2024 Annual Nordic Institutional Investor Forum

Thomas Deinet

Executive Director, SBAI

Thomas Deinet was appointed Executive Director of the SBAI (previously known as the HFSB) in 2008. In 2007, Thomas joined the working group to project manage the development of practice standards proposed by 14 leading international alternative investment managers that led to the establishment of the SBAI.

Prior to joining the SBAI, he was a senior manager at Oliver Wyman, where he extensively worked with major financial institutions in Europe covering asset management as well as corporate and investment banking. Thomas also worked as an analyst in energy trading for a major commodities trading firm.

Thomas is a graduate of the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, with a major in industrial engineering and holds an MSc from Purdue University, USA. Thomas is a CFA charterholder.

Markus Aho

Chief Investment Officer, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company

Markus Aho serves as the Chief Investment Officer of Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company. Varma provides pension insurance for Finnish work and invests pension assets of over 59 billion euros (12/2023) responsibly and profitably for future pensions.

He is currently a member of the Board and Audit Committee at Mandatum plc and member of number of Shareholders’ Nomination Boards of Finnish publicly listed companies. Markus has worked at Varma since 2014 in various positions; previously Head of Private Investments 1‒4/2022, Head of Private Equity and Infrastructure 2016‒2021, and Portfolio Manager, Private Equity in 2014–2016.

Prior to joining Varma in 2014, Markus led direct private equity investing at a Helsinki based family office Pontos Group in years 2008‒2013. His prior professional experience includes global strategy consulting at Accenture in years 2005‒2008.

Markus holds a Master of Science in Technology from Helsinki University of Technology, current Aalto University.

Armi Taipale

Head of Department for Capital Markets Supervision , Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority

Armi Taipale is Head of Department for Capital Markets Supervision at the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA). She joined the FIN-FSA in 2019.

She has previously worked at the Ministry of Finance, Financial Markets Department as Head of the Unit for Capital Markets and Market Infrastructure and in various positions as economist and legislative counsellor. Prior to this she was also deputy board membership in the State Pension Fund of Finland and board membership in the Auditor Oversight Board of the Finnish Chambers of Commerce.

She has a master’s degree in Law from the University of Helsinki and a master’s degree in Economics from the Helsinki School of Economics (now part of Aalto University).

Kari Vatanen

Head of Asset Allocation, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company

Kari Vatanen is the head of asset allocation and alternatives at Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company in Finland. Previously, he worked as a Chief Investment Officer at Veritas Pension Insurance, as a head of cross-asset derivatives and as a Chief Risk Officer at Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company. Mr. Vatanen is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Portfolio Management, and he has written articles on asset allocation, risk management, and alternative risk premia investing.

He holds a M.Sc. in Engineering Mathematics from Aalto University and a M.A. in Philosophy from the University of Helsinki. He is a CFA Charterholder with the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) certification.

Thomas Deinet

Executive Director, SBAI

Thomas Deinet was appointed Executive Director of the SBAI (previously known as the HFSB) in 2008. In 2007, Thomas joined the working group to project manage the development of practice standards proposed by 14 leading international alternative investment managers that led to the establishment of the SBAI.

Prior to joining the SBAI, he was a senior manager at Oliver Wyman, where he extensively worked with major financial institutions in Europe covering asset management as well as corporate and investment banking. Thomas also worked as an analyst in energy trading for a major commodities trading firm.

Thomas is a graduate of the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, with a major in industrial engineering and holds an MSc from Purdue University, USA. Thomas is a CFA charterholder.

Tiina Helenius

Chief Economist, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company

Tiina Helenius is the chief economist at Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company. Before joining Elo in September 2019, she worked at Svenska Handelsbanken, where for 16 years she was the chief economist for bank’s operations in Finland. At Elo, Tiina is responsible for the macro and financial market analysis.

Tiina has a master’s degree in economics from the University of Vaasa and the University of Iowa, where she studied as a Fullbright scholar in 1994-96.

Jarkko Soikkeli

Head of Strategy and Allocation , Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company

Jarkko Soikkeli, is the Head of Strategy and Allocation at Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company. Mr. Soikkeli joined Varma in 2017 from OP Group where he worked as a Head of Strategy in Asset Management and, prior to that, an Equity Strategist in Pohjola Markets Department.

Before joining Pohjola, Mr. Soikkeli held senior research positions at Swedbank, eQ Bank and FIM Group. Mr. Soikkeli also worked as a Chief Economist at the Federation of Finnish Enterprises (2004-2006), an economist at the International Monetary Fund (2000-2004) and at Sampo Bank (1997-2000).

He holds a graduate degree in economics from the Helsinki School of Economics, a CEFA from the Swedish School of Economics (Helsinki) and is an ASP graduate from the Kiel Institute of World Economy.

Caesar Yuan

Partner & Macro Portfolio Manager, Balyasny Europe Asset Management

Caesar Yuan is a Partner and Macro Portfolio Manager specializing in interest rate markets and central bank policy. Caesar joined BAM in 2018 and is based in our London office.

Prior to BAM, Caesar spent nine years with Goldman Sachs where he was an Executive Director in Short Macro Trading.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from the London School of Economics.

Mihai Florian

Senior Portfolio Manager, RBC BlueBay

Mihai is a BlueBay Senior Portfolio Manager within the Emerging Markets Team. He joined BlueBay Asset Management (which is now part of RBC Global Asset Management) in January 2020 and his primary portfolio management responsibilities include the illiquid strategy covering loans, illiquid instruments, special situations and distressed.

Prior to joining BlueBay, Mihai was a Founding Partner for the credit strategies at Helios Investment Partners. Mihai has 19 years' experience including on the sell-side where his last role was heading the emerging markets structuring team across fixed income, currencies and commodities.

Mihai holds a Master's Degree (MSc) in Economics and Finance from Warwick University and a BA in Economics from Nottingham Trent University as well as an undergraduate degree in Finance and Insurance from University of the West, Romania.

Kerry Hugh-Jones

Co-Managing Partner, Strategic Value Credit Division, Cheyne Capital Management

Kerry Hugh-Jones joined Cheyne SVC in September 2017 as Co-Managing Partner. She has over 20 years of experience in global financial markets with roles ranging from credit research and portfolio management to strategic development for alternative asset management businesses.

Prior to joining Cheyne SVC, she was Head of Alternatives at BlueBay Asset Management, responsible for driving the strategy and direction of BlueBay’s alternatives business, with a particular focus on distressed and opportunistic credit strategies. Previously, she was head of strategy and business development for Eclectica Asset Management, a fundamental global macro manager. Prior to that, she spent four years at Mediobanca S.p.A. and ten years at JPMorgan in various roles within Credit & Rates markets, including six years as a senior credit analyst in JPMorgan’s Global Credit Portfolio Group, having started her career in debt restructuring in the Special Credits team.

She holds a MA in Philosophy from University College London and a BA in Philosophy from The College of William & Mary in Virginia.

Jarkko Matilainen

Co-Founder, NorthPeak Governance

Jarkko Matilainen is one of the two Co-Founders of NorthPeak Governance LP, a corporate governance firm established in 2018 and based in Helsinki and focused on fund governance. He serves as an independent non-executive director for funds domiciled in Luxembourg, Ireland and Cayman Islands.

Previously, 2003 - 2018, Jarkko was a portfolio manager and the head of hedge funds at Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company having overall responsibility for the team, portfolio and investments. Earlier, 2000-2003, he worked as a risk manager and was one of the four founding partners of Avenir, an equity l/s fund in Helsinki. He started his career in Pension-Varma in 1996 and worked first as an economist and then as a strategist covering macro and investment analysis as well as asset allocation and risk management tasks.

He holds MSc (economics) degree from the University of Tampere, Finland.

Toni Pajari

Senior Portfolio Manager, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company

Toni Pajari is a senior Portfolio Manager at Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company based in Helsinki, Finland. He works at Varma’s Hedge Fund and Credit team covering variety of hedge fund and illiquid credit strategies.

Prior to joining Varma in 2020, Toni was a portfolio manager at Rettig Group, where he managed the family’s wealth via wide variety of asset classes from liquid to illiquid assets. Before Rettig he was hedge fund and illiquid credit portfolio manager at Nordea Investment Management.

Toni holds a Master of Science in Economics from Helsinki School of Economics, current Aalto University. He is a CFA and CAIA charterholder.

Brian Digney

Research and Content Director, SBAI

Brian Digney joined the SBAI in March 2023 in the role of Research and Content Director. He is responsible for content development and co-ordination of the ongoing and future working groups on a wide variety of topics, including valuation of private assets, ESG & carbon footprinting, governance, insurance linked strategies, digital assets, asset management regulation and compliance as well as new topics to be determined in the future.

Prior to joining the SBAI, Brian was the Head of Due Diligence & Governance Oversight at Innocap Global Investment Management (Ireland) Ltd (2018-2023) in Dublin, a subsidiary of Innocap Investment Management Inc., a US$50bn hedge fund platform. He acted as Designated Person for Operational Risk Management, a regulated role by the Central Bank of Ireland. He also sat on Innocap’s Irish Risk Oversight and Valuation Committees. In 2017, Brian joined Albourne Partners in London as a Senior Operational Due Diligence Analyst. From 2015 to 2017 he was employed as an Operational Due Diligence Analyst at Mercer Sentinel in London. From 2010 to 2015 he held various Associate level roles at Decura LLP, Morgan Stanley and Citi.

Brian holds an LLB Hons in Law with Criminology and an M.Sc. in Management and Corporate Governance from University of Ulster. Brian is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst.

Matthew Hertz

Head of Machine Learning Technology, Man Group

Matthew Hertz leads the Machine Learning Technology team at Man Group. This team is responsible for the integration of generative AI throughout the firm and the development and maintenance of the front office machine learning platform.

Prior to this, Matthew was the Head of Engineering for ArcticDB, a high-performance data-frame database optimised for time-series data. Matthew has been building data-driven technology platforms within firms in the financial services industry since 2015.

Matthew holds a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Southampton.

George Patterson

MD & Chief Investment Officer, PGIM Quantitative Solutions

George N. Patterson, PhD, CFA, CFP, is a Managing Director and the Chief Investment Officer for PGIM Quantitative Solutions. In this capacity, he oversees all portfolio management and research efforts for both the Quantitative Equity and Multi-Asset teams. Prior to his current role, George was the Co-Head of PGIM Quantitative Solutions’ Quantitative Equity team, overseeing portfolio management, investment research and new product development.

Before joining PGIM Quantitative Solutions, George was a Managing Director, Corporate Strategy, at Axioma, Inc., focusing on identifying buy-side trends and market opportunities. Previously, he was the Chief Investment Officer for Quantitative Investments at Bank of Montreal Global Asset Management, with responsibilities across global equities and multi-asset strategies spanning stand-alone asset allocation funds, FX overlays, retail fund of funds and ETF-based multi-asset solutions. In addition, George was a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Menta Capital LLC, a California-based quantitative equity hedge fund, and a Senior Portfolio Manager in equity market neutral strategies at Barclays Global Investors. He began his career at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

George earned a BS in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a PhD in physics from Boston University.

Isabelle Mather

Director, EMEA Relations, SBAI

Isabelle Mather joined the SBAI in March 2021 and is responsible for the SBAI's EMEA Relations.

Prior to the SBAI, Isabelle was Head of Sales for Aurum Funds Ltd and before that COO and Head of Marketing at Salt Rock Capital, a Global Macro Hedge Fund. In total, she has 19 years’ experience in the alternative investment industry.

Isabelle holds a BSc in Physics from Imperial College, University of London.

John Richardson

SBAI North America Committee; COO, Ionic Capital Management

He joined Ionic before it launched in 2006 and oversees all non-investment related aspects of the firm. Prior to joining Ionic, John was a senior attorney in the hedge fund practice group at Bingham McCutchen LLP in NY. John’s practice focused on counseling investment advisers in connection with the formation and management of private investment funds.

John obtained a JD from the University of South Carolina, cum laude, and a BS in Business Administration from the College of Charleston, cum laude.

Thomas Deinet

Executive Director, SBAI

Thomas Deinet was appointed Executive Director of the SBAI (previously known as the HFSB) in 2008. In 2007, Thomas joined the working group to project manage the development of practice standards proposed by 14 leading international alternative investment managers that led to the establishment of the SBAI.

Prior to joining the SBAI, he was a senior manager at Oliver Wyman, where he extensively worked with major financial institutions in Europe covering asset management as well as corporate and investment banking. Thomas also worked as an analyst in energy trading for a major commodities trading firm.

Thomas is a graduate of the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, with a major in industrial engineering and holds an MSc from Purdue University, USA. Thomas is a CFA charterholder.

Ilkka Harju

Director, Tax Department, Finnish Ministry of Finance

Ilkka Harju, graduated with a Master of Laws degree from the University of Helsinki in 1987 and joined the Ministry of Finance in 1992. He served almost 20 years (1998-2017) as an advisor to the director general and a member of the management group of the financial markets department and a deputy member of the board of the Financial Supervision Authority (1993-2008) and the board of Insurance Supervision Authority (1999-2008).

From March 2009 to September 2017 he was a Finnish member in the European Securities Committee (ESC) within the EC (DG FISMA). He was a member of an expert group on removing tax obstacles to cross-border venture capital investments (2008-2010). During the 1999 Finnish EU Presidency he was Council working group chairman in charge of the UCITS III Directive negotiations and was also the Finnish delegate in Council negotiations on various financial services directives and regulations. Since October 2017 he has mainly focused on tax issues with regard to financial services.

Mika Jaatinen

SBAI EMEA Committee Member; Portfolio Manager Hedge Fund Investments, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company

Mika Jaatinen is a Portfolio Manager of Elo’s Hedge Fund investments. Mika joined Pension Fennia (Pension Fennia and Pension Tapiola merged in 2014) in 2004 as a risk analyst covering Fennia’s capital market investments. Mika became portfolio manager of hedge fund investments in 2007. Mika has also been responsible for equity mutual fund selection in Fennia from 2010 until the merger with Pension Tapiola.

Mika holds an MSc in economics degree from the Jyväskylä University.

Jeppe Ladekarl

Product Manager, Systematica Investments

Jeppe Ladekarl serves as Product Manager at Systematica. Before joining Systematica Jeppe was Chief Investment Officer at First Quadrant, a quantitative investment manager located in Pasadena, CA. In June 2022 Systematica entered into an agreement to acquire First Quadrant’s investment management business. At First Quadrant, Jeppe oversaw all investment-related responsibilities, including strategy development, portfolio construction, risk management, portfolio implementation and trade execution at the firm.

Prior to assuming the role of CIO at First Quadrant, Jeppe directed the firm’s global macro efforts. Prior to joining First Quadrant in 2009, he worked at the World Bank, where he held a number of roles, including Principal Portfolio Manager for the currency and GTAA portfolios managed by the World Bank Pension and Endowments Department. Before the World Bank, Jeppe was a Special Advisor at the Danish Central Bank.

He holds an MSc in economics from the University of Copenhagen and has published on various investment topics, including debt management, ALM, mortgage bonds, currency, emerging markets and international portfolio management.

Razvan Remsing

Director of Investment Solutions, Aspect Capital Limited

Razvan joined Aspect Capital, the $10bn systematic investment manager, in July 2010 and is Director of Investment Solutions. Razvan is a member of Aspect’s Product Design Group and attends Investment Committee meetings. Razvan and his team are an integral part of the product development and research functions at Aspect and they provide quantitative expertise to Aspect’s clients on investment process and the development of new product ideas. Razvan’s primary responsibility is client engagement on matters relating to strategies, products, performance and research.

Prior to Aspect, Razvan worked at Skybound Capital, Clear Horizon Capital, and PeregrineQuant (now Vunani Fund Managers) in various quantitative research roles.

He graduated with distinctions in Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Physics from Rhodes University. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Theoretical Physics from Wits University and was awarded an MSc in Financial Mathematics from the University of Cape Town and is a CFA Charter holder.

Carsten Schmitz

Co-Chief Investment Officer, Winton

Carsten Schmitz leads Winton's investment management and research activities. He is a member of Winton’s executive management and investment committees.

Carsten joined Winton in 2008 as a researcher focused on the design of quantitative trading strategies. From 2012 Carsten was leading Winton’s Zurich research team, before moving back to London and being promoted to Head of Investment Strategy and subsequently Head of Research.

Carsten earned a Diploma with distinction from RWTH Aachen in Germany and a PhD with distinction from the University of Zurich. For his PhD and postdoctoral position, Carsten worked at the DESY collider facility in Hamburg, analysing data from high-energy particle collisions.

Thomas Deinet

Executive Director, SBAI

Thomas Deinet was appointed Executive Director of the SBAI (previously known as the HFSB) in 2008. In 2007, Thomas joined the working group to project manage the development of practice standards proposed by 14 leading international alternative investment managers that led to the establishment of the SBAI.

Prior to joining the SBAI, he was a senior manager at Oliver Wyman, where he extensively worked with major financial institutions in Europe covering asset management as well as corporate and investment banking. Thomas also worked as an analyst in energy trading for a major commodities trading firm.

Thomas is a graduate of the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, with a major in industrial engineering and holds an MSc from Purdue University, USA. Thomas is a CFA charterholder.

Brian Digney

Research and Content Director, SBAI

Brian Digney joined the SBAI in March 2023 in the role of Research and Content Director. He is responsible for content development and co-ordination of the ongoing and future working groups on a wide variety of topics, including valuation of private assets, ESG & carbon footprinting, governance, insurance linked strategies, digital assets, asset management regulation and compliance as well as new topics to be determined in the future.

Prior to joining the SBAI, Brian was the Head of Due Diligence & Governance Oversight at Innocap Global Investment Management (Ireland) Ltd (2018-2023) in Dublin, a subsidiary of Innocap Investment Management Inc., a US$50bn hedge fund platform. He acted as Designated Person for Operational Risk Management, a regulated role by the Central Bank of Ireland. He also sat on Innocap’s Irish Risk Oversight and Valuation Committees. In 2017, Brian joined Albourne Partners in London as a Senior Operational Due Diligence Analyst. From 2015 to 2017 he was employed as an Operational Due Diligence Analyst at Mercer Sentinel in London. From 2010 to 2015 he held various Associate level roles at Decura LLP, Morgan Stanley and Citi.

Brian holds an LLB Hons in Law with Criminology and an M.Sc. in Management and Corporate Governance from University of Ulster. Brian is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst.

Randy Cohen

Professor of Economics, Harvard Business School

Randolph B. (Randy) Cohen is the MBA Class of 1975 Senior Lecturer of Entrepreneurial Management at Harvard Business School where he teaches finance and entrepreneurship. In addition, he created the Alternative Investments course for Harvard Business School Online. Cohen’s main research interests are the identification and selection of money managers who are most likely to outperform, as well as asset allocation, risk management, and anything else related to building great investment portfolios.

In addition to his academic work, Cohen has helped to start and grow a number of businesses, mostly but not exclusively in the area of investment management and has served as a consultant to many other companies. He is co-founder of PEO Partners, an asset-management firm which specializes in liquid private equity, a research interest of his for over 20 years. Cohen serves on the Board of the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and helped launch ExSight Ventures, a small VC specializing in therapies for vision loss. His podcast, Dangerous Vision, in which he interviews fascinating people who have some connection to blindness, is available on iTunes and all other major platforms.

Cohen holds an AB in mathematics from Harvard College and a PhD in finance and Economics from the University of Chicago.

Mikael Brantberg

Founder & Chief Investment Officer, Lodbrok Capital

Mikael Brantberg is CIO and Managing Partner of Lodbrok Capital LLP which is an alternative investment manager with c. $1.3bn of assets under management. Lodbrok was nominated as best credit focused hedge fund in 2022 by Institutional Investor.

Prior to founding Lodbrok Capital LLP, Mr. Brantberg worked at Farallon Capital Europe from 2007 to 2015 where he focused on European credit opportunities. Between 2005 and 2007, Mr. Brantberg worked at Och Ziff Capital Management where he was an analyst focusing mainly on event driven equity and equity long/short strategies. Between 2003 and 2005, Mr. Brantberg worked as an analyst within the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs International.

He attended the Stockholm School of Economics between 1999 and 2003, graduating with an MSc in Business and Economics.

Mathieu Clavel

Portfolio Manager, Alternative Credit, PIMCO

Mr. Clavel is a managing director and portfolio manager in the London office and leads alternative credit in Europe and emerging markets, focusing on PIMCO’s opportunistic and alternative strategies within corporate credit.

Prior to joining PIMCO in 2021, he worked for Sculptor Capital (formerly Och Ziff) as a partner, head of European and Asian credit. Prior to joining Sculptor, he was a senior analyst at Silver Point Capital, a vice president at GSC Partners, and an analyst in the merger and acquisitions group at Schroder Salomon Smith Barney.

He has 22 years of investment experience and holds an MSc in accounting and finance from the London School of Economics and a BSc from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Aix en Provence.

Alan Shaffran

Senior Portfolio Manager, Magnetar Capital (UK) LLP

Mr. Shaffran runs Magnetar Capital’s European Fixed Income business and the firm’s London office. He serves on Magnetar's Management Committee and Investment Committee.

Prior to joining Magnetar in 2008, Mr. Shaffran was Global Head of Structuring at Rabobank in London, where he was responsible for Rabobank’s structured products businesses across asset classes ranging from credit and rates to equity and fund derivatives and was on the Management Team of Rabobank’s Global Financial Markets business. Previously he spent more than 19 years at Citigroup, and its precedent firm, Salomon Brothers, where from 2001 to 2006 he was Managing Director and Head of European Credit Derivatives in London. Prior to that, he was a founding member of Salomon Brothers’ Credit Derivatives and Emerging Markets Credit Derivatives trading desks in New York, and had roles in the firm’s Debt Capital Markets and Bond Portfolio Analysis groups.

Mr. Shaffran earned a BS in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School and a BS in Systems Science and Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Brian Shearer

Managing Director, Head of European Credit Solutions, TPG Angelo Gordon

Brian Shearer joined TPG Angelo Gordon in 2019 and is a Managing Director in the TPG AG Credit Solutions Group and Head of CSF Europe.

Prior to joining TPG Angelo Gordon, Brian spent over four years as a senior distressed analyst at Taconic Capital Advisors. Previously, he was a senior analyst in the Distressed Products Group at Deutsche Bank.

Brian holds a B.A. degree from the University of Virginia.

Patrick Bronger

Portfolio Manager, APG Asset Management

Drs. Patrick Bronger has been an Expert Portfolio Manager for Hedge Funds and Alternative Alpha at APG Asset Management based in Amsterdam since 2017. He also has been a Senior Lecturer in Investment Management at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam since 2002.

Between 2014 and 2017, Patrick was Chief Investment Officer & Member Executive Board at Conservatrix Group in Baarn. Prior to that, he was Head of Investment Strategy at ASR Nederland in Utrecht in 2010-2014. He also worked as Senior Portfolio Manager responsible for Hedge Funds & Tactical Asset Allocation between 2002 and 2010. In 1999-2002 he was an option trader at the German Derivatives Exchange Eurex. Between 1994 and 1999, Patrick was a researcher and a lecturer at Rotterdam School of Management.

Patrick followed the PhD programme at Rotterdam School of Management. He has a Master’s Degree in Financial Modelling from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam as well as a Master’s Degree in Philosophy from Erasmus University Rotterdam. He is a non-executive board member of several organizations in the healthcare sector and the cultural sector.

Mark Carhart

CIO, Kepos Capital

Mark Carhart is the Chief Investment Officer and founding partner of Kepos Capital LP. Kepos is a NYC-based systematic investment manager with $2.2 billion in institutional assets. Kepos’ investment program includes proprietary short-term trading models, longer-term risk premia strategies, a specialized equity-event strategy, and a series of strategies motivated by the carbon transition.

Prior to founding Kepos in 2010, Mark was a Partner and the Co-Chief Investment Officer of the Quantitative Investment Strategies Group at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and prior to GSAM he was an Assistant Professor at the Marshall School of Business at USC and a Senior Fellow at The Financial Institutions Center at The Wharton School. Mark’s publications include articles in The Journal of Finance, The Review of Financial Studies and the Financial Analysts Journal, and he received the FAJ’s Graham and Dodd Award in 2014. He is also a co-author of Modern Investment Management: An Equilibrium Approach.

Mark earned a B.A. from Yale University in 1988, became a CFA Charterholder in 1991 and received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1995. He serves on the non-profit board of InTandem Cycling and investment committees for the Convent of the Sacred Heart New York and the Aldrich Museum.

Sheru Chowdhry

Founder & Chief Investment Officer, DSC Meridian Capital

Sheru Chowdhry is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer at DSC Meridian Capital, an opportunistic credit investment firm focused on generating returns across the credit cycle. The firm offers performing High Yield, stressed and distressed credit solutions with a variety of liquidity options. In addition, climate products are a key solution offered for investors seeking to align the objectives of their investment with the objectives of the Paris Climate Accords. The firm’s sustainable efforts are done through corporate engagement. Prior to launching DSC Meridian Capital, Mr. Chowdhry was Head of Credit Research and Portfolio Manager at Paulson & Co. and managed the Paulson Credit Opportunities Funds.

Mr. Chowdhry has an MBA from Vanderbilt University and a Bachelor of Technology from IIT Bombay. He currently serves on the NY Tri-State Board of Pratham, one of the largest non-for-profit in India, that seeks to provide quality education to underprivileged children in India.

Dr Jean Rogers

Sr. MD & ESG Chairperson, Blackstone

Dr. Jean Rogers is a Senior Managing Director and Blackstone’s ESG Chairperson. She partners with investment and ICS teams on energy transition and ESG-related initiatives.

Prior to joining Blackstone, Dr. Rogers advised companies and asset managers on long-term ESG integration as an independent board director and C-level advisor. Dr. Rogers founded and led the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), a non-profit dedicated to optimizing US capital markets by fostering disclosure of material sustainability information that meets investor needs and enhances public trust. Before founding SASB, Dr. Rogers worked to advance sustainable development across the US, Europe, and China for more than a decade at Arup, a global engineering consultancy specializing in low-carbon infrastructure and green buildings, and Deloitte, where she worked on environmental projects in its manufacturing practice.

Dr. Rogers holds a PhD in environmental engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology and earned both her BE and ME in civil and environmental engineering from Manhattan College. She was a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University and currently serves as an advisor to the Social Innovation and Change Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Hoffman Global Institute at INSEAD. Dr. Rogers serves on the Board of Directors of Xpansiv, a Blackstone portfolio company, as well as on the Investment Committees for certain of Blackstone’s strategies in private equity and private credit focused on energy transition and climate solutions.

Xinyu Hong

Chief Operating Officer , GCI Asset Management

Xinyu Hong is the Chief Operating Officer of GCI Asset Management, HK Limited. Ms. Hong set up the Hong Kong office in 2018 and oversees the business development, risk management, compliance and operations functions of the company. Over the past decade, she has developed wide range of expertise across equity, credit and other macro derivative products, across front-to-back roles on both buy and sell side.

Prior to joining GCI in 2016, she worked at Goldman Sachs Japan in Credit Structuring and Marketing, participated in cross regional origination projects and raised funding from Japanese financial institutions for sovereign and corporate clients within the Asia-Pacific region. Ms. Hong started her career with Deutsche Securities Japan in Tokyo.

Ms. Hong holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Keio University.

Edward Johnson

Head of Business Development, Alternative Capital Partners, Swiss Re

Ed is Head of Business Development for Swiss Re's Alternative Capital Partners business. Based in London, Ed is responsible for building direct partnerships between Swiss Re and institutional investors globally.

With previous experience at Aon Securities and Leadenhall Capital Partners, Ed has worked in both structuring and sales roles across the ILS market since 2012 and has successfully structured and/or placed dozens of ILS transactions. Prior to this, Ed worked as an actuary in the insurance consulting practice at Lane Clark and Peacock.

Ed is a Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary, an Associate of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and holds a BSc in Economics & Statistics from University College London.

John Richardson

SBAI North America Committee; COO, Ionic Capital Management

He joined Ionic before it launched in 2006 and oversees all non-investment related aspects of the firm. Prior to joining Ionic, John was a senior attorney in the hedge fund practice group at Bingham McCutchen LLP in NY. John’s practice focused on counseling investment advisers in connection with the formation and management of private investment funds.

John obtained a JD from the University of South Carolina, cum laude, and a BS in Business Administration from the College of Charleston, cum laude.