InvestOps USA 2025
March 10 - 12, 2025
JW Marriott Grande Lakes, Orlando
Day 1 | 11th March
7:45 am - 8:30 am
Conference Registration
8:30 am - 8:35 am
Welcome Address: Rory Pilbrow, Editorial Director, WBR
8:35 am - 8:45 am
Chairperson's Opening Remarks
Charlie Dwyer -
Consultant,
Cutter Associates
DELVIERING VALUE IN VOLATILE MARKETS
8:45 am - 9:15 am
C-Suite Spotlight: Navigating turbulent markets: How are volatile market conditions defining Buy Side strategy and how are you equipping your Operations function to thrive in the new market paradigm?
Mariam Osman -
COO of Global Investment Operations,
Blackrock
Carolyn Sherry -
Head of Middle Office and US Transfer Agency,
Vanguard
Gabino Roche Jr -
CEO & Co-Founder,
Saphyre
- How are current market conditions impacting buy side firms and how are these new dynamics affecting operations teams?
- How can you position your operations function to play a more influential role in information future buy side strategies?
- How are you ensuring that your operations teams have the requisite skillsets and capabilities to respond quickly to these market changes?
- How can you work with technology partners to ensure their offerings are responding to new market and regulatory dynamics to best support your operational strategies?
BUILDING THE FUTURE OPERATIONS FUNCTION
9:15 am - 10:00 am
Panel: Operating model Consolidation and Capability Upgrades: Balancing system consolidation with capability upgrades: How can you consolidate current operational processes whilst innovating to create new capabilities and build a cutting-edge ops function?
Andrew Onslow -
Managing Director, Global Investment Operations,
Morgan Stanley Investment Management
Chris Kuehne -
SVP - Global Head of Investment Operations, Asset Management,
Northern Trust Asset Management
Theresa Messina -
Managing Director, Investment Operations,
Principal Asset Management
Patrick Wolcott -
COO,
Kennedy Capital
Richard Anton -
Chief Client Officer,
CIBC Mellon
John Lehner -
President,
Fundguard
- How can you identify the processes and systems fit for consolidation as part of your future operations strategy?
- To what extent are buy side firms transitioning away from legacy systems and consolidating processes and data sources onto shared cloud-based infrastructure?
- How can you manage the integration of new technologies and capabilities into your operating model to expand and enhance your client offering, whilst maintaining the consolidated operating model approach?
- What are the Operational capabilities that teams should be looking to develop to build towards the future state operating model?
Andrew Onslow
Managing Director, Global Investment OperationsMorgan Stanley Investment Management
Chris Kuehne
SVP - Global Head of Investment Operations, Asset ManagementNorthern Trust Asset Management
AI IN ACTION
10:00 am - 10:20 am
Buy Side Case Study: Title TBC
ENSURING RESILIENCE IN DISRUPTIVE ENVIRONMENTS
10:20 am - 10:55 am
Panel: Boosting Operational Resilience: How can you develop robust operational structures and processes that build resilience in volatile operating environments?
Cinda Whitten -
Global Head of Investment Operations,
Nuveen
Llewellyn Smith -
COO,
Coronation Fund Managers
Sarah Simmonds -
Partner – Asset and Wealth Management,
Alpha FMC
Rahul Kapur -
Global Head of Investment Operations,
Capital Group
- What measures do you have in place to stress test risk scenarios that could impact operating processes?
- To what extent are vendors and service providers responsible for ‘operational resilience’ and how can you build collaborative partnerships that jointly contribute towards this objective?
- Are there ways in which you can diversify operational processes / providers to mitigate risk?
- Can you effectively measure the resilience of prospective partners and how can you build this into the vetting process when selecting new vendors?
Rahul Kapur
Global Head of Investment OperationsCapital Group
BUILDING HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS
10:55 am - 11:15 am
Sponsored Keynote: How can you foster a culture of innovation to continuously enhance team performance and create an Investment Operations function equipped to thrive in future market conditions?
Rory Gaston -
Group Managing Director,
Saragossa
- What are the skillsets and mindsets that need to be developed to create an operations function that can thrive today and seamlessly adapt to an ever more digital future?
- What strategies can you employ to ensure that individuals are performing to their highest possible standards?
- How can you foster a culture that encourages innovation and process transformation to collectively work towards shared business objectives?
- How can you best manage the balance between humans and tech and how will this relationship continue to develop in a digital-first future?
11:15 am - 11:45 am
Networking Break
11:15 am - 12:00 pm
Innovation Workshop hosted by BNY
11:15 am - 12:00 pm
Innovation Workshop hosted by Ridgeline
TRADITIONAL ASSET OPERATIONS
11:45 am - 12:10 pm Panel: Driving End-to-End Digital Transformation: How can you build towards full digitisation of front-to-back Operational processes to streamline and standardise operations in traditional asset classes? Rahul Bajaj - Managing Director Product Management, Goldman Sachs Asset Management Bob Kurinsky - Chief Operating & Financial Officer, Driehaus Aaron Kipnis - Managing Director, Head of Business Strategy and Transformation, Nuveen
TRADITIONAL ASSET OPERATIONS
12:10 pm - 12:35 pm Panel: Balancing personalisation and standardisation: How can you launch tailored services for your clients whilst managing the need to standardise and consolidate key operating processes? Steve Miley - Director of Investment Operations, Eventide Asset Management Jared Tramutola - COO, Harding Loevner Russell Newman - Former COO, Rothschild
TRADITIONAL ASSET OPERATIONS
12:35 pm - 1:00 pm Panel: Regulatory Outlook: What are the regulatory developments set to impact Buy Side firms and how can you enhance your regulatory and compliance capabilities to avoid fines and penalties? Serge Todorovich - Chief Compliance Officer & General Counsel, Shenkman Capital Management Evan Fire - Chief Operating Officer, Pzena Investment Management
ALTERNATIVE ASSET OPERATIONS
11:45 am - 12:10 pm Panel: Deep dive into Private Credit: How can you equip your operations function with the skillsets and technology required to navigate complex processes when trading private credit? Peter Russell - Managing Director, Credit Investment Operations, PSP Investments Charlie Teeple - Managing Director, Credit Operations, HarbourVest Matthew Nelson - Chief Operating Officer, Nomura Capital Management
ALTERNATIVE ASSET OPERATIONS
12:10 pm - 12:35 pm Panel: Data Challenges in Alternative Asset Classes: How can you leverage digital technologies to optimize complex manual data processing and achieve greater data standardisation? Mike Leader - Head of Investment Operations, CPP Investments Matt Bailey - Director Investment Operations, Knollwood Investment Advisory Gregory Vilkin - CFO & CCO, Upper90 Capital Management
ALTERNATIVE ASSET OPERATIONS
12:35 pm - 1:00 pm Panel: Evaluating the benefits of process standardisation vs operational siloes: How can you determine the best set-up for your operations function when reviewing cross-asset operational capabilities? Jeff Coleman - Head of Investment Operations, Mercer Brad Campbell - Director Investment Operations, Arrowmark Partners Jae Chon - COO, Knollwood Investment Advisory
1:00 pm - 1:50 pm
Lunch Networking Break
1:00 pm - 1:45 pm
Workshop hosted by Kurtosys
1:00 pm - 1:45 pm
Workshop: InvestOps International Women's Day Networking Lunch hosted by AccessFintech
EXPLORING OUTSOURCING DEVELOPMENTS
1:50 pm - 2:35 pm
Innovation Panel: Optimizing Outsourcing Operations: How can you best balance outsourced vs in-house operational strategies to optimize your front-to-back workflows, mitigate risks and lower costs?
Nichole Graveen -
Head of Operations,
Ariel Investment Management
Jeff Lambert -
VP Investment Operations,
Dimensional Fund Advisors
Jen Burka -
Senior Director, Head of Portfolio Analytics & Accounting,
Harris Associates
Michael Fastert -
Chief Operating Officer & CLO,
TIG Advisors
Jason Yule -
VP Client Success,
WTax
- How can you use outsourcing as a strategy to manage rising cost pressures?
- How can outsourcing be used as a strategy to diversify and specialise your Investment Operations capabilities and offer more specialised services to clients?
- How can you best integrate outsourced capabilities and services with your internal set up?
- How can you best manage the balance between outsourced providers defining internal operations strategies vs collaboration with partners to shape their offering based on your own internal requirements?
NAVIGATING NEW FRONTIERS IN PRIVATE MARKETS
2:35 pm - 3:20 pm
Panel: Succeeding in Private Markets: How can you build the skillsets, tech stack and operational set-up required to navigate complex and opaque investment instruments and capitalise on rapidly growing opportunities in private markets?
Mike Leader -
Head of Investment Operations,
CPP Investments
Jesse Robinson -
Head of Investment Operations,
Lord Abbett & Co.
John Mack -
Managing Director, Head of Fund Operations,
Onex
Toby Norris -
COO Private Assets,
Morgan Stanley Investment Management
Mike Sleightholme -
President, Broadridge International and Head of Asset Management Solutions,
Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.
- How has the recent rise of private market trading impacted your firm and how do you expect this investment strategy to develop in the future?
- How are you managing the additional complexity of trading more complex instruments whilst also maintaining focus on the cost pressures of adding complexity into Operations?
- What tools and technologies can you leverage to effectively enter private markets and effectively streamline complex private market operations?
- How can buy side firms who do not currently trade private market instruments develop operational capabilities to service these new developing asset classes?
Mike Sleightholme
President, Broadridge International and Head of Asset Management SolutionsBroadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.
EVALUATING ENTERPRISE RISK
3:20 pm - 4:00 pm
Panel: Managing Cross Functional Risk: How can you effectively develop processes and standards that mitigate risk across investment and back-office teams to achieve excellence and avoid operational failures across the investment lifecycle?
Leonara Xhekaj -
Managing Director, Head of Operational Risk Management,
Apollo Global Management
Uday Kiran Bolusani -
Investment Operations Leader,
Independent
Sara Poldaas -
Director, Portfolio Services,
Mawer Investment Management
Grace Kang -
Head of Investment Operations,
Boston Partners
Samantha Lippitt -
Strategic Account Director,
Arteria AI
- In the light of current market dynamics and regulatory impacts, what are the major operational risks that buy side firms will face?
- How can you create a culture of shared responsibility across your firm to ensure that risk is effectively managed by all stakeholders and procedures are in place mitigate effectively?
- How are the latest tools and technologies boosting risk mitigation capabilities throughout buy side operations?
- How can you drive effective collaboration between cross-functional teams to drive holistic enterprise risk management and build shared business standards?
Leonara Xhekaj
Managing Director, Head of Operational Risk ManagementApollo Global Management
Samantha Lippitt
Strategic Account DirectorArteria AI
4:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Networking Break
4:00 pm - 4:45 pm
Workshop hosted by Northern Trust
TRACK A: Heads of Data & Technology
4:30 pm - 4:50 pm Fireside Chat: Aligning technology and Operations teams: How can you drive closer collaboration between technology and Operations functions to establish shared business goals and optimize performance? Vince Pasqualicchio - COO Investments, American Family Insurance Ken Slovin - SVP Head of Global Operations, Ariel Invetsments
TRACK A: Heads of Data & Technology
4:50 pm - 5:10 pm Fireside Chat: Front to Back Tech Stack Integration: Which strategies and tools best connect technology platforms across front-to-back trade processes to drive greater insights with a holistic view? Steve Wisneski - SVP Operations Strategy, Franklin Templeton Jan Hoenisch - Middle Office, Independent
TRACK A: Heads of Data & Technology
5:10 pm - 5:30 pm Fireside Chat: Operating in The Cloud: How can you identify which operational capabilities to move onto cloud native platforms to benefit from streamlined processes, increased agility and greater interoperability Shwetha Venkataramaiah - Head of Investment Fund Operations, Individual Wealth Operations, Sun Life Global Investors
Shwetha Venkataramaiah
Head of Investment Fund Operations, Individual Wealth OperationsSun Life Global Investors
TRACK B: Transforming Operations with Digital-First Tools
4:30 pm - 4:50 pm Fireside Chat: Client Services & On Boarding: How can you leverage the latest innovations to meet rising client expectations with personalised onboarding and reporting services? Jon Campos - Director Investment Operations, IFM Investors Chris Maizys - Managing Director, Head of Client On Boarding, JP Morgan Asset Management
TRACK B: Transforming Operations with Digital-First Tools
4:50 pm - 5:10 pm Fireside Chat: Performance & Reporting: How can you leverage AI capabilities to drive in-depth performance analysis and provide stakeholders and clients with real-time insights? Matt Greenspan - Principal, Business Intelligence, Brown Advisory
TRACK B: Transforming Operations with Digital-First Tools
5:10 pm - 5:30 pm Fireside Chat: Legal & Compliance: How can you adopt the latest RegTech developments to ensure compliance and keep pace with a fast-evolving regulatory landscape? Hieu Giang - Chief Compliance Officer, American Family Insurance Michelle Graham - COO, NorthStar Asset Management
TRACK C: COO Priorities
4:30 pm - 4:50 pm Fireside Chat: People in a Post-Pandemic Paradigm: How are you structuring your operational teams to drive enhanced performance levels, whilst recognising a shift in working behaviours? Jen Burka - Senior Director, Head of Portfolio Analytics & Accounting, Harris Associates Ben Banfield - Head of Service Delivery, Americas, InvescoTRACK C: COO Priorities
4:50 pm - 5:10 pm Fireside Chat: Managing Cost Pressures Whilst Driving Transformation: How can you keep tight controls on costs whilst also ensuring your operations function continues to develop capabilities to keep pace with industry change? Eric Bolisay - Managing Director, Head of Derivative Operations, Nuveen, a TIAA company Zane Howard - VP Business Manager – Globalization, Voya Investment Management
TRACK C: COO Priorities
5:10 pm - 5:30 pm Panel Discussion: Operational Interoperability: How can you create shared processes and platforms to enable your teams to seamlessly interact and collaborate across the wider operations function? Justin Abraham - Head of Investment Portfolio Management Platform, HarbourVest Partners Kelly Branco - CFO, Fulcrum Equity Partners
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Day 1 Drinks Reception – Sponsored by Linedata
Sponsored by: Linedata
