New York: Data Insights and Scouting Summit

Speakers

• 

  Carlos Gomez

  BELOBABA CRYPTO FUND

  Chief Investment Officer

  Carlos Gomez is the Chief Investment Officer of Belobaba Crypto Fund.
  Is a CPA and Attorney from Australia currently living in Miami who has been involved in the crypto industry since 2015.
  With a combination of legal and financial skills, Carlos oversees the Investment decisions of the fund based on a wide range of data analytical tools and at the same time is well positioned to navigate the legal complexities that the crypto and blockchain industries faces.
  Previously to his current post, Carlos was the Performance Manager of a large State government fund (one of the few remaining jurisdictions with a AAA credit rating in the world).
  He was the Ambassador during 2020 of the Polkadot protocol in Miami and also has been a Board member of a very influential Non-For-Profit organization in Sydney.
  During his spare time, Carlos enjoys practicing Fencing (Foil) with his wife Elda.

• 

  Deepika Sharma

  BlackRock’s Multi Asset Strategies & Solutions (MASS)

  Global Head of Quantitative Manager Research

  Deepika Sharma, CFA, Director, is the Global Head of Quantitative Manager Research within BlackRock’s Multi Asset Strategies & Solutions (MASS) group. In this role, she is responsible for developing a systematic approach to the evaluation of public and private market strategies across the spectrum of outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) and wealth solutions. In addition, she is also the Head of Global Manager Research for Model Portfolios, responsible for generating manager selection alpha and delivering portfolio construction guidance to clients.

  Deepika has spent over 14 years in portfolio management and research roles with a focus on multi-asset investing. Prior to joining BlackRock, she was a Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of Investment Research at Astor Investment Management, a $2bn asset management firm, where she built a multi-alternative strategy awarded with Refinitiv Lipper awards for outstanding performance. She previously worked within the Fixed Income Proprietary Trading group at Nomura and began her career as an analyst on the structured credit desk at Lehman Brothers.

  Deepika currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors at CFA Society New York, the largest of the 142+ societies that comprise CFA Institute worldwide with over 10,000 members. She is also a member of the Bretton Woods Committee. Deepika holds a Masters in International Finance at Columbia University, where she was a teaching assistant to Federal Reserve Vice-Chair Richard Clarida.

• 

  Tseno Tselkov

  Symbiosys Capital

  Co-Founder

  Tseno Tselkov is a co-founder of Symbiosys Capital – a quantitative hedge fund that incorporates fundamental knowledge into a systematic investment process, with a focus on non-traditional sources of data.

  Prior to founding Symbiosys, Tseno was a Portfolio Manager at Ellington Management Group, where he spent 15 years building the quantitative equities business from the ground up. The core framework and strategies underlying Symbiosys were incubated at Ellington.

  Tseno received his B.A. in Mathematics from Harvard College and his M.A.S. in Mathematics from Cambridge University.

• 

  Debarshi Basu

  BlackRock

  Director, Head of Quantitative Research

  Debarshi Basu, Director, is Head of Quantitative Research for BlackRock's sustainable investing team. He leads a team focused on developing sustainable investment strategies. His team researches systematic ESG insights that animates portfolios. Debarshi regularly engages with BlackRock's clients on sustainable perspectives

  Debarshi's tenure at BlackRock dates to 2014. He spent 3 year in the Multi-Assets Solutions and Strategies managing tactical equity model portfolios. Prior to joining BlackRock, Debarshi worked as a Modeling Specialist in Texas Instruments, developing models for semiconductor devices.

  Debarshi has a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Masters in Financial Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He has co-authored a book chapter for Springer, 2 patents and 18 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

• 

  Yesim Tokat-Acikel

  Principal Asset Allocation

  Managing Director, Head of Dynamic Risk Multi-Asset Strategies and Portfolio Manager

  Yesim is a Managing Director, Portfolio Manager for Principal Asset Allocation and serves as the Head of Dynamic Risk Multi-Asset Strategies. Yesim joined the firm in 2023. Prior to her current role, Yesim served as a Managing Director, Head of Multi-Asset Research, Co-head of ESG, Portfolio Manager at PGIM. Prior to that, Yesim worked as a Vice President, Senior Quantitative Analyst at AllianceBernstein and as a Manager, Senior Investment Analyst for the Vanguard Group. She received a PhD in Economics from University of California, Santa Barbara, a master's degree in Industrial Engineering from University of Arizona and a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from Bilkent University, Turkey.

   

• 

  Jason Miller

  Greycroft

  VP of Product

  Jason oversees digital strategy and data driven investing at Greycroft, a venture capital firm based in New York and Los Angeles.  He leads a team across data science, engineering, and data sourcing functions.  He also assists in diligence on data centered startups and advises portfolio companies on data and product.

  Prior to Greycroft, Jason spent four years at Point72 Ventures as the COO/Head of Product designing diligence and sourcing processes and the data and technology to enable them.  He envisioned and built an end-to-end proprietary investment software and data strategy for venture capital.  Previously, Jason worked at BlackRock where he focused on integrating data and analytics for the front office via the Aladdin product.

• 

  Yamelin Castillo

  Lab49

  Head of Wealth and Asset Management Product Strategy Practice

  Yamelin is Head of Wealth and Asset Management Product Strategy Practice at Lab49. A business and technology services leader, she has over 25 years of experience specializing in business-critical product delivery for private equity, hedge fund, and traditional wealth and asset managers. She has extensive experience in program and project management, services leadership, customer satisfaction delivery, and monitoring. Her core competencies include front-to-back office systems/process transformation; software selection and implementation; strategy and operations roadmap development; advanced analytics technologies; and digital assets and Blockchain technology.

• 

  Rebecca Mulholland

  Financial Data and Technology Association

  Policy Advisor

  Rebecca Mulholland is Policy Advisor for the Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America with extensive experience in the financial technology and financial services space. She has spent three years with FDATA North America where she leads the association’s legislative work on issues ranging from open banking and consumer-permissioned data access to financial data privacy and competition. Rebecca works directly with key members of the United States House of Representatives’ Committees on Financial Services, Small Business, and Energy and Commerce as well as with the United States Senate Banking and Small Business Committees to advance these efforts. She also collaborates frequently with U.S. financial regulators as financial services ecosystems around the world embrace open finance.

  In addition to her work at FDATA North America, Rebecca is also a Policy Advisor at Allon Advocacy, LLC, a Washington, DC-based lobbying firm that helps technology, fintech and financial services firms navigate complex public policy and public affairs environments around the world. She is responsible for policy strategies around the small business lending, AI and alternative data, overdraft, retirement, and rental investment spaces.

  Prior to joining FDATA North America, Rebecca spent twelve years in the aviation policy space where she successfully lobbied for the inclusion of several proposals in the FAA reauthorization bill of 2018 that reviewed and updated programs that the federal government funds. She has a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from James Madison University.

   

• 

  Oliver Faltin-Trager

  Emso Asset Management

  Portfolio Manager

  Oliver is a Portfolio Manager at Emso Asset Management where he focuses on emerging markets. He began his career at BlackRock in 2010 as a PhD Associate in the Financial Modeling Group. He joined HBK Capital Management in 2012 as an Investment Analyst focused on quantitative modeling and trading, working across a broad range of asset classes. Oliver joined Emso in 2016. Oliver earned a BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a PhD in Finance & Economics from Columbia Business School.

• 

  Amy Moore

  Millennium Management

  Content Analyst

  Amy Moore is a Content Analyst within the Content Solutions organization at Millennium Management, where she leads the discovery and management of content for Investment Professionals across the Consumer and Technology sectors within Equity Trading.  As part of that role, Amy seeks out new alternative datasets that may be accretive and provide insights to the investment process and their corresponding debates.  Prior to Millennium, Amy was an Associate at BlackRock where she sourced and managed content across BlackRock’s Asset Management, iShares, and Aladdin businesses.  Amy studied Finance and Psychology and then earned a J.D. all from the University of Colorado at Boulder.  She is also a licensed attorney in New York.

• 

  Dr. Satyam Priyadarshy

  Halliburton

  Managing Director – India Center, Technology Fellow and Chief Data Scientist

  Dr. Satyam Priyadarshy is recognized as the first Chief Data Scientist of the oil and gas industry. Dr. Priyadarshy is a pioneer in the fields of Data Science, Big Data and Emerging Technologies. He is also a Member of the Mauritius Artificial Intelligence Council, Republic of Mauritius. His work or profile has appeared in many places including Chemical and Engineering News, The Scientist, Silicon India, Oil Review Middle East, Petroleum Review, Rigzone, Forbes among others. He is an author/co-author of over 35+ research papers, numerous patents, book chapters and expert opinion articles in magazines like Science. He is the recipient of many industry accolades and he is one of the most sought out invited speakers in areas of Emerging Technologies, Quantum mechanics, Cyber security and Blockchain, Big Data, Digital Transformation among others. The Society for Petroleum Engineers named him as the 2021-2022 SPE Distinguished Lecturer. He is currently associated as an adjunct/visiting faculty at a number of universities and institutes in USA and India. Dr. Priyadarshy is also on the advisory board of a number of emerging entrepreneurial companies. He earned his PhD in Quantum/Theoretical Chemistry from IIT Bombay and an MBA from Virginia Tech.

• 

  Mikhail Samonov

  Two Centuries Investments

  CEO, and lead portfolio manager

  Mikhail Samonov is the founder, CEO, and lead portfolio manager of Two Centuries Investments, which was established to create long term wealth for investors through its blend of innovative and behaviorally-focused investment strategies.

  In an industry suffering an alpha drought, Mikhail continuously explores previously unmeasured sources of alpha to build resilient approaches that support long-term investor compounding. Two Centuries Investments serves a range of clients including family offices, financial advisors, corporations and HNW individuals. Mikhail has been a portfolio manager for over 15 years, with a consistent track record of high performance and innovation.

  In prior roles he managed >$5 billion in systematic equities at PineBridge Investments, including a $1 billion socially responsible strategy, over $1 billion in multi-asset and alternative factor strategies at Forefront Analytics. He is a published author and sought after speaker on topics including factor investing, quantitative innovation, sustainable investing, and asset allocation. His work has been cited by leading financial journalists, academics, and authors, including in the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal, and is in the top 10% of authors on SSRN.

  An honors graduate of Brown University with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics and Economics, Mikhail also holds an MBA degree from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania and is a CFA Charterholder.

• 

  Chirayu Patel

  Rakani Capital

  Portfolio Manager

  Chirayu Patel is a Portfolio Manager and founder of Rakani Capital which specializes in providing clients high fixed returns with minimal price volatility in any market environment. Chirayu has over 15 years of professional investment and global capital markets experience. In his previous role he was a Vice President at BlackRock serving as a lead investor on the $100B Global Allocation Fund. He has proficient expertise across global investment markets and business development in both public and private companies. Chirayu earned a BS degree, cum laude, in Finance with an Economics minor from the Pennsylvania State University. He is a CFA Charterholder and fluent in Gujarati.

• 

  Adam Storch

  SEC

  Associate Director & Event and Emerging Risks Examinations Team Lead

  Adam leads the SEC’s newly established Event and Emerging Risks Examinations Team (EERT) in the Division of Examinations. EERT is a new office established to proactively engage with financial firms about emerging threats and current market events and quickly mobilize to provide expertise and resources when critical matters arise. EERT helps to ensure, through examinations and other firm engagement and monitoring activities that firms are better prepared to address exigent threats, incidents, and emerging risks. EERT will also provide expertise and support in response to significant market events that could have a systemic impact or that place investor assets at risk, such as exchange outages, liquidity events, and cyber-security or operational resiliency concerns. EERT also focuses on published exam priorities, which includes examinations of new and emerging technologies, including the use of Alternative Data. Previously Adam served as Senior Advisor to the Director of the Division where he focused on risk, strategy and innovation. Earlier, Adam served as the Commission’s first-ever Managing Executive and Chief Operating Officer of the Division of Enforcement, where he was instrumental in the Division’s most significant restructuring in the Division’s history. Adam has also held several key executive roles in the private sector, including Chief of Staff and Chief Operating Officer of Legal and Compliance at Marsh & McLennan Companies and Vice President of the Business Intelligence Group at Goldman Sachs. Adam is a graduate of the NYU Stern School of Business and SUNY Buffalo.

• 

  Aris Tentes

  Morgan Stanley

  Executive Director

  Aris Tentes is an Executive Director at Morgan Stanley and a member of the Quantitative Investment Strategies (QIS) Research team, based in New York. His research focuses on the development of quantitative signals and portfolio construction approaches, specializing in the cash equity space. Before joining Morgan Stanley, he worked as a quantitative researcher at Deutsche Bank after starting his career in finance at Goldman Sachs in London. Aris earned his PhD at New York University in 2014.

• 

  Dr. Heiko Bailer

  RepRisk

  Head of ESG Quantitative Investments

  Dr. Heiko Bailer joined RepRisk in 2019 and is responsible for building RepRisk’s quantitative investment business. As a former hedge fund manager, he is an expert in quantitative trading strategies.

  Prior to joining RepRisk, Heiko co-founded the Swiss Fintech SmartStamp AG, as well as traded long/short US equities at GLAM. Subsequent to that, Heiko was CIO at Swiss Trust Advisors AG and Plenum Investments.

  Other previous appointments include: Head of Quantitative Solutions and Asset Allocation at Credit Suisse, Deputy CRO at Harcourt Investment Consulting, Director at Delta One Trading ABN AMRO London, and desk rotations at Deutsche Bank Global Markets in New York, Tokyo, and London.

  Heiko received his Master of Science from Ludwig Maximilian University, in Munich, and his PhD in Applied Statistics from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA.

• 

  Carl Weinberg

  High Frequency Economics

  Founder and Chief Economist

  Dr. Carl B. Weinberg is the founder and Chief Economist of High Frequency Economics. Barron’s noted recently that Dr. Weinberg is "sought after as much for his provocative views on the global economies as for his deep experience."

  Before founding High Frequency Economics in 1988, Dr. Weinberg served as Senior International Economist at Shearson Lehman Brothers, where he was involved in advisory projects in G-7 countries, Africa and Latin America. He also supported the capital markets activities of the firm as its Chief International Economist. From 1982 to 1984, he worked on restructuring bank loans to Latin American sovereign borrowers, representing the Bank of Montreal in multiyear restructuring negotiations on a dozen Bank Advisory Committees. He has also worked at the OECD in Paris, as a member of the economic forecasting unit.

  From 1978 to 1981, Dr. Weinberg co-authored the Wharton World Economic Model while serving as Director of Wharton Econometric Forecasting Associates. He also led a global econometric modeling project at the National Bureau of Economic Research. As an IBM Fellow in the mid-1970s, Dr. Weinberg established a European Research and Simulation Center at the IBM Scientific Center in Pisa, Italy. He was also a founding contributor to Project Link, an IMF- and UN-affiliated econometric modeling group in which he still participates.

  Dr. Weinberg has taught economics at the European University Institute in Florence, the Wharton School and New York University, where he currently teaches a graduate course in international finance. Dr. Weinberg earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and is a graduate of Rutgers University.

• 

  Brian Peltonen

  Fidelity Management & Research Company

  Director of Data Analytics

  Brian Peltonen is the Director of Data Analytics at Fidelity Management & Research Company (FMR Co.). His team is responsible for identifying alternative data sets and using AI to derive investment insights for Fidelity’s equity division. Prior to his current role, Brian worked in fundamental equity research as a member of the energy sector team. Before Fidelity, Brian worked as a programmer in the video game industry and as a consultant building AI models for corporate and governmental clients.

• 

  Alex Izydorczyk

  Ex - Coatue Management

  Former Partner and Head of Data Science

  Alex Izydorczyk is a former Partner and Head of Data Science at Coatue Management. Alex built and managed the data science effort at Coatue from 2015 through 2021. He oversaw the technical and commercial vision behind incorporating data in public and private investment processes. Alex was also involved in Coatue’s private investing practice, focused primarily on investing in data science and data infrastructure startups. He graduated from Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 2015.

• 

  Kyle Cornfield

  Emso Asset Management Limited

  Quantitative Analyst

  Kyle is a quantitative analyst working with the Chief Investment Office to increase alpha and optimize portfolio allocation. After working at Merrill Lynch as a technical analyst on the Hedge Fund Sales desk and at UBS as a Product Manager helping build internal portfolio management tools, Kyle not only understands the technical challenges behind robust quantitative frameworks but also what’s relevant to inform investment decisions. Kyle holds a BA in financial economics from the University of Lynchburg.

• 

  Olga Kane

  Synthesis

  Managing Director

  Olga Kane is a Managing Director at Synthesis, a quantitative investment company. Synthesis team applies machine learning methods to efficiently extract insights from an ever-expanding range of alternative data sources. Prior to joining Synthesis, Olga was Head of Data Strategy at Quantstellation, a proprietary algorithmic trading group.
  Olga has over 15 years of experience in the investment industry where she held a variety of senior roles on both buy-side and sell-side and developed her professional expertise on the intersection of traditional fundamental asset management and cutting-edge technologies transforming the industry. She holds a master’s degree in finance, an MBA degree and a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation; she is currently enrolled in the Harvard Business School’s executive program for leadership development. Olga is a frequent speaker at industry conferences on topics of financial technology and big data analysis in investment research.

• 

  Jonathan Chin

  Facteus

  Co-Founder - Head of Data & Growth Strategy

  Jonathan has over 11 years of experience as a big data product and growth strategy leader in the financial technology industry. He has built complex data analytics big data platforms for some of the world’s largest payment processors. At Facteus, Jonathan heads the data and growth team across all verticals. This includes overseeing all the data pipelines from Facteus' various data partners and maintaining the foundational warehouse for all of Facteus' data products.

  Jonathan holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Economics and Accounting from the University of California Santa Barbara.

• 

  Javed Ashraf

  BlackBox Alpha Management

  Principal, co-Lead Portfolio Manager

  Mr. Ashraf’s extensive 25 year market experience spans heading research in quantitative credit relative value, heading research & trading in systematic equities and the Managing Director of trading quants in FICC & equities for the Americas at UBS.   His research focus is alpha capture in periods of opaque price discovery and synthesis of market drivers in both US & International markets.  Javed’s quantitative trading career highlights include navigating the London “Whale Trade” & the Flat Crash of 2010 & 2015.  He earned a BEng. In Computer Engineering from Salford University, an MBA Finance, from City University & an M.Sc. Financial Mathematics from the University of Chicago.  Javed is the Co-Lead Portfolio Manager of BlackBox Unlimited Alpha Fund.

• 

  Laura Wronski

  Momentive (formerly SurveyMonkey)

  Director of Research

  Laura Wronski is Director of Research at Momentive (formerly SurveyMonkey), where she develops best practices in online public opinion research. She works with media outlets and key business partners to generate newsworthy insights from survey data. She joined SurveyMonkey in September 2015 after working at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and graduating from the Joint Program in Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland.

  Presentation title: Informing Investment Decisions with Survey Data: A Streaming Wars Case Study

• 

  Aaron Wolff

  Georgetown University

  Global Supply Chain Management - Adjunct Professor

  Aaron teaches Global Supply Chain Management at Georgetown University, where he also serves on the Advisory Board for the Supply Chain Management master's program.  He is also the Head of Growth at a property technology startup.  Previously, Aaron was a senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Transportation, where he launched technology to track, manage, and analyze $1B in annual funding for R&D initiatives across all modes of transportation.  Throughout his career, Aaron has lived and worked internationally, leading multiple federal and commercial supply chain programs.  Aaron has an MBA from Duke University and a BS in mechanical engineering from University of Delaware. 
• 

  Eliza Raphael

  Schonfeld Strategic Advisors

  Head of Market Data Services

  Eliza Raphael is the Head of Market Data Services at Schonfeld Strategic Advisors, LLC, a global multi-manager hedge fund.  Eliza oversees a team that is responsible for the strategy and sourcing of market data.  This spans both traditional and alternative data within a variety of asset classes and regions.  In addition to her role within market data, Eliza is an active leader in Schonfeld’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion Alliance, specifically co-leading the Women’s Network.

  Prior to joining Schonfeld, Eliza spent over 13 years at Nasdaq where her various roles included market data sales, product management, and business development.  Her last role within Nasdaq was as Head of Alternative Data Partnerships for the Nasdaq Analytics Hub which acquired Quandl in late 2018.  Eliza began her career at Bloomberg where she held both product and sales roles in New York and London.

  Eliza’s extensive career spanning market data vendors, exchanges and the buy-side provides her a unique perspective into the market data landscape.  Her experiences with alternative data, acquiring data sets for Nasdaq and Quandl as well as end-user consumers at Schonfeld, gives her insight into the many sides of the alternative data space.

  Eliza is a graduate of James Madison University with a double major in International Business and Spanish.  She currently lives in Westchester with her husband Adam and her two children, Jake and Lily.

• 

  Amy Young

  Microsoft

  Industry Digital Strategist, FSI

  Amy Young joined Microsoft’s Industry Digital Strategist team in July 2019 where her mandate is to help the firm’s largest financial services clients imagine the art of the possible from digital transformation. Most recently, she led Digital Wealth Strategy for BMO in Toronto.

  For the 12 years prior to that she ran a boutique management consulting firm specializing in the transformation of the wealth management industry. She brings a diverse toolkit of strategic planning, facilitation and program management skills to help financial institutions achieve their growth and innovation objectives.

  Amy spent the first decade of her career in capital markets working as an equity analyst and trader. She made the move into industry in 2001 to lead investor relations at a major Canadian software company and later held senior roles in the corporate strategy team at a global utility. Amy holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management, a BA in English from U of T and is a CFA Charterholder. She has taught Masters-level business communications courses at two Canadian business schools and enjoys mentoring FinTech startups.

• 

  Jon Neitzell

  Anduril Partners

  Founder

  Jon is the founder of Anduril Partners, an investment and advisory firm focused on the application of data-driven processes. Jon has over 20 years of technology and financial services experience as a portfolio manager, chief data officer, and has served on several board and in advisory roles, including Aiera (advanced, self-learning models, augmented with human insights), Arbor Advisory Group (Investor Relations and Corporate Communications), Aptiviti (360-degree due diligence platform for decision makers), Connacht Asset Management, Crux Informatics (ETL delivery platform for normalized data ingestion), Equity Data Science (decision workflow platform), and SESAMm (modular machine learning engine for signal and investment strategy creation). He recently served as a board advisor for Prattle (investment research through quantifying language - acquired by Liquidnet), and for Kensho Technologies (artificial intelligence for financial services) the largest acquisition of its kind by S&P Global.

  Previously, Jon served as the Chief Data Officer at Goldman Sachs Fundamental Equities. This was the first appointed role in the Asset Management Division recognizing Jon’s data driven approach as Portfolio Manager on the Technology Opportunities Fund demonstrating industry leading return on invested capital metrics (AUM growth during firm tenure from ~$600M to $4B).

  Jon holds a BA in Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas, an MBA from the University of Chicago, and is a graduate of the MIT Sloan School of Management executive program in Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy.

• 

  Josh Olszewicz

  Valkyrie Funds

  Head of research

  Josh Olszewicz, head of research at Valkyrie Funds, is a seasoned crypto analyst and trader with nearly a decade of experience trading crypto markets. Prior to joining Valkyrie, Josh led the crypto research team at BraveNewCoin and was a portfolio manager for Techemy Capital. Josh holds a BS in Human Biology from Michigan State University and an MS in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University.

  • Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarpeNoctom
• 

  Tom Grant

  Apptopia

  Director of Equity Research

  Tom is Director of Equity Research at Apptopia. Tom leads the company's research effort, using Apptopia's mobile intelligence to uncover trends about companies that can be turned into investable decisions. Tom provides the link between the raw data and the customer's investment process. Tom has 15 years of experience investing across global equity markets, with unique expertise in small cap emerging markets stocks. Tom has covered all regions and sectors, performing rigorous fundamental analysis at the country, industry, and company levels.  Most recently, Tom was a Senior Research Analyst at Copper Rock Capital Partners.

• 

  Drew McCoy

  Decision Desk HQ

  Partner and President

  Drew McCoy is President of Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ), an election results and data collection and reporting service. In his role at DDHQ Drew is responsible for all aspects of DDHQ’s election, business,
  and editorial operations.

  Drew joined DDHQ at its founding overseeing the company’s growth into a full-fledged results and data provider for outlets such as Buzzfeed, Vox, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, Business Insider, and many others.

  Prior to his work with DDHQ, Drew worked in and around media for over two decades as a political commentator, and creative director for a full service TV/video production and marketing company.

• 

  Shruti Thaker

  J O Hambro Capital Management

  Global Data Manager

  Shruti Thaker is the Global Data Manager for Pendal group where she is working to develop and implement a new data strategy for the group.  Ms Thaker has a long history in the finance sector, having previously headed up CRM and Corporate Access technologies for Citigroup Institutional Equities.  At Citi, Shruti created a new Corporate Access system and implementing many of the MiFID II changes required for that legislation. While at Citigroup, she also lead a cross industry group in creating industry wide standards for MiFID II reporting.

  Ms Thaker’s most recent role was at BlackRock, where she was head of Alpha Capture and vendor data for Active Equities, focusing on alternative data.

  Outside of work, Shruti is on the board of directors for Grace Institute, a non-profit in New York which aims to improve the lives of women through training and job placements.

• 

  Jeffrey Park

  Bitwise Asset Management

  Active Portfolio Manager

  Jeff Park is an Active Portfolio Manager at Bitwise Asset Management.  Prior to Bitwise, he was a Partner at Corbin Capital Partners, an alternative asset management firm that specializes in multi-strategy hedge fund and opportunistic credit investing, where he spearheaded the firm’s digital asset investments.  Before Corbin, Jeff focused on US credit investing for the internally-managed portfolios at Harvard Management Company, and before that, was an exotic equity derivatives trader at Morgan Stanley in New York.  He is a graduate of Stanford University with a B.A. in Economics and International Relations, and is a CFA charterholder since 2013.
• 

  Yosef Zweibach

  Walleye Capital

  Chief Operating Officer of Quantitative Strategies

  Mr. Zweibach Joined Walleye Capital in 2022 as Chief Operating Officer of Quantitative Strategies, where he is responsible for business development, driving new avenues for growth and innovation, managing external relationships, onboarding portfolio managers, and operations of the quant business.

  Before joining Walleye Capital, Mr. Zweibach was Head of Business Strategy & Investor Relations at Panagora Asset Management where he was responsible for the oversight of the firms PR, marketing, product development, and M&A. Prior to Panagora, he was Global Head of Quant Sales at Barclays Capital where he built one of Wall Street’s premier quant sales teams. He showcased Barclays’ quant research to global quant clients and help cross-sell Barclays products. Prior to joining Barclays, Mr. Zweibach served as a paratrooper in the Israeli Defense Forces.

  Yosef is a board member of the Society of Quantitative Analysts.

  Mr. Zweibach graduated magna cum laude from Boston University with a B.A. in Management Studies.

• 

  Leah Weiss

  Data Culture

  CEO and Co-Founder

  Leah is the CEO and co-founder of Data Culture, a consultancy focused on building data capabilities and culture. Her specialization is building data teams and infrastructure from the ground up. After leading the data visualization, BI, analytics, and data product organizations at WeWork, she now helps companies across retail, healthcare, finance, and real estate verticals build modern data infrastructure at scale.
• 

  Marko Kangrga

  RavenPack

  Head of Data Science Innovation

  Marko is the Head of Data Science Innovation for the Americas at RavenPack with over 10 years of experience in the finance industry. He focuses on exploring novel approaches and techniques for combining fundamental drivers with big data quantitative frameworks to identify alpha opportunities from a wide universe of securities across multiple asset classes. Previously, as the head trader/investment analyst at an event-driven hedge fund in New York, he was responsible for macro research, idea generation and risk management. Marko has experience in utilizing quantitative methods in portfolio construction, developing hedging strategies and trading structured derivative instruments.

• 

  Scott Tranter

  Decision Desk HQ

  Partner and Director of Data Science,

  Scott Tranter is the former Director of Data Science for Marco Rubio for President and co-founder in Øptimus a data and technology company based in Washington D.C.

  Tranter and his team work as information architects, with a portfolio of work that includes TV targeting platforms, machine learning workflows and conducting in-cycle experiment informed activation programs.

  Tranter and his firm advise political campaigns, non-profits and businesses by managing and analyzing diverse data streams to yield actionable insight.

• 

  Harun Dogo

  Morgan Stanley

  Executive Director

  Harun Dogo is an Executive Director in the Global Sustainable Finance group at Morgan Stanley, where he leads the Firm’s ESG data efforts, advances quantitative integration of sustainability into investment products across all asset classes, and oversees the development of digital tools for sustainable investing. Prior to joining the Firm, he was an economist at the World Bank, working on a wide range of sustainability and economic policy projects. Earlier in his career, he served on the staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance and was a policy analyst at the RAND Corporation. A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, he also holds graduate degrees in applied physics and irregular warfare from the Naval Postgraduate School, and in policy analysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School.

• 

  Nathaniel Baker

  Seeking Alpha

  Senior Editor

  Nathaniel Baker is a podcaster and editor focused on various investing subjects. He has over two decades’ experience covering financial markets. He started his career at Institional Investor Newsletters before moving to Bloomberg News in 2010. At Bloomberg he started the Hedge Fund Brief and later managed a team in Hong Kong. Since 2017 he has been active on a freelance basis, contributing to Forbes, Seeking Alpha and other publications while hosting his own podcast and creating other forms of content.

• 

  Andrew Ford

  Morgan Stanley

  Vice President

  Andrew Ford is a Vice President in Morgan Stanley’s Global Sustainable Finance group, supporting the firm’s Institutional Securities, Investment Management, and Wealth Management divisions. He helps create, enhance, and drive adoption of sustainable investing strategies that target market-rate financial returns as well as measurable positive environmental and/or social impact. Andrew’s focus includes the use of data analytics and modeling to help deliver sustainable products, solutions, and applications. Andrew began his career in consulting, working with colleges and universities to improve facilities operations and energy management. He then worked at a sustainability-focused wealth management firm, creating their ESG-integrated financial models. Andrew graduated from Dickinson College with a B.S. in Mathematics and Economics, and from Columbia University with an M.S. in Applied Analytics.

• 

  Dan Pellegrinelli

  YipitData

  VP of Research

  Dan Pellegrinelli is the VP of Research at YipitData, managing a team of research analysts that support YipitData's investor clients, as well as the company's Corporate product organization, enabling operators with data-driven insights. He previously covered YipitData's online travel and food delivery investor products. Prior to joining YipitData, Dan was a research analyst at Goldman Sachs, covering the Communications Services industry. Dan graduated from George Washington University with a degree in Economics.

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  Robert Schuessler

  SESAMm

  Head of Quantitative Research — North America

  Robert Schuessler joined SESAMm in early 2021 to build out its product management capabilities and US research team. He works closely with private equity and asset management clients to create data-centric systems and tools to facilitate deal sourcing, due diligence, and risk management.

  Previously, Robert founded the quantitative analytics team for a London-based alpha capture startup which was acquired by ION Group. Prior to that Robert worked at BlackRock creating analytics systems for the securities lending desk in London and Tokyo.

  Robert holds bachelor's and master's degrees in philosophy from The University of Texas at Austin, where he was a Jacob K. Javits Fellow specializing in logic.

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  Kelly Koscuiszka

  Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP

  Partner

  Kelly Koscuiszka, Partner at Schulte Roth & Zabel, advises private funds on regulatory and compliance matters, with a particular focus on the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and works closely with clients undergoing SEC examinations. Kelly also advises clients on privacy and data security as well as the challenges presented by new technologies and alternative data. Kelly regularly leads training sessions for clients, including on topics such as alternative data, insider trading and best practices for electronic communications and technology usage. When necessary, she represents clients in regulatory investigations and enforcement actions by the SEC, DOJ and FINRA as well as in complex civil litigation matters.

  Kelly received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and her B.A. from Rutgers University.

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  Hiromasa Higashi

  Nikkei Inc. Digital Business

  Account Management and Business Development

  Hiromasa Higashi is responsible for account managing and business development of data solutions at Nikkei Inc.

  After he joined Nikkei in 2017, Hiromasa has been engaged in providing Japanese business data to financial firms and corporates worldwide.
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  Jonathan Pitts

  Ascential

  Director of Business Development

  Jonathan is Director of Business Development at Ascential Alternative Data, where his team provide the buy-side with insight into; inflation, supply chain and gross margin. Prior to his current role, Jonathan worked with alternative data at YouGov.

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  Kathryn Forde

  Neudata

  Senior Analyst

  Kathryn Forde is a senior analyst at Neudata. As part of Neudata’s data scouting team, she is responsible for researching and evaluating alternative datasets for institutional investors. Her specialisms include transactional data and cryptoassets, as well as the broader alternative data landscape. Kathryn is currently working towards attaining the CFA designation.
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  Ian Webster

  Neudata

  Managing Director

  Ian heads the Client Engagement group at Neudata, as well as its busy programme of events. He has spent the last six years helping asset managers, investment banks and retailers to get value out of traditional and alternative data. Prior to that, Ian's experience encompassed analytical and commercial roles at Vodafone, Bank of Scotland and Liberty Mutual.

  Ian holds an MA in Mathematics from the University of Oxford, and a Saltire Fellowship in Entrepreneurship from Babson College, Massachusetts.
  

   

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  Daryl Smith

  Neudata

  Managing Director and Head of Research

  Daryl is Head of Research at Neudata. He and his team are responsible for researching and discovering alternative datasets for a wide range of asset managers worldwide. In doing so, Neudata are able to deliver objective advice to clients on exactly which datasets are most appropriate for their investment strategy.