2018 Speaking Faculty
Roubesh Adaya
Investment Specialist, EMD
Aberdeen Standard Investments
Roubesh Adaya
Roubesh works as an Investment Specialist within the EM Fixed Income Team at Aberdeen Standard Investments. He started his career within the Portfolio Management Group at ABN AMRO Asset Management in 2007. He subsequently became an investment specialist at BNP Paribas Investment Partners before joining bfinance in 2013 as Head of Fixed Income Research.
Roubesh joined Standard Life Investments in 2016 and is based in London.
Rolf Agather
Managing Director, North America Research
FTSE Russell
Rolf Agather
Rolf Agather is managing director of North America research for global index provider FTSE Russell, part of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). Rolf joined LSEG in 2014 when it acquired Russell Investments. In his new role with FTSE Russell, Rolf is responsible for leading the team that creates new index concepts and publishes compelling research on capital markets, indexation and investment management.
Previously, Rolf was the managing director of research and innovation for the Russell Indexes division of Russell Investments. Rolf was instrumental in the creation of the Russell Global Indexes in 2007 and he continues to lead research and innovation in the growing field of index investing, including the development of the Russell Stability Index family and the Russell High Efficiency Factor Indexes. Rolf has been involved with the Russell Indexes in a number of roles during his career at Russell. He served as product manager from 1993 to 1995 and was the manager of the Russell index operations group from 1989 to 1991.
Prior to joining Russell, Rolf was vice president and director of the portfolio products business at FactSet Research systems in Greenwich, Connecticut. He was responsible for the development of FactSet’s entire suite of portfolio management products, including the portfolio analysis and SPAR (style, performance, and risk) application.
Ross Amos
Chair
Centurion Apartment REIT
Ross Amos
Mr. Amos Is the Independent Chair and Trustee of Centurion Apartment REIT. He has also served as chair, vice chair, and committee chair of a number of different public, private and non-profit organizations operating in a variety of industries in both Canada and the United States. He is President of Everest Canadian Properties Company, an investor in multifamily real estate, and his career has focused on real estate finance and investment.
Mr. Amos received an HBA from Ivey Business school, an MBA from Schulich School of Business and is one of the first recipients of the ICD.D designation, from the Rotman School of Business and the Institute of Corporate Directors-Corporate Governance College.
John C. S. Anderson
SVP & Senior Managing Director, Head of Corporate Finance
Manulife Financial
John C. S. Anderson
John C. S. Anderson is Head of Corporate Finance at Manulife. He is responsible for Canadian and overseas teams that invest in private equity, private debt, and public bonds in a $130 billion portfolio supporting Canadian, US, and Asian life insurance businesses. John is the principal approving officer for investments in several private equity strategies, and is a member of Manulife’s global investment committee.
Prior to his current role, John spent 20 years financing the infrastructure sector, 10 years as a member of Manulife’s Boston Power & Infrastructure Team, and 10 years in the New York and London offices of JP Morgan Chase. John holds an MBA from Georgetown University and a BA in Economics from The University of Chicago. He speaks French, Serbo-Croatian, German, Spanish, and Russian at an intermediate level, and would not be mistaken for a native speaker in any of these languages.
Alain Bergeron
Senior Vice President, Investment Management & Head of Asset Allocation
Mackenzie Investments
Alain Bergeron – SVP, Head of Asset Allocation and Alternatives
Alain leads the team responsible for managing and overseeing $20B in multi-asset portfolios, currency management programs, and equity smart beta portfolios.
The team is also responsible to bring best practices from large and recognized pension funds in asset allocation, total portfolio management, factor investing, risk management and multi-asset returns forecasting. His group publishes the annual institutional asset class forecasts and commentary, as well as forward looking strategic and tactical asset allocation views. He is also a frequent speaker at institutional conferences.
Alain is a member of Mackenzie’s Global Investment Committee, Chair of Wealth Simple’s Investment Advisory Committee, Board Member of the Toronto CFA Society, and a Guest Lecturer at the University of Toronto’s Roman School of Management.
Prior to joining Mackenzie, Alain spent 11 years at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) where he held the following roles: Head of Global Tactical Asset Allocation, Lead of the External Portfolio Management group, and Portfolio Manager in Long/Short Active Equities. Before joining the CPPIB in 2003, Alain traded multi-asset derivatives at TD Securities and was a Derivatives Lecturer at HEC Montreal.
Alain earned a Master’s Degree (MSc) in Financial Engineering and a Bachelor of Business Administration at HEC Montreal, Université de Montreal’s School of Business. Alain holds the CFA and CMT (Chartered Market Technician) designations.
Claude Bergeron
Executive Vice President & Chief Risk Officer
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ)
Claude Bergeron
Claude Bergeron has been Executive Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer since November 2009. In this capacity, he oversees the teams responsible for monitoring, measuring and analyzing risk at la Caisse. His team is also responsible for promoting a risk culture within the institution by focusing on specialized expertise in la Caisse’s investment areas and applying the tools developed to identify risks. The team also plays an active role in all management processes.
Co-Chair of the Investment-Risk Committee, Mr. Bergeron sits on the Executive Committee.
Richard Burrett
Chief Sustainability Officer
Nobel Sustainability Fund
Richard Burrett
Richard Burrett leads implementation of the sustainability strategy at Earth Capital Partners (ECP) and SET3 and is a member of their Investment Committees. ECP, based in London, England, (www.earthcp.com) is amember of the $1.2 billion SET3 global group of investment managers with a focus on sustainable investments. Across the group, ECP invests growth capital as private equity investments in: sustainable technology companies involved in energy, water and food; renewable energy infrastructure development and construction; and energy efficiency. ECP is responsible for establishing, launching and managing the Nobel Sustainability Fund.
Richard has spent over 30 years working in international banking and finance. He joined AMRO Bank in 1988, becoming Managing Director and Global Head of Project Finance in 2001. In this role he was instrumental in the development of the Equator Principles, creating a market recognised standard for the management of environmental and social risk within project financing. He started to work directly on ABN AMRO’s award-winning sustainability agenda in 2004, becoming Global Head of Sustainability before leaving the Bank in May 2008. He was Co-Chair of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) from 2010 to 2012 working with 200 institutions, including banks, insurers, and investors to bring about systemic change in finance to support a sustainable world.
He is the FMO (Dutch Development Bank) nominated non-exec Director of Union Bank of Nigeria PLC and a Senior Adviser to the Earth Security Group. He is a Fellow of the Cambridge University Institute for Sustainability Leadership and a Board Member of Forest Trends, a Washington-based organisation promoting market-based approaches to forest conservation.
Christopher Busby
Senior Vice President
Two Sigma Investments LP
Christopher Busby, CFA, Senior Vice President
Chris Busby is a member of the Investor Relations group at Two Sigma where he leads the firm’s fundraising and relationship management efforts in Canada. Chris joined Two Sigma in 2014 from J.P. Morgan Asset Management where he served as a client advisor in the Institutional Advisory & Sales group. As a client advisor, Chris was responsible for providing comprehensive investment solutions to institutional investors across traditional and alternative asset classes which included Global Fixed Income, Public and Private Credit, Hedge Funds, Global Equities, Private Equity, and Real Assets.
Prior to his work at J.P. Morgan, he was an associate at Advanced Equities, Inc., a venture capital investment bank that specialized in providing late-stage private equity financing to technology and alternative energy market companies.
Before starting a career in finance, Chris played three years of professional Ice Hockey. Chris holds a BS in Accounting from Miami University of Ohio and is a CFA charterholder.
Tim Calibaba
Chair of the Board of Trustees
Saskatchewan Pension Plan
Tim Calibaba
Mr. Timothy Calibaba first joined the Board of the Saskatchewan Pension Plan (SPP) in 2008 and has been the Chair since 2012. He leads a five person board and an organization that has grown to the 21st largest DC plan in Canada. Tim was the founder, president and CEO of TWC Financial Group, an independent financial services dealership offering a variety of investment and insurance products through more than 400 licensed representatives located from British Columbia to Ontario. He has extensive board experience and besides SPP also sits on 2 other boards.
The SPP adopted the Carver policy governance model in 2006. This model has ensured the Board is more focused on vision, strategy and policy and less on administrative decisions. They provide effective oversight and outreach to stakeholders as well as support to the Plan administrators.
The SPP was introduced in 1986 as a way to assist people to save for retirement – especially those who do not have access to a work place pension plan. It serves over 33,000 members and has more than $537 M in assets under administration.
Sandra Carlisle
Senior Responsible Investment Specialist
HSBC Global Asset Management
Sandra Carlisle
Sandra Carlisle has been head of responsible investment specialists in London since 2017. Sandra joined HSBC in 2017 and has been working in the industry since 1986. Previously, Sandra was head of responsible investment at Newton Investment Management in London. Before this, she spent several years at F&C Investments and Citi, where she set up and ran the sustainable and responsible investment team in global markets and the European equity sales team respectively. Prior to Citi, Sandra worked for Deutsche Bank in Paris and London as equity specialist and for JPMorgan Chase in London and New York as part of the sovereign debt restructuring team.
Sandra is a recognised industry spokeswoman and a board member of the Principles for Responsible Investment (since 2016) and a visiting business fellow at the Oxford Smith School for the Environment.
Renaud Champion
Head of Credit Strategies
La Française Investment Solutions
Renaud Champion
Renaud Champion benefits from almost 20 years of credit industry experience. Renaud joined LFIS in January 2013 from AXA IM Structured Finance where he spent five years. From 2010 to 2012 Renaud co-headed the corporate credit team at AXA IM Structured Finance where he was in charge of the non-traditional corporate credit platform. From 2007 to 2010 he served as senior portfolio manager within the structured credit investment team managing funds and investing in CDOs and regulatory capital transactions across the capital structure.
Previously, from 2002 to 2007, Renaud was in charge of the credit team (research and portfolio management) at Allianz Global Investors France, reporting to the head of fixed income. Between 1998 and 2002, he was head of money market and credit funds at DWS France. Renaud graduated from HEC in 1994 and ENSAE in 1998.
Mary Chang
Executive Director, Private Markets
Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO)
Mary Chang
Mary is an investment professional with over 15 years of experience in corporate finance, private equity and infrastructure investing. Mary is currently an Executive Director with Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO), responsible for the infrastructure and real estate portfolios.
Prior to IMCO, Mary was an Executive Director leading the Private Markets investment activities for the Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB). Ms. Chang has broad private markets experience across multiple asset classes and currently sits on a number of portfolio company boards and LPAC committees of Fund commitments. She was previously a Director at OMERS Private Equity and Principal consultant with Mercer.
Doug Chau
Chief Risk Officer and Head of Research
University of Toronto Asset Management (UTAM)
Doug Chau
Doug joined UTAM in 2017 and is responsible for asset allocation modeling, risk management and measurement, research, and performance analysis. Doug chairs the Management Investment Risk Committee and is a member of several other internal management committees.
Previously, Doug worked for 15 years at OPTrust, where his responsibilities included developing strategic allocation models, risk factor research, internal and external portfolio evaluations, implementing performance and ALM systems and developing a set of quantitative tools to inform investment decisions.
Doug holds a PhD in Finance from the EDHEC Business School, a Master’s degree in Science with a specialisation in Finance from the University of Reading (M.Sc.), a Master’s degree in Statistics from the University of Toronto (M.Sc.), and a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and its Applications from the University of Toronto (B.Sc.). In addition, Doug holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Professional Risk Manager (PRM) and Certificate in Quantitative Finance (CQF) designations.
Bobby Eng
Vice President
Head of SPDR ETF Business Development – Canada
State Street Global Advisors, Ltd
Bobby Eng
Bobby is a Vice President at State Street Global Advisors, Ltd and Head of SPDR ETF Business Development for Canada. Bobby focuses on the distribution of SPDR ETFs to institutional investors throughout Canada including pension plans, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, investment consultants, asset managers and banks.
Prior to this role, Bobby was Senior Vice President and Head of Sales at First Trust Portfolios Canada responsible for overall sales and distribution. He also spent 10 -years at Blackrock Asset Management, most recently as Director & Vice President, Head of National Accounts responsible for asset managers and brokerage senior executive relationships. Bobby was instrumental in the success of the iShares, Exchange Traded Funds business in Canada being responsible for sales and business development across Canada. Bobby also held sales and relationship management roles at Fidelity Investments and National Bank of Canada.
Bobby holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Concordia University and holds the Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) designation from the Investment Management Consultant Association (IMCA).
Remco van Eeuwijk
Chief Risk Officer
Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo)
Remco van Eeuwijk
Remco is the Chief Risk Officer and a member of the Executive Committee at AIMCo, the Alberta crown corporation responsible for managing over C$100 billion in assets for more than 30 Alberta pension funds, endowments and government funds. He joined AIMCo in 2016 from MN, the Dutch fiduciary manager responsible for managing C$175 billion in assets for Dutch and British pension funds, where he was Managing Director UK, responsible for founding and growing MN’s proposition to UK pension funds.
During his 20-year career in investment and risk management, Remco has held various other roles, including Global Head of Risk & Performance at ABN Amro Asset Management in London, Managing Director EMEA for the Analytics division of Wilshire Associates in London and European Head of Risk & Performance at ING Investment Management in The Hague.
Remco is a CFA charterholder and holds a Ph.D. Candidacy and MA in Economics from the University of Michigan and a BA (Honours) in Economics from the University of Alberta. He is married with two mini-dachshunds, Ms. Jansen and Dr. Snuggles.
Kevin Fahey
Director, Investments
CAAT Pension Plan
Kevin Fahey
Kevin Fahey is a Director, Investments at the Toronto-based Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Pension Plan (CAAT), which serves employees and retirees at Ontario’s provincially-sponsored community colleges and certain related employers. Since 2010, he has been responsible for oversight and strategy initiatives associated with CAAT’s private equity, infrastructure and real estate investment programs. Prior to joining CAAT, Kevin worked for several years at the employee pension fund of a Canadian bank.
Kevin is a CFA charterholder, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University and a Bachelor of Laws from Osgoode Hall Law School.
Martin Gerber
President & Chief Investment Officer
Connor, Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.
Martin Gerber
Martin began his career at CC&L in 1991 as an analyst. Over the ensuing 10 years Martin held a broad range of responsibilities including equity trading, fundamental and quantitative research and portfolio management. Martin was appointed Vice-President in 1994 and became a Director of the firm in 1999.
Martin was Head of the Quantitative equity team from 2000 to 2015. In 2013, Martin was appointed President and Chief Investment Officer and Chair of the Risk Management Committee of CC&L. Martin is on several non-for profit Boards and Committees.
Brian Henze
Managing Director, Alternative Risk Premia Strategies
Wellington Management
Brian Henze
Brian is part of the team responsible for developing and managing alternative and multi-asset portfolios. He partners with the investment team to define the investment strategy and manage the product development for alternative risk premia, absolute-return, and dynamic asset allocation approaches, as well as custom solutions tailored from those strategies. Additionally, Brian works closely with prospects and clients to communicate the investment process and facilitate customization of the investment platform to meet clients’ specific investment objectives.
Prior to joining Wellington Management in 2006, Brian worked at Numeric Investors LLC, Invesco, Inc. and State Street Corporation. Brian earned his BS in economics and finance from Bentley University.
Dr. Peter Hobbs
Managing Director, Private Markets
bfinance
Dr. Peter Hobbs
Dr. Peter Hobbs is Managing Director of Private Markets based in bfinance’s London office. Peter covers the Real Estate, Infrastructure, Private Equity and Private Debt Markets. The bfinance Private Markets team provides a series of services including portfolio strategy and design, portfolio risk reviews and solutions, investment manager search and selection and due diligence.
Peter has over 25 years of both principal investing and research experience. He joined bfinance from MSCI where he was Managing Director for Real Estate Research and Key Global Accounts, responsible for benchmarking and portfolio analysis, risk services and method development.
Prior to this, Peter held various senior global research and business development roles with IPD, RREEF – the alternatives asset management division of Deutsche Bank, and Property & Portfolio Research. In 2015 he was shortlisted for Outstanding Industry Contribution at the IPE Real Estate Global Awards 2015. Peter has a PhD and is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MIRCS).
Brett House
Vice-President and Deputy Chief Economist
Scotiabank
Brett House
Brett House is Vice-President and Deputy Chief Economist at Scotiabank. He works with the Chief Economist to manage a research team that provides Scotiabank and its clients with macroeconomic insights and forecasts across the bank’s domestic and international business lines.
Prior to joining Scotiabank in October 2016, Brett was Chief Economist at Alignvest Investment Management in Toronto and Global Strategist at Woodbine Capital Advisors, a New York-based global macro fund. Earlier in his career, Brett served as Principal Advisor in the Executive Office of the United Nations Secretary-General and as an Economist at the International Monetary Fund. He cut his teeth in financial markets at Goldman Sachs International in London and at the World Bank in Washington, DC.
Brett is a Rhodes Scholar with degrees in economics from the University of Oxford and Queen’s University at Kingston. In addition, he has taught at Oxford and McGill University in Montréal, and has held research roles at Columbia University in New York and Massey College at the University of Toronto.
Brett sits on the investment committees of Pearson College and the Canadian Rhodes Scholars’ Foundation. He received the 2014 Québec Notable Award in Finance and the 2015 Good Citizen Award from his hometown of Lincoln, Ontario. He was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic forum in 2010.
Jim Hwang
Managing Director, Head of Portfolio Management
CPP Investment Board (CPPIB)
Jim Hwang
Jim leads the Portfolio Research group in our Total Portfolio Management (TPM) department. He and his group are responsible for identifying and researching systematic investment factors, and articulating our Total Portfolio’s exposures to these factors.
Previously at CPPIB, Jim headed the Portfolio Management group within TPM during which he and his team developed the investment process for and managed the systematic exposures of the Balancing portion of our Total Portfolio. Prior to that, Jim managed the Portfolio Engineering team in PMI-Quant Equities where he was responsible for the daily production of quantitative investment models and related analytics.
Before joining CPPIB Jim held various roles managing quantitative portfolios and portfolio management teams at Seekers Advisors HK, Bosera Asset Management Co. in HK & China, and Barclays Global Investors and UBS Brinson Inc. in the US.
Jim has a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley and a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from MIT. He is also a CFA charter holder.
Andrew Janian
Managing Director, Head of Data Engineering
Two Sigma Investments LP
Andrew Janian, Managing Director, Head of Data Engineering
Prior to joining Two Sigma, he was the Head of Order Routing and Best Execution Technology at Scottrade, Inc. Mr. Janian received his B.S. in Computer Science from Washington University in St. Louis.
Peter Damgaard Jensen
Chief Executive Officer, PKA A/S, Denmark;
Chair, The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC)
Peter Damgaard Jensen
Since 2001, Peter Damgaard Jensen has been the CEO of PKA. After graduating in 1981 from The University of Aarhus as a master of Political Science he joined the Association of County Councils in Denmark. In 1985 he moved to the Danish Nurses Organization in Denmark where he had different management positions. He left the Danish Nurses Organization in 2001 to join PKA.
Peter is a member of the board in The Danish Insurance Association and has previously been chairman and vice chairman of the board. He is the vice chairman in Forca Ltd (a company in the pension fund and life insurance industry). Peter was a member of the Board in DEAS (Dan-Ejendomme) – Denmark’s biggest property management company – in the period 2001-2006.
Peter is a member of the advisory board of The Danish Climate Investment Fund for climate investments in emerging markets and member of the advisory board in Axcel Ltd (leading Danish private equity Company). Since January 2017 Peter is the Chair of IIGCC. Peter has been an IIGCC Board Member since December 2013.
PKA
PKA Ltd is one of the largest occupational pension funds in Denmark. The PKA Group is owned by four occupational pension funds with more than 300,000 members, mainly employees in the public social and health sectors. At the end of 2017 the market value of the assets managed by PKA Ltd. was approximately DKK 275 billion (€38 bn.).
Ken Kencel
President and CEO
Churchill Asset Management
Ken Kencel
Kenneth J. Kencel serves as President & CEO of Churchill Asset Management. Throughout his over 30-year career Mr. Kencel has accrued a broad range of experience in leading middle market financing businesses. Previously, he was President and a Director of Carlyle GMS Finance (Carlyle’s publicly traded business development company); founded and was President and CEO of Churchill Financial; and served as Head of Leveraged Finance for Royal Bank of Canada as well as Head of Indosuez Capital—a leading middle market merchant banking and asset management business. Mr. Kencel also helped to found high yield finance businesses at both Chase Securities (now JP Morgan) and SBC Warburg (now UBS).
Mr. Kencel serves on the Board of Trustees of Canisius High School and is the Chair of the Investment Committee. He also serves on the Archdiocese of New York Pension Investment Advisory Committee. Mr. Kencel is a guest lecturer at Boston University Questrom School of Business and a former member of the Board of Advisors and Adjunct Professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. He earned his B.S. in Business Administration, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University and his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.
Yusuke Khan, CFA®, FRM
Senior Consultant & Investment Strategist
Pavilion Advisory Group Ltd. (Montreal)
Yusuke Khan, CFA®, FRM
Mr. Khan joined Pavilion Advisory Group in 1999 and has been a Senior Consultant at the firm since 2008. He provides leadership in the development of our retainer consulting offering for Canadian clients and works with institutional investors such as pension plans, foundations and financial institutions in the planning, implementation and monitoring of their investment strategies. In particular, he specializes in the analysis of asset allocation options, the structuring of portfolios, and in the search and selection of investment management firms.
He also develops the investment offering for Canadian discretionary services, including maintaining a Canadian model portfolio. He previously held a number of roles within the Pavilion research team and also led the firm’s manager monitoring practice. In addition, he has met and evaluated hundreds of portfolio managers in Canada, the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia on behalf of clients of the firm over the past 18 years. He is a member of the firm’s Investment Policy Committee, is a CFA® charterholder and holds the FRM designation.
Mr. Khan is a graduate of McGill University in Montreal with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
Nicholas Macrae
Senior Portfolio Manager, Real Estate
Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP)
Nicholas Macrae, MBA
Mr. Macrae earned a Master of Business Administration from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree from Queen’s University. Mr. Macrae is involved in several industry associations including participating the board of directors of NAIOP Greater Toronto, and committees of Realpac and INREV. Mr. Macrae is a board member and past chairman of Community Living Toronto, an organization supporting individuals with an intellectual disability.
Daniel Marchand
SVP, Head of Global Investor Sales
Trez Capital
Daniel Marchand
Daniel Marchand joined Trez Capital in August of 2016 as Senior Vice-President, Head of Global Investor Sales. In his role, Daniel will oversee Trez’ capital raising efforts in Canada, the U.S. and abroad. Daniel brings over 22 years of investment sales, client service and product development expertise. Most recently he served as Senior Vice-President, Global Business Development at Nuveen Investments of Chicago. Prior to Nuveen, Daniel held similar positions at Lazard Asset Management of New York and RBC Global Asset Management.
Daniel is equally a seasoned conference speaker where he has spoken on many occasions on Real Asset Investing to Institutional Investors from Canada and abroad. Daniel has a B.A. in Economics from Concordia University and is fluent in English and French.
Les Marton
Senior Director
bfinance Canada
Les Marton
Les Marton has worked in financial services for over 30 years, with more than two decades of experience in asset management. At bfinance he assists Canadian institutional investors to develop, implement and manage investment programmes across all asset classes.
Prior to joining bfinance in 2017 he held a number of senior roles at Scotiabank (Managing Director, Head of Cap Intro and Hedge Fund Consulting, Head of Global Alternative Asset Group). He began his career at Royal Bank of Canada and RBC Capital Markets. Les holds an MBA from York University and a Bachelor of Arts from University of Toronto, Trinity College.
Thomas Mucha
Global Macroanalysis Advisor, Investment Research
Wellington Management
Thomas Mucha
Thomas is a member of the global Macroanalysis team with a research focus on the macro and market implications of geopolitical risk. In his role he also focuses on internal and external communication efforts, with a particular emphasis on connecting our macro insights to actionable investment ideas in client portfolios.
Prior to joining Wellington Management in 2015, Thomas had a successful career in journalism as a writer, producer, and editor focused on global business, economics, and geopolitics. He previously worked at GlobalPost, CNN and CNN International, Time Inc.’s Business 2.0 Magazine and Crain’s Chicago Business.
Thomas earned his MA in international relations and economics from the University of Chicago and his BA in English from Michigan State University.
David Pappin
President
IAM Real Estate Group
David Pappin
David Pappin joined IAM Real Estate Group in April 2016 with more than 25 years of experience in commercial real estate investment, brokerage and management services. David was appointed President of the group in July 2017.
In addition to managing the overall business and providing strategic direction, David works closely with the investment team to source opportunities and is responsible for all fundraising activities.
David is a member of the investment committee within the Real Estate Group. David has a B.Sc., from McMaster University.
Matthew Press
Vice President, Infrastructure Investments
Greystone Managed Investments Inc.
Matthew Press
Matthew Press is Vice-President, Infrastructure Investments. Matt joined Greystone in early 2015 and is responsible for asset sourcing, investment execution and portfolio management of Greystone’s global infrastructure portfolio.
Matt has 10 years of transaction advisory, financial analysis and project finance experience. Matt came to Greystone from TD Securities, where he was a Vice-President of Debt Capital Markets focusing on the origination, structuring and execution of debt financings and financial advisory mandates in the infrastructure, power and real estate sectors. While at TD, Matt was involved in closing approximately $2 billion in debt financings across 10 transactions, and advised clients on 20 infrastructure, power and real estate opportunities representing nearly $4 billion of investment capital. Prior to TD, Matt worked at CIT Financial as a Senior Associate in the Energy and Infrastructure team, and CGI Group as a Senior Consultant, Business Transformation Group. Matt began his career with TD Securities Inc. as a Funding & FX Analyst.
Matt holds an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance and MBA from York University’s Schulich School of Business. He is the Board Chair of the Learning Disabilities Association Toronto District and has been an active board member since 2009.
Gregory N. Racz
President
MGG Investment Group LP
Gregory N. Racz
Prior to MGG where he is President, Mr. Racz was President, Principal, and Chief Legal Officer of Hutchin Hill, a multi-billion multi-strategy hedge fund. Prior to joining Hutchin Hill, Mr. Racz co-founded Octavian Advisors, LP, a $1.4 billion multi-strategy investment fund, and served as President, Chief Operating Officer, and general counsel (2006-2009). Previously, Mr. Racz was a member of the corporate department of the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz (1999-2006). There he advised on corporate, securities, and compliance matters for Fortune 500 businesses, investment firms, and institutional and high net worth clients, including ConocoPhillips, General Mills, Walt Disney Company, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Fox Paine, Warburg Pincus, a Washington State Investment Board affiliate, and owners of the New Jersey Devils. Mr. Racz was also a journalist at The Wall Street Journal and The Buffalo News (1993-1995), and worked at the Manhattan D.A.’s Office (1991-1993).
Previously, Mr. Racz was clerk on the D.C. Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals. He is a member of the Board of Trustees & Investment Committee of the NYU School of Law Foundation, and was a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a member of the P&I Research Advisory Panel. He was named a “2011 Rising Star of Hedge Funds” by Institutional Investor.
Mr. Racz received his JD, Order of the Coif, magna cum laude, from NYU School of Law and his BA, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Dartmouth College. Mr. Racz also studied at Oxford University and Leningrad State University.
Erik Rubingh
Managing Director, Head of Factor Investments
BMO Global Asset Management (EMEA)
Erik Rubingh
Erik Rubingh is the Managing Director and Head of Factor Investments for BMO Global Asset Management(EMEA). Prior to joining the group in July 2007, Erik was a senior portfolio manager and later, head of global quantitative strategies at ABP Investments.
Erik graduated from Groningen University with an MSc in Econometrics. He is also a CFA charterholder.
Michelle Russell-Dowe
Head of Securitized Credit
Schroder Investment Management North America Inc.
Michelle Russell-Dowe
Michelle Russell-Dowe is the Head of Securitized Credit at Schroders based in New York; she is responsible for managing the Securitized Credit Team and all Securitized Credit Strategies.
Michelle was the Head of Securitized Products at Brookfield Investment Management (previously Hyperion Capital Management) from 1999 to 2016; she was responsible for managing the Securitized Products Investment Team. Michelle was a Vice President at Duff & Phelps Credit Rating Co from 1994 to 1999, where she was responsible for rating securities including residential mortgage-backed securities and asset-backed securities.
Previously, Ms. Russell-Dowe has been a Co-Head of the Investor Committee of the American Securitization Forum (ASF). Ms. Russell-Dowe earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Princeton University and a master of Business Administration degree from the Columbia Business School at Columbia University, where she graduated as valedictorian.
Chris Schindler
Managing Director, Portfolio Management & Asset Allocation
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP)
Chris Schindler
Chris Schindler is Managing Director, Asset Allocation and Portfolio Management at the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, a defined benefit plan with roughly $190 Billion assets under management.
Mr. Schindler joined OTPP 18 years ago where he spent the majority of his career running the internal systematic investing group which was responsible for developing OTPP’s systematic harvesting of “alternative risk premiums” and uncorrelated “pure alpha” models across all liquid asset classes. A few examples include an in-house CTA (launched in 2005); value, momentum and carry models in futures and FX (2006); alternative betas such as low volatility and minimum risk (2006); traditional cash equity quant models such as value, quality, momentum etc. (2006); and the OTPP risk parity portfolio, which combined volatility target traditional asset classes such as equities and fixed income with alternative risk premiums in FX and commodities (2007). The group was also responsible for allocating to external managers in the systematic space.
In 2016 he joined the newly formed Portfolio Construction Group, which is responsible for determining the strategic asset mix at the fund including the desired factor exposures, liquid/illiquid mix, desired target risk for the Total Fund, optimal levels of financial and synthetic leverage, FX hedging policy, tail hedging policy, tactical tilts to the portfolio, as well as active risk allocation to the value-add departments, amongst other roles.
He has an undergraduate degree in Actuarial Science from the University of Toronto, and MBA from the University of Toronto and is a CFA Charterholder. He has not yet been named to the SWFI’s Public Investor 100.
Theresa Shutt
Chief Investment Officer
IAM Private Debt Group
Theresa Shutt
Theresa Shutt is Chief Investment Officer of IAM Private Debt Group with responsibility for portfolio management and investor relations for all IPD Private Debt Funds with a leadership role in investment approval and fund strategy. Prior to joining IAM, she was a Managing Director at BMO Corporate Finance where she originated and managed loans for mid-market Canadian borrowers and previously held a variety of roles at RBC and Scotiabank structuring fixed income and equity derivatives for corporations and asset managers.
Theresa holds a Masters of Economics degree from McMaster University, an MBA from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto and is a CFA charterholder.
George Theodoropoulos
Managing Partner
Fengate Real Asset Investments
George Theodoropoulos
George Theodoropoulos joined Fengate in 2009. He is a Partner of the Firm and manages Fengate’s infrastructure investment business. In this capacity, George is responsible for the strategic direction and management of Fengate’s infrastructure investment and fundraising activities. He is a member of the Investment Committee of the Firm’s infrastructure funds.
George possesses more than 20 years of experience in project finance and infrastructure investing. Prior to joining Fengate, he was a Director at RBC Capital Markets and the head of its Canadian Infrastructure Advisory Group, where he played a lead role in advising RBC’s clients on structuring and arranging financing for major infrastructure projects.
George holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Ontario and a Graduate Diploma in Public Accounting from McGill University. George is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario.
Tod Trabocco
Managing Director
Cambridge Associates LLC
Tod Trabocco
Focus and Experience
Tod is a Managing Director at Cambridge Associates based in Boston. He oversees the firm’s private credit efforts, performing due diligence on investment opportunities in structured equity, credit, and distressed markets, as well as monitoring investment firms and their portfolio companies. Tod co-chairs Cambridge Associates’ Credit Investment Research Committee and co-leads the firm’s Credit Investment Group’s manager research and selection and provides specialized credit services to clients.
Before joining Cambridge Associates, Tod was a Managing Director with Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors’ middle market mezzanine strategy in New York. Previously, he was a Managing Director at LBC Credit Partners, Inc., where he started and led LBC’s research and underwriting practices, and was a member of the firm’s Investment Committee. He also was Vice President and Senior Analyst at Moody’s Investors Service where he developed a new quantitative scoring method for state-level issuers.
Education and Professional Credentials
- CFA Charterholder
- MBA, Columbia Business School
- MALD, Development Economics, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
- BA, Government, Pomona College
Terri Troy
Retired CEO and Chief Investment Officer
Halifax Regional Municipality Pension Plan
Terri Troy
Terri Troy recently retired as CEO of the Halifax Regional Municipality Pension Plan. She has more than 25 years of experience in investment management, pensions, corporate strategy, and mergers and acquisitions. As CEO of the Halifax Regional Municipality Pension Plan, she transformed the governance structure, investment strategy, and customer service function between 2006-2017. Innovative investment strategies implemented included factor investing, portable alpha, and a significant emphasis on private investments including co-investments, syndications/club deals with other large institutional investors, and direct investments, etc.
While CEO, Terri was a Board member of Calon Energy, a UK based energy company and aBoard member of Alignvest Management, a Canadian financial services corporation. She was a member of Investor Advisory Committees for various global private investments including UK, European and US private equity; UK, Australian and Canadian infrastructure; European, UK, Asian, US and Canadian real estate; and European, UK, and US private debt.
Prior to the CEO role, Terri was responsible for the investment strategy for RBC’s 33 global pension plans between 2000-2006. Prior to RBC, Terri held various roles at CIBC including corporate strategy, mergers & acquisitions, and wealth management.
Terri has held various leadership roles in the pension industry including being a Board Member of the Pension Investment Association of Canada from 2004-2009; Chair of the Board in 2007, Chair of the Investment Practices Committee 2004-2009, Chair of the Government Relations Committee, 2010-2011 and a member of the International Limited Partnership’s Association’s Education Committee 2016-2018.
Over the course of her career, Terri has received many awards including the Leading Pension Plan Sponsor Award in 2011 and the Top 25 Most Influential Plan Sponsors in 2009 & 2010.
Terri has an MBA from York University and an HBBA from Wilfrid Laurier. She also holds the CFA charter and is currently enrolled in the Institute of Corporate Directors course at Rotman.
Pieter Wijnhoven
Senior Vice President
Ortec Finance Canada
Pieter Wijnhoven
Pieter Wijnhoven manages Ortec Finance Canada from our Toronto office, opened in January of this year. He is responsible for all North American business, serving both performance measurement and strategic risk management clients. The recent decision to open an office in Canada was based on identifying a good fit within the North American market, as well as recent client acquisitions.
Pieter started working for Ortec Finance in the Netherlands in 2005 as an Asset Liability Management (ALM) Consultant for international clients, and directed several large implementation projects within that role. In 2012 Pieter became a Senior Account Manager in the field of performance measurement, effectively moving from the ex-ante to the ex-post side of risk management. His main responsibility involved the global business development of Ortec Finance’s performance, attribution and risk system PEARL, while continuing to serve clients from Canada to New Zealand. More recently, growing business developments in North America have captured most of his time and energy, and in 2015 Pieter was selected to head the new office of Ortec Finance in Toronto, Canada.
Pieter earned a Master’s degree in Econometrics from the Erasmus University of Rotterdam and also holds the Certified European Financial Analyst (CEFA) accreditation.
Kevin Zhu
Managing Director, Head of Portfolio Construction
OPTrust
Kevin Zhu
Kevin Zhu is Managing Director, Head of Portfolio Construction at OPTrust, one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension funds with net assets of $19 billion.
Mr. Zhu has over 15 years of experience in the financial services industry, including both central banking and total portfolio investment strategy design for large Canadian defined benefit pension plans. He joined OPTrust in 2016 where he currently leads Total Fund portfolio management functions, including portfolio construction research and innovation, capital and risk allocation across asset classes and strategies, and dynamic overlay portfolio management. Previously, he held the position of Director, Strategy and Asset Mix at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
Prior to this appointment, Mr. Zhu was Senior Economist at the Bank of Canada. He holds a BA in Business and Administration from Donghua University in China, a MA in Economics from Carleton University and is a CFA Charterholder. Mr. Zhu was just named to Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute’s Public Investor 100.