Canada Alpha-Generation Symposium 2026 - Agenda
April 16, 2026
Conference
The St. Regis Toronto
Toronto
Register
Thursday, April 16, 2026
8:30AM – 9:00AM
Arrivals, registration and networking
9:00AM– 9:30AM
Opening remarks
9:30AM – 10:00AM
Fireside chat: Global macro outlook
Speakers
Philippe Khuong-Huu
,
Founder and Chief Investment Officer
,
Alphadyne
Mr. Khuong-Huu sets the strategic direction of Alphadyne, and also as Chief Investment Officer, oversees the firm’s investment decision-making. Mr. Khuong-Huu is a member of the firm’s Risk Management Committee. Prior to forming Alphadyne in 2005, Mr. Khuong-Huu was a partner at Goldman, Sachs & Co. where he served as head of the firm’s structured credit group and, immediately prior, as head of the global interest rate products group. Mr. Khuong-Huu was also a member of the risk committee covering fixed income, currencies and commodities. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Mr. Khuong-Huu spent ten years at J.P. Morgan where he held various senior management positions within fixed income, equity and credit markets, including as global head of options, exotics and credit derivatives trading (1996-2000), co-head of European swaps (1995-1996), head of U.S. interest rate options (1993-1995) and head of equity derivatives trading in Tokyo (1991-1993). Mr. Khuong-Huu was also a member of Lab Morgan (2000-2001), where he invested in derivatives market platforms including Swapswire and Creditex. Mr. Khuong-Huu began his career at Société Générale in Paris where he was a market-maker in options and then became head of equity derivatives in Tokyo, where he focused on option and index arbitrage (1988-1991).
Mr. Khuong-Huu graduated from École Polytechnique and received his Masters in Statistics and Economics from ENSAE. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Juilliard School, Carnegie Hall and Kaufman Music Center, and as Director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Mr. Khuong-Huu also serves on the Advisory Board of Thalēs Trading Solutions LLC. Additionally, Mr. Khuong-Huu currently serves as Director and President of The Alphadyne Foundation, a private charitable foundation which makes contributions to other charitable organizations that provide support to underserved communities and performing arts programs.
Moderated by
Raj Kohli
,
Director, Credit and Multi Asset Strategies Lead, Active Public Markets
,
University Pension Plan
Raj Kohli, CFA, is Director, Credit and Multi Asset Strategies Lead in the Active Public Markets division at University Pension Plan (UPP) in Toronto. He is a trusted advisor who provides strategic counsel and leadership on UPP’s long only credit and Multi-Asset absolute return investment strategies.
Raj has more than 15 years of experience as a portfolio manager, and asset allocator at large financial institutions across North America. He has deep expertise in allocation across traditional and alternative asset classes, with a specialization in hedge funds. Prior to joining UPP, Raj was Vice President of Multi Asset Class Mandates at Cidel Asset Management in Toronto, with responsibility for the management of discretionary and advisory portfolios for institutional and high net-worth clients. Raj earned his Professional Master of Science in Financial Mathematics from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, and his Bachelor of Science (Honors) in computer science and applied mathematics from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
10:00AM – 10:45AM
Opportunities for global equities
Speakers
Gideon Adler
,
Senior Analyst and Partner
,
Boldhaven Management
Prior to joining the firm, Gideon was a Senior Analyst at Lansdowne Partners in London, where he worked between 2017 and 2022 as a generalist investment analyst focused on European equity opportunities on both the long and short side. Before joining Lansdowne, Gideon was a research analyst at Redburn in London between 2013 and 2017. He was the co-lead analyst within the Support Services sector, responsible for the production of in-depth, thematic industrial research across a diversified sector . Between 2010 and 2013, Gideon worked at Investec Investment Bank as an equity research analyst. He initially covered both the UK mid-cap and global large-cap consumer sectors as a junior analyst. Latterly, he moved to the Support Services team as a lead analyst. Gideon started his career at accountancy firm PwC, where he attained his ACA and was latterly a Senior Audit Associate in London. Gideon graduated from King’s College, The University of London with a First Class Honours Degree in History.
Jun Bei
,
Founder and Lead Portfolio Manager
,
TenCap
Jun Bei Liu is the lead portfolio manager and Founder of Ten Cap. Prior to Ten Cap, Jun Bei Liu spent 20 years with Tribeca Investment Partners, starting as an equity analyst before spending 10 years a PM. In 2019 she took over the Alpha Plus Fund, one of Australia’s longest running and best performing equity long short funds. Jun Bei completed a commerce degree at the University of New South Wales, followed by a number of finance credentials including GAICD and CFA. She is fluent in Mandarin and English and is a prolific contributor to Australia’s financial services sector, and as a speaker at key industry events.
Sean Ho
,
Founder and Chief Investment Officer
,
Triata Capital
Sean Ho is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Triata Capital, an investment management firm based in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China. He is a strong believer in a fundamentals-driven investment philosophy and has been investing in stocks for more than 20 years.
Triata Capital invests in the Greater China region with a focus on intensive fundamental research through a bottom-up approach to stock selection that is reinforced by proprietary alternative data analysis, as well as suite of in-house developed AI tools. The team’s strong technical capabilities, together with the large amount of proprietary data, provide a unique edge for understanding and capturing investment opportunities within the tech and consumer sectors.
Prior to founding Triata in 2019, Sean spent four years as Associate Director at Tybourne Capital Management where he researched companies and investment themes in the TMT and Consumer sectors in China. Sean was also responsible for setting up and leading the alternative data team within Tybourne.
Previously, Sean worked at Segantii Capital Management and Nomura International in Hong Kong. Sean started off his career at Susquehanna International Group in the US. Sean attended the Harvard Business School Senior Executive Leadership Program, received his Master in Math of Finance from Columbia University, and his Bachelor of Mathematics, with a double-major in Operational Research and Statistics, from Waterloo University.
Ro Nagpal
,
Holocene Children’s Fund
,
Holocene Advisors
Rohit Nagpal is a member of the Holocene Investment team, with a primary focus on the firm’s long-only equity fund, the Holocene Children’s Fund. Mr. Nagpal joined Holocene in 2018 as an Investment Analyst focusing on the TMT Sector, before transitioning to focusing on the Holocene Children’s Fund in June 2025. Mr. Nagpal joined Holocene from Citadel LLC, where he was a TMT Analyst in Global Equities for close to a decade. Mr. Nagpal holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and Applied Science and a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a concentration in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Moderated by
Stephen Harvey
,
Chief Investment Officer
,
Sagard Wealth
Stephen Harvey is the Chief Investment Officer of Sagard Wealth and manages the investment management functions at the firm. Stephen has over 20 years investing experience with roles in Toronto, London and New York. Most recently Stephen was the Chief Investment Officer of Titan Advisors, where he managed the investment committee and investment team. Prior to that he was a Partner at Saguenay Strathmore Capital, where he focused on risk management and portfolio construction. He started his career at the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan within their risk management group.
Stephen earned an honours degree in economics at York University and has been a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder since 2003. He resides in the suburbs of Toronto with his wife Cori and helps coach their twin boys in baseball. Stephen switches allegiance between his native England and his adopted home of Canada, depending upon what sport it is on.
10:45AM – 11:00AM
Networking break
11:00AM – 11:45AM
Managed accounts: Use cases, providers, and practical implementation
Speakers
Kevin Blank
,
Senior Analyst
,
State of Wisconsin Investment Board
Kevin is a Senior Analyst for the Private Markets and Funds Alpha Division at the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), which oversees approximately $156 billion in assets. Kevin’s responsibilities include manager due diligence, portfolio construction, and oversight of hedge funds and long-only external manager relationships. Kevin received a bachelor’s degree from Marquette University and is currently pursuing his MBA at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Richard Macklem
,
Portfolio Manager
,
CPP Investments
Richard Macklem is a Portfolio Manager with CPP Investments’ External Portfolio Management team, which is responsible for managing a portfolio of investments in commingled hedge funds and separately managed accounts across public market strategies.
He has over 10 years of investment experience spanning portfolio construction and allocation roles across different strategies in the hedge fund space. He invests in hedge fund managers globally, with a current focus on emerging managers. Mr. Macklem joined CPP Investments in 2016.
Mr. Macklem holds a BA in Economics from the Queen’s University and a Master of Financial Economics from the University of Toronto. He is a CFA charterholder.
Rob Swan
,
Chief Operating Officer, Co-Head of Platform Services
,
Lighthouse Partners
Rob has led the Lighthouse Group’s Operations Division as Chief Operating Officer since 2000 and serves as the Co-Head of Platform Services. In this role, Rob oversees the firm’s operational framework, technology infrastructure, and process optimization, as well as guides the strategic direction of the platform services business line in collaboration with Lighthouse’s other executive leaders. He is a member of the Lighthouse Group Management Committee and the chairman of both the Lighthouse Group Risk and Valuation Committee and the Lighthouse Group Pricing Committee. Previously, Rob was a senior treasury consultant at Computer Sciences Corporation, where he led treasury and risk management system implementations. Prior to that, he was a director of accounting at Trout Trading Management Company, Ltd. (Trout), based in Bermuda, where he was directly responsible for monitoring and reporting on all fund trading activities—including financial reporting, internal control, regulatory compliance, and general due diligence—as well as management of Trout’s many brokerage and external investment advisor relationships. Rob began his career in the audit practice at Ernst & Young. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics with an emphasis in Accounting from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Rob is also a former Certified Public Accountant
Xavier Urli
,
Head of Investment
,
Innocap
As Head of Investment, Xavier Urli leads the Investment Solution & Portfolio Oversight Group at Innocap, where he oversees the development of customized investment solutions, advanced risk analytics, and institutional-grade oversight across managed account portfolios.
He previously served as CEO of Innocap Global Investment Management Ltd., where he supervised portfolio management, liquidity and hedging frameworks, and the firm’s regulatory and operational strategy. Earlier in his career, Xavier held portfolio management responsibilities at Desjardins Global Asset Management within the structured notes and fund-of-hedge-funds group.
With a master’s degree in physics from Université de Montréal, Xavier brings a strong quantitative foundation to the design of transparent, scalable, and innovative investment architectures. He regularly contributes to industry discussions on dedicated managed account platforms, risk transparency, and solution engineering.
Moderated by
Saul Farber
,
Director, Prime Services Sales
,
Citi
Saul joined Citi in 2021 as a Director of Prime and FCX Origination. Prior to joining Citi, Saul served as Senior Director of Client Development & Sales at CME Group. As a member of the Prime and FCX sales team, Saul is responsible for introducing Citi offerings, generating new client leads and close new mandates across Prime, Futures, OTC Clearing and FXPB. Saul earned a bachelor’s degree Cum Laude in political science and history at New York University and earned a Juris Doctorate degree at New York Law School. He is a licensed attorney in New York and New Jersey.
11:45AM – 12:30PM
Luncheon and keynote
Speaker
Todd Barker
,
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer
,
Freestone Grove Partners
Todd Barker is the CEO and CIO of Freestone Grove Partners, a fundamental equity investment firm. Prior to founding Freestone Grove in 2023, Todd spent 17 years at Citadel, most recently as a Partner and Head of Surveyor Capital. Previously at Citadel, Todd was a Regional Co-Head (San Francisco), Portfolio Manager and Head of Primary Strategies in its Global Equities business. Todd began his career at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in its investment banking and equity capital markets divisions. He serves on the Board of Trustees of Claremont McKenna College.
Moderated by
Jillian Snyder
,
Managing Director and Head of Americas Capital Introductions
,
Citi
Jillian Snyder joined Citi as Managing Director and Head of Americas Capital Introductions in December 2025. In her current role, Jillian and team leverage deep expertise in and connectivity to institutional hedge fund allocators to advise the bank’s hedge fund and asset management clients on their capital raising efforts. Jillian joined from Bank of America, where she spent almost 8 years in Capital Strategy split across Hong Kong and New York, most recently as Managing Director and Head of APAC Capital Strategy. Jillian’s prior work experiences include buy-side roles as Head of Marketing and Investor Relations for a hedge fund, Riverloft Capital, and a Real Estate PE firm, Mast Capital, making her well-positioned to understand and address clients’ needs across a variety of products. Jillian rejoins Citi after working at the firm from 2008 to 2015, most recently as a Vice President on the Americas Capital Introductions team. Jillian holds a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.
12:30PM – 1:15PM
The credit continuum: Opportunities in liquid and private markets
Speakers
Austin Camporin
,
Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Special Situations
,
Magnetar Capital
Austin Camporin joined Magnetar Capital in 2025. Currently, he serves as a Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Special Situations for the Firm. Prior to joining Magnetar, he spent 16 years at Elliott Management, most recently as a Portfolio Manager focusing on public credit and equity opportunities across industrials, REITs, and select other sub-sectors. Mr. Camporin began his career at JPMorgan in 2004, first as a member of an Institutional Investor ranked high-yield credit research team and later as part of the distressed debt proprietary trading group. Mr. Camporin has served on multiple public and private company boards of directors and is also co-president and founder of the Good Shepherd of Darien Foundation as well as co-founder of A Second Chance for Ziva Dog Rescue. Mr. Camporin graduated summa cum laude from the College of William & Mary in 2004 with a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance and is a CFA charterholder
Jason Cope
,
Head of Global Fixed Income and Rates
,
Polar Asset Management Partners
Jason Cope is Head of Global Fixed Income and Rates at Polar Asset Management Partners where he is responsible for managing the firm’s credit and rates business lines. Prior to joining Polar in 2025, Mr. Cope was at TD Securities from 2009-2025. Most recently, he served as the Executive Managing Director and Head of Global Fixed Income, overseeing the global fixed income team. In his prior roles at TD Securities Mr. Cope was the Head of Canadian Fixed Income and US Leveraged Finance Sales & Trading as well as North America Rates Trading. Before his tenure at TD Securities, he was the Director of Canadian Credit Trading at Scotiabank from 2007-2009 and Vice President of Canadian Credit Trading at RBC Capital Markets from 2002-2007. Mr. Cope is also a Board Member of CanDeal.ca Inc. and actively supports the annual fundraising campaign of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Mr. Cope graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University in 2002. He is a CFA® Charterholder, having earned the designation in 2005.
Jens Nystedt
,
Co-Chief Investment Officer, Emerging Markets Fixed Income Division
,
Kirkoswald
Jens Nystedt began his career in 1998 as an Economist at the International Monetary Fund, where he worked for the Research, Policy Development, Special Operations, and International Capital Markets Departments. He then joined Deutsche Bank in 2004, initially as Chief Economist for EMEA and Head of the Local Markets Strategy and subsequently held senior research positions in both the Emerging Market and Global FX Research groups. Jens then joined GLG where he was part of the Global Macro Investment team. Following GLG, Jens joined Moore Capital in 2008 where he held roles in portfolio management and global macro analysis. In 2014, Jens joined Morgan Stanley as a Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Sovereign Research. He joined Emso (now Kirkoswald) in 2017 as a Long Only Portfolio Manager. In 2023, he became Co-Chief Investment Officer of Emso and in 2025, Jens was appointed Co-Chief Investment Officer of the Emerging Markets Fixed Income Division at Kirkoswald. Jens holds a PhD in International Economics and Finance and an MSc in International Finance from the Stockholm School of Economics.
Moderated by
David Sheng
,
Managing Director, Hedge Funds and Private Credit
,
Aksia
David is a Managing Director on the Hedge Funds and Private Credit teams and has over 18 years of experience in alternative investments. He is responsible for Hedge Fund and Private Credit investment programs and focuses on portfolio construction and manager selection, providing customized investment recommendations and regular portfolio updates. David leads alternatives coverage for Aksia’s Canadian institutional investors, and serves on AAAIM’s Canada chapter steering committee.
Prior to joining Aksia in 2018, David was a Senior Manager Research Analyst at Man FRM focused on sourcing and evaluating alternatives strategies, as well as active portfolio management. Prior to Man FRM, David was a Vice President within the Institutional Sales and Trading business at HSBC, and before that he worked at Morgan Stanley, where he covered institutional clients across the hedge fund, asset management, and sovereign wealth fund universe, with a focus on fixed income and foreign exchange.
David graduated from Princeton University with a BA in Economics and holds an MBA from Columbia University.
In 2023, David was recognized as a Knowledge Broker by Chief Investment Officer. In 2024, David was named Institutional Consultant of the Year by Institutional Investor.
1:15PM – 2:00PM
Keeping pace: The evolution of the multi strategy space
Speakers
Caroline Cooley
,
CEO and Co-Chief Investment Officer
,
SummitTX Capital
Ms. Cooley is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chief Investment Officer of SummitTX Capital, L.P. (formerly Crestline Summit). A veteran in the alternative investment industry, Ms. Cooley has experience as a portfolio manager, risk manager, and trader in equity, fixed income, and derivative markets. Prior to SummitTX’s inception, Ms. Cooley joined Crestline Investors, Inc. in 1998 and was previously the Chief Investment Officer of Crestline’s former Fund of Hedge Funds business, overseeing manager selection and portfolio management. From 1986 through 1997, Ms. Cooley was a derivatives trader and risk manager with Taylor and Company, an investment firm associated with the Bass Family of Fort Worth, TX (one of the earliest multi-asset, multi-strategy alternative asset managers). Ms. Cooley began her career in the investment industry at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company (later merged into JP Morgan), specializing in futures markets in New York and Chicago after receiving her BA in Economics from The College of William & Mary in 1983. Ms. Cooley also serves on the Management Committee of Crestline Investors, Inc. and is a member of the Advisory Board of Texas Wall Street Women. She formerly served on the Texas Employee Retirement System Investment Advisory Committee.
Giovanni Reggiani
,
Managing Director
,
Weiss Asset Management
Giovanni joined WAM full-time in 2018 and is based in our Boston headquarters. Prior to joining full-time, Giovanni interned at WAM in 2016. Giovanni leads the merger arbitrage strategy and is also focused on our macroeconomic investments. Prior to joining WAM, Giovanni worked at Boston Consulting Group focusing on financial services and asset management firms and interned at Goldman Sachs in the Global Investment Research team. He obtained both his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science in Economics and Applied Math (DESS) from Bocconi University – both summa cum laude. He then obtained his Ph.D. in Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under Professors Abhijit Banerjee and Bengt Holmstrom, with generals in economic theory and macroeconomics.
Mark van der Zwan
,
Chief Investment Officer and Head of the AIP Hedge Fund Solutions
,
Morgan Stanley
Mark is the Chief Investment Officer and head of the AIP Hedge Fund Solutions team and a member of the Investment Committee. He joined Morgan Stanley Investment Management in 2004 and has over 27 years of industry experience. Prior to joining the firm, Mark was a senior consultant for Alan D. Biller & Associates, an institutional investment consulting firm, where he was responsible for hedge fund manager selection. Previously, he was a researcher at the National Research Council of Canada, where he performed advanced computational modeling. Mark received both a B.Sc. with honors in chemistry and an M.B.A. in finance from Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada. Mark holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Moderated by
Bonnie Yu
,
Principal in External Strategies
,
OPTrust
Bonnie Yu is a Principal in External Strategies at OPTrust, with over 16 years of global experience in institutional investing, external manager selection, and portfolio construction. Previously an Investment Director at CDPQ in Montreal and Singapore, she has led global mandates, strengthened governance frameworks, and built strategic partnerships across public markets. Bonnie holds the CFA and FRM designations, an MBA from Concordia University, and is fluent in English, French, Cantonese, and Mandarin.
2:00PM – 2:15PM
Networking break
2:15PM – 3:00PM
Innovation in core equites: The rise of beta one strategies
Speakers
Pete Hecht
,
Ph.D., Managing Director, Head of North America Portfolio Solutions Group
,
AQR
Pete Hecht is a Managing Director and Head of the North America Portfolio Solutions Group at AQR Capital Management. In this role, Pete focuses on advising clients on portfolio challenges and investment strategies, and developing thought leadership and investor education pieces. Prior to AQR, Pete was a senior investment strategist with Evanston Capital Management. He has also served in various portfolio management and strategy roles for Allstate’s insurance portfolio and pension plan. Before that, Pete was an Assistant Professor of Finance at Harvard Business School. Pete earned a B.S. in economics and engineering sciences from Dartmouth College as well as an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in finance from the University of Chicago, where he was Eugene Fama’s student and teaching assistant.
Ari Glass
,
Founder, CIO & CEO
,
Boothbay Fund Management
Ari is the Founder, CIO and CEO of Boothbay Fund Management which currently manages over $3 billion in capital and has personnel in New York, London and Hong Kong. Boothbay is a multi-manager, multi-strategy investment fund with an 11.5-year track record that currently has over 130 portfolio managers in all major asset classes across the globe. Ari serves as the Head of the Investment Committee and manages the investment team. He also oversees the manager sourcing, monitoring, and selection process, and is ultimately responsible for all allocation decisions.
Before founding Boothbay, Ari was the President of Paine Heights Management. From 2007 to 2009, he served as the President of Platinum Management and was responsible for selecting liquid portfolio managers. From 2000 to 2007, Ari was the Chief Operating Officer of “Tiger Cub” Intrepid Capital Management, a $2.5 billion hedge fund seeded by Soros Fund Management and from 1998 to 2000, Ari was the Chief Financial Officer at Vector Capital Management.
Ari graduated with honors from Queens College with a B.A. in Accounting and Information Systems.
John Smallcomb
,
Managing Director and Portfolio Manager
,
Wellington Management
John is a portfolio manager on Wellington Solutions, a comprehensive investment solutions platform with mission to deliver outcome-oriented strategies to help solve clients’ investment challenges. He co-manages long/short extension approaches where he is responsible for manager selection and constructing the portfolios. He also advises clients on a variety of investment topics including manager evaluation, portfolio construction, and risk management. Previously, he served as an investment director in Investment Products and Strategies. Prior to joining the firm in 2008, John worked at The Hanover Insurance Group (2006 – 2008) and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (2002 – 2006). John received his MBA from Boston College (Carroll, 2006) and his BS in human physiology from Boston University (2001). Additionally, he holds the chartered financial analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society Boston.
Moderated by
Justin Young
,
Director of Investments
,
Multilateral Endowment Management Company
Justin Young is Director of Investments at MEMCO, where he is responsible for portfolio construction and manager selection across client portfolios. He focuses particularly on uncorrelated strategies designed to help meet client needs across a wide range of market environments. Before joining MEMCO, Justin spent more than a decade at the $50 billion South Carolina Retirement System Investment Commission, where he served as Director of Portable Alpha and managed the firm’s $5 billion hedge fund program. During his tenure, the program was recognized as Institutional Investor’s 2022 Public Plan of the Year. In addition to hedge funds, he also covered fixed income, GTAA, equity options, and commodity allocations Justin began his career as a Research Analyst at Bridgewater Associates, where he worked with the firm’s global equities team. He graduated from the University of South Carolina Honors College with majors in finance and economics and is a CAIA charterholder.
3:00PM –3:45PM
Navigating global markets: A conversation with macro risk takers
Speakers
Alexis Maubourguet
,
Founder and Chief Investment Officer
,
ADAPT Investment Managers
Alexis Maubourguet is the Founder and CIO of ADAPT Investment Managers. Before establishing ADAPT IM, Alexis joined Lombard Odier Investment Managers in Geneva in November 2019, where he created the ADAPT strategy. Previously, Alexis served as a Volatility Portfolio Manager at Argentière Capital in Zug for over three years, where he launched and managed the firm’s Relative Value Opportunities fund. Prior to Argentière, he was a Portfolio Manager on the Global Emerging Markets and Macro Fund at BTG Pactual in London. Alexis also brings a decade of experience trading derivatives on the sell-side, having held key roles at JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank in New York and London
Alexis earned both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Economics and Applied Mathematics from the École Polytechnique in Paris. He also holds a Master’s degree in Mathematics in Finance from New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Alexis is a CFA Charterholder.
Zachary Peskin
,
Portfolio Manager
,
Taula Capital
Mr. Peskin is a Portfolio Manager at the Firm. Prior to joining Taula Capital, Mr. Peskin was a Portfolio Manager at Millennium focusing on US and Canadian interest rate and inflation products. Mr. Peskin started in Millennium’s London office in January 2019 before returning to the United States in 2021. Prior to joining Millennium, Mr. Peskin was a Portfolio Manager at Barclays in New York. Mr. Peskin is a CFA charter holder and received a BA in Economics (Magna Cum Laude) from Cornell University.
Jason Cuttler
,
Senior Markets and Derivatives Strategist
,
Hudson Bay
Jason Cuttler is a Senior Markets and Derivatives Strategist at Hudson Bay helping identify derivative investment opportunities for the Chief Investment Officer’s portfolio. He also works closely with other portfolio managers across the firm on episodic market situations.
Prior to joining Hudson Bay in November 2020, Mr. Cuttler spent close to 20 years at investment banks, having worked at Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Citibank in both London and New York. Mr. Cuttler began his career in 2001 at Goldman Sachs as a single stock equity analyst, migrating into equity derivatives research, portfolio strategy, and most recently equity and macro derivative structuring. Mr. Cuttler graduated with honors from Columbia University with a BA in Economics / Political Science and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Moderated by
Ciana Becker
,
Head of Strategy, Capital Markets & Factor Investing
,
CPP Investments
Ciana Becker is a senior investment executive with over 22 years of global markets experience spanning portfolio strategy, portfolio construction and risk, hedge fund investing, and systematic strategies. She is currently Group Head and Managing Director, Strategy, Risk & Operations for the Capital Markets and Factor Investing (CMF) department at CPP Investments, where she oversees portfolio and business strategy for a $77 billion hedge fund and systematic strategies platform.
Prior to assuming her current strategy leadership role, Ciana spent nearly a decade in External Portfolio Management (EPM) at CPP Investments, most recently as Managing Director. In EPM, she was responsible for evaluating, allocating to, and overseeing a diverse set of discretionary and systematic investment strategies, including macro, alternative risk premia, volatility, quantitative equities, relative value, and multi-strategy portfolios across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. She played a senior role in strategy research, manager selection, portfolio construction, and investment committee decision-making.
In her current role, Ciana leads the development of CMF’s portfolio strategy in close partnership with the CIO, Total Fund Management, and Risk, aligning long-term objectives, risk appetite, and implementation across the total fund. She is a senior member of CPP Investments’ Portfolio Strategy Committee and serves on multiple investment committees, contributing to enterprise-level decisions on portfolio design, risk, and capital allocation.
Ciana held prior hedge fund investment roles at Robeco-Sage Capital Management and Silver Creek Capital Management. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Washington with certificates in International Economics and Economic Theory & Quantitative Methods and is a dual U.S. and Canadian citizen.
3:45PM – 4:30PM
Quantitative investing: The next wave
Speakers
Paul Griffin
,
Co-Chief Investment Officer and Chief Science Officer
,
WorldQuant
Paul serves as Co-CIO and Chief Science Officer at WorldQuant. Alongside Igor, he oversees all aspects of the investment process and manages the firm’s portfolio management organization. In addition, he leads WorldQuant’s AI (artificial intelligence) initiatives. He also guides multiple cross-functional programs involving portfolio management, research and technology. Prior to joining WorldQuant in 2011, Paul was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs in the FICC division and earlier Chief Technology Officer of Identix. He holds a BA from UC Berkeley and a PhD from Stanford University, with both degrees in physics.
Philip Seager
,
Head of Portfolio Strategy
,
Capital Fund Management (CFM)
Philip is the Head of Portfolio Strategy and advises on portfolio development across each CFM investment program. He chairs the monthly Investment Committee and participates in many steering committees within the firm. Philip originally joined CFM in 2000 to work on the Discus CTA program and to build its intraday component. He was named Head of Directional Strategies in 2004 and then subsequently took responsibility for the development of CFM’s efforts to diversify away from core offerings, including the launch of alternative risk premia, in 2015. Prior to his work at CFM, Philip obtained a two-year European Fellowship to work at the CEA, France, working on a search for the charged Higgs boson at CERN, Switzerland. Philip has a PhD in experimental particle physics from Lancaster University.
Ashwin Thapar
,
Head of Multi-Asset Class Investing
,
D. E. Shaw Investment Management
Ashwin Thapar is a senior vice president of D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P., Head of Multi-Asset Class Investing for D. E. Shaw Investment Management, L.L.C. (“DESIM”), and a member of DESIM’s Investment Committee. In that capacity, Mr. Thapar jointly oversees the research and portfolio management activities DESIM conducts for its benchmark-relative equity and multi-asset class investment strategies. Prior to joining DESIM in 2023, he spent over 14 years at AQR Capital Management, LLC, where he last served as a principal on its macro strategies team. Mr. Thapar’s co-authored research on currency hedging, tail risk hedging, and deep value and risk premia investing has been published in the Financial Analysts Journal, Journal of Investment Management, and Journal of Systematic Investing. He was a joint recipient of the Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy Award for Outstanding Article in 2022 and a Special Distinction Award as a finalist for the Harry M. Markowitz Award in 2021. Mr. Thapar is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a B.S. in economics with a concentration in finance from The Wharton School and a B.A. in mathematics from the College of Arts & Sciences.
Moderated by
Bala Balasubramaniam
,
Ph.D., Managing Director, Investing
,
Magnitude Capital
Bala supports Magnitude’s Investment Committee by conducting manager research and due diligence, portfolio construction and monitoring, and risk management with a focus on quant and quant-related managers. He joined Magnitude’s investing team in 2021.
Prior to Magnitude, he was a quantitative researcher at Stevens Capital Management, where he ran a global futures strategy and worked on the U.S. equities portfolio. Bala began his financial career in 2011 as a researcher at the Prediction Company (part of UBS prop desk and later, Millennium), where he was the portfolio manager in charge of Prediction’s EU equities strategy.
Before 2011, Bala was a senior scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory where he worked on fusion- and energy-related research. He holds a PhD in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and three Masters degrees in Computer Science (UIUC), Mechanical Engineering (UIUC), and Statistics (Stanford). He has an undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology at Madras.
