2023 SBAI & CAIA in Partnership: How to Navigate a Career in Alternatives

Jane Buchan

SBAI Chair; CEO, Martlet Asset Management

Jane is Chief Executive Officer of Martlet Asset Management responsible for firm strategy, organization and performance. Martlet is based in Newport Beach, CA and was founded in July 2018. The firm’s strategies include alternative risk premia and developing liquid strategies with a focus on fixed income.

Prior to this, Ms. Buchan co-founded and led Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company (PAAMCO), a Fund of Hedge Funds focused on institutional investors for 18 years. Under her leadership first as CEO of PAAMCO and then co-CEO of PAAMCO Prisma, the firm grew to $32 billion AUM placing it third globally in the league tables by the time of her retirement in July 2018 (HFM InvestHedge Billion Dollar Club).

Jane began her career at J.P. Morgan Investment Management in the Capital Markets Group where she was trained in quantitative fixed income portfolio management. She has been an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. She recently served as chairwoman of the board for the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association (CAIA) and is a member of the Advisory Board for the Master of Financial Engineering Program at UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Jane holds both a PhD and an MA in Business Economics (Finance) from Harvard University. She earned a BA in Economics from Yale University. Jane has thirty-three years of experience in investment management and portfolio construction with institutional investors.

Naomi Corrieri-Hagar

EMEA Head of HR, Millennium Capital Partners

Naomi is the Head of HR, EMEA for Millennium Capital Partners and joined the firm in June 2016. Her team provides a full service HR offering to the around 1200 employees at the firm in the region.

Prior to joining Millennium, Naomi spent 18 years with Goldman Sachs in London, in a number of different HR roles mainly in the Business Partner space.

Claire Curtin

Head of ESG & Sustainability, Pension Protection Fund

Claire Curtin (Head of ESG & Sustainability, PPF) joined the PPF investment team as Head of ESG in May 2018 to support the PPF’s ambitions to further develop and implement its Responsible Investment strategy. Claire is responsible for contributing to the management of long-term risks, and to the achievement of long-term sustainable investment returns, by aligning the PPF’s investment portfolio with the consideration of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors. More recently, her role has expanded to also develop and oversee the PPF’s broader sustainability strategy and approach.

Claire has twenty-three years of experience within institutional investment and ESG analysis, during which she has built a deep technical understanding of ESG issues across a wide range of asset classes. She was awarded the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst certification in 2007 and the CFA UK Certificate in Climate and Investing in 2022.

Alistair Jacobs

Managing Director, Business Development , Balyasny Europe Asset Management

Alistair Jacobs is a Managing Director and runs the EMEA Business Development team, joining in 2019 and is based in our London office. Originally, Alistair joined BAM from Options Group, where he was he focused on recruiting portfolio managers & Analysts across sector in EMEA.

Prior to joining Options group in 2014, Alistair worked at RW Associates in a similar role for 3 years.

Alistair holds a Bachelor of Arts in History, and Masters in Management from Cardiff University.

Laura Merlini

Managing Director for EMEA , CAIA Association

Laura Merlini is a senior financial industry professional with a strong interest in education and governance. Laura currently serves as Managing Director for EMEA at the CAIA (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst) Association and has 20 years of experience in the European alternative investments industry.

During her previous role at Fortis Prime Fund Solutions in Milan, Madrid, and Geneva, Laura advised on the areas of fund set-up, administration, banking, and custody. She earned the CAIA charter in 2007 and has been an active CAIA proponent and member-volunteer, being the co-founder of the CAIA Iberia Chapter (based in Madrid) in 2008 and leading the CAIA Switzerland Chapter in Geneva since 2010. Furthermore, she chaired the 100 Women in Finance Educational Committee in Geneva from 2016 to 2018.

Laura earned a BA in Business Administration at Bocconi University in Milan, received the CEMS MIM (Community of European Management Schools) MSc in International Management in 2012 and is a member of the inaugural class (2014) of the Executive Master in Positive Psychology, Leadership, and Strategy form IE in Madrid in 2014. She is a Certified Investment Fund Director by the CIFD Institute, she was a member of the UN PRI HF Advisory Committee, and sits on the board of Agave Advisors, an independent wealth management company in Geneva. Moreover, Laura is a certified sommelier and enjoys travelling and discovering new terroirs.