AICA Summer Summit:
(CEFs, BDCs, Interval Funds)
August 13th, 2020
General Session
| Time | Event | Moderator | Speaker #1 | Speaker #2 | Speaker #3 | Speaker #4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 AM | Welcome remarks from John Cole Scott, Founder & Executive Chairman of the Active Investment Company Alliance [Video] [Transcript] | |||||
| 10:15 AM | Keynote Speaker | Collin Bell, Managing Director and Global Head of Client Portfolio Management for Fundamental Equity within Goldman Sachs Asset Management [Video] [Transcript] [Article] | ||||
| 11:00 AM | General Session: Institutional Investing & Trading in Closed-End Funds [Video] [Transcript] [Article] | John Cole Scott, CIO, CEF Advisors & Founder, Exec Chairman, AICA | Ed Keating, Portfolio Manager, Lazard Asset Management | Matt Leffler, Portfolio Manager, Logan Stone | Doug Bond, Executive VP, Cohen & Steers | Jonathan Browne, Portfolio Manager, Director of Closed-End Fund Research, Robinson Capital |
CEF Track #1
| Time | Event | Moderator | Speaker #1 | Speaker #2 | Speaker #3 | Speaker #4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 Noon | Social Tables Networking Lunch w/ Sponsors | |||||
| 1:00 PM | CEF Track #1 Panel #1 – Recent Development in Corporate Governance & Activism in CEFs [Video] [Transcript] [Article] | Chuck Jaffe, Host, MoneyLife | Phil Goldstein, Principal & Co-Founder, Bull Dog Investors | Tom DeCapo, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom | Brian Schaffer, Managing Director, Prosek Partners | Peter Kimball, Executive Director, ISS Corporate Solutions |
| 2:00 PM | CEF Track #1 Panel #2 – Future of the CEF Structure: From Creation to How They Trade In The Secondary Market [Video] [Transcript] [Article] | Kimberley Flynn Managing Director, XA Investments | Neil Sullivan, Managing Director, Vision 4 | William Meyers, Senior Managing Director in Nuveen’s Global Product Group | Andrew Hall, Managing Director, NASDAQ | Marc Loughlin, Director, WallachBeth |
| 4:00 PM | Virtual Happy Hour for Attendees and Sponsors | |||||
| 5:00 PM | Convene |
CEF Track #2
| Time | Event | Moderator | Speaker #1 | Speaker #2 | Speaker #3 | Speaker #4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 Noon | Social Tables Networking Lunch w/ Sponsors | |||||
| 1:00 PM | CEF Track #2 Panel #1 – Equity Access Through Closed-End Funds [Video] [Transcript] [Article] | Russell Robinson, Account Executive, CAPIS | Peter Vanderlee, Portfolio Manager, ClearBridge Investments | Martin Connaghan, Investment Director, Global Equities, Aberdeen Asset Management | Peter Maletis, Portfolio Manager, Merk | |
| 2:00 PM | CEF Track #2 Panel #2 – Taxable Fixed Income [Video] [Transcript] [Article] | Michael Spatacco, Director of Cash Management, Bancroft Vets | Navid Abghari, Senior Portfolio Manager, Angel Oak | Larry Holzenthaler, Investment Strategist & Analyst, Symphony/ Nuveen | Sanjai Bhonsle, Chairman & CEO, StoneCastle Financial | Gretchen Lam, Portfolio Manager, Octagon |
| 3:00 PM | CEF Track #2 Panel #3 – Muni Bond CEF Investing [Video] [Transcript] [Article] | Patrick Shaddow, Director of Index Operations, S-Network | Paul Brennan, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager for Nuveen | Samuel Weitzman, Product Specialist, Western Asset Management | ||
| 4:00 PM | Virtual Happy Hour for Attendees and Sponsors | |||||
| 5:00 PM | Convene |
Interval Fund Track
| Time | Event | Moderator | Speaker #1 | Speaker #2 | Speaker #3 | Speaker #4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 Noon | Social Tables Networking Lunch w/ Sponsors | |||||
| 1:00 PM | Interval Panel #1 – Real Estate Investing in Interval & List CEFs [Video] [Transcript] [Article] | Joshua Deringer, Partner, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP | Randy Anderson, Portfolio Manager, Griffin | Sean Morris, Managing Director, Private Wealth Partners, CIM Group | Svitlana Gubriy, Head of Global REIT Funds, Aberdeen Asset Management | |
| 2:00 PM | ||||||
| 3:00 PM | Interval Panel #2 – Diverse Interval Fund Strategies [Video] [Transcript] [Article] | James Thompson, Vice President, NorthernTrust | Jeremy Goff, Managing Director, Tortoise Advisors | Gregg Bell, Founder & Portfolio Manager, A3 Financial | Christian Munafo, CIO, SharesPost Investment Management | |
| 4:00 PM | Virtual Happy Hour for Attendees and Sponsors | |||||
| 5:00 PM | Convene |
BDC Track
| Time | Event | Moderator | Speaker #1 | Speaker #2 | Speaker #3 | Speaker #4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 Noon | Social Tables Networking Lunch w/ Sponsors | |||||
| 1:00 PM | BDC Track Panel #1 – BDCs from A Service Provider Perspective. [Video] [Transcript] [Article] | Mark O’Brien, Sr. Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Advantage Data | Michael Shekel, Director Valuation Advisory Services, Cherry Bekaert | Kelly Thompson, Founder & Editor, Direct Lending Deals | Nicole Eisenberger, Partner, Ernst & Young | |
| 2:00 PM | BDC Track Panel #2 – Institutional Investor Panel: BDCs [Video] [Transcript] [Article] | Nicholas Marshi of BDC Reporter | Troy Ward, Managing Director, Ares Management | Dave Miyazaki, Portfolio Managger, Confluence | Mike Petro, Portfolio Manager, Putnam Investments | |
| 3:00 PM | BDC Track Panel #3 – Premium BDC Panel: Why some BDCs Trade Better to NAV; Common Attributes vs Manager Unique Traits[Video] [Transcript] [Article] |
Bryce Rowe, Senior Equity Research Analyst for National Securities | Dwayne Hyzak, CEO, Main Street Capital | Barry Sloane, President, Chairman & CEO, Newtek | Bowen Diehl, President & CEO of Capital Southwest | Scott Bluestein, CEO & CIO, Hercules |
| 4:00 PM | Virtual Happy Hour for Attendees and Sponsors | |||||
| 5:00 PM | Convene |
Sponsorship Opportunities
- Platinum Sponsor: $6,500
- 3 Networking Tables for Lunch and Happy Hour
- Full Attendee List with Full Contact Info
- 1 Moderator Slots with Priority
- 60 Promo Code Passes for Attendees, 10 for Sponsor
- Company Ad in NAVigator Podcast for 5 Episodes
- Gold Sponsor: $3,900
- 2 Networking Tables for Lunch and Happy Hour
- 1 Moderator Slot
- Attendee List with Full Contact Info
- 25 Promo Code Passes for Attendees, 5 for Sponsor
- Company Ad in NAVigator Podcast for 1 Episode
- Silver Sponsor: $2,200
- 1 Networking Tables for Lunch and Happy Hour
- Full Attendee List, Name & Company Only
- 10 Promo Code Passes for Attendees, 3 for Sponsor
All Sponsorships include logo and link on AICA conference website and email communications about the event. AICA Members receive a 20% discount on sponsorship cost and 1 additional Networking Table (Lunch & Happy Hour: 6 people per table). Additional tables for Event Sponsors at both networking sessions are $600 each. A la cart tables are $1000 (no other sponsorship). Additional Promo Codes per ticket price: 25%, 50% or 100% off.
Note: The NAVigator Podcast has an average download rate of 5000+ per month aided by our partnership with Chuck Jaffe @ Moneylife, a top 5% downloaded podcast).
- Content Sponsor (1 Breakout Panel): $2,850
- 100% Covers a Panel’s:
- Transcription
- Video Replay Formatting & Required Edits
- Summary (5-min) Video
- Article highlighting the session written by an experienced financial journalist
- Company logo on all materials covering the session
- 100% Covers a Panel’s:
- Advisor Underwriter: $250 (per year): Support AICA and its non-profit mission. Eligible for membership on AICA’s Advisor Forum.
- Individual Investor Underwriter: $100 (per year): Support AICA and its non-profit mission. Eligible for membership on AICA’s Individual Forum
We are modeling for 500-700 unique attendees based on previous AICA webinars and expectations from our event planner.
Russell Robinson joined CAPIS in 2016 as an institutional sales person. Prior to joining CAPIS, he was an investment associate at CMW Financial, LLC and worked on the trading desk at Williams Financial Group. Russell graduated from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and finance. He currently maintains Series 3, 7, 63 and 66 licenses.
Navid is a Senior Portfolio Manager at Angel Oak Capital and a Portfolio Manager for the Financials Income Fund, Financial Strategies Income Term Trust and the Dynamic Financial Strategies Income Term Trust. He has over 10 years of experience in fixed income markets, focusing on corporate credit trading, risk management, credit derivatives and structured products. Prior to joining Angel Oak in 2015, Navid was an Executive Director at J.P. Morgan Securities in New York, where he was head of Americas synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) trading. He oversaw the modeling and risk systems for the global tranche business, directed the U.S. hedging activities of the global tranche book, was market maker for synthetic CDOs and master asset vehicle notes (Canadian asset-backed commercial paper), and ran the U.S. index basis book. In his time at J.P. Morgan, Navid was responsible for some of the most complex credit transactions, which included large credit portfolio buyouts, regulatory capital trades, counterparty risk-hedging trades, levered tranches, options on tranches, hybrid cash and synthetic CDOs, derivative product company equity, synthetic portfolio insurance, constant proportion debt obligations, CDO-squared and forward-starting tranches, fixed recovery tranches, knock-ins/knock-outs and several other complex transactions.
Douglas Bond, Executive Vice President, is Head of Closed End Funds and a portfolio manager for Cohen & Steers’ Closed-End Opportunity Fund and other portfolios investing in closed-end funds. Before joining Cohen & Steers in 2004, Mr. Bond worked at Merrill Lynch for 23 years. Between 1992 and 2004, he ran their closed-end fund new origination effort and was involved in all closed-end funds underwritten by Merrill Lynch. He also headed Merrill’s Private Client Syndicate Group.
Edward Keating is a Client Portfolio Manager on the Discounted Assets, Global Listed Infrastructure, and Global Equity Franchise teams. He began working in the investment field in 2001, upon joining Lazard. He has a BA from Iona College.
Dwayne L. Hyzak has served as Main Street’s Chief Executive Officer since November 2018 and as a member of our Board of Directors since January 2018. Mr. Hyzak also serves as a member of our management team’s investment and executive committees. Previously, he served as President (2015 until November 2018), Chief Operating Officer (2014 until November 2018), Chief Financial Officer (2011 until 2014) and Senior Managing Director since 2011. Mr. Hyzak has served in other senior executive positions at Main Street since prior to its IPO in 2007. From 2002, Mr. Hyzak has also served as a Senior Managing Director and in other executive positions of several Main Street predecessor funds and entities, which are now subsidiaries of ours. From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Hyzak was a Director of Integration with Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE: PWR), which provides specialty contracting services to the power, natural gas and telecommunications industries, where he was principally focused on the company’s mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance activities. Prior to joining Quanta Services, Inc., Mr. Hyzak, a certified public accountant, was a Manager with Arthur Andersen in its Transaction Advisory Services group.
Matt co-founded Logan Stone Capital in 2007 and has been co-managing both the equity market neutral, relative value arbitrage strategy and the long/short closed-ends funds (CEFs) strategy since their inceptions. Previously, Matt was a senior trader at Cornerstone Trading LLC, where he co-founded its proprietary trading group. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Management from Purdue University, his MBA with a focus in Analytical Finance and Econometrics from the University of Chicago, and is a CFA® charterholder.
Mr. Petro is the Portfolio Manager of Putnam’s small-cap value strategies. He is responsible for the overall strategy and positioning of Putnam’s small-cap value products. Mr. Petro joined Putnam in 2002 and has been in the investment industry since 1999.
Bryce Rowe joined National Securities in July 2019 as a senior equity research analyst with a primary focus on the Business Development Company sector. Bryce has been an equity research analyst at several firms since March 2000. Most recently, he spent 13 years at Robert W. Baird & Co., covering small-cap banks and BDCs. Bryce has been recognized three times for his stock picking abilities in The Wall Street Journal’s Best On The Street Analyst Survey and by Thomson Reuters (Starmine). Bryce has a B.A. from the University of Virginia and is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder.
Phillip Goldstein – Principal / Co-Founder / Portfolio Manager
Sean Morris is a Managing Director of the Private Wealth Partners group. He and his team work directly with Family Offices, RIAs, Foundations and other strategic partners to help them achieve their real asset investment objectives.
Patrick is responsible for the development, production and maintenance of all S-Network indexes, including indexes that serve as the underlying for financial products holding over $8 billion in AuM. He is also responsible for the oversight of product-centered company IT. Patrick started at S-Network in 2007 and has engaged directly in every facet of the index business. He oversees development and production of domestic and international equity indexes as well as indexes that include 40-Act funds, futures and options.
Gregory Bell co-founded A3 Financial Investments, after serving as the Chief Investment Officer of SBAM. He has invested in credit across a variety of niche industries since 2006, working at two multi-billion dollar credit & structured product hedge funds. As a structured credit analyst and trader at Arrow Mark Partners, Bell was responsible for asset backed securities trading activity. He has participated in hundreds of structured credit securitizations throughout his career, acting in an investment banking capacity, as well as underwriter, structurer and trader. While at the Royal Bank of Scotland, he developed the reverse mortgage broker–dealer trading operations. Bell began his career at Silver Point Capital. Bell holds a B.S. from the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering.
Christian has 19 years of experience in finance, with the last 14 years focused on secondary investments involving venture-backed and growth equity-oriented companies and funds. During this time, he has also served on the boards of many of these companies and funds. Before joining SharesPost, Christian was co-head of the Global Private Equity Secondary Practice at HQ Capital based in New York. Prior to that, he served as head of secondaries at Thomas Weisel Partners. In aggregate, Christian has helped raise more than $1 billion globally from institutional investors, corporations, pensions, endowments, and family offices, and has completed or overseen the completion of more than 100 secondary transactions representing over $1 billion in capital commitments. Christian holds a B.A. in Economics and Finance from Rutgers College.
Previously with Standard Life plc, Svitlana Gubriy joined Aberdeen Standard Investments in August 2017. She is Head of Global REIT Funds at Aberdeen Standard Investments. She is responsible for the global listed real estate team’s investments across a number of global and regional listed real estate mandates. Prior to joining Standard Life Investments, Ms. Gubriy worked in the real estate investment banking division of Lehman Brothers in New York and private equity in Kyiv (Ukraine). She also holds the Investment Management Certificate (IMC).
Mr. Sloane is the President, Chairman and CEO of Newtek Business Services Corp. Prior to joining Newtek Business Services, Mr. Sloane was a Managing Director of Smith Barney, Inc. where he directed the Commercial and Residential Real Estate Securitization Unit and, prior to that, he was national sales manager for institutional mortgage and asset backed securities sales. Mr. Sloane was founder and President of Aegis Capital Markets, a consumer loan origination and securitization business.
Piers Currie joined international fund manager Aberdeen Asset Management in London in 1995, then responsible for closed-end fund marketing in the UK. Piers became group head of marketing in 2007 and then their first Group Head of Brand in 2012. He was the award winner for “outstanding industry contribution” at the UK’s Investment Week’s Investment Company of the Year Awards in November 2018. He established Warhorse Partners in 2017 as a marketing consultancy for asset managers and their client companies. www.warhorsepartners.com
Brian Schaffer has over two decades of experience providing strategic communications counsel to senior management teams and boards of directors. He has helped position numerous proxy contests, hostile takeover attempts, mergers and acquisitions, corporate and sovereign restructurings, bankruptcies, divestitures and IPOs, all in agency and internal roles. Brian’s work within shareholder activism includes defense and offense work related to CEFs, BDCs and asset management companies, as well as a range of other corporations. Select activism clients include Amundi Pioneer, Atlas Holdings, Aurelius Capital Management, Canyon Partners, Credit Suisse, Dalton Investments, Elliott Management, First United, Franklin Templeton, FS KKR Capital Corp., Hercules Capital, NexPoint Advisors, Praesidium Investment Management, and Wellington Management, among many others.
Andy has been with Nasdaq Listing Services since 2004, and has had various positions in the areas of Issuer Services & Market Intelligence. Andy has been on the New Listings team since 2007, and works with companies that are considering a Nasdaq listing. Andy has worked with companies that are moving from being a private to a public company in an IPO, and public companies that trade on the NYSE, NYSE American, TSX or OTC and are considering transferring, dual listing or uplisting to Nasdaq.
Michael J. Spatacco is a Director with over 10 years of industry experience. Previously responsible for the creation and management of the Retirement Plan Consulting Division at CFG Capital Markets, Mr. Spatacco will act as principal for Bancroft Capital managing the Bancroft Capital Money Market Portal and the Retirement Plan Consulting division. Mr. Spatacco holds FINRA Series 4, 7, 24, 63, 65, and PA State Insurance License. In his spare time he enjoys coaching hockey for his two sons as Head Coach for Lower Merion – Middle School Junior Varsity, assistant coach for the Lower Merion Developmental Mites Team, and is President of the Belmont Hills Civic Association.
Larry is an investment strategist and analyst at Symphony Asset Management, LLC. He is a member of the Fixed-Income Team and his responsibilities include generating investment ideas and product development.
Collin is global head of client portfolio management for Fundamental Equity within Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM). The Fundamental Equity team manages over $60B across a broad range of equity solutions on behalf of institutional and individual clients around the world. He is a portfolio manager on two multi-asset income oriented portfolios; the Goldman Sachs Real Estate Diversified Income Fund which seeks to generate attractive yield, limited volatility, and diversification benefits versus traditional asset classes by investing in both private and listed real estate and the GS Income Builder Fund which seeks to identify attractive investments across equities and fixed income that are well suited for conservative, income-oriented investors.
Ms. Lam is a member of Octagon’s Investment Committee and serves as a Portfolio Manager across CLOs, Separately Managed Accounts and Commingled Funds. Ms. Lam oversees the Firm’s Structured Credit (CLO debt & equity) investment strategies. Prior to becoming a Portfolio Manager, Ms. Lam oversaw Octagon`s investments in the software, business services, finance & insurance, paper & packaging, gaming & lodging, homebuilding and real estate industries. She was also responsible for the structured credit exposure held in Octagon’s CLO vehicles. Prior to joining Octagon in 1999, Ms. Lam attended Babson College where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in Investments. She received her CFA Charter in 2006.
Peter is Head of Advisory Services at ICS where he leads team of governance, compensation, and sustainability experts working with companies and closed-end funds. Before heading the advisory team, Peter was the head ICS advisor to professional services firm clients. He joined ICS in 2012 after spending four proxy seasons with ISS’s U.S. Research division. Prior to ISS, Peter was an attorney and an economist. Peter is a frequent speaker and has been widely quoted in the press on governance topics.
Marc Loughlin joined WallachBeth in late 2012 to launch a robust closed end fund execution platform, thus further enhancing the capabilities of WallachBeth`s ETF trading group, one of the leading ETF desks in the industry.
Mr. Ward is a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager in the Ares Credit Group, where he focuses on investing capital in publicly traded equities. Prior to joining Ares in 2016, Mr. Ward was a Managing Director at KBW and Stifel Financial where he was a Senior Equity Analyst with a focus on business
Mark O’Brien is Head of Sales and Marketing for Advantage Data. He is likewise President of Best Credit Data, an Advantage Data affiliate. Prior to Advantage Data, Mark was head of North American sales at Interactive Data, now ICE Data Services.
A Director with Cherry Bekaert’s Valuation Advisory Services practice, Michael B. Shekel, CPA/ABV, MBA has more than 15 years of valuation, finance and technical accounting experience in the areas of complex financial instruments, fixed income securities, equity securities, and controlling / minority ownership interests in business and real estate entities. Michael’s industry expertise includes technology, life sciences, industrial, renewable energy, and real estate. He has conducted hundreds of valuation analyses for financial reporting, tax, and merger and acquisition engagements. His clients include private equity funds, private middle-market companies, publicly-traded corporations, attorneys and lenders. Prior to joining Cherry Bekaert, Michael was a director with CTS Capital Advisors, LLC.
Nicole is a Partner in EY’s Wealth & Asset Management Practice with over twenty-five years of dedicated and diverse experience in the financial services and real estate industries. Nicole has provided assurance and advisory services to a wide range of privately and publicly held companies. Nicole’s clients have included major global private equity and real estate funds and investment groups including, publicly traded financial services companies, business development companies, alternative asset managers, investment fund advisors, as well as equity and mortgage real estate investment trusts.
Upon graduating from Purdue University with a bachelor’s degree in business, James has spent the majority of his career in financial services, starting as a Private Banker at JP Morgan Chase then as a Financial Advisor at ING Financial Partners. Subsequently, James began working at Northern Trust in 2014 and has had tremendous success both in sales and leadership roles. He is now in his third role at the firm, serving as an Institutional Business Development Executive for the firm’s funds and managed accounts group. In this role, James is tasked with developing new business with Asset Managers, Hedge Funds and ETF Investment Strategists. James resides in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife and two young sons and is an avid golfer.
Paul manages a number of tax-exempt fixed income portfolios at Nuveen. He also oversees several national and state-specific municipal closed-end funds. He began his career in the investment industry in 1991 as a municipal credit analyst for Flagship
Mr. Goff joined the firm in 2011 and currently oversees the firm’s business development efforts, developing and executing platform strategy, attracting early stage capital through strategic partnerships and driving new product idea generation. He is a member of the Investment Committees for the Social Impact and Private Sustainable Infrastructure strategies and participates on the firm’s Sustainability and Impact committee. Since joining the firm, Mr. Goff has led the development and launch of the firm’s social impact and ETF businesses, index and exchange traded fund business, clean energy initiatives as well as its private fund platform. Previously, Mr. Goff worked for Blackstone in the firm’s private equity investor relations and business development group where he was responsible for developing and fundraising for their private funds including Blackstone Capital Partners VI and Blackstone Energy Partners’ funds. He played an instrumental role in the relationship management of Blackstone’s domestic and international limited partners, with particular emphasis on Latin America. Prior to his time with Blackstone, he served as a ranger infantry officer in the U.S. Army, where he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Army Commendation for Valor. Mr. Goff earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He has participated on local Kansas City-area nonprofit boards, including the Shadow Buddies Foundation and Mariner Foundation, and currently serves on the board of the University Academy Foundation, a charitable foundation with the goal of empowering University Academy students and alumni to reach their academic and professional aspirations.
Vice President – Gold & Precious Metals Research
Scott Bluestein was named chief executive officer and president, and appointed to the board of directors and in May 2019. He was appointed chief investment officer in 2014, and continues to serve in that role today. He joined Hercules in 2010 as chief credit officer and brings more than 10 years of financial services, direct investment and credit experience to Hercules. Before joining Hercules, he served as founder and partner of Century Tree Capital Management, a fund established to make senior secured debt investments with warrants and equity co-investments in small and micro cap public and private companies. Prior to that, he was managing director at Laurus – Valens Capital Management, where he had responsibility for a structured debt with equity investment portfolio, including new investments, portfolio management, and restructurings. Previously, Bluestein worked at UBS Investment Bank, where he was a member of the Financial Technology Coverage Group. Bluestein received his B.B.A. in Finance from Emory University.
Samuel Weitzman is a Product Specialist at Western Asset. He works in the New York Office and has 11 years of industry experience. Prior to joining the Firm in 2020, Sam worked with Pacific Investment Management Company, first as a Municipal Product Specialist and subsequently as a Municipal Credit Research Analyst. He began his career as a Municipal Credit Analyst with Morgan Stanley.
