one-day Program
Wednesday, October 18th 2017 - City Winery, 155 Varick Street SoHo New York City
This decade has presented an almost relentless enigma for investors. Assiduous interventions by Central Banks, disruption of long established business models, social media displacing more traditional forms, endless possibilities emanating from the development of artificial intelligence, and the political risk associated with the rise of nationalistic populism. The current low yield environment caused by record-setting asset prices, among other factors, warrants caution and the need to seek alternative investments and unique hedging strategies. Our goal is to make sense of, and contextualize this current environment - presenting concrete solutions by engaging our Conference experts with regards to sector analysis, asset classes, and strategies.
The following are some of many challenging questions the conference will address and answer: Concerns about stagflation have been rising, are these concerns legitimate? What are some of the exciting opportunities in the current real estate cycle? Should we fear a world built on algorithms & robo-advisors and how can investors adapt to blockchain technology? What is the best way to navigate the current disconnect between oil prices and the valuations of publicly traded energy companies; what are some of macro implications of sluggish oil prices? How can the recent breakthroughs in healthcare and life science research improve millions of lives? Are markets in 2017 reminiscent of markets in 2007? Can the Fed's planned reduction of its bond portfolio trigger a bear market in stocks? Will a shift from active to passive funds continue or will it reverse?
VIDAK RADONJIC is an investment executive who thrives in entrepreneurial environment that values teamwork, creativity, independent thought and leadership. In the late 1990s, after working for one of the world's largest investment banks including UBS and Morgan Stanley (formerly Smith Barney), he founded a fintech company that provides analytics to the hedge fund industry. In 2004, he founded The Beryl Consulting Group, an investments consulting firm, that advises mostly family offices on their allocations in the alternative investments.
Mr. Radonjic has a unique blend of expertise across alternative and traditional asset classes and served as a member of the investment committee team at firms. He has developed an in-depth expertise in launching alternative asset management businesses and has invested in long/short equities, event driven, credit, emerging markets, and global macro strategies. He possesses a strong ability to develop sophisticated and compelling investment strategies and has performed due diligence on over thousand managers across the U.S./Europe/Asia resulting in over a billion dollar allocations since 2002.
He is an expert guest speaker on global markets and geopolitics on CCTV (中央电视台), Bloomberg TV and i24 News and is frequently quoted in the financial press. Mr. Radonjic holds dual Masters degrees from Columbia University, School of International & Public Affairs, and Lubin School of Business, Pace University.
PETER MARBER has professionally invested billions of dollars for many of the world's largest corporations and financial groups since 1987. Mr. Marber has headed emerging market investments for Loomis, Sayles & Company, HSBC Global Asset Management, and was a partner and president of the emerging market subsidiaries at Wasserstein, Perella & Co.
Mr. Marber currently teaches at Harvard and has been on the faculty of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs since 1993. He has lectured at dozens of international conferences, and has been a market commentator for CNN, the Financial Times, CNBC, Barron’s, Reuters, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal. He serves on various boards for New America, World Policy Institute, Columbia University, and the Emerging Markets Traders Association, and is a Fellow of the RSA in London. Mr. Marber has authored more than 100 articles and columns on international finance and globalization and has authored or edited six books.
MODERATOR
LAURA JACKSON is a Managing Director in the FTI Real Estate Solutions practice and is based in Roseland, New Jersey and also New York. Ms. Jackson works in the firm’s Business Tax Advisory group and specializes in the REIT and partnership area of real estate taxation, providing expertise in due diligence, structuring, REIT compliance, §754 adjustments, and partnership taxation. Since she joined the firm, Ms. Jackson developed the firm’s REIT due diligence group which now serves numerous public and private REIT’s. She also has extensive experience with deal structuring, creating §704(c) models, and handling complicated domestic and international tax compliance for numerous large public and private real estate clients.
Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Ms. Jackson worked in the tax practice at both Arthur Andersen and Deloitte & Touche LLP primarily servicing the gaming/lodging and banking industries. Ms. Jackson graduated summa cum laude and first in her class with a B.S. in business administration and concentration in accounting from Monmouth University and an M.S. in taxation from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She is a Certified Public Accountant in New Jersey and is a member of the AICPA, NJSCPA, NAREIT, NAIOP, YM/WREA and CREW New York. Ms. Jackson currently serves as Vice President on the board of Rebuilding Together NYC, a non-profit organization for safe and healthy housing throughout New York City.
HELEN HWANG is Senior Executive Managing Director at Meridian Investment Sales, LLC and is head of the Institutional Investment Sales Group. Ms. Hwang has executed over 70 institutional sales and recapitalization transactions exceeding $25 billion in value. Prior to joining Meridian, Ms. Hwang spent 16 years at Cushman & Wakefield as an Executive Vice President, where she worked on several unprecedented complex assignments, including 1865 Broadway, 22 River Terrace, 101 Murray Street, One Court Square, 510 Madison Avenue, 511 Fifth Avenue, the MetLife Building at 200 Park Avenue, 666 Fifth Avenue, the portfolio sale of Park Avenue and 850 Third Avenue, and the ground leases under 625 Madison Avenue, 2 Herald Square and 75 Rockefeller Center. For the sale of 88 Leonard Street, Ms. Hwang was honored with the Real Estate Board of New York’s highest achievement, the 2012 Most Ingenious Sales Deal of the Year (Robert T. Lawrence Memorial Award). She also set numerous pricing records in the development/redevelopment arena in Columbus Circle, Lower Manhattan, Midtown West, West Village, Upper East Side, and Brooklyn.
Ms. Hwang holds a Master’s degree in Real Estate Investment and Development from New York University. Ms. Hwang is a New York State Certified Real Estate Appraiser and is a New York and New Jersey Licensed Salesperson.
TIM STEPAN is a seasoned expert in bringing Alternative Data to the financial community, with nearly 7 years’ experience in business development and sales specific to data. At present, he works at Dodge Data and Analytics, the best source of data for the US construction industry, where he is leading the development of Dodge’s financial services business. Prior to Dodge, Mr. Stepan was a founding member of DICSERN, one of the first data analytics companies focused on applying big data to institutional investors. At DISCERN he lead their Boston office and built a successful franchise. Mr. Stepan started his financial career as an institutional equity salesperson working for Soleil Securities and Prudential Equity Group. He served as an officer in the US Marines and was deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he served with distinction. Graduated from Stonehill College where he majored in economics.
JONATHON YORMAK is the co-founder of East End Capital Partners. East End is a fully integrated real estate investment and development firm with holdings and offices in both New York City and Miami. Since 2011, East End has acquired over $1.3 billion of office, residential and retail properties. The firm currently manages over 1 million square feet of office property and controls over 1.5 million square feet of developments rights in Miami. Jonathon oversees all activities at East End.
Prior to founding East End, Jonathon was a Managing Principal at both Ruben Companies and Broadway Partners. On a combined basis, he acquired, repositioned, and managed an office portfolio exceeding fifteen million square feet located throughout the U.S., as well as 1,000 residential units within New York City and Boston. Jonathon has extensive capital market knowledge, having sourced and structured billions of dollars of equity and debt. He also has broad platform-building experience, having started and grown various real estate related businesses, including Synergy Workplaces which was sold to Carr Workplaces in 2009. Earlier in his career, he was a real estate attorney at Fried Frank and Pryor Cashman, handling acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, financings, and REIT mergers.
A graduate of Colby College and Fordham Law School, Jonathon sits on the Board of Directors for the Wynwood Business Improvement District and was a long-time board member of both the UJA-Federation of New York and The Children’s Hearing Institute.
MODERATOR
MARK GOLDSTONE is Managing Partner of Freyeur & Trogue, a Specialty Investment Banking firm thatprovides a unique combination of advisory/consulting services to help life science and technologycompanies realize their growth potential – from data and digital technologies to genomics andpharma/biotech.
Previously Mark was the Worldwide President of Doyle Dane and Bernbach’s (DDB) healthcare business, where he was responsible for a global communications business spanning 40+ offices in over 36 markets. The business covered advertising, digital, integrated communications, HCP promotion, branding, naming, design, market shaping, med ed and scientific communications. Prior to that Mark held senior positions at Publicis Healthcare Communications Group where he was responsible for the global Sanofi business and at Interbrand where he was CEO of their global Healthcare business. Mark holds a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacy. He is a board member of the prestigious Galien Foundation, a board member of G3 Global Genomics Group and a board member of Guardion Health Sciences Inc. He is a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, a past Co-Chairman of New York Corporate Development for the American Diabetes Association and a current board member of the Neuron Regeneration Research Foundation.
MARC B BLAUSTEIN is Head of Strategy and Corporate Development at NED Biosystems, Inc., a company developing novel cancer therapies. Prior to joining NED in 2017, Mr. Blaustein was a co-founder and CEO of Akashi Therapeutics, a company dedicated to developing treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. As CEO of Akashi, he led the company through construction of an in-licensed portfolio, generation of clinical data, and closing a major strategic partnering deal. Mr. Blaustein is a 20+-year biotechnology industry veteran with experience spanning business and corporate development, product development, and line function leadership. He has led development efforts for two products that were approved by FDA and subsequently launched commercially, and has closed numerous deals for life sciences products, technologies, and services. Prior to helping found Akashi, Mr. Blaustein was a Senior Vice President at Dyax Corp (now Shire) where he led departments including Manufacturing, Commercial Operations, Program Management, and Alliance Management. Before that, he held positions of increasing responsibility at Alkermes and Genetics Institute (now Pfizer). Mr. Blaustein holds a masters degree from Harvard University and a BA in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania, and is a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Dr. SZILARD VOROS, MD, FACC, FSCCT, FAHA is a cardiologist, geneticist and entrepreneur. He is Founder and CEO of Global Genomics Group (“G3”), a precision-medicine-based biotechnology company, developing and commercializing diagnostic biomarkers and novel drug targets for common diseases. G3’s platform is based on the largest-ever program using DNA and RNA sequencing, proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics and other platforms. G3 has developed a diagnostic blood test for cardiovascular disease and has identified several novel drug targets. Before G3, Voros was Chief Scientific Officer, Chief of Cardiovascular Prevention and Medical Director of Cardiovascular Imaging at Piedmont Heart Institute. He has published extensively in major scientific journals including Nature Reviews, New England Journal of Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, Journal of the American College of Cardiology and Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics, etc.
BILL FARLEY , Vice President Sales and Business Development has over 30 years’ experience in the Business Development , Sales and leading efforts in drug discovery, development and partnering. Prior to joining Sorrento Therapeutics, Mr. Farley has held leadership positions at HitGen Ltd , VP of Key Accounts, WuXi Apptec, Inc. building and leading a global BD team, VP of BD at ChemDiv where he lead numerous efforts to create new therapeutic companies in CNS, Oncology and Anti infective. Mr.Farley has served as a consultant to various executive management teams and advise several BODs on commercialization assets. Mr Farley has spoken at numerous conferences and is published in variety of journals, received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from State University of New York , Oswego and graduate courses at Rutgers and UC Irvine
MODERATOR
RONEN SCHWARTZMAN, the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Ten Capital Advisors, has over 18 years of investment and capital markets experience. Prior to founding Ten Capital Advisors, he served as the Investment Manager of Yellow Brick Capital, a multi-family office focused on alternative investments, which he led to a highly profitable year in 2008 - the worst year in the history of hedge fund industry. Prior to that Ronen worked at Bear Stearns in New York where he managed equity and fixed income portfolios for individuals and corporations. He also advised institutional investors on capital markets investments. Ronen started his career as an equity analyst with Oppenheimer in Tel Aviv where he covered small cap technology stocks. A former Special Operations Intelligence Officer in the Israeli Air Force, Ronen is fluent in Spanish and Hebrew and holds an MBA from The Wharton School – University of Pennsylvania. Quoted in The Economist and Bloomberg News, a guest lecturer at The Wharton School and NYU Stern School of Business and a frequent speaker in many industry conferences, Ronen is considered one of the thought leaders in the hedge fund and family office communities
MICHAEL RUCCI is the President/CEO of MUFG Investor Services (USA) with direct responsibility for the U.S. Fund Administration businesses based in New York (MUFG Investor Services), Dallas (MUFG Capital Analytics) and Rockville, MD (formally Rydex Fund Services). This full service offering includes administration for hedge fund managers, fund of hedge funds, private equity, real estate and infrastructure funds, pension funds and traditional asset managers (regulated 1940 Act mutual funds). Mr. Rucci was most recently Global Head of Product Development across MUFG Investor Services, where he was responsible for the management and development of all of MUFG IS products and capabilities, including Direct Hedge Funds, Fund of Funds, Private Equity/Real Estate, Mutual Funds, and Treasury/Credit product offerings. Prior to joining MUFG, he was the Head of the Americas for UBS Alternative Fund Services, which consisted of running all aspects of the business for the New York, Cayman and Toronto locations. Michael was also the Global Head of Operations for UBS Global Asset Management for the seven years preceding his role in UBS AFS. Before joining UBS in 2005, Mr. Rucci spent over six years in various roles at Goldman Sachs. Most recently as global head of data management and derivative valuations within Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s (GSAM) operations. Michael also spent four years at Chase where he held various roles in project management and business analysis.
MUFG administers $515 billion USD.
BOB SERHUS is Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Cantor Fitzgerald Wealth Partners. Previously, Mr. Serhus served as founder and Chief Investment Officer of Serhus Capital Management, where he provided customized client solutions through comprehensive and in-depth analysis, risk management and thorough due diligence. Earlier, he served as Director of Research and Head Portfolio Manager at Attalus Capital, and Chief Investment Officer of Alternatives at Julius Baer. In addition, he has held senior positions at Alpha Investment Management and J.P. Morgan.
Mr. Serhus holds an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business.
DAVID TETEN (teten.com) is a Managing Partner with HOF Capital, an international venture capital fund. He has particular interest in fintech, technology-enabled services, analytics, artificial intelligence, sales/recruiting technology, SaaS, and international startups. He was previously a Partner for 6 years with ff Venture Capital, one of the best-performing seed- and early-stage venture capital firms in the U.S. He served or serves on the boards of Authorea, Ionic Security, Signup.com, Earnest Research, and Whisk (sold to Deem). David has advised clients such as Goldman Sachs Special Situations Group, Icahn Enterprises, LLR Partners ($1.4b fund), Birch Hill Equity Partners (C$2B fund), and other institutional investors. He is also Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Greater New York, the largest angel network on the East Coast.
David was formerly Founder of Navon Partners, a software startup which identified private companies for investment by collecting non-standard data sources. He was previously a Managing Director with Evalueserve, a 2,500-person global research and analytics company; Founder and CEO of Circle of Experts, an investment research firm acquired by Evalueserve; and ran an IT consulting practice. David has led or co-led studies on innovation in the investing industry; private equity and venture capital deal origination; and how VCs create portfolio company value. He holds a Harvard MBA (Second Year Honors) and a Yale BA (Distinction in the major).
TOM DORSEY co-founded Dorsey, Wright & Associates in 1987 and joined Nasdaq Global Information Services with Nasdaq’s acquisition of his company in 2015. He spent nine years at Wheat, First Securities where he developed and managed the firm's risk management and options strategy department. Mr. Dorsey's responsibilities at the firm also included technical analysis on all optional securities, formulation of trading strategies for 500 account executives, and risk management education. He is well known in the financial community as he represents the major stock exchanges in the United States and conducts risk management seminars across the country for industry professionals as well as individual investors.Tom 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.
Tom 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.
MODERATOR
BOB DRYZGULA began his career in 2000 at Sanford C. Bernstein (now AllianceBernstein) as an associate in the institutional asset management group.
Bob spent 13 years at Alliancebernstein in various roles as a product specialist, team manager, wholesaler, and relationship manager across multiple divisions including institutional, sub-advisory, private wealth and retail. He held positions in the US, Hong Kong, and Canadian business units managing multiple billion dollar relationships with a focus on sales, marketing and client experience. In his final role there, Bob was a Director tasked with building out the RIA business. Prior to joining Harvest Exchange Bob joined Kiski Alpha Partners, a risk and analytics firm, in 2014 as the Head of Sales and Marketing.
JAN ROGERS KNIFFEN is a retail expert with decades of real world experience and knowledge that connects the dots between the past and future to help retailer Boards of Directors build the future with sound financial assumptions and executable operational structure. Jan consults with investors in retail companies and is a regular CNBC contributor. Jan is self-described as the "country's leading expert on retailing." As a former retail finance and operations executive, Jan now provides his deep knowledge, experience and innovative thinking with the ever expanding retail eco-system.
Jan’s deep knowledge and direct experience comes from twenty years as a senior executive at The May Department Stores. A company that operated Lord & Taylor, Filene’s, Fox, Hecht’s, May-Cohen’s, Robinson’s of Florida, Sibley’s, Horne’s, Kaufman’s, Foley’s, Marshall Field’s, Famous Barr, ZCMI, Goldwater’s, May D&F, The Denver, Meier and Frank, Robinson’s, Strawbridge’s, Thalhimer’s, May Company Cleveland, May Company California, May Company Akron, Strauss, Venture, Caldor, Sycamore, Loehmann’s, Payless ShoeSource, as well as developing, owning and operating 26 super regional shopping malls. Kniffen majored in English at the University of Illinois, received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Southern Illinois University, an M.B.A. in finance from Lindenwood University, and did doctoral work in finance at St. Louis University.
Jan is a CNBC Contributor.
STEVE PEI founded Gratia Capital in April 2012. Prior to Gratia, Mr. Pei was at Canyon Capital from 2006-2012, where he invested in real estate and related industrial, consumer, financial, and service companies across the capital structure. Before Canyon, Mr. Pei was with Bain Capital’s private equity group from 2004-2006 covering industrials and consumer. Earlier in his career, Mr. Pei was with McKinsey & Co and in strategic planning at DFI Holdings, a listed retail subsidiary of the Jardine Matheson Group. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania / Wharton in 2000 with a Masters and three undergraduate majors in four years, with a BS from the Wharton School and MA and BA degrees from the College of Arts and Sciences.
ROBERT KENNELLEY, Director, Alternative Investments Research, joined Rocaton in 2012. Robert assists with the sourcing, evaluation and due diligence of alternative investments including equity and credit hedge fund strategies, fund of funds, and private credit investment vehicles, as well as long only emerging markets debt strategies. Previously, Robert worked in Emerging Markets Fixed Income Sales at HSBC Securities, at Rogge Global Partners as a High Yield and Emerging Markets Corporate Credit Analyst and at Deutsche Bank Securities performing M&A advisory and debt & equity underwriting for corporate and private equity clients. Robert is fluent in Spanish and Mandarin and received a B.A. in East Asian Studies with a Concentration in Finance from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business.
Rocaton manages 532 billion USD.
MODERATOR
MICHELLE NOYES joined the Alternative Investment Management Association 2012 as Chief Operating Officer of AIMA's New York office. Previously, she was Head of International Sales and Investor Relations for BRZ Investimentos, one of the largest independent asset managers in Brazil. While in Sao Paulo, she also served as the Brazil representative for AIMA and established the AIMA Brazil network. Michelle began her career in hedge funds as General Manager for a global conference organizer, where she launched and managed a portfolio of successful asset management and investment events. Michelle holds a B.A. and M.A. from New York University and is a CAIA Charterholder.
CESAR ARAGAO joined Bahia Group as a partner in 1998 in risk team. Appointed Risk Manager responsible for market and liquidity risks, compliance and funds-of-funds in 2002. Took current position in 2011.
Former professor of professional master’s in economics and finance at FGV and former Vice President of BM&F’s Risk Committee.
Master’s: Economics (FGV) | BSc in Electrical Engineering (UNIFEI).
OSCAR DECOTELLI is the Chief Executive Officer and co-head of Private Equity at DXA Investments, a Rio de Janeiro-based asset management firm which he co-founded in 2012. Prior to his tenure with DXA, Mr. Decotelli was a successful manager of private equity investment and capital development while a partner at firms such as VBI Investments, Opus Investimentos and GAP Asset Management. He has a distinguished track record of generating business expansion and managing international investments, and increasing portfolio assets and company profits at each stage of his career. Mr. Decotelli received an MBA from the FGV and earned a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro.
ANDRE RIBEIRO is senior partner and portfolio manager of Brasil Capital before the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission. Previously, André was a partner at FAMA Investimentos, where he performed functions such as trading, analysis of companies and fund management. Before he joined FAMA Investimentos, he was a trader and investment analyst at Bradesco Templeton Asset Management as well as at UBS Paine Webber, in San Francisco, CA. André Ribeiro holds a Bachelor's degree in Economic Sciences from USP (University of São Paulo). He also has a certificate in Finance with honors from UC Berkeley, CA, and a certificate in Finance from FEA - USP.
GREGORY ZUCKERMAN is a Special Writer at The Wall Street Journal a 20-year veteran of the paper and a three-time winner of the Gerald Loeb award -- the highest honor in business journalism. Greg is the author of “The Frackers: The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters,” a national bestseller named among the best books of 2014 by The Financial Times and Forbes Magazine. Greg also wrote “The Greatest Trade Ever: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street and Made Financial History,” a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller and translated into 10 languages. Greg and his two sons wrote Rising Above: How 11 Athletes Overcame Challenges in their Youth to Become Stars.” The book was chosen by Scholastic Teacher magazine as a top recommendation for 2016.
At the Journal, Greg writes about big financial firms, personalities and trades, hedge funds, the energy revolution and other investing and business topics. Previously, Greg was the lead writer of the widely read "Heard on the Street" column and covered the credit markets, among other beats. In 2015, Greg won the Loeb Award for a series of stories revealing discord between Bill Gross, founder of bond powerhouse Pimco, and others at the firm, including Mohamed El-Erian which led to Mr. Gross’s surprise departure from Pimco. In 2012, Greg broke news about huge, disastrous trades by the J.P. Morgan trader nicknamed the “London Whale.” In 2007, Greg was part of a team that won the Gerald Loeb award for breaking news coverage of the collapse of hedge fund Amaranth Advisors and in 2003 he won the Loeb award for breaking news coverage of the demise of telecom provider WorldCom. Greg was part of a team that won the New York Press Club Journalism award in 2008. He was a finalist for the 2011 Gerald Loeb award for investigative news coverage of the insider trading scandal and a finalist for the 2008 Gerald Loeb award, for coverage of the mortgage meltdown.
Greg appears regularly on CNBC, Fox Business, Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg Television and various television networks. He makes regular appearances on National Public Radio, BBC, ABC Radio, Bloomberg Radio and radio stations around the globe. He is graduate of Brandeis University.
ROBERT D. NESTOR, Managing Director and Head of US iShares Strategic Product Segments including smart beta and next generation fixed income product, and is responsible for driving commercial strategy in these areas. Prior to this role, Mr. Nestor was Head of iShares Product Strategy for BlackRock's U.S. Wealth Advisory (USWA) business. Before assuming this role, Mr. Nestor held various different leadership roles in the ETF business including Head of US Product and Channel Marketing, Head of RIA & Institutional Channel Strategy, and Head of Product & Portfolio Consulting.
Before joining BlackRock in 2007, Mr. Nestor spent 16 years at The Vanguard Group working in a variety of product and business development roles in both the retail and institutional divisions. In his last role he ran business, product and marketing development for the Institutional Asset Management business. Before that, He led Vanguard's strategic business development in the area of retiree advice, product and service development. Before assuming this role, Rob led Vanguard's Annuity & Insurance Services. Mr. Nestor is a CFA charterholder. He holds an M.B.A. from Drexel University in Finance - Investment Management and B.S. in Economics from the University of Delaware. He is also a member of the Financial Analysts of Philadelphia and the CFA Institute.
BlackRock manages 5.7 trillion USD.
MODERATOR
ERIC EVANS is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Orchard View Capital Advisors LP. Prior to founding Orchard View, between 2006 and 2012, Mr. Evans worked for CR Intrinsic Investors (an affiliate of S.A.C. Capital Management), a $14 billion hedge fund, where he was a Portfolio Manager overseeing a $500 million portfolio comprised of healthcare companies. From 2004-2006, Mr. Evans was a Senior Analyst at Amaranth Advisors LLC, at the time a $9 billion hedge fund, focused on investing in pharmaceutical companies. Prior to Amaranth, Mr. Evans was employed as an Associate in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group at Credit Suisse First Boston, an Associate Director in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group at UBS, a Senior Analyst in the High Yield origination investment banking group at Merrill Lynch from, and an Analyst in the Mergers & Acquisitions investment banking group at Merrill Lynch. Mr. Evans graduated magna cum laude and earned an AB degree from Duke University in 1995.
ROBERT BREUIL has more than 20 years of experience in the biotechnology, medical device and pharmaceutical industries. He joined Corium in September 2012. Prior to that, he had been the Chief Financial Officer of Codexis, Inc., a publicly-traded (Nasdaq: CDXS) developer of cost-advantaged processes for the production of pharmaceuticals, bio-based chemicals and biofuels. While at Codexis, Mr. Breuil raised more than $150 million in five private equity and debt financings, and oversaw and managed the growth of that organization from less than 100 employees in two sites to 300 employees spread across five countries and three continents, and the filing of the company’s initial public offering. Prior to Codexis, Mr. Breuil was the Chief Financial Officer of Aerogen, Inc., a publicly-traded (Nasdaq: AEGN) specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on the field of aerosolized drug delivery, for which he raised $40 million in debt and equity, before being acquired by Nektar Therapeutics (Nasdaq: NKTR) in October 2005. Previously, Mr. Breuil was at ALZA Corporation (NYSE: AZA) for seven years, where he held numerous positions including Director of Corporate Planning and Analysis and Controller, staying on as Controller when ALZA was acquired by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). Before his industry experience, he served for eight years as a Naval Officer and Aviator. Mr. Breuil holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
BARRY D. QUART, Pharm.D. has served as a director of Heron since June 2012. Dr. Quart was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Company in May 2013. Dr. Quart has more than 25 years of experience serving in leadership positions in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and developing innovative pharmaceutical products. In 2006, Dr. Quart co-founded Ardea Biosciences, Inc. and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer from its inception through May 2013 and as a director through its acquisition by AstraZeneca PLC in June 2012. Previously, he was with Pfizer, Inc. as Senior Vice President of Pfizer Global Research and Development, and the director of Pfizer's La Jolla Laboratories. Prior to Pfizer's acquisition of the Warner-Lambert Company, Dr. Quart was President of Research and Development at Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a division of the Warner-Lambert Company. Dr. Quart joined Agouron in 1993 and was instrumental in the development and registration of Viracept® (nelfinavir). Dr. Quart also served as a director of Synageva BioPharma Corp. from June 2012 through its acquisition by Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in June 2015. Dr. Quart received a Pharm.D. degree from the University of California, San Francisco.
MODERATOR
ANDREA BARTZEN is a Managing Partner at IMPACTIV Bio Consult. She is a Commercial and Communication Strategist who represents global healthcare family offices that are looking to fund innovative Biotech, Life Science and Health Tech companies. She identifies companies that have commercial and scientific potential and then matches them with the capital and creates the strategic plan to realize those commercial results. She is a commercial pre-launch and launch expert who has had successful results with the strategic planning, implementation and team leadership for some of the largest and most transformative pharmaceutical brand launches in the last 15 years.
Through Promo Med Ed, HCP Promotion, Market Access and PR channels, Andrea has directed full life-cycle development, from early commercial, medical need/disease shaping at phase 2 (Ilaris), brand development (KEYTRUDA), franchise positioning (BMS PD1) and Post LOE strategy (Lipitor). Over her career, she has worked with Price Waterhouse Cooper, Advertising conglomerates such as McCann and IPG and OmniCom and Pfizer. She has a MBA from Case Western University and has taken post grad courses at MIT.
JEFF MARGOLIS has been a member of the Board of Directors, Treasurer, Secretary and Vice-President of RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. since March 2013. As of February 22, 2017, Mr. Margolis serves as the Interim Chief Financial Officer of RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. He is also Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Board Directors of Xintria Pharmaceutical Corp, which he co-founded in 2006. Mr. Margolis has served as President of Aurora Capital LLC, a boutique investment bank and securities firm specializing in the life science sector, since he founded its predecessor company, Aurora Capital Corp. in 1994. Aurora Capital Corp. became registered with the SEC and a member of the FINRA (formerly NASD) in May 1995. Aurora Capital LLC succeeded to the business of Aurora Capital Corp. on September 16, 1998.
In 2004, Mr. Margolis co-founded and currently is a manager and indirectly a member of Atypical BioCapital Management LLC (Atypical Bio) and Atypical BioVentures Fund LLC, a life science fund management company and fund, respectively, that are affiliates of Aurora Capital. Prior to founding Aurora, Mr. Margolis was at D. Blech & Company Incorporated from 1992 until 1994, an investment banking firm specializing in biotechnology companies. Before becoming involved in financing and advising life science companies, Mr. Margolis worked for approximately a decade for the Fundamental Brokers Group, an international affiliated group of fixed income securities brokers. His last position with the firm was chief financial officer. Mr. Margolis currently holds the following securities industry registrations: (i) general securities principal (Series 24), (ii) investment banking representative (Series 79), (iii) registered representative (Series 7), (iv) state agent (Series 63), (v) financial and operations principal (Series 27), (vi) municipal securities principal (Series 54), (vii) options principal (Series 4).
JEFFREY FRIEDLAND is an author, speaker and thought leader on emerging and frontier markets, the global economy. Mr. Friedland's latest book, Marijuana: The World's Most Misunderstood Plant was published in late 2015. He is CEO of INTIVA Inc., a multi-faceted company in the worldwide legal cannabis industry. INTIVA established businesses and made investments in the cannabis industry in California, Colorado, Israel and Canada. He is also CEO of INTIVA BioPharma, which is developing cannabinoid-based drugs under U.S. Food & Drug Administration protocols. He is also a board member of Israel-based CannRX, a company focused on cannabis-based pharmaceutical development.
Mr.Friedland has been the chief executive officer and a director of a NASDAQ listed financial services company, a director of a New York Stock Exchange-listed company with all of its business operations in China, and the chairman of the supervisory board of a Hong Kong-based company with a stock market listing on the European Union Regulated Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Mr. Friedland has been featured or quoted in numerous publications including the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, the New York Times, Bloomberg Television, USA Today, Verslo Zinios (Lithuania), Vercernji (Croatia), International Business Times, the South China Morning Post, the Guam Daily Post, the Forward, the Jewish Week, Quartz, the Jakarta Globe, Israel Daily Television, BreitBart, NBC.com and Forbes.
JASON M. CRISCIONE, PhD has over a decade of experience in materials science and drug delivery. He is currently a founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Mobius Biomedical, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the invention, development, and clinical translation of multiple drug delivery systems for prevention of surgical site infection and non-opioid pain management. Dr. Criscione is also the owner and Managing Director of JM Criscione Consulting, LLC, an independent scientific consulting firm that provides expertise in biomedical engineering and materials science across multiple disciplines and services for guiding the formulation, pharmaceutical development and clinical translation of microparticle-based, nanoparticle-based, and hydrogel-based drug delivery systems for the delivery of active pharmaceutical agents and biologics.
Prior to founding Mobius Biomedical, Dr. Criscione was a co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for an early-stage, specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the invention, development, and clinical translation of drug delivery systems designed to manage pain and treat a variety of neurological diseases. For the company, Dr. Criscione utilized his drug delivery and materials science expertise to invent and develop the company’s patent-pending drug delivery technology platform and its flagship product. Dr. Criscione was responsible for the discovery and development programs for 9 products across 3 independent pipelines and his work resulted in the filing of 6 pending patents. Dr. Criscione received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Yale University in 2012.
MODERATOR
ERIC KOHLMANN KUPPER (Brazilian, German) is Founding Partner and Chief Executive Officer at Trinnacle. He holds a Master in Finance from IE Business School in Madrid and started his academic career at Eton College in the UK, going on to study at ETH Zurich and TU Munich where he successfully completed his Bachelor in Physics, researching the electrochemical properties of titanium oxy carbide nanotubes in 2011.
After his studies, Eric helped to launch a São-Paulo-based venture capital firm, Bolt Ventures, which operates as an incubator to develop and fund promising Brazilian startups. In Zurich, Eric started the family-held Kohlmann & Co AG to invest in early stage companies, some of which went on to close large follow-on funding rounds with leading international investors. He continues to manage deal flow and look out for investment opportunities. Eric speaks English, German, French and Portuguese.
ROY NIEDERHOFFER graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in 1987 with a degree in Computational Neuroscience. After working for another hedge fund for 5 years, he founded R. G. Niederhoffer Capital Management, Inc. in 1993. Since then, R. G. Niederhoffer Capital Management has employed a quantitative, behavioral finance-based strategy to trade equities, fixed income, foreign exchange and commodities to provide returns that are both valuable on a stand-alone basis and also provide significant downside protection to clients' portfolios. Mr. Niederhoffer leads the Management Committee and brings nearly 30 years of experience in the hedge fund industry.
Mr. Niederhoffer also serves as Chairman of the Board for the New York City Opera and the Harmony Program.
GEORGE E. HALL is ultimately responsible for all final investment and trading decisions, risk management and quantitative analysis. Mr. Hall founded Clinton Group in September of 1991. From 1989 – 1991, Mr. Hall was a vice president at Greenwich Capital Markets Inc., a leading primary dealer and mortgage securities broker dealer. He headed the mortgage arbitrage group, which traded mortgage securities, interest rate derivatives products, futures and options. Mr. Hall outlined and implemented the firm's analytical systems for CMOs and related securities. Before that, he directed the trading of mortgage securities, including agency pass-throughs, options, whole loans, CMOs, and other interest rate derivatives, at Citicorp Investment. Mr Hall joined Citicorp in January of 1986 after receiving his MBA from the Wharton School. Mr. Hall left Citicorp in the Spring of 1989. Prior to receiving his MBA, Mr. Hall was a nuclear engineer for the Tenneco Corporation. Heholds a BS from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
In addition to managing Clinton Group, Inc., Mr. Hall is very active in philanthropic causes. In 1998, he became a member of the Board of Trustees of New York University School of Medicine Foundation. In addition, he is a major benefactor to the Cochlear Implant Program and Head and Neck Cancer Research Program at NYU School of Medicine, earning himself the prestigious Sir Harold Acton Medal. He is a Joseph Wharton Club Honoree at the University of Pennsylvania, donating generously to the school from which he received his Masters in Business Administration. In January 2002, he established The George E. Hall Childhood Diabetes Foundation, after discovering that his eldest niece was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 5. He also founded the Hall Family Center for Pediatric Endocrinology & Diabetes at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City.
THOMAS ZIMMERER is a managing director and Global Head of Product Specialists Multi Asset with Allianz Global Investors, which he joined in 2014. As head of the Multi Asset US team, he is responsible for articulating the philosophy and process of the firm’s dynamic multi-asset strategies to clients and external audiences; he also provides insights to the advisor and consultant community on the impact of market conditions on portfolio decisions. Earlier with the firm, Mr. Zimmerer was a senior product specialist and a portfolio manager with Allianz in Munich and Frankfurt, where he developed quantitative investment strategies and managed bond and CPPI portfolios. He has 19 years of investment-industry experience. Before, Mr. Zimmerer was a professor of finance and investments at the University of Applied Science in Ansbach, Germany, and served as senior consultant for a German-based consulting firm, advising institutional investors. He has an M.B.A. in economics and finance and a Ph.D. in econometrics from the University of Regensburg, Germany.
Allianz Global Investors manages 569 billion USD.
MODERATOR
PETER LELEK is a senior relationship manager and a director with Allianz Global Investors, which he joined in 2015. He is responsible for developing the firm’s institutional client relationships in the Northeast and is a member of the Institutional Business Development team. Mr. Lelek has 11 years of investment-industry experience. He was previously a director at BlackRock, where he was responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with institutional clients, including pension and defined contribution plans, endowments, foundations and outsourced CIOs. Mr. Lelek began his career in the analyst program at BlackRock. He has a B.A. in economics and sociology from Connecticut College. Mr. Lelek holds the FINRA series 3, 7 and 63 licenses.
Allianz Global Investors manages 569 billion USD.
DANIEL SHERIDAN Prior to co-founding Hinoki Capital Management, Daniel Sheridan was most recently at Daruma Capital Management where he was a portfolio manager of the Hinoki Fund. The fund was subsequently spun-out after 27 months and is now managed by Hinoki Capital Management, where he is a Principal. Prior to joining Daruma, Mr. Sheridan spent 16 years at CastleRock Asset Management. During his tenure at CastleRock, Mr. Sheridan held various roles, including risk manager, and was a member of the three-person portfolio management team. Prior to his portfolio management roles, he was a research analyst covering the technology and energy sectors. Mr. Sheridan received a B.S. in Management Science from the State University of New York at Geneseo in 1995. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a current member of the CFA Institute.
CHAD NAYLOR is the CEO and CIO of Naylor & Company. He is directly responsible for making all investment selections in the Naylor & Company Core Composite.Chad comes from a family steeped in investing history, going back three generations. The central topic of family discussions throughout his life was investing in the stock market. From a young age, he made his own investment decisions and furthered the family practice of holding quality companies through good times and bad.
In college, Chad studied Anthropology, which deepened his insights into historical human trends. He then studied law and practiced as a corporate lawyer for 12 years. This work intensified his ability to critically analyze the conditions of industries in recovery and the investment prospects of the companies in those industries.After seeing a strong need in the investment industry for the type of investing style developed by his family, he founded Naylor & Company in 2003. His focused approach and concern for the success of his clients have engendered a level of trust, confidence and communication rare in the industry.Chad graduated with Highest Distinction from Indiana University and Summa Cum Laude from Indiana University School of Law.
KENNY POLCARI came to Wall Street as a summer intern on the New York Stock Exchange during the summers of '80, '81 & '82 and upon graduation moved from Boston, Mass. to New York City where he began his career on the trading floor. He became a member of the New York Stock Exchange in August, 1985 and is currently a Managing Director at O'Neil Securities, Inc. and represents the interests of institutional asset managers that need to access global equity markets. Earlier in his career, Kenny served as managing director at Icap Corps, LLC, and prior to that was senior vice president, member New York Stock Exchange and division manager with Salomon Brothers directing their NYSE Division during the heady bull market of the 1990's.
His 30 years of experience has taken him from the birth of the greatest bull market, to the crash of '87, the roaring '90's, the .com implosion, decimalization, 9/11, Regulation NMS, the merger between the NYSE / ARCA, then NYSE/Euronext, automation, HFT, and fragmentation. He is an engaging public speaker and you can find him speaking at industry & investor conferences, as well as colleges, forums and major asset manager events. He is at ease speaking about NYSE history, rules & regulation, former & current market structure including internalization, HFT and fragmentation and how those changes have forever changed the face of the U.S. capital markets and what that means to the investor. He writes a daily "Morning Thoughts" missive that is an informative, engaging and entertaining look at global markets and provides insight into the day's action. It has gained wide popularity and has become a signature of his "boots on the ground" analytical style. He is a member of STA and NOIP and is a guest lecturer for The American College. He holds the series 7, 24, 27, 55, 63 registrations. Kenny Polcari graduated from Boston University, School of Management in 1983 with a B.S. / B.A. degree: concentration finance.
Kenny is a CNBC Contributor.
BRUCE RICHARDS is Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Marathon Asset Management. Richards is responsible for general oversight of the $12.7 billion the firm manages on behalf of its institutional investors. He also leads the firm's Executive Committee and is a member of its Investment Committee. Richards co-founded Marathon with Louis Hanover in January 1998. The firm focuses on investing in the global credit markets, including corporate debt, bank debt and bonds, special situations and distressed debt, the structured debt markets (RMBS, CMBS, ABS, CLOs, Aircraft Finance and Asset-based Lending), and Emerging Market Debt. Marathon employs 150 professionals and maintains its headquarters in New York, with investment offices in London and Singapore.
Prior to founding Marathon, Richards worked on Wall Street for 15 years, including 10 years as a Managing Director in the fixed income divisions of Smith Barney and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette where he was head of a trading desk responsible for principal investments and market making. In March 2014, Richards was the recipient of Help for Children | Hedge Fund Cares’ Award for Caring for his strong commitment to philanthropy.
MODERATOR
DANYE WANG is Managing Partner at UniGlobe Capital, and is a Senior Advisor to The Beryl Consulting Group pertaining to Asian fund managers and investors. Most recently she was Vice President at BlackRock where she covered the firm's relationships with sovereign wealth funds, central banks, national pensions, insurance companies and endowments across BlackRock's offerings. In 2013, Ms. Wang launched BlackRock Educational Academy, a multi-module "best-in-class" training program targeting top institutional investors across Asia Pacific, EMEA, Latin America and US/Canada with more than 1200 institutional investors. From 2009 - 2011, Danye also served on multiple short-term assignments in Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Japan where she led a series of high-profile client engagements. Ms. Wang earned a BA degree in Economics from Yale University, and is a prominent speaker at conferences including Asia Financial Society, CFA Institute, China Youth Development Program as well as universities including Yale, Cornell, Columbia and NYU.
REGIS DALE is the Chief Executive Officer of Harvest Global Investments USA. He has 25 years experience in Asian finance – in banking, brokering and asset management. Prior to joining Harvest, Regis established Chase Manhattan Bank’s Representative Office in Shanghai in 1993 and served as Chase’s representative in eastern China.
From 2000 to 2007, he led the Greater China distribution efforts in the US of the number-one-ranked Asian equity business of UBS Investment Bank. Since 2010, Regis has been advising global institutional investors investing in China and Asia. Regis has a Masters in International Finance from Columbia University and a BA, magna cum laude, from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Economics and International Relations.
Harvest manages 120 billion USD.
TAO QIU is a Managing Director and Head of Global Investments and Strategies at Fosun Group. He oversees public equity and fixed income investments in North America and has been involved in the Group’s private equity investments in financial services, consumer goods and services, travel and leisure, with a focus on providing growth capital and operational expertise to global businesses that seek to access China’s growing middle class. Before joining Fosun in 2015, Mr. Qiu was Head of Global Investments and a lead portfolio manager at Penghua Fund Management Co., Ltd. where he was a founder of the firm’s international business and invested in global and emerging market equities, listed alternatives and high yield credits. He was actively involved in the development of China’s securitization market and was responsible for establishing China’s first exchange-traded real estate investment trust. Before joining Penghua in 2010, Mr. Qiu spent six years as a securities analyst and portfolio manager of equities and multi-asset portfolios at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. Prior to that, Mr. Qiu started his career as an equity analyst at American Express. Mr. Qiu graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston University, and is a CFA charterholder.
Fosun Group manages 70 billion USD.
CRYSTAL CHEN is a Managing Director at JD Capital's US Office. Ms. Chen joined JD Capital in June 2016, she is responsible for all JD Capital’s investment and acquisition activities in North America. Throughout her 11 years on Wall Street, she has been an equity research associate at Jefferies & Company, Inc. based in New York, covering the Semiconductor and Telecommunication Sectors. In Nov. 2008, Ms. Chen transferred to the Jefferies office in China where her focus coverage included Semiconductors, Telecommunications, Internet Media and Clean Tech sectors as a VP in Investment Banking. Ms. Chen has also held prior positions as Senior Vice President of Investment Banking for CLSA Asia Pacific and Pacific Crest Securities, respectively. Her responsibilities included all cross border U.S. - China capital markets transactions. Ms. Chen holds a B.A. from Beijing Normal University and MBA from the Lubin Business School of Pace University.
MODERATOR
LIONEL ERDELY joined Investcorp in November 2013 and is the Head and Chief Investment Officer of the Alternative Investment Solutions business. Prior to joining Investcorp, Mr. Erdely worked for 11 years at Lyxor Asset Management, where he held the dual position of Chief Investment Officer (2004 – 2013) and Chief Executive Officer of Lyxor Inc. (2009 – 2013). Prior to joining Lyxor, he was a Vice President in the Equity Corporate Finance department at Société Générale, where he worked on several IPOs, capital increases and convertible bond issues. Mr. Erdely holds an M.B.A. degree in Finance from the École Supérieure des Sciences Économiques et Commerciales (ESSEC) in Paris.
Investcorp manages 21.4 billion USD.
JONATHAN GOLDBERG is the founder and Chief Investment Officer of BBL Commodities, LP (“BBL” or the “Investment Manager”). The Investment Manager seeks to generate positive risk-adjusted returns predominantly via relative value trade opportunities that are uncorrelated to market direction. The Investment Manager trades liquid and listed futures and options with a focus in the petroleum market and a specialty in refined products. Prior to founding the Investment Manager in 2013, Mr. Goldberg worked in Glencore's oil department from 2010 through 2013 where he was responsible for helping to build the firm's US oil derivatives business. Mr. Goldberg managed a proprietary book and leveraged his financial experience as well as his understanding of the physical oil markets. Before joining Glencore as a partner, Mr. Goldberg worked for J. Aron, the commodities division of Goldman Sachs from 2003 to 2010. Mr. Goldberg began his career working with Goldman's refining and end-user clients on structured hedging transactions before taking over a proprietary trading role where he traded across the commodity complex but concentrated on his expertise in oil products. Mr. Goldberg graduated from Yale College with honors with a degree in economics in 2003.
ANTHONY GRISANTI is the founder and president of GRZ ENERGY, and has over 30 years experience in the futures industry. After attending college in Buffalo, N.Y., Mr. Grisanti moved to New York City and began working in the commodities markets. In 1990 he began employment with Bear Stearns and shortly thereafter qualified for membership on the New York Mercantile Exchange where he has remained in good standing for the past 24 years. Series 3 holder and oil analyst, he became an energy trader for Bear Stearns handling a variety of customer and house accounts in all energy futures and options rings. In 1995, Mr. Grisanti formed GRZ ENERGY to focus his expertise on the energy futures and options markets. GRZ's consultation services have included hedging, trading and portfolio management. Our broad investor base ranges from individual and institutional energy market investors to producers and refiners. Anthony regularly appears on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Fox Business News and other business channels to share his expertise in energy markets. He co-hosts Futures Now an award winning on-line show produced by CNBC.
GRZ Energy trading philosophy begins with a technical analysis melding with fundamentals for each decision we make. Our price forecasting involves looking to the past for patterns and for the ways to identify them for positive market results. We analyze moving averages, Fibonacci levels, Bollinger bands and many other indicators as well as supply and demand to correctly predict market movement. We identify markets that trade over 20% from the historical norm and develop a thesis on how to trade. Our entry and exit point levels have flexibility, but the risk/reward models have strict guidelines. Finally in a global market we realize that while our focus is energy, we cannot ignore the currency markets, equities, or any geo-political situations that might arise and affect positions. Mr. Grisanti is a founding director of Building Homes For Heroes- a highly rated national non-profit which builds and renovates homes for severely wounded US veterans. In 2014 we completed 17 such homes and plan to complete 25 to 30 in 2015.
Anthony is a CNBC contributor.
DANIEL J. ARBESS is an investor and policy analyst recognized for his prescient calls on some of the major developments of the past 30 years, including the economic transition toward markets from communism in Eastern Europe & China; the U.S. housing/financial crisis, inter alias. Dan was the first American lawyer to relocate to Eastern Europe during the years of Perestroika and he moved to Prague in early 1990 to advise the new Czechoslovak government on its economic transition and privatization. He became (at 31 in ‘92) the youngest partner in the history of White & Case, and Head of its Global Privatization Group.
Dan continued his involvement in the economic transition process as a principal investor in newly privatized European companies. As his focus followed developments from Europe to Asia, starting with the impact of China’s industrialization and other reforms on US manufacturers, Dan co-founded and managed distressed corporate credit investments for Triton Partners, a $1.6 Billion New York-based structured credit asset management firm. He then launched the Xerion Hedge Funds in 2003 with the backing of S. Donald Sussman and his Paloma Partners, and merged Xerion with Perella Weinberg Partners in 2007. Xerion’s assets peaked around $3.25 Billion in 2011. Dan returned Xerion investor capital in late 2014 and sold his stake in Perella Weinberg Partners in 2015 to spend more time on economic and geopolitical policy, and pursue “virtualization” - themed investment opportunities through his private firm, Xerion Investments. Dan received an LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, and an LLM from the Harvard Law School. He is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
MODERATOR
MATTHIAS KNAB leads Opalesque, an internationally recognized expert on hedge funds and alternatives. Mr. Knab has frequently served as chairman of hedge fund conferences. In addition, he has presented or moderated at hedge fund events, and lectured at numerous universities on the subjects of hedge funds and the state of the global alternative asset management industry. He studied computer science and psychology in Freiburg i.Br., graduated in economy in Munich and subsequently passed exams as a FSA Securities Representative, FSA Futures and Options Representative and XETRA trader. Mr. Knab is a member of the German Association of Technical Analysts (VTAD).
Since 1989 he has been working as a consultant for major German institutions, most notably Allianz and Vereinte Versicherungen. 1998 he created and served as CEO Boersenakademie AG - the first German institution directed at offering educational services on investing themes. Matthias Knab also served as Managing Director at TradeStream Global AG, a technology firm developing trading solutions for institutions and hedge funds.
JOEL BLOCH (Swiss) is Founding Partner and Chief Risk Officer of Trinnacle. He graduated MSc ETH Physics with a “magna cum laude” grade equivalent, writing his thesis on using the Hawkes Poisson Model to predict volatility in a high frequency trading environment. After graduating, Joel worked as an analyst for Vision Knight Capital in Shanghai, a Chinese-based, technology-focused private equity fund where he worked closely with David Wei, a former CEO of Alibaba.
Joel is a founding board member of Ricci Fellows, the biggest Sino-Swiss young professionals network. Since 2013, he is an elected board member of FDP Zollikon, a major Swiss political party at which he previously held the role of treasurer for two years. Joel speaks German, English, French and Mandarin.
ADIL ABDULALI has 26 years of experience in the markets. He received an M.A. in pure mathematics from MIT and B.A. in mathematics from University of Pennsylvania. He spent the first half of his career trading fixed income derivatives at JP Morgan, Nikko, Nomura, and Barclays. At Nomura and Barclays, he ran the systems and analytics groups for these products. He subsequently joined Capital Market Risk Advisors as a Senior Advisor specializing in structured products and hedge fund valuation. He joined Protégé in 2003 to head Risk Measurement. Adil became a partner in 2006 and specializes in Autonomous Learning Investment Strategies (ALIS), Relative Value and Market Independent Strategies. Adil used geometry to invent the Bias Ratio, a metric that detects return smoothing by active managers.
SCOTT BOOTH is the Founder and Managing Partner of Eastern Advisors, a global equity hedge fund founded in 2003 with seed capital from Tiger Management. In 2013, Eastern became a private Family Office with a focus on expansion-stage technology companies. Scott is also the Founder of Lead Edge Capital, a private, growth equity investment group launched by Eastern Advisors, focused on growth stage software and Internet businesses. Previously, Scott was a portfolio Manager for Asian Pacific markets at Kingdon Capital. Booth is also a founding investor and partner in Yield Capital Management, a firm that invests in the energy, real estate and telecommunication infrastructure sectors globally with the objective of generating annual yield and asset appreciation.
With over 20 years of investing and leadership experience, Scott lead early investments in Alibaba, Bazaarvoice, Lion Biotech, ShareCare, and Inspirato, which all surpassed $1b. in market capitalization.
NEW YORK CITY OPERA and R.G. Niederhoffer Capital Management present an exquisite Carmen performance after the day's panels have concluded.
New York City Opera was famously dubbed “The People's Opera” by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. Since its founding in 1943 by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia as “The People’s Opera” New York City Opera has been a critical part of the city’s cultural life. During its history, NYCO launched the careers of dozens of major artists and presented engaging productions of both mainstream and unusual operas alongside commissions and regional premieres. The result was a uniquely American opera company of international stature.
For more than seven decades, NYCO maintained a distinct identity, adhering to its unique mission: affordable ticket prices, a devotion to American works, English-language performances, the promotion of up-and-coming American singers, and seasons of accessible, vibrant and compelling productions intended to introduce new audiences to the art form. Stars who began their careers at New York City Opera include Plácido Domingo, Beverly Sills, Samuel Ramey, and dozens more.
VIDAK ENTERTAINMENT presents world renowned flamenco guitarists DARKO NIKCEVIC and SRDJAN BULATOVIC to play during Conference breaks and between 9 and 10pm along with a special guest performance at the conclusion of the entertainment. Together with Vidak Radonjic they will play Pharaon among other songs including their original compositions.
Srđan Bulatović PhD and Darko Nikčević are internationally renowned guitar players from MONTENEGRO, esteemed for their extraordinary perfection of the craft and exciting performances. The duo has performed for international audiences for more than 25 years including the Carnegie Hall in New York. Besides playing and interpreting the works of the masters composers they also present their original pieces invoking the ’languages’ of classical and flamenco guitar. While varied in terms of character, style, rhythm, and tempo, the original compositions from their most recent album ‘The Best of Montenegro’, share a common thread of Montenegrin traditional music, movie soundtracks, world music, and popular contemporary movements. They are authors of many books and publications and have recorded many musical programs, concerts, music videos for radio and television.