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.
Navid holds B.B.A. degrees in both Finance and Economics from the University of Georgia, graduating summa cum laude with Highest Honors.
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.
Mr. Bond holds a BA from Hamilton College and an MBA from New York University. He is based in New
York.
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.
Mr. Scott has worked at Closed-End Fund Advisors since 2001. He holds the FINRA 66 License and the Certified Fund Specialist designation (CFS). He is a graduate of The College of William and Mary and has been quoted and interviewed widely in the financial press and presented at conferences and for investment groups on more than 50 occasions.
In 2008 John founded CEFA’s Closed-End Fund Universe, a data service covering all US listed closed-end funds and BDCs. Currently supported by an internal 10 member analyst team with a data manager/ programmer covering the 700+ ticker universe of CEFs/BDCs/iCEFs. They regularly do consulting and projects for CEF/BDC Sponsors, Hedge Funds and Institutional Investors.
Portfolio Consultant with over a quarter billion deposits into a fund focused on BDCs with a fund sponsor partner. He developed 35 CEF/BDC based indexes; 9 diversified portfolio objective, 9 Equity and 15 Bond sector. John is a past board member of The Richmond Association for Business Economics (RABE), and serves as Assistant Treasurer and on the Investment Committee for The New York State Society of The Cincinnati. Board member and Finance & Investment Committees for The William & Mary National Alumni Board.
Chuck Jaffe is a syndicated financial columnist and the host of “Money Life with Chuck Jaffe,” a one-hour weekday financial talk show (moneylifeshow.com).
Chuck’s work has been syndicated since 1995, first while based at the Boston Globe and then from MarketWatch.com; he also writes for the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere. A past president of the Society of American Business Editors &and Writers, Chuck has been a frequent guest on CNBC, Nightly Business Report, Fox Business News, National Public Radio and more, and is the author of three books: “Getting Started In Finding a Financial Advisor,” “The Right Way to Hire Financial Help” and “Chuck Jaffe’s Lifetime Guide to Mutual Funds.”
In what is jokingly referred to as “spare time,” Chuck is very involved in the sport of lacrosse as a broadcaster, referee, coach, league owner and player. He lives on Boston’s South Shore with a golden retriever who sleeps under the desk while Chuck is working and whose flatulence issues sometimes explain Chuck’s demeanor.
You can follow him on Twitter @ChuckJaffe, @MoneyLifeShow and, depending on your sporting interests, @BostonBoxLax.
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.
Nicholas Marshi is a co-founder and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of BDC Investment Advisors “(BDCIA’), a California Registered Investment Advisor. He is responsible for the firm’s investment management, and is the editor of the BDC Reporter and its sister publication, BDC Credit Reporter. The BDC Reporter is the premier subscription publication exclusively focused on “news, views and analysis” of the $100+ billion BDC sector. The BDC Credit Reporter – still in beta – provides timely and comprehensive coverage of all under-performing BDC portfolio companies, to provide readers with early notice of change in BDC values.
Prior to forming BDCIA, Mr. Marshi was a co-founder and principal of Southland Capital Partners (“SCP”), a Los Angeles based private equity firm. SCP was established in 1998 in Los Angeles, in order to acquire controlling interests in middle market companies in the Southern California region. SCP has acquired several companies in a wide range of industries. Prior to forming SCP, Mr. Marshi managed Kensington Capital Corporation (“KCC”), another private-equity investment firm, with a similar focus. In addition, Mr. Marshi was the head of the Los Angeles office of Kleinwort Benson, a British merchant bank, from 1987-1990 and was involved in leading investment banking, lending and principal investing activities. Before joining Kleinwort’s Mr. Marshi held various positions with Citibank at locations worldwide.
Mr. Marshi is a graduate of Tufts University (B.A.) and Harvard University (M.A.). He is a California Registered Investment Adviser.
Phillip Goldstein – Principal / Co-Founder / Portfolio Manager
Mr. Goldstein, who co-founded Bulldog Investors in 1993, is a Principal of the firm and its lead investment strategist. Widely acclaimed as one of the foremost experts in closed-end fund investing and in using activist techniques to enhance investment returns, he has appeared on and been interviewed by numerous business shows and publications, including CNBC, Forbes and Fortune Magazine. Mr. Goldstein plays a key role in implementing the firm’s activist strategies and, in this capacity, has served as a director of a number of closed-end funds in which a Bulldog-managed fund maintains a strategic position. He is currently a director of the Mexico Equity and Income Fund Inc., MVC Capital, Inc., Special Opportunities Fund, Inc., Brookfield DTLA Fund Office Trust Investor Inc., and Swiss Helvetia Fund, Inc., and is a trustee of High Income Securities Fund and Crossroads Liquidating Trust. Mr. Goldstein graduated from the University of Southern California in 1966 with a Bachelor of Engineering degree and from City College, New York in 1968 with a Master of Engineering degree.
William works within Nuveen’s Closed-End Fund Business Development Group and is responsible for raising public and private capital for Nuveen’s closed-end funds. In this role, he leads Nuveen’s new business development team on the origination and syndication of new closed-end fund IPOs.
William joined the firm in 1992 and has been involved with the successful launch of more than 100 CEF IPOs as well as the development of many innovative financing structures utilized as leverage by Nuveen funds.
William graduated with a B.S. in Finance from Marquette University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. He also holds the Series 7 and 24 securities registrations.
Kelly Thompson is the founder of Direct Lending Deals, a new publication catering to originators and investors in private credit. Thompson has covered capital markets for 20 years, her specialty being middle market finance. She has shared her views on industry panels, and her analysis has been featured across trade and mainstream media including Forbes and Seeking Alpha. Previously, she covered middle market for LevFin Insights and S&P LCD.
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.
Prior to joining CIM, Mr. Morris was Senior Vice President and National Sales Director at Cole Capital, where he managed external distribution and served as a key speaker for due diligence and industry events. He has also served as a Senior Vice President at Sun Life Financial, running the firm’s independent broker-dealer distribution channel in the US. He also held various management and fundraising positions at Lincoln Financial and AIG SunAmerica.
Mr. Morris earned a Bachelor of Science in Management from Villanova University. He holds FINRA Series 7, 24 and 63 licenses.
Daniel Silver, CFA manages Zoso Capital, an investment advisory firm primarily focused on long/short closed-end fund and equity strategies.
Prior to Zoso, Mr. Silver worked as an analyst at a hedge fund as well as several investment banks. He is a CFA charterholder, a member of CFA Society New York (CFANY), and a graduate of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.
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.
Patrick has been responsible for the development of S-Network’s Benchmark Index Series and the Thomson Reuters/S-Network ESG Best Practices Indexes and Ratings, as well as a number of smart beta and thematic indexes. Patrick is a member of the IADB Sustainable Index Committee.
Prior to joining S-Network, Patrick worked as a Research Analyst for Dow Jones Indexes, where he was a member of the custom index quarterly review. Patrick earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance with a concentration in Management Information Systems from Rutgers University School of Business.
Jon serves as a Portfolio Manager and member of the investment management team at Robinson Capital. He jointly oversees the day-to-day management of the Robinson Funds, including its investment strategies and processes, risk management, regulatory compliance, asset allocation modeling, external manager due diligence and selection, and trading. He is also responsible for overseeing the continued growth and advancement of the firm’s closed-end fund research and trading efforts, which includes managing Robinson Capital’s proprietary closed-end fund valuation systems.
Prior to joining Robinson Capital Management, Jon worked as an Associate Portfolio Manager for Federated Investors, Inc. In that role, he helped manage several income focused, multi-asset class portfolios and SMA portfolios. In addition to his portfolio management responsibilities, Jon also served as a Research Analyst, providing fundamental equity research across various industries.
Previously, Jon worked for three years as a Senior Consultant at FactSet Research Systems Inc., where he developed proprietary models and streamlined investment processes for institutional investors, such as hedge fund managers, plan sponsors, and private wealth advisors.
Jon holds both a B.S. and MBA in Finance and Economics from Carnegie Mellon University.
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.
Office: (646) 866-6854 x1007
cmunafo@sharespost.com
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.
Additionally, he was Senior Vice President of Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette, where he was responsible for directing sales of mortgage-backed securities and was a senior mortgage security sales person and trader for Bear Stearns, L.F. Rothschild, E.F. Hutton and Paine Webber.
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.
Before joining Symphony in 2007, he was an analyst with Nuveen Investments in New York. Previously, he was an investment banking analyst at Dahlman Rose & Co. and an equity analyst at NSL Capital Management.
Larry earned a BS in finance and mathematics from Arizona State University.
Kimberly Flynn serves as Managing Director at XA Investments, a wholly-owned subsidiary of XMS Capital Partners. She is a partner in the firm and responsible for all product and business development activities. Kim created the alternative registered trust platform at XA Investments working in partnership with independent subadvisers representing best-in-class alternative investment managers. Previously, Kim was Senior Vice President and Head of Product Development for Nuveen Investments’
Global Structured Products Group. In her 11 years at Nuveen, she helped developed over 40 closed-end funds raising ~$13 billion in capital. In her leadership role at Nuveen, Kim was responsible for asset raising activities through the development of new traditional and alternative investment funds including CEFs, ETFs, UITs and commodity pools.
Kim received her MBA degree from Harvard University, where she was a William J. Carey scholar and President of the HBS Volunteers. Before attending Harvard Business School, Kim spent three years working in Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Division (1999-2002) in their Chicago office. She
earned her BBA in Finance and Business Economics, summa cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame in 1999 where she was a valedictorian candidate, Rhodes Scholar Finalist and the first recipient of the Paul F. Conway award given to a senior in the Department of Finance who embodies Notre Dame’s tradition of excellence and who enriches the ideals of the university. Kim earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and is a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society of Chicago. Kim currently serves on the Board of the Women in ETFs Chicago chapter as head of the mentorship committee and on the Advisory Board for Youth Guidance’s program Becoming A Man (BAM). Kim with her husband Leo, son Teddy (12yrs) and daughter Rose (9yrs) live in Lincoln Park, Chicago.
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.
Previously, he was a research analyst for the Real Estate Securities team with a focus on the office and industrial sub-sectors. He joined Goldman Sachs in the Investment Management Division in 1997 and has remained there his entire career. Collin earned a bachelor’s degree from
Amherst College.
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.
Thomas A. DeCapo represents financial services firms on a broad range of investment management industry matters. Mr. DeCapo’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, U.S. and international public and private financings, regulatory and compliance matters, and a variety of general securities and corporate matters in the investment management industry, as well as developing new investment products. Mr. DeCapo has extensive experience in fund corporate governance matters, including shareholders’ activist challenges. He advises investment company clients on corporate preparedness and in proxy contests. Additionally, Mr. DeCapo has been a leader in structur- ing periodic liquidity (interval) funds, having advised on one of the first-ever continuously offered tender offer closed-end funds, and on many recent Rule 23c-3 interval funds and tender offer funds.
Mr. DeCapo has represented clients such as Gabelli, Tweedy, Browne, FMR, BlackRock Funds, Franklin Square, John Hancock, Oppenheimer Funds, U.S. Trust Corporation, Massa-chusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, the Van Kampen Funds and Raymond James & Co. Representative transactions include serving as issuer’s or underwriter’s counsel for several innovative registered alternatives strategies (liquid alts), fund of funds and for public “venture capital” funds; serving as collateral manager or deal counsel for CBOs and CLOs; serving as buyer’s or seller’s counsel in connection with the purchase or sale of investment management businesses; and counseling a variety of technology and internet-based financial services firms in connection with investment company, investment adviser and broker-dealer matters. Recently, he has structured permanent capital private equity vehicles designed to acquire control of and operate private companies, and to distribute, exchange and list their own shares without becoming required to register under the Investment Company Act.
He also counsels on a wide variety of investment company, investment advisory and broker-dealer matters. Mr. DeCapo has been listed in Best Lawyers in America as one of the country’s leading mutual funds lawyers.
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.
Prior to joining WallachBeth, Marc ran a proprietary non-standard arbitrage desk at a major European investment bank, where he focused on CEFs, ETFs, illiquid value stocks, along with options, futures and equity-linked securities as hedging instruments.
Marc brings his buy-side approach to client order execution, utilizing OTC, algo and market direction methods to maximize liquidity and price efficiency in the closed-end fund space. His deep knowledge of CEF and ETF execution strategies, coupled with his buy- and sell-side experience, make him an invaluable resource to WallachBeth`s institutional clients.
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
development companies. Previously, he was a Senior Equity Analyst at A.G. Edwards where he focused on BDCs, specialty finance and small-cap banks. Mr. Ward serves on the Advisory Board for the Department of Finance at Southern Illinois University. Mr. Ward holds an M.B.A. from Saint Louis University and a B.S. from Southern Illinois University in Finance.
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.
Nicole serves as a Quality Network Professional in the Wealth & Asset Management Practice focused on implementation of new accounting standards and auditing techniques.
Nicole is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of New York and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Nicole received her Bachelor’s degree from CUNY Brooklyn College.
Mr. Diehl joined Capital Southwest in 2014 as Chief Investment Officer. He was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer in 2015 and led the relaunch of the firm as a lender to middle market companies. Mr. Diehl chairs the firm’s investment committee and leads all aspects of the firm’s investment activities and strategic direction. He brings over 20 years of
experience in sourcing, structuring and managing investments in a variety of industries. Mr. Diehl came to Capital Southwest from American Capital, Ltd., which he joined in 2001 and where he had acted as Managing Director and Co-Head of the Sponsor Finance Group since 2007. While at American Capital, he closed investments in 15 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions, representing over $1.1 billion of invested capital. Mr. Diehl’s investment experience has been in a variety of industries, including industrial manufacturing, healthcare, business services and consumer finance. His investments have been in the form of
various securities and structures including first lien, unitranche, second lien and subordinated debt, as well as preferred and common equity in both control and non-control positions. Mr. Diehl earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree, with majors in Environmental/Geotechnical Engineering and Economics from Vanderbilt University and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Diehl lives in Dallas with his wife and three children.
Joshua Deringer has developed a strong client following for his skill in expanding liquid investment options and implementing innovative structures for private and alternative investment funds. His forward-thinking counsel has made Josh a sought-after attorney for national and international financial services companies involved in all aspects of the investment management industry. Josh leads the firm’s investment management practice group. Josh’s clients include registered investment companies, hedge funds, other alternative investment vehicles and investment advisers. He establishes the legal framework for investment companies, funds of funds, and multiple class and master-feeder funds and counsels them on routine regulatory issues, reorganizations and other matters. Josh’s knowledge of the federal securities rulemaking process puts him in a position to provide comments on proposed industry rules and opinions on federal policymaking. Josh works with domestic and offshore hedge funds and private equity funds on developing funding and structuring strategies, as well as on their day-to-day operations. Investment management companies and others engage him for counsel on their operations and potential industry mergers and acquisitions.
Dr. Anderson serves as President of Griffin Capital Asset Management Company and Chief Economist of Griffin Capital Company, LLC. In addition, Dr. Anderson serves as Chief Investment Officer of Griffin Capital Advisor, LLC, Executive Vice President, Secretary and Trustee of Griffin Institutional Access® Credit Fund and Portfolio Manager of Griffin Institutional Access® Real Estate Fund. Previously, Dr. Anderson held several senior executive positions at Bluerock Real Estate LLC, including founding partner of the Bluerock Total Income + Real Estate Fund where he was the Portfolio Manager. Prior to Bluerock, Dr. Anderson was a founding partner of Franklin Square Capital Partners, the firm that pioneered the non-traded Business Development Company. Dr. Anderson also served as the Chief Economist and a Division President for CNL Real Estate Advisors, as the Chief Economist and Director of Research for the Marcus and Millichap Company where he served on the Investment Committee, and as Vice President of Research at Prudential Real Estate Advisors. Dr. Anderson also served as the Howard Phillips Eminent Scholar Chair and Professor of Real Estate at the University of Central Florida where he directed the research and education institute. Dr. Anderson was the former editor of the Journal of Real Estate Portfolio Management; was awarded the Counselors of Real Estate designation, named a Kinnard Young Scholar by the American Real Estate Society, and named both a NAIOP Research Foundation Distinguished Fellow and a Homer Hoyt Institute Fellow.
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
Financial before becoming a portfolio manager in 1994. Paul joined the firm in 1997 when the firm acquired Flagship Financial. Previously, he audited mutual funds and investment advisors as a member of Deloitte & Touche’s audit group.
Paul graduated with a B.S. in Accountancy and Finance from Wright State University. He also holds the CFA designation and is a member of the CFA Institute. In addition, Paul is a registered CPA (inactive) in the state of Ohio and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
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.
Email: jgoff@tortoiseadvisors.com
Vice President – Gold & Precious Metals Research
Peter Maletis is the Vice President – Gold & Precious Metals Research at Merk Investments and member of the Portfolio Management Group. He focuses on gold and precious metals companies. Prior to joining Merk Investments, Peter gained experience as Research Analyst at Franklin Templeton Investments from 2010 until early 2019. Prior to that, he worked at Marathon Resource Investments; the Cypress Funds; Banc of America Securities LLC.
Peter holds an MBA from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business, as well as a B.A. in Economics from Connecticut College. Peter lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and three kids. His personal interests include sports, family, travel, golf and movies.
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.
Peter is a member of the Income Solutions team that co-manages the Dividend Strategy products. He is also a co-manager of the Tactical Dividend Income strategy, Balanced Income Strategy and the LMP Capital and Income Fund. Peter has 21 years of investment management experience and 11 years of related industry experience.
Peter’s investment industry experience includes a senior associate position in the Financial Services and Information Technology Group of Booz & Co. and a senior position as first vice president within the Information Technology Division of Citigroup Inc. Peter transitioned to a ClearBridge Investments predecessor firm in 1999.
Peter received his MS in Math/Computer Science from the University of Technology, Eindhoven, Holland and his MBA from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business. He is a member of the CFA Institute.
Martin Connaghan is an Investment Director on the Global Equity Team at Aberdeen Standard Investments. Martin joined Murray Johnstone in 1998 and has held a number of roles including Trader and ESG Analyst on the Global Equity Team; he also spent two years as a Portfolio Analyst on the Fixed Income Team in London. Martin focuses on the energy, utilities, financials and infrastructure industries and on global and global income mandates.
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.
Sam holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from The Pennsylvania State University’s Smeal College of Business and an MBA from Columbia Business School. He is also a CFA® charterholder.
David Miyazaki is a portfolio manager at Confluence and manages the specialty finance portfolios with an emphasis on business development companies (BDCs). This work includes co-managing the First Trust Specialty Finance and Financial Opportunities Fund (NYSE: FGB). David is also a member of the Asset Allocation Investment Committee. In addition, he works with the firm’s balanced portfolios, with a particular focus on the fixed income investments.
Prior to joining Confluence, David served as a portfolio manager and analyst with Gallatin Asset Management, the investment management arm of A.G. Edwards, Inc. David was responsible for separately managed accounts invested in individual stocks with a value discipline and co-managed the aforementioned FGB closed-end fund, then known as the First Trust/Gallatin Specialty Finance and Financial Opportunities Fund, as well as the A.G. Edwards ETF-based asset allocation program. In addition to portfolio management, David served as a member of the A.G. Edwards Investment Strategy Committee. As a strategist, he was responsible for the firm’s quantitative asset allocation models, including its Cyclical Asset Allocation Program.