MFA Ops: Treasury & Finance 2025 - Speakers
March 12, 2025
Conference
Citi Field
New York, NY
Register
Erik Addington
Chief Financial Officer
ExodusPoint
Erik Addington joined ExodusPoint in 2018 as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining ExodusPoint, Erik spent 10 years at Nomura and held senior finance roles including Chief Financial Officer, Americas and Head of Treasury, Americas based in New York and Chief Financial Officer, Asia ex-Japan while based in Hong Kong. At Nomura, he served on the Americas Executive Committee and Global Finance Operating Committee and was responsible for financial controls and operational infrastructure. Before joining Nomura, Erik worked at Lehman Brothers from 1998 – 2008 in various roles in New York and Tokyo including Head of Asia-Pacific Product Control. Erik began his career at Andersen Consulting. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from St. Bonaventure University and a master’s degree in business administration from Fordham University, and he is a US CPA (inactive).
William Allison
Deputy Head of External Alpha Operational Risk
Solutions at Man Group
William Allison, CFA, Director of External Alpha Operational Risk Analyst, Solutions, Man Group
William (Bill) Allison is a Director of External Alpha Operational Risk Analyst within Solutions and is based in New York. As a member of the Operational Risk team, he is responsible for assessing and monitoring the business, legal, financial and operational risks of investments in alternatives. Prior to joining Man in 2014, Bill worked at Goldman Sachs & Co. in the Controllers division supporting Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM). Here, he worked in the Valuation Oversight and Performance groups, ensuring that investments across the GSAM complex were priced appropriately. From 2005 to 2010, Bill was a Vice President in the Finance division at Merrill Lynch & Co, running a team of product controllers that supported the Foreign Exchange and Latin American trading desks. Bill holds a BS in Accounting from Fairfield University. He is a CFA charterholder.
Val Amarjit
US Head of Tax
Marshall Wace
Michael Berezecky
Director of Fund Operations
CenterBook Partners
Michael has over a decade of operations experience within the financial services sector. Prior to joining CenterBook Partners, Michael was a Vice President on the trade management team at AQR Capital Management, a global quantitative hedge fund, where he supported the trading desk and worked primarily within the middle office. Before joining AQR, Michael started his career at Interactive Brokers and worked within the security clearing and financial control departments. Michael graduated from the University of Connecticut with a B.S. in Economics and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Aditya Bhave
Managing Director and Senior US Economist
Bank of America
Aditya Bhave is a Managing Director and Senior US Economist. He focuses on the US consumer and contributes to the widely-read BofA on USA report, as well as other thematic research. Bhave also helps the Global Research US economic team formulate views on inflation, growth and monetary policy. Previously, he was a US economist and rates strategist at Deutsche Bank. Bhave has a Ph.D in economics from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics from Amherst College. He is based in New York.
Norman Bickford
Treasurer
Renaissance Technology
Norman Bickford joined Renaissance in 2007. On a day-to-day basis, Mr. Bickford primarily oversees capital management of loss reserves, margin control, and Treasury operations. Treasury’s purpose is to meet the cash and collateral requirements of Renaissance and its related funds, maximize the protection and liquidity of reserved assets, and operate within the investment and credit guidelines set by the Head of Risk Control. Before joining Renaissance, Mr. Bickford was a risk manager in the prime brokerage division of Deutsche Bank. He has spent over 31 years working in the capital markets industry including Deutsche Bank, Bankers Trust, and Salomon Brothers. His main areas of focus have been hedge fund risk management, equity derivative Middle Office, and financial analysis. Mr. Bickford holds a MS in Financial Engineering from Polytechnic University and a MS in Information Management from Stevens Institute of Technology.
Tony Bihl
Chief Strategy Officer
Trexquant Investment LP
Mr. Bihl joined Trexquant in 2024 after a 17-year tenure at Morgan Stanley, where he held several key leadership roles within Prime Brokerage. Prior to joining Trexquant, he served as Co-Head of US Client Service, overseeing a team of over 80 professionals and managing relationships with more than 1,500 hedge funds with a combined multi-billion-dollar AUM and revenue. Previously, Mr. Bihl founded Morgan Stanley’s Client Service Team for Quantitative Hedge Funds and led Relationship Management across all client segments. He has spearheaded numerous initiatives in commercial growth, strategic branding, and advancements in both platform and talent development. Mr. Bihl earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Connecticut.
Ryan Castle
Chief Executive Officer and Founder
Conduit Security
Ryan Castle is a cybersecurity expert with over 18 years of private sector and government experience. Ryan is currently Founder and CEO of Conduit Security, a software solution that provides businesses with security practices to keep electronic transfers secure. Conduit’s software has protected billions of dollars in payments and prevented millions of losses. Prior to Conduit, Ryan was an FBI Special Agent in New York City where he worked complex, criminal computer intrusion cases.
Before Palantir, Ryan was an FBI Special Agent in New York City where he worked complex, criminal computer intrusion cases. Ryan’s investigative work led to the dismantling of large criminal organizations, including one that infected 4 million computers across the world. His investigative work led to several successful convictions. As an agent, Ryan was responsible for source development, investigative activities, forensic examination of digital evidence, and development of tools used internally by agents and analysts to expedite investigative efforts.
Prior to the FBI, Ryan was a software developer and system administrator. He has both a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Vanderbilt University.
Stuart Cogen
Treasurer
Point72
Ellen Conti
Executive Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer
Sculptor Capital Management
Ellen Conti is an Executive Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer for Sculptor Capital. She is also a member of the Firm’s Partner Management Committee. In this role, Ms. Conti oversees all aspects of Accounting, Operations, Corporate Strategy, Tax, and Treasury at Sculptor Capital.
Prior to joining the Firm in 2021, Ms. Conti was Head of Corporate Strategy and Finance for Assured Investment Management, formerly BlueMountain Capital Management. She also held roles as Deputy Chief Financial Officer and within strategy and business development. Prior to Assured Investment Management, she worked at Credit Suisse within global strategy and business development for the Asset Management business.
Ms. Conti holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting with a minor in Politics from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.
Hannah Ellis
Managing Principal, Chief Financial Officer
Monarch Alternative Capital LP
Hannah is a Managing Principal and Chief Financial Officer for Monarch. Prior to joining Monarch in 2021, Hannah was the Head of Finance for Blackstone Alternative Asset Management, where she oversaw all finance functions for the teams focused on hedge funds, direct investing, and other alternative products. Prior to her role at Blackstone, she spent ten years at Ernst & Young LLP where she was most recently a Senior Manager in the Asset Management practice. Hannah currently serves on the boards of various entities related to investments in U.S. real estate. Hannah graduated from Wake Forest University with a B.S. in Business and a M.S. in Accountancy.
Norman Feckl
Head of EAC Treasury360
Experienced Advisory Consultants LLC
Norman Feckl brings over 35 years of leadership experience in the financial industry, serving in key roles such as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Counterparty Credit Officer, and Chief Investment Officer. He has a proven track record in infrastructure development, business growth, and managing strategic counterparty and banking relationships, with deep expertise in global treasury, funding, and portfolio finance. His career spans top organizations across investment banking, brokerage, and hedge funds, where he has led the development and design of portfolio finance platforms and technologies.
In his current role at EAC, Mr. Feckl serves as Senior Consultant providing outsourced COO services with a focus on Front Office Treasury, Portfolio Finance, and Counterparty Management services. He operates in an advisory and consultative capacity, helping financial firms implement strategic initiatives and enhance operational efficiencies.
Most recently, Mr. Feckl, served as Chief Counterparty Credit Officer & Managing Director at Paloma Partners Management Company (2016–2024), overseeing counterparty selection and counterparty credit risk reviews, trading and funding platforms, portfolio optimization, cash management, onboarding/offboarding, trading agreements, ODD investor relations counterparty credit and finance portion, and regulatory compliance (KYC/AML).
From 2011 to 2016, Mr. Feckl was the Chief Investment Officer, Treasurer & Finance Manager, Managing Member & Founder of Bolton LP, specializing in Delta One strategies. Before that, he spent a decade at HBK Capital Management, serving as CEO of HBK Global Securities and Global Head of Portfolio Finance (2001–2011).
During his tenure, he developed and centralized global funding operations, implementing state-of-the-art finance systems across stock loan, prime brokerage, repo, swaps, tri-party, and Delta One products. He successfully built and managed a global business with operations in New York, Dallas, London, and Hong Kong.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Feckl was the Managing Director and Founder of Citadel Investment Group LLC’s Portfolio Finance and Treasury Group, a ground-up initiative built from scratch. He also led global funding and securities lending at Maple Partners USA and BT Securities.
As Senior Executive Director at London Global Securities, a Paloma Partners subsidiary, he was instrumental in developing one of the first centralized funding businesses for a hedge fund, overseeing securities lending, repo, swaps, tri-party, and Delta One trading products. He successfully built and expanded each of these products across the U.S., U.K., and Hong Kong.
Mr. Feckl also held senior roles at Shearson Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley & Company, and E.F. Hutton & Company. While at Shearson Lehman in London, he built a Canadian funding operation, a first-of-its-kind US/Australian stock loan business, an international prime brokerage platform, and a global non-dollar repo division. At Morgan Stanley, he pioneered the creation of a Canadian cross-border stock loan and repo operation.
He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Hofstra University.
Rob Finneran
Chief Financial Officer
Whale Rock Capital Management LLC
Rob is the Chief Financial Officer and joined Whale Rock in 2019. Rob spent over seven years as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at Garelick Capital Partners in Boston and five years as the Vice President of Finance and Operations at North Bay Capital Management. Previously, Rob spent 11 years at Deloitte and PwC. Rob graduated from Ithaca College with a BS in Accounting.
Jillien Flores
Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Head of Global Government Affairs
MFA
Jillien Flores serves as Executive Vice President, Managing Director, Head of Global Government Affairs at MFA.
Flores joined MFA after six years at Vanguard, one of the world’s leading asset managers. There, she advocated before Washington policymakers on a range of issues related to US capital markets, tax, and retirement policy. Leveraging policy depth, strategy, and relationships, Flores achieved policy outcomes beneficial to Vanguard’s clients on issues including equity market structure, ESG and corporate governance, and systemic risk.
Throughout her career, Flores has sought opportunities to advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within the financial services sector, serving in leadership roles of related efforts at Vanguard.
Prior to joining Vanguard, Flores was Director of Government Relations at Porterfield, Lowenthal, Fettig & Sears, where she represented clients before Congress and the federal financial regulators in the asset management, insurance, securities, and biotechnology sectors. She was involved in the legislative and rule-writing process for several financial services laws and regulations, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act.
Flores earned a B.A. from the George Washington University in Washington, DC.
Paul Gallant
Chief Product Officer
Hazeltree
As Chief Product Officer, Paul oversees all of Hazeltree’s products, including solutions for hedge funds, private markets, data insights, the liquidity platform, and cash and payments. He brings over 20 years of experience building transformational businesses, delivering technology innovation and implementing efficient solutions for the post-trade lifecycle across various asset classes and investment strategies. At BlackRock, he served as the Head of Post-Trade Product Management, where he and his team were responsible for defining, designing, and delivering solutions for the firm’s Middle Office, Accounting, Client Reporting, Regulatory Reporting, and Asset Servicing offerings.
His earlier experience includes senior leadership positions in product and operational roles at both asset servicers and fintech providers, including JPMorgan where he had roles as the Global Head of Alternative Investment Services Operations and Accounting as well the Head of Alternatives Investment Services Operations Product Management for the Americas.
Paul earned his master’s degree in Finance at Boston College after completing his undergraduate degree in Finance and Management Information Systems at Boston University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Jennifer Grenside
Managing Director, Head of Financial Resource Group
Bank of America Securities
Jen has 22 years industry experience in secured financing across Fixed Income & Equities, both buy side and sell side. She joined Bank of America Securities in November 2019 to lead the Financial Resource Group based in New York. The team is focused on resource optimisation, client pricing & profitability and analytics for Prime Financing. Previously she was at Citigroup, based in London for 11 years leading the Equity Financial Resource Management covering all Equities businesses outside America. The team was focused on resource optimisation, equity finance trading, Prime Finance analytics, and client pricing & profitability across synthetic and cash financing. Prior to joining Citigroup, Jen was leading the portfolio finance group at European Credit Management a fixed income, active asset manager, now owned by Wells Fargo Asset Management. Jen holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and received her MBA from Edinburgh Business School.
Thomas Hansen
Chief Financial Officer
Oak Hill Advisors
Thomas Hansen is a Managing Director & Chief Financial Officer at Oak Hill Advisors, a leading alternative investment firm with $71 billion of capital under management across performing and distressed credit investments in North America and Europe. He has primary responsibility for OHA’s management company and client accounting processes, including its control environment under Sarbanes Oxley 404, the tax, finance, valuation and business transformation functions, and the client onboarding process. Mr. Hansen serves on various firm committees including the compliance and valuation committees, while also serving as Co-Chair of the Risk Committee and Co-Chair of the New Business Activity Committee. Prior to OHA, he was a senior manager in the audit practice at KPMG, LLP for 10 years, serving various alternative investment managers. Additionally, Mr. Hansen served as a global and national instructor for the firm in the financial services practice. He earned an M.B.A and a B.B.A., magna cum laude, from Texas Wesleyan University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Scott Havens
President, Business Operations
NY Mets
Geralyn Hurd
President and Co-founder
K1X
In 2009, Geralyn Hurd was honored with the ICPAS Woman to Watch Award and she’s been a woman to watch ever since. With 35 years (32 in public accounting), Geralyn didn’t follow the traditional path followed by most CPAs. Rather Geralyn focused on transforming the industry by developing unique technology solutions – first as Tax Transformation and Technology Leader of her firm and now as President & Co-Founder of K1x, Inc.
Geralyn has multiple patents and patent applications published in her name both for tax preparation software for tax exempts, AI-powered K-1 extraction technologies, a digital K-1 and K-1 Exchange. She advanced to key senior leadership roles at her firm but even more rare, carved out a technology business from her firm and created an independent technology start-up. Today, software co-developed by Geralyn is being used by most of the largest accounting firms in the country.
Geralyn has had many leadership roles within the CPA profession and served on Illinois and AICPA committees, IRS Technical Resource Panels and the Illinois CPA Society Board of Directors. As a thought leader, inventor and entrepreneur, Geralyn has been a role model and mentor to hundreds of people in the profession.
David Kigel
Managing Director and Treasurer
Sculptor Capital Management
David Kigel is a Managing Director and Treasurer for Sculptor Capital. In this role he oversees firm liquidity, cash management, counterparty risk management, financing, and funding strategy across Sculptor Capital’s multi-strategy, credit, and real estate funds. Mr. Kigel has been with the Firm since 2012.
Mr. Kigel holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Maryland.
Matt Kiraly
Global Head of Prime Finance Origination and Equity Finance Sales
HSBC
Matt Kiraly is Head of Platform Sales and Head of ESG sales for HSBC in the Americas.
Furthermore, Matt manages the Origination Team globally for HSBC’s Securities Financing business.
He has over 20 years’ experience focusing on clients across a number of major sell-side institutions.
Boris Liberman
Partner and Co-Chair, Derivatives and Structured Products
Lowenstein Sandler LLP
Boris provides strategic advice to sophisticated investment management firms regarding all aspects of implementing their investment and trading strategy while remaining compliant with appropriate regulatory regimes. With years of experience advising funds and institutional investors on the trading of securities, commodities, derivatives, and other asset classes, Boris is also proficient in a multitude of agreements with varying complexity required by market participants globally.
Deeply knowledgeable about the wide range of both U.S. and non-U.S. laws and regulations that impact the trade of assets, Boris helps investment managers and investors optimize, and think more strategically about their trading strategy, treasury function, financing costs, and counterparty risk management. He also helps to implement these strategies through the creation of trading compliance manuals and effective best practices.
From his years of leading a team at a global investment management firm, as well as in private practice representing funds and private equity clients, Boris has developed a unique set of skills and acquired wide-ranging experience in dealing with all aspects of investment strategy implementation.
He has specialized knowledge of relevant rules and regulations impacting trading documentation globally, including in key emerging markets such as China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey, and Russia. Boris provides counsel to investment managers and asset owners who wish to access these markets across various investment instruments. He helps asset owners optimize their due diligence process in evaluating investment managers, and he provides strategic advice as to how asset owners should think about investment managers and dealers, as well as various trading instruments.
As an active member of various buy-side industry groups, Boris has been involved in conversations dealing with most key regulatory developments impacting investment strategy implementation worldwide. Over the course of the last 12 years, he has negotiated thousands of agreements, spanning all asset classes including:
- Complex committed financing arrangements for hedge funds and managed accounts
• ISDA agreements
• Global master swaps confirmation agreements
• Futures agreements
• OTC clearing agreements
• Tri-party custody agreements
• Enhanced custody agreements
• Give-up agreements
• TBA agreements
• Repurchase agreements
• Main custody agreements
• Unique guarantee arrangements
Before joining the firm, Boris served as Senior Counsel at AQR Capital Management LLC, where he counseled members of the investor, trading, research, compliance, portfolio implementation, and business development teams.
Irina Ludkovski
Partner, ODD
Albourne Partners
Michelle McGurk
Deputy Chief Operating Officer
Millburn Ridgefield LLC
Ms. McGurk is the Deputy Chief Operating Officer of Millburn Ridgefield LLC, a quantitative alternative investment manager with roots dating back to 1971 and over $11 billion in assets under management. Prior to joining Millburn in 2024, she was the co-founder, COO, CFO & CCO of Strobus Capital LLC, a discretionary macro investment manager, where she oversaw all accounting, operations, legal/compliance, marketing, and investor relations functions for seven years. Prior to Strobus, Michelle worked at Metacapital Management L.P., a fixed income manager specialized in the mortgage and structured credit markets. Before that, she was at Protégé Partners, LLC, an asset manager focused on investments in small and emerging managers across various strategies. Michelle began her career at Ernst & Young providing audit and advisory services to various asset management clients. She graduated with distinction from The Pennsylvania State University, earning a B.S. in Accounting with a Finance focus and a Minor in International Business. She is a New York State licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
Wells Miller
Partner
Akin
Wells represents funds, companies and executives on the structuring and implementation of effective and tax-efficient compensation and benefit plans in compliance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and other applicable regulations.
Wells advises fund clients on all matters relating to executive compensation, including designing, drafting, negotiating and implementing nonqualified deferred compensation plans, equity and equity-based incentive compensation arrangements (including compensatory partnership interests), severance, change in control and executive employment agreements and related advice concerning tax. He also counsels clients on compensation and benefits issues arising in the context of mergers and acquisitions and credit facilities.
Wells advises companies on equity plan design and implementation. He is highly experienced in equity compensation in partnerships, including profits interests, and advises on employee benefits matters, including issues arising under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code.
On behalf of executives and high-net-worth individuals, Wells negotiates employment agreements, advises on health and retirement plans and assists on tax issues related to equity compensation.
Brandy Morris
Principal, Chief Financial Officer
AB CarVal
Brandy Morris serves as Principal and Chief Financial Officer at AB CarVal, where she oversees the firm’s management company, financial control and investor accounting, and data initiatives and solutions functions. A vital member of the AB CarVal team, Brandy contributes significantly to the compensation team and is a key member of the Executive Committee and the Human Capital and Compensation Committee. With a tenure at AB CarVal beginning in 2009, Brandy previously led the firm’s global technology function, building out best-in-class capabilities and a strong financial operations (FinOps) mindset. Her career prior to AB CarVal includes roles at Deephaven Capital Management, AEW Capital Management, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Brandy holds both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Accounting from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Miki Navazio
Partner
Seward & Kissel LLP
Michele (Miki) Navazio is a partner in Seward & Kissel’s Corporate Finance group, and chair of Seward’s Derivatives and Trading Practice Group. Miki advises buy-side clients in connection with complex derivatives and structured products, as well as regulatory issues and developments that affect derivatives market participants. His clients include a number of the world’s largest hedge funds and asset managers, as well as private equity firms, mutual funds, institutional investors and corporate end-users.
Miki regularly assists clients in structuring, documenting and negotiating an array of over-the-counter derivative instruments, structured products and repo facilities. These include complex derivatives such as credit default swaps and total return swaps that provide synthetic or leveraged exposure to underlying assets of all types, that provide regulatory capital relief to swap dealers and financial institutions (including VAR or liquidity coverage ratio trades), that serve as credit enhancement or other support for structured finance programs, or that otherwise constitute an alternative to direct investments in the securities, loans, commodities or other assets referenced in such derivatives. His experience in this area encompasses credit and equity derivatives, total return swaps (TRS) and TRS facilities, repurchase agreements (MRA/GMRA) and repo facilities, variance and volatility swaps, exotic OTC options, interest rate swaps, FX and commodity swaps (including those referencing digital currencies). Miki also advises buy-side market participants in negotiating ISDA master agreements and collateral arrangements, tri-party custody arrangements, prime brokerage, futures and swap clearing agreements, derivatives/PB intermediation, margin lock-up agreements, ABS forward transaction agreements (MSFTA) and securities lending agreements (MSLA/GMSLA).
Miki’s derivatives practice encompasses the Dodd-Frank Act and regulations related to both systemic and counterparty risk, swap margin, central clearing and execution of OTC derivatives, collateral segregation, reporting and compliance. He is currently advising clients on the SEC’s clearing mandate for US Treasury repo transactions, including the rules of the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation and related access issues and documentation. Miki continues to assist clients with the initial margin rules for uncleared swaps, addressing issues including documentation and negotiation of the 2018 Credit Support Annex for Initial Margin, SIMM and initial margin determinations, and collateral and custodial arrangements. Miki is a frequent speaker on derivatives regulation and documentation, and has been a featured panelist for a number of ISDA conferences addressing the swap initial margin regime and related documentation and negotiation concerns. Miki was also outside counsel to SIFMA’s Asset Management Group in connection with SIFMA AMG’s discussions with the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England relating to the bank resolution stay regime and its participation in the buy-side working group for the ISDA Resolution Stay Protocols.
Miki is currently advising the Alternative Investment Management Association working group on the SEC clearing mandate for US Treasury repo transactions. He is also a member of Seward & Kissel’s Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Group, advising clients on derivatives, trading, margin and custody issues related to digital assets.
Eileen Overbaugh
Partner
Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
Advises hedge funds, venture capital funds and other pooled investment vehicles on all matters related to private funds, including formation, structuring, investor negotiation and ongoing operations.
Eileen negotiates seed and strategic investments, funds-of-one, managed account arrangements and other alternative investment relationships, and also advises asset managers and institutional investors with respect to co-investments and single-asset funds.
She focuses particularly on the business arrangements between the principals of asset management firms, including governance of the investment manager and general partner entities. In addition, Eileen structures employee compensation and employee separation arrangements for both asset managers and their most senior employees and partners.
Eileen is recognized as a leading investment funds lawyer for her work in the hedge funds space by Chambers USA, with clients stating that “she is highly strategic and can turn around issues quickly.”
Distinctions
• Chambers Global
• Chambers USA
• The Hedge Fund Journal ̶ “50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds,” 2022
• The Legal 500 US
Prior Experience
• Lowenstein Sandler
Practices
• Executive and Management Team Representation
• Financial Institutions
• Hedge Funds
• Investment Management
• Investor Representation
• Private Equity
• Upper Tier Strategic Advisory and Compensation Strategies
• Venture Capital and Growth Equity
Bar Admissions
• New York
• New Jersey
Education
• Seton Hall University School of Law, JD,
• summa cum laude
• Drew University, BA,
• summa cum laude
Jeff Parker
Treasurer
Affiliated Managers Group
Jeff Parker is Treasurer and manages AMG’s treasury, capital management, and financial planning & analysis areas. Prior to joining AMG in 2012, Mr. Parker served as Senior Financial Analyst at Sunovion Pharmaceuticals. He received an M.S. from Brandeis University and a B.S. from Springfield College. Mr. Parker is a CFA® charterholder.
Scot Pasquale
Chief Financial Officer
Marathon Asset Management
Scot Pasquale is the Chief Financial Officer at Marathon Asset Management. Based in New York, he joined the firm in 2008. Scot received a B.S. in Accounting from Lehigh University. He previously worked at Lehman Brothers and EY.
Michael Saarinen
Partner and Co-Chair, Fund Formation and Structuring
Lowenstein Sandler LLP
Michael is a recognized leader in the investment management community, with over two decades of experience advising U.S. and global fund sponsors and principals on the structuring and formation of private investment funds and related advisory businesses. Michael’s practice focuses on the establishment and operation of funds across all major asset classes and strategies, including buyout, growth equity, venture capital, real estate, hedge, credit, distressed debt, special situations, and fund-of-funds. His representations also include specialized arrangements such as separately managed accounts, co-investment vehicles, single-asset funds, exchange funds, rated note feeder funds, hybrid funds, and other innovative products and services.
In addition, Michael counsels sponsors on key legal and business matters, including investment management M&A, lift-outs, spin-outs, seeding arrangements, strategic initiatives, and complex regulatory issues. He also advises clients on internal management company arrangements such as governance, compensation, talent acquisition, employment, separation, and succession planning.
Michael frequently works with or opposite the full spectrum of private fund investors, including family offices, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, and public companies.
Michael received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Columbia University, and a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School. He is a member of the New York and U.S. Supreme Court bars, and an affiliate member of the Private Investment Funds Committee of the New York City Bar Association.
Marshall Saffer
Managing Director, Fund and Capital Market Services
CSC Global
Marshall Saffer is a seasoned business leader with extensive experience in strategy and operations, having successfully launched, scaled, and managed software and services companies. For more than 25 years, he has provided solutions to some of the world’s largest private equity funds, hedge funds, and traditional asset managers, bringing deep operational expertise and a strong technical background.
Most recently, Marshall served as the managing director, Global Head of Funds Services Line at Intertrust Group, which was acquired by CSC. His previous leadership roles include positions at MIK Fund Solutions, DataArt, and Hazeltree.
Marshall holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Connecticut College.
Eric Sannella
Head of Accounting
Viking Global Investors
Eric Sannella is Head of Accounting responsible for overseeing fund and management company financial and tax operations, controls, and reporting. Prior to joining Viking in 2018, Eric was Controller at Tudor Investment Corporation and Manager in the Assurance and Business Advisory Services Group at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Eric received an MBA in professional accounting from the Rutgers Business School and a B.A. in economics from Rutgers University.
Joseph Schwartz
Vice President and Senior Counsel, Regulatory Affairs
MFA
Joseph Schwartz is MFA’s Vice President & Senior Counsel, Regulatory Affairs.
In his position, Joseph advocates on and shapes legislative, regulatory, and administrative policies affecting the alternative investment industry, including, principally, U.S. federal, state and local and non-U.S. tax policy.
Prior to joining MFA, Joseph was a Senior Associate in the Tax practice of a “Big 4” public accounting firm, where he advised clients on tax planning, compliance, and controversy, including multistate taxation.
Joseph received his B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin and his J.D. and LL.M. in Taxation, magna cum laude, from The University of Alabama School of Law. Joseph is a member of the Georgia and D.C. bars.
John Spinney, Jr.
Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer
Bracebridge Capital LLC
Mr. Spinney joined Bracebridge as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer in 2007. Mr. Spinney is responsible forall aspects of back office operations including fund accounting, fund administration, fund tax reporting, management company accounting and tax reporting and information technology. Prior to joining Bracebridge, he was Senior Vice President and CFO of Investors Financial Services Corporation (IFIN), the holding company for Investors Bank & Trust Company (IBT). Prior to joining IFIN, Mr. Spinney was an audit partner at KPMG LLP where he focused on asset management and investment company clients. Mr. Spinney is a CPA and received his B.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Roark Stahler
Managing Director, US Head of Strategic Consulting
Barclays
Mr. Stahler is the US Head of Strategic Consulting at Barclays. Mr. Stahler joined Barclays in 2008 as a member of the Strategy team working on various projects across the Investment Bank. Prior to joining Barclays, he worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Company, advising Asset Managers and other financial institutions as well as several other client types.
Mr. Stahler holds an MBA as well as a BA from the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Samantha Viglienghi
Chief Financial Officer
Brinley Partners
Samantha Viglienghi is the Chief Financial Officer at Brinley Partners, where she oversees the firm’s financial reporting, operational infrastructure, tax, and corporate finance functions. She plays a critical role in driving Brinley’s infrastructure development and growth strategy, ensuring strong financial governance and operational efficiency.
Before joining Brinley in 2021, Samantha served as Deputy Chief Financial Officer at Shenkman Capital Management and BlueMountain Capital Management. In these roles, she led financial reporting, accounting, and internal control initiatives, implementing best-in-class reporting frameworks for management companies and a diverse range of private equity and hedge fund products. Samantha began her career at Ernst & Young, serving hedge and mutual fund clients across multiple strategies and asset classes.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Accounting & Finance from The Ohio State University and an MBA in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the State of New York.
Samantha is actively engaged in the financial industry, contributing to thought leadership in fund operations, governance, and reporting best practices.
Chris Wahl
Director of Operations
Silver Point Capital
Bradley Walbridge
Chief Financial Officer
Holocene Advisors
Bradley Walbridge is the Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) of Holocene. Mr. Walbridge joined Holocene in 2016 from Tyrian Investments, LP, where he was a Partner and served as both the CFO & Chief Compliance Officer. Prior to joining Tyrian (2009-2012), Mr. Walbridge was an accounting manager at Blackstone Inc in their Alternative Asset Management division. His responsibilities included day-to-day management of the operations team, which oversaw approximately 200 fund-of-funds and customized accounts. He was instrumental in the launch of the firm’s first direct co-invest hedge fund in 2010 and helped to develop operational processes as well as overseeing the day-to-day activity related to the product. Prior to joining Blackstone Inc (2005-2009), Mr. Walbridge worked as a senior accountant at Rothstein, Kass & Co., where he performed financial services audits, which included financial statements, controls testing and tax work for hedge funds, fund of funds, and private equity funds. Mr. Walbridge holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance from Boston College and is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
David Zirin
Chief Operating Officer
Pentwater Capital Management
David joined Pentwater Capital Management in April 2007 as a founder and the Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining Pentwater, he was a Director in the Prime Brokerage group at UBS Securities. Previously, David worked at Ritchie Capital Management and Citadel Investment Group. David has 36 years of investment industry experience. David graduated from the University of Michigan in 1987 with a B.A. in Decision Behavior Analysis and received a M.B.A. in Economics and Finance from the University of Chicago in 1995.
