retail and institutional levels and eventually became the Vice President of Equity Trading with his firm in the top tier of the industry in Canada.
He is the host of BNN's Market Morning which can be seen weekdays at 9:30 a.m. ET | | | | | Scott Brusso |  | Scott Brusso was appointed Director, FX Products of CME Group in July 2007. He is responsible for helping execute CME Group’s foreign exchange (FX) marketing strategy, as well as supervising the day-to-day sales efforts of CME’s FX marketing team. Previously, Brusso served as Director, Currency Product Marketing of CME since 1999 (formerly titled Vice President, Currency Product Marketing).
Brusso joined CME in 1993 as Director, Currency Product Marketing. He was named Senior Director, Currency Product Marketing in 1997 before being appointed to his current role.
Before joining the company, Brusso operated his own marketing consulting business from 1992-93. He traded FX products for FX Asset Management from 1992-93, Roemer Weather Inc. from 1990-92 and Banco di Roma from 1988-1990.
He attended Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, Ill. | | | | | Michael Burns |  | Michael’s primary focus is in the areas of securities law, hedge funds and structured products with additional experience in the financing of junior resource issuers. Michael acted as lead counsel on the establishment of several private hedge funds in the Province of Ontario and has also acted as lead Canadian counsel regarding the establishment of “offshore” hedge funds. In addition, Michael has extensive experience in the structuring, offering and sale of structured investment products such as linked notes and closed ended investment trusts.
His securities work involves a wide variety of corporate finance transactions, which include private placements, rights offerings, and initial public offerings, acting on behalf of both issuers and underwriters/agents. Michael’s corporate finance experience has involved issuers in industries such as mining (both junior and senior issuers), advertising/corporate communications, television/entertainment production, business trusts, real estate investment trusts and transportation. Michael’s corporate practice includes experience with a broad range of mergers, acquisitions and divestitures as well as both hostile and friendly take-over bids. Michael provides on-going advice to hedge funds as well as public and private corporate clients in the fields of mining, Business trusts and REITS, advertising/communications and financial services concerning continuous disclosure obligations, shareholder communications, executive compensation, corporate governance, preparations for annual and special meetings and general corporate matters.
In 1996, Michael was a staff member of The Toronto Stock Exchange’s Committee on corporate governance practices in Canada (the “Dey Committee”) which published the seminal report entitled “Where Were the Directors?” Before joining McMillan Binch Mendelsohn, Michael was a partner at Fogler, Rubinoff LLP and was previously an associate at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. | | | | | Katherine Burton |  | Katherine Burton, is theAuthor of HEDGE HUNTERS, Hedge Fund Masters on the Rewards, the Risk, and the Reckoning.
She has been a reporter at Bloomberg News since 1993, covering hedge funds and investment management. Before joining Bloomberg, she wrote for the International Herald Tribune and U.S. News & World Report. She has an MBA from New York University and is a winner of the 2001 Society of American Business Editors and Writers Award for breaking news, and the 2005 New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists Award for Excellence in Journalism for business writing. | | | | | Blair Carey |  | Blair Carey, Investment Analyst, Abacus Private Equity
Blair joined Abacus Private Equity in early 2007 as an Associate. Working with the other members of the Abacus acquisition team, Blair is responsible for target industry and company research as well as providing support to the due diligence process in Abacus transactions.
Prior to joining Abacus, Blair was a Senior Analyst at independent equity research firm, Accountability Research Corporation where he covered and published on over 100 companies in a variety of industries. He has worked as a business valuator and expert witness in various litigation support cases. In addition to deep understanding of accounting rules and methods, Blair has an expert understanding of the valuation of asset securitization transactions, pensions, and a variety of synthetic instruments.
In addition to a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and Economics, Blair is a CFA charterholder. He has gained a thorough understanding of Canada’s regulatory landscape vis-à-vis other jurisdictions by serving as a member of the CFA Institute’s Canadian Advocacy Council (he was chair from 2006 to 2008) for almost a decade, and is currently the Vice Chair of the Users Advisory Council of the Accounting Standards Board of Canada and is Canada’s representative on the Analysts Research Group of the International Accounting Standards Board. Additionally, Blair serves on several charity boards and advisory councils and was a CFA exam grader from 2005 to 2007. | | | | | Alex Chapman |  | Alex is a UK-qualified Chartered Accountant with broad experience in fund administration. Alex was instrumental in founding Mintz Fund Services, a successful Toronto-based fund administrator, where he was responsible for business development and operations. In January 2008 Mintz merged its Fund Services business with Commonwealth Fund Services.
Prior to this, Alex led a fund services team in the Principality of Monaco. Dealing mainly with offshore funds, Alex helped structure complicated multi-class and multi-currency funds with a variety of different investment strategies, including hedge funds, index-based funds, property funds, commodity funds and private equity funds.
Alex has also been involved in drafting consultation papers to both the Monaco government and the Dubai International Finance Centre, and advising on issues and legislation in the fund industry. | | | | | Shaykh Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo |  | Shaykh Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo, Chief Shariah Officer at Shariah Capital, is a scholar of Islamic Transactional Law whose 30 year career was featured in an August 2007 front page story in The Wall Street Journal.
Based in the Washington, DC area, he has served as a Shari'ah advisor to dozens of international financial entities, including index providers, institutional investors, home finance providers, international investment banks and a variety of asset managers.
Shaykh Yusuf is the author of the three volume Compendium of Legal Opinions on the Operations of Islamic Banks, the first English/Arabic reference on the fat was issued by Shari'ah boards. In addition, Shaykh Yusuf wrote the introduction to Islamic Bonds, the 2003 book that introduced Sukuk and transformed the world's Islamic capital markets.
His work has appeared in academic and industry journals and as chapters in books, including Euromoney's Islamic Asset Management (2004), Islamic Retail Finance (2005), and Islamic Finance: Innovation & Growth (2002).
His entries on the terminology of Islamic finance appear in The Oxford Dictionary of Islam.
Shaykh Yusuf is often featured as a key note speaker at conferences and seminars worldwide. He was a special consultant to the Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank on their joint project for the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), and is a member of the Governing Council of the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) in Malaysia. Shaykh Yusuf recently was appointed a member of the Shariah Board of the Accounting and Auditing Organization of Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI).
Shaykh Yusuf served as Advisor on Islamic Education to the President of Pakistan from 1981-1984. His career has also been noted in The Financial Times, The New York Times, Fortune, Forbes, The US News and World Report, Newsweek, CNBC, Conde Nast Portfolio, The Middle East Banker, and others. | | | | | Peter Everett |  | Peter works closely with Associates in providing his planning services expertise to their more complex and advanced cases while also working on business development opportunities.
After working with PPI for several years in a consulting capacity, Peter officially joined PPI in 2000. Previously, he spent many years in private practice and has over 25 years of experience in taxation, corporate reorganizations and life insurance tax and estate planning issues. Peter has spoken extensively at professional conferences for the Canadian Tax Foundation, the Law Society of Upper Canada and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and is the author of numerous articles for Federated Press, the Canadian Tax Foundation, Insurance Digest and other organizations.
Peter is a graduate of the McGill University Law School and is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, Law Society of British Columbia, Canadian Bar Association, Canadian Tax Foundation, the Conference for Advanced Life Underwriting (CALU), Advocis, and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). He received his Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP) designation in 2001 and his Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation in 2004. | | | | | Laurent Ferreira |  | Laurent has 12 years experience in the Canadian derivatives market. He joined National Bank in 1998 and is responsible for both trading and marketing activities.
Prior to his current responsibilities, Laurent was co-head of the Global Equity Derivatives Group and primarily responsible for the trading and marketing of structured product. Prior to joining National Bank, Laurent worked at Bankers Trust. | | | | | Michael Finkelstein |  | Mr. Finkelstein, C.A. has over 20 years of experience investing in, advising and financing companies, and as a result he has developed significant expertise and relationships. Mr. Finkelstein was an investment adviser with Canaccord Capital Corporation, Canada’s largest independent investment dealer, and has rendered investment advisory services to institutions and high net worth individuals for the past 16 years. Mr. Finkelstein’s particular specialty for the past decade has been the management of private placements in U.S. and non-U.S. public companies. Prior to entering the investment field, Mr. Finkelstein was a tax specialist and manager with Arthur Andersen & Co. in both Toronto and Vancouver. As such Mr. Finkelstein is highly qualified in the analysis of complex financial transactions.
Mr. Finkelstein holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from McGill University and received his C.A. designation in 1980. Mr. Finkelstein is a member in good standing of the Institute of Canadian Chartered Accountants.
Mr. Finkelstein is an officer of the Investment Manager and is responsible primarily for evaluating and making investments on behalf of the US Limited Partnership, Offshore Fund, and Master Fund. | | | | | Stephen Foster |  | Stephen Foster is Head of Investment Management for Single Manager Portfolios within Fund and Alternative Solutions at Credit Suisse Asset Management.
Before assuming this role in July 2007 he had several roles within the Prime Brokerage business at Credit Suisse including Global Co-Head of Hedge Fund Services. He has been involved in the Hedge Fund industry since 1995 and has been a director of several hedge funds and hedge fund managers including the CQS Convertible and Quantitative Strategies Fund.
Mr Foster has been a member of the London Investment Banking Association (LIBA) Prime Brokerage Committee and has served on various Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) Committees.
He has spoken at many Hedge Fund conferences both in Europe and North America. | | | | | Frank Gesuale |  | Frank Gesuale is an Engagement Manager at global consulting firm Jefferson Wells International, with a specialty in investment funds and financial institutions. Jefferson Wells provides independent financial services in the areas of internal audit, finance & accounting, IT and taxation. Frank has worked in the investment funds area for the past 13 years in both public practice and industry. During this time he has been involved with strategic planning, tax & regulatory compliance, operations, administration and marketing of various investment vehicles including hedge funds, mutual funds, limited partnerships, life insurance segregated funds, and pension funds.
Prior to joining Jefferson Wells, Frank spent several years in the hedge fund industry, most recently as Director of Tax & Finance at Quadrexx Asset Management. Before that, Frank spent over 5 years in management consulting with Coopers & Lybrand and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, working with various corporate and high profile financial services clients.
Frank has authored several tax columns including “Tax Watch” for the Canadian Hedge Watch Newsletter and was part of the AIMA working group that developed the “Guide to Sound Practices for the Disclosure and Promotion of Alternative Investments in Canada” published by AIMA. Frank holds a CGA and is a member of the Canadian Tax Foundation. | | | | | Alison Graham |  | Alison Graham is a principal of Voltan Capital Management and lead portfolio manager of the Voltan Frontier Markets Fund.
Ms. Graham has over fourteen years’ experience in emerging and frontier markets finance. Until 1998, she was a partner and senior analyst of Latin American equities at the investment bank Caspian Securities. In 1998, she moved to Moscow, Russia to join United Financial Group where she was responsible for equity analysis and advisory related to the restructuring of the Russian energy system.Since 2000, Ms. Graham has worked on behalf of a variety of global firms with investments and other interests in frontier markets. She holds a Master's degree from the University of California at Berkeley, is a Chartered Financial Analyst and is fluent in six languages.
Voltan Capital Management invests in the frontier markets of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, the Balkans, Central Asia and the Caucasus. The company’s flagship fund, the Voltan Frontier Markets Fund, invests in securities ranging from listed equity and sovereign debt to more exotic opportunities in countries without organized exchanges. Voltan's second product, a frontier markets real estate fund, is scheduled for launch in the second half of 2008. | | | | | JoAnne Halpern |  | JoAnne joined Venator Capital Management Ltd. in July 2007 as Head of Institutional Sales, with her role encompassing sales, marketing, client relations, and operations.
JoAnne attained her MBA (Schulich) in 2001, while still immersed in her past career as a Mathematics educator (B.A. Math, Guelph 1996, B.Ed York, 1998). JoAnne has taught all levels and grades (including post-secondary), and was a teacher in the public system, the private system (at Havergal College), and as a tutor to elite (Olympic-bound) athletes. She continues to compose questions for the Gauss Contest, an international Mathematics competition set by the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo. | | | | | Ernesto Higueras |  | Mr. Higueras is the President of Intercapital SAB S.A., a private Peruvian brokerage firm and investment bank. As a former director of the Lima Stock Exchange and a current director of CAVALI (Peru’s central securities depository and settlement agency), Mr. Higueras has been a key instrument in the development of the Lima Stock Exchange (LSE) Venture Section.
Established in 2005, the LSE Venture Section is the Latin American home to various Toronto Stock Exchange and AIM listed junior mining companies. Intercapital SAB S.A. is one of three chartered sponsors for LSE listings and the only private charter holder. Of the six Canadian mining companies currently listed within the Lima Stock Exchange, two have been sponsored by Intercapital.
In 2008, Intercapital became the first Latin American investment bank to become fully operational in Canada after launching a Canadian subsidiary - Intercapital Canada Inc.
Envisioned as a nexus between Canadian juniors and the Latin American capital markets, Intercapital Canada specializes in providing clients with an all-inclusive range of financial advisory services. Mr. Higueras has been previously interviewed by Bloomberg, El Comercio, International Mining Journal among others, and is a sought-after speaker for resources and finance related conference. | | | | | Michael Hlinka |  | Michael Hlinka, MBA and Chartered Financial Analyst, is a Business Commentator with CBC Radio and Television. Currently, he's heard every morning on Toronto's top-rated morning radio show, Metro Morning, and his bi-weekly columns are heard over the CBC Radio Network.
In addition to his work in the Media, Michael has developed and instructs in the Chartered Financial Analyst Programs, Passing the Level One CFA, Passing the Level Two CFA, and Passing the Level Three CFA, through the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies. Last year, students who successfully completed the University of Toronto courses, had a success rate on the CFA Institute Examination in excess of 80! Michael is a tenured Professor at George Brown College in the Faculty of Business.
A popular speaker, in the past year Michael has addressed the Kates Group Symposium Conference in Key West, Florida, been a member of the Humber College Speaker Series, and delivered the Keynote Address at the 2008 Hospitality Finance and IT Professionals Summit. | | | | | Bryan A. Hunter |  | Bryan Hunter is a Partner, the Deputy Team Leader of the Funds and Investment Services team and the Local Team Leader of the Insurance, Telecommunications and Technology team. He has extensive experience in the structuring and formation of hedge funds, funds of funds and private equity funds and regularly advises on various operational and regulatory issues in relation to these funds. His practice also includes general corporate matters, project finance, corporate finance and merger and acquisition transactions.
Bryan has been ranked in the 2007 edition of IFLR1000 as a Leading Lawyer for Corporate/ Commercial. He has also been ranked by PLC Which Lawyer? as a Recommended Individual for Corporate/ M & A in both 2007 and 2008.
Bryan was admitted as an Attorney in the Cayman Islands in 1997. He is a Notary Public in the Cayman Islands, and a member of the Board of the Civil Aviation Authority, the Cayman Islands Law Society, the Caymanian Bar Association, the Managed Funds Association and the Insurance Managers Association of Cayman. He is currently serving as a member of the Financial Services Council. This is a working group established to assist the Cayman Islands government in devising strategies and policies to address international developments affecting the financial services industry.
Bryan has served as a Council Member of the Chamber of Commerce where he chaired various committees. He is also the immediate past President of the Caymanian Bar Association. Bryan has contributed to various legal publications including Legal Week and the Cayman Financial Review. | | | | | Amin M. Husain |  | Amin M. Husain is an associate in King & Spalding’s New York office and a member of the Finance Practice Group. Mr. Husain has experience in a broad range of international and domestic finance and investment matters, with particular emphasis on Shari’ah-compliant finance and investment transactions.
Mr. Husain’s conventional transactions include representing clients with respect to secured and unsecured credit facilities, asset-based loan facilities, structured financings, project financings, bridge financings and other acquisition credits, participations and syndications, letter of credit facilities and other credit-related transactions.
Mr. Husain’s Shari’ah-compliant transactions include representing clients in corporate and real estate acquisition financings, working capital financings, structured and subordination financings, and letter of credit/guaranty facilities, as well as Shari’ah-compliant financings for private equity investments, the utilization of a Rule 144a high-yield note offering to fund the Shari’ah-compliant financing of a private equity investment and Shari’ah-compliant property investments.
Mr. Husain received his B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science from Valparaiso University in 1998 and his J.D. from Indiana University - Bloomington in 2001. | | | | | Mark Jarvis |  | Mr. Jarvis has gained extensive experience in the financing and operations of public companies, primarily in exploration and production of mining and oil and gas projects spanning the past 20 years.
After a career in financing exploration projects as a stockbroker, Mr. Jarvis moved to the corporate side of the business by joining the Board of Ultra Petroleum, at the time a small oil and gas exploration and development company, in 1996. As Director responsible for Corporate Finance, he raised the equity capital necessary for proof of concept and to establish enough production to leverage further growth through debt financing. Ultra Petroleum has grown through the drill bit from a market capitalization of U.S. $10 million to its current capitalization of more than U.S. $3 billion.
Mr. Jarvis is also a former President of Gemini Energy Corp., another successful oil and gas company.
Mr. Jarvis has held the position of CEO and President of Hard Creek Nickel Corporation since January 7th 2004. During his tenure he has taken control of management, reorganized the Board, and significantly advanced the Company’s Turnagain nickel project by focusing the Company on best practices in exploration techniques. | | | | | Robert Johnston |  | Robert (“RJ”) specializes in energy and commodity markets, with eleven years of experience in the financial, corporate, and academic sectors. At Eurasia Group, RJ directs a research team covering oil, gas/power, and metals/agriculture. He is the lead strategist responsible for the firm’s outlook on commodities and serves as the primary contact for the firm’s financial, corporate, and government clients on natural resources issues. RJ also directs Eurasia Group’s Transnational Issues practice, including coverage of global issues such as trade & investment policy, climate change, and global health.
Most recently, he was Managing Director of Equity Research at Medley Global Advisors, responsible for providing political, regulatory, and strategic insights across eight sectors to clients in the institutional investment community. In addition, RJ served as lead analyst for global energy equities & electric utilities, with responsibilities for idea generation for financial clients.
Previously, he was a research director at UBS Warburg Energy, working directly in support of energy trading, covering issues ranging from electricity regulation, global LNG, US/Canada macroeconomic outlook, and oil markets. Prior to UBS, RJ directed internal research teams supporting proprietary energy and commodity trading at Enron Global Markets. As head of the Competitive Analysis team, RJ led a team of analysts covering oil, currencies, distressed debt, metals, agriculture, and energy equities. | | | | | Ronald M. Kosonic |  | Ron Kosonic is a Partner with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, practicing in the areas of corporate and securities law, concentrated in the areas of investment funds, securities regulation and regulatory compliance. Ron is former Co-Chair of the Legal and Finance Committee of AIMA Canada. Ron is a frequent conference speaker on regulatory compliance, hedge fund structures and registrant audit and liability matters. | | | | | Patricia Koval |  | Patricia A. Koval is a Partner at Torys LLP, Toronto. She practises corporate and securities law, with emphasis on corporate finance (including investment funds) and mergers and acquisitions. Pat regularly acts for issuers and investment dealers in structuring international, cross-border and domestic public and private financings of equity, debt and other securities, and in the design of enhanced or new financial products and services. She has extensive experience in acting for sponsors, managers and distributors of listed closed-end funds, ETFs, REITS and income trusts, principal-protected and other notes, mutual funds, pooled funds, hedge funds, carbon funds and other structured products. Pat also regularly acts for issuers, financial advisors and potential acquirors in structuring acquisitions, dispositions and reorganizations, including takeover bids, arrangements, privately negotiated acquisitions and going private transactions. With her integrated expertise, Pat is also active in all corporate law, securities law, infrastructure and M&A aspects of the developing area of climate change. Pat co-founded and is co-chair of the firm’s inter-disciplinary Climate Change Practice Group and she also co-chairs the Managed Assets Practice Group.
Pat frequently participates in domestic and international business conferences and legal education programs focused on corporate finance, investment funds, derivatives, mergers and acquisitions, directors’ responsibilities, climate change and financial institutions. She is the author of numerous articles in these areas. Pat is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto Law School where she has been teaching a course on takeover bids and proxy contests for the last five years. She is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of World Wildlife Fund (Canada) and a member of its Climate Change and Audit Committees. Pat graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School and York University with a joint LLB/M.B.A. in 1981 and she has an Honours B.A. in Economics. | | | | | John Lee |  | Mr. Lee runs a successful resource focused hedge fund (limited partnership). He is a CFA charter holder and has degrees in Economics and Engineering from Rice University. Mr. Lee has a keen interest in the history of money and economics, and he previously studied under Mr. James Turk, a renowned authority on the gold market.
Since 2001, Mr. Lee has researched hundreds of mining companies and personally met with dozens of management teams. He is a sought-after speaker at all major resource conferences and publisher of articles at various online news websites such as Kitco.com. | | | | | Scott P. Lennon |  | Scott is a Senior Vice President at Walkers Fund Services Limited a Cayman Islands licensed Trust Company and Mutual Fund Administrator. Scott joined Walkers Fund Services as the sole staff member and has been responsible for the growth of the business to its current size of nine staff providing Director and Trustee services to over 400 clients. Scott was responsible for developing the internal compliance and risk policies of the group. Scott joined Walkers Fund Services Limited from State Street Cayman Trust Company Ltd. in November 2003 after he had successfully worked with the State Street team to transition the acquired Deutsche Bank book of business to the State Street platform. He joined State Street after they acquired the Global Securities Services business from Deutsche Bank in early 2003. He was the former Head of Investment Fund Services at Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Ltd. where he was directly responsible for a team of 8 staff that was responsible for the administration of a portfolio of 60 funds with assets of over US$7 Billion. Scott had direct reporting authority to the Head of the Offshore Funds Group at Deutsche Bank in Dublin, Ireland. Scott was a member of the Pricing Committee at Deutsche Bank Offshore which dealt with any issues relating to the pricing of assets across the entire portfolio of funds under administration. Scott joined Deutsche Bank in April 2001 after leaving KPMG Cayman Islands where he had been a Manager in the Alternative Investments Group since December 1997. Scott arrived in Cayman in 1997, after spending three years at Deloitte & Touche, and one year at KPMG, in Montreal, Canada.
Scott is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accounts of Ontario (Canada), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and he is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder. In addition Scott received a Graduate Diploma in Public Accounting from McGill University, Montreal, Canada and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
Scott has been involved in the investment funds industry since 1995, and he currently holds Directorships on various types of investment funds covering a wide range of strategies and objectives. | | | | | James Loewen |  | James Loewen, CA, is an audit partner with KPMG LLP’s Financial Services practice in Toronto and has over 14 years of experience in the investment management industry.
James is the National Director of KPMG’s Investment Management and Funds practice. James’ current clients include Bank of Montreal, the Mackenzie Funds, the JovFunds and a number of alternative investment managers and funds. James is the Chair of the IFIC Accounting Advisory Committee and of the National Instrument 81-106 Working Group. James serves as a member of a CICA study group examining financial reporting by Canadian investment funds, including the transition to IFRS in 2011.
James is a frequent speaker in Canada, having presented at various IFIC-sponsored seminars. He is a Chartered Accountant, Ontario, a Certified Management Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce. For further information, go to www.kpmg.ca or contact James Loewen at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. | | | | | Ian Matheson |  | Ian M. Matheson is Chief Development Officer and Director of Aon Reed Stenhouse Inc. and is Chief Executive Officer, Aon Captive Services (Canada), a division of the world’s largest captive consultant and captive management company.
Ian is also Chief Consulting Officer of Risk Management Consultants of Canada Limited, a specialty, arms-length consulting subsidiary of Aon Canada Inc. which provides risk management, due diligence and strategic planning services.
Ian was a founding principal of Integrated Risk Resources, the predecessor to Aon Capital Markets, one of the primary innovators of insurance-linked securities and now a major provider of boutique investment banking services.
Ian holds outside directorships with public and private companies and is a member of the Practising Law Institute, the Canadian Maritime Law Association, the Defence Research Institute and the Institute of Corporate Directors, among others. | | | | | Tom McDonnell |  | Born in Toronto, Ontario, Mr. McDonnell holds a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) degree from the University of Toronto, a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School, and is a member of the Ontario Bar. He has served as an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Toronto Law School, as a member of the Joint Taxation Committee of the Canadian Bar Association and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, and as a member of the Board of Governors of the Canadian Tax Foundation. He is a former Director of the Canadian Tax Foundation, and currently is a member of its Editorial Board.
His articles on taxation have been published by the Canadian Tax Foundation, The International Business Lawyer, The Australian Tax Journal, private educational associations, and newspapers. His most recent paper “Taxing for Health Care: The Ontario Model, 2004” will be published in the Canadian Tax Journal in April, 2005.
Mr. McDonnell is Counsel to the Toronto Office of Thorsteinnsons, Tax Lawyers, where he practices domestic and international tax law. He presently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Bloorview Kids Rehab Hospital and is a director of a number of private Canadian companies. | | | | | Michael Newallo |  | Michael Newallo is the Managing Director in the Equity Structured Products Group at National Bank Financial. Michael heads Prime Services; a fully integrated platform for hedge funds including prime brokerage, securities lending, electronic trading sales and structured product sales to hedge funds clients.
Prior to joining National Bank Financial, Mr Newallo was the Executive Director of Prime Brokerage and Electronic Trading at CIBC World Markets and the Co-Head of Hedge Fund Services at RBC.
Mr. Newallo holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto. He also holds the CFA and CMA designations. | | | | | Kevin J. O'Connor |  | Kevin J. O’Connor was appointed by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate as Associate Attorney General of the United States in 2008. Prior to his service as Associate Attorney General, Mr. O’Connor served from 2002 to 2008 as United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. From April to November 2007, Mr. O’Connor served as Chief of Staff to the United States Attorney General, and from January to April 2007, Mr. O’Connor served as Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States.
Prior to his most recent government service, Mr. O’Connor was a partner in the law firm of Day, Berry & Howard. Mr. O’Connor also served as Corporation Counsel for the Town of West Hartford, Connecticut from 1999-2001.
From 1995 to 1997, Mr. O’Connor served as a Staff Attorney and Senior Counsel in the Division of Enforcement of the United States Securities & Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. From 1993 to 1995, Mr. O’Connor was a litigation associate at the law firm of Cahill Gordon & Reindel in New York City. From 1992 to 1993, Mr. O’Connor served as a law clerk to the Honorable William H. Timbers of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Mr. O’Connor graduated in 1992 with high honors from the University Of Connecticut School Of Law and with honors from the University of Notre Dame in 1989.
Mr. O’Connor has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University Of Connecticut School Of Law and the National Law Center at George Washington University.
Mr. O’Connor resides with his wife Kathleen and four children in Connecticut. | | | | | Niket Patankar |  | Niket has several years of Investment Banking and entrepreneurial experience, and has worked for CSFB, DLJ and Peregrine Capital. He has advised senior management at several leading Fortune 500 companies in the US, Europe and Asia, in the Technology, Utilities, Energy and Chemical industries. He concluded financing deals worth USD 7 Billion and USD 12 Billion of M&A transactions. Niket is an electronics engineer with a Management Graduate degree from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute in Mumbai, India. | | | | | Heather Pelant |  | Heather Pelant is Head of iShares at Barclays Global Investors Canada Limited.
She oversees the Canadian iShares™ funds, U.S. iShares® and iPathSM business in intermediary and institutional channels across Canada.
Prior to heading up the Exchange Traded Funds business in Canada, Heather spent four years as a Business Development Officer for iShares in San Francisco. Her extensive financial service industry experience includes representing Morgan Stanley Asset Management and the Morgan Stanley Consulting Services Group in Honolulu, Seattle and San Francisco.
Heather is a Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®) and an Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®). Heather received her B.A. in Asian Studies at the University of Victoria. Subsequently, she earned her M.A. in Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, and graduated from the Stanford Inter-University Centre for Japanese language studies in Yokohama, Japan. | | | | | Ingrid Pierce |  | Ingrid Pierce is a Partner in Walkers' Hedge Funds Department and heads the firm's Commercial Trusts Group. She is admitted to practice in the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands and prior to joining Walkers, she practiced as a commercial chancery barrister in the U.K. Ingrid deals with all aspects of investment funds and has particular expertise in unit trusts. She acts for major investment banks, investment managers, corporate trustees and fund directors, advising on a variety of investment fund structures.
Ingrid is a frequent speaker at conferences in the Cayman Islands and elsewhere. She has written and presented on various aspects of investment funds, including indemnities, confidentiality laws and the use of commercial trust vehicles. She was lead counsel in the only major piece of litigation in the Cayman Islands regarding side letters.
For further details, see www.walkersglobal.com or contact Ingrid at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. | | | | | Eric R. Roper, Esq |  | Eric R. Roper, Esq. is a Senior Partner in the firm of Gersten Savage LLP. Mr. Roper is Chairman of the Firm's Financial Services practice. He specializes in the creation, structuring and representation of domestic and offshore investment entities, broker-dealers and clients engaged in raising capital pools for investment in public markets and private venture capital.
Mr. Roper is a frequent lecturer, having spoken at various conferences both within the United States and internationally. He also participates in a number of financial industry activities including the Compliance and Legal Division of the Securities Association and the Managed Funds Association. He is a co-founder, director, and honouree of Hedge Fund Cares, an international industry-related charitable organization he co-founded 9 years ago to protect abused children. The organization now has chapters in seven cities in the United States, Canada, the Cayman Islands and England. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of United Neighbourhood Houses, a New York City-based non-profit organization.
Mr. Roper has been elected to three terms as a delegate to the House of Delegates of the New York State Bar Association and is a Fellow of the New York Bar Foundation. He received his JD degree from North-western University School of Law and is admitted to practice in the States of New York and Illinois. | | | | | Marc J. Ross |  | Marc J. Ross is a founding member of Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference LLP, a US securities law firm that has been consistently ranked #1 in number of issuers represented in private equity financing transactions (PIPEs) over the past 3 years, having represented over 200 issuers. Mr. Ross has an international practice, representing public and private companies, investors, brokerage firms, and hedge funds throughout North America, Israel, Asia and Europe. Mr. Ross advises clients in a wide range of investment and capital raising transactions, including private equity financing transactions (PIPEs) and reverse mergers. He also regularly assists public companies with their 1934 Act reporting obligations.
Mr. Ross also counsels clients through the arduous process of investigations before US regulatory agencies, and appears on behalf of clients before US Federal and State Courts when a client’s economic interest is being harmed or disregarded, or when a client finds itself confronted with a threatened or actual lawsuit.
Mr. Ross graduated with distinction from Hofstra University School of Law in 1987, where he was an Associate Editor of Law Review and President of the Trial Advocacy Club.
E mail –
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. | | | | | Andres Rueda |  | Andres Rueda is Counsel to the firm's Corporate Department and a member of the Investment Management Group, specializing in securities and financial law. Mr. Rueda has considerable experience implementing complex hedge fund structures, as well as private equity and venture capital fund formation. He also handles matters relating to all aspects of broker-dealer work, including securities industry contracts and regulatory compliance.
From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Rueda worked as an associate at Gersten Savage LLP in New York, where he structured investment partnerships and was involved in a number of international transactions and foreign listings.
Prior to that, Mr. Rueda worked as an associate at Faust, Rabbach & Oppenheim, LLP in New York, where, among others, he drafted and negotiated broker-dealer contracts and agreements of all types, including clearing, soft dollar, trading platform, and commission split agreements, and defended broker-dealers and their associated persons in NASD arbitrations. | | | | | Michael T. Ryan |  | Michael Ryan is an Associate Analyst in the Alternative Investments Ratings Group at Moody's Investors Service in New York. The group performs Operations Quality Ratings on hedge funds and other alternative assets managers. The rating focuses on risks within operational areas such as valuation, compliance, collateral management, risk reporting, relationships with third-party service providers and the way these risks are actively managed and mitigated by the hedge fund manager. Michael has performed operational reviews on several $8+ billion multi-strategy, distressed, credit hedge fund managers as well as several emerging long/short equity and credit focused managers. Additionally, Michael is also responsible for monitoring rated market value structures such as collateralized fund obligations (CFOs).
Michael holds an MBA in Finance with a focus on Investment Management from Fordham University and holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Hartford. Prior to joining the Alternative Investment Group, Michael was a Senior Account Manager in the Issuer Relations Team within the Moody’s Corporate Finance Group. Before joining Moody's, Michael worked at multiple Internet service providers in various operational and management capacities over a six-year period. At Web.com, Inc. (Formerly Interland, Inc., acquired in 2005), Michael managed a web development and advisory team. He was instrumental in capital raising activities and presented during investor and venture capital due diligence meetings helping to secure additional funding for business operations prior to the Interland, Inc. IPO in July 2000. | | | | | Pierre Saint-Laurent |  | Mr. Saint-Laurent is president of AssetCounsel Inc., a financial services consultancy serving the analytics, product development, compliance and marketing/ communications needs of Canadian retail, private wealth and institutional money managers and distributors. Clients include major financial institutions, investment fund manufacturers, investment managers, financial services distributors, and alternative investments firms.
He was formerly vice-president and shareholder of Talvest Fund Management, a division of TAL Asset Management (now CIBC Asset Management), as well as vice-president at StrategicNova (acquired by Dundee Wealth Management). He has spearheaded Talvest’s development of asset allocation software, leading to the widely used and acclaimed Asset Allocation Analyst and Benchmarker software; he has led the development of Synchrony Funds, a Talvest-Maritime Life segregated funds initiative; and he has overseen the rebranding of Nova Bancorp into StrategicNova, following its 2001 acquisition of Strategic Value Corporation.At StrategicNova, he was closely involved in the strategy and development of the firm.He was also closely involved in the management and deployment of the StrategicNova Managed Futures Fund, the first widely available hedge fund in Canada.
Mr. Saint-Laurent has acted as expert witness in financial services matters.
Mr. Saint-Laurent is currently Co-Chair of the Education and Research Committee of AIMA Canada, the Canadian chapter of the worldwide Alternative Investment Management Association. He is Canadian Chapter head of CAIAA, the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association. He is also Quebec Regional Director of the Association of Canadian Compliance Professionals.
Mr. Saint-Laurent is a frequent contributor to Advisor’s Edge Report, Objectif Conseiller and Avantages, three trade publications, and participates actively in other industry publications, industry conferences and events as a writer, speaker, moderator, and chair.He is the Chairman of the Board of directors of a Canadian investment fund corporation. | | | | | Mustafa Saiyid |  | Mustafa Saiyid, is responsible for capital markets surveillance of mature and emerging markets, as part of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
He is the author of the IMF’s recent loss estimates arising from the current credit market turmoil. The methodology behind these estimates and other research work on structured finance issues has been published in the IMF’s semi-annual Global Financial Stability Report in recent years. As part of his current role, he has worked with the finance ministries of various emerging markets on debt management issues. His previous work experience includes Wellington Management, as a member of the global fixed income team; and BARRA, as a member of a team that developed risk management and derivatives analytics. Some of his custom work for BARRA clients such as public pension funds included asset allocation and selection of fixed income managers.
He has a Master’s degree in Applied Math from the University of Virginia, and a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Princeton University. He holds NASD Series 3 and 7 licenses and speaks several languages including German. | | | | | Greg Scarffe |  | Greg is a Director of the Prime Services group of Credit Suisse. Greg manages a team responsible for managing alternative investment relationships with existing and new clients in New York, the Midwest, and Canada. This includes working with some of the largest hedge funds, start-ups and investment firms that invest globally across the capital structure. He is also responsible for the 130/30 initiative working across the Firm to assist large institutional investment managers enter the alternative investment market.
Greg joined Credit Suisse's Prime Services group in New York in 1996. In 1997, Greg transferred to Zurich and ran the group's managed lending program which now is a significant source of securities lending supply for clients. From 1998 to 2000, Greg managed the London Prime Services office during the launch of the off-shore prime broker product. Before joining Credit Suisse, Greg worked at Morgan Stanley in London, Frankfurt and New York where he headed marketing for the Global Equity Derivative division.
Greg received his undergraduate degree from the School of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada and is a graduate with a MBA from the London Business School in London, England. | | | | | Som Seif |  | Som founded Claymore Investments Inc., the Canadian affiliate of U.S. based Claymore Securities Inc., in January 2005. As president and CEO, Som leads the implementation of the company’s business development and corporate strategies. Previously, Som was an Investment Banker with RBC Capital Markets, where he worked for six years. Som played a key role in developing the structured products group at RBC Capital Markets in both Canada and the U.S., where he structured and raised capital for both Canadian and U.S. asset managers. Som is a Chartered Financial Analyst and has a Bachelor of Applied Science with an emphasis on Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Toronto.
Som is a member of Standard & Poor's Canadian Index Advisory Panel. He is also involved in a number of philanthropic and community organizations including: Committee Member of the Sunnybrook Foundation Odette Cancer Campaign, Co-Chair of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Massive Party and Head Coach of the University of Toronto’s Men’s Varsity Waterpolo Team. Som is the recipient of the University of Toronto Arbor Award. | | | | | Marianne K. Smythe |  | Marianne Smythe is a senior counsel in the firm's Securities Department, and a member of the Investment Management Practice Group. She joined the firm in 1993, and was also an associate of the firm in the 1970s. From 1993 until 2007, she was a full equity partner at the firm.
Before joining the firm, Ms. Smythe served for two and a half years as the director of the Division of Investment Management of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This division is responsible for regulating investment companies, investment advisers and public utility holding companies, as well as for regulating certain insurance products. Ms. Smythe previously served as executive assistant to SEC Chairman Richard C. Breeden, a position she assumed in April 1990. She served as associate director of the Division of Investment Management from 1988 to 1990. In the 1970s, Ms. Smythe served as an attorney in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, and as an Assistant Director in the SEC’s Division of Market Regulation.
Ms. Smythe was a professor at the School of Law of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1981 to 1987), where she taught Administrative Law, Environmental Law and Contracts. She also served as Assistant Provost of the University for several years. | | | | | Walied Soliman |  | Walied Soliman focuses on public and private financings, corporate governance and regulatory compliance matters, as well as on the establishment of structured products for Canadian financial institutions. He works on both public and private financings for senior and junior Canadian issuers, including financial institutions and companies in the energy and mining sectors. His corporate governance experience includes playing a leading role in the establishment of board, committee, CEO and chairman mandates for one of Canada's leading financial institutions and advising boards on acquisition and related party transactions. Mr. Soliman regularly advises on regulatory issues, including continuous disclosure and other compliance matters. His structured product experience includes the establishment of dozens of index-linked and equity-linked deposit products for Canadian financial institutions and numerous Islamic finance compliant products.
In 2003, Mr. Soliman spent five months on secondment to the legal group of CIBC. In 2002, he spent three months on secondment to the Ontario Securities Commission in the Enforcement Branch. Prior to completing his law degree, Mr. Soliman worked as a senior assistant to a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. | | | | | Dr. Benn Steil |  | Dr. Benn Steil is Senior Fellow and Director of International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He is also the editor of International Finance and a co-founder and managing member of Efficient Frontiers LLC, a markets consultancy. Until November 2006, he was also a nonexecutive director of the virt-x exchange in London. Prior to his joining the Council in 1999, he was Director of the International Economics Programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London. He came to the Institute in 1992 from a Lloyd’s of London Tercentenary Research Fellowship at Nuffield College, Oxford, where he received his MPhil and DPhil in Economics. He also holds a BSc in economics summa cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Steil has written and spoken widely on international finance, securities trading, and market relation. His research and market commentary are regularly covered in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, The Economist, Business Week, and Reuters and Bloomberg outlets. His newest book, Money, Markets and Sovereignty, will be published by Yale University Press in early 2009. His last book, Financial Statecraft: The Role of Financial Markets in American Foreign Policy, was named one of the “Best Business Books of 2006” by Library Journal and an “Outstanding Academic Title of 2006” by Choice. | | | | | Howard Steinberg |  | Howard Steinberg joined Fortress Investment Group in March 2005 as a managing director to lead the corporate lending and investing team in Canada.
Fortress Investment Group is a leading global alternative asset manager with approximately $34.2 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2008. Fortress is headquartered in New York and has affiliates with offices in Chicago, Dallas, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Munich, New Canaan, Rome, San Francisco, San Diego, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto.
Prior to joining Fortress, Mr. Steinberg was a senior vice president within the Commercial Finance division of General Electric Corporation overseeing the Canadian operations of the National Restructuring Group. In addition, Mr. Steinberg was formerly a managing partner at RBC Capital Partners Inc. where he managed investments within the merchant banking fund, telecommunications fund, and a wide assortment of technology related investments.
Mr. Steinberg received a Masters of Business Administration from Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst charter holder. | | | | | Bob Thompson |  | Bob Thompson is a graduate of Simon Fraser University (Bachelor of Science), with a special interest in the science of finance and money management. In 1996, Mr. Thompson became a featured columnist on investment strategy for several syndicated newspapers across the country. His perspective and insights on the market have been featured in the Globe and Mail and the Financial Post, and he is a popular guest on Business News Network Television. He has written articles and research reports on strategy, and Alternative Investments for Canadian Business, Investor’s Digest, Canadian Hedge Watch, Benefits Canada, and others. As a frequent guest speaker at international investment conferences on Portfolio Strategy, and in particular Alternative Investments, Mr. Thompson exudes his passion for the market and portfolio strategy with an in-depth knowledge and studious approach.
Bob Thompson is a featured regular Financial Columnist in the National Post, writing specifically on Alternative Investments. He is a recognized authority on Alternative Investing (Hedge Funds) in Canada, and maintains a select clientele of High Net Investors and Institutions, including foundations and municipalities.
Bob is also the author of Stock Market Superstars: Secrets of Canada’s Top Stock Pickers. The book contains in-depth interviews and analysis of 12 of the best money managers in the country including long/short equity, value, and growth styles. It is considered a ‘must read’ for prospective investors and portfolio managers alike.
At Canaccord Capital Corporation, Mr. Thompson holds the title of Associate Portfolio Manager and Alternative Investment Strategist, and manages discretionary portfolios on behalf of clients. He is recognized in the industry for his acute skills in building and maintaining properly structured portfolios. | | | | | John J. Tobin |  | John Tobin is a partner in the firm’s Tax Department. His practice focuses on tax and structured finance and his experience includes representation of international and domestic banks, financial institutions, mutual funds and government agencies in domestic and cross-border financial products, lending and securitizations, income funds, managed asset structures, leasing and investments. John has extensive experience in the areas of federal and provincial income tax, tax controversy, withholding tax, capital tax, sales and use tax, and goods and services tax. | | | | | Richard Zack |  | Mr. Zack has been involved in the securities industry for 17 years, with extensive risk management and structured products experience. Mr. Zack heads U.S. Equity Derivatives Sales and Marketing for the National Bank of Canada.
Previously, Mr. Zack’s was a founding partner of a private risk management consulting firm. He has worked as a principal at Banc of America Securities LLC providing hedging and monetization guidance to a broad array of clients and co-headed the equity derivatives effort at Lehman Brothers focusing on high-net-worth individuals, hedge funds and financial intermediaries. Mr. Zack was associated with the law firm of Mayer, Brown & Platt in New York City and was the Options Branch Chief at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Market Regulation in Washington, DC.
Mr. Zack holds a B.A. in Economics from Emory University, a J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law and a L.L.M. (Taxation) from Georgetown University Law Center. | | | | | Walter Zebrowski |  | Walter Zebrowski, JD, CPA CIO Hedgemony, Partners; Chairman, Regulatory Compliance Association.
Walter Zebrowski has served in senior management roles for several alternative investment funds since 1992, including CIO, COO/CFO and CLO. The funds focused primarily on market neutral strategies (i.e. quantitative, convertible, merger & acquisition arbitrage); utilized technical and quantitative models to analyze and evaluate multiple markets and asset classes, or concentrated on private equity investments and transactions.
Within the Fund of Funds arena, Mr. Zebrowski analyzed, evaluated and conducted due diligence on hundreds of investment managers using various investment management strategies in multiple asset classes.
Currently, Mr. Zebrowski serves as CIO of Hedgemony Partners, a global private equity firm that strategically invests in emerging and development stage managers as well as distress opportunities within the alternative investment area. The firm employs an activist strategy in managing its portfolio of company investments by having members of the firm serve as senior management for portfolio companies. Hedgemony Partners delivers the infrastructure and support of a Multi-Strategy Hedge Fund and the capital sourcing capabilities of a boutique Investment Bank for Hedge Fund Management companies. The Hedgemony model supplies a Manager with comprehensive institutional infrastructure to secure large allocations and mandates while preserving their independent enterprise value and entrepreneurial spirit.
As an avid speaker, Mr. Zebrowski has moderated panels and served a featured speaker for Institutional Investor, IIR/GAIM, MarHedge, Global Association of Risk Professionals and the AICPA. As Chairman of the Regulatory Compliance Association's CCO University, he oversees the entire Masters of Compliance Degree Program. The CCO University curriculum spans over 28 classes, and 192 hours of course work. The faculty of professors includes many blue chip COOs, CFOs, CCOs, GCs, CROs, attorneys and CPAs, as well as senior members of regulatory authorities. For more information please visit ccouniversity.org. | | |
|
