InvestOps USA 2025
March 10 - 12, 2025
JW Marriott Grande Lakes, Orlando
Day 2 | 12th March
8:00 am - 8:45 am
Conference Registration and Networking Breakfast
8:45 am - 9:00 am
Chairperson’s Opening Remarks
ENHANCING COLLABORATION IN UNCERTAIN MARKETS
9:00 am - 9:20 am
Innovation Keynote: Creating Adaptive Team Advantages: How can you create adaptive mindsets that enable your teams to react more quickly in times of crisis to gain an edge over competition?
Justin Palmer -
Senior Managing Director Head of Business Transformation,
Aimco
- Which team characteristics and traits should be built that will enable your teams to effectively capitalise on opportunities and navigate more challenging business circumstances?
- How can you effectively re-shape existing cultures that do not promote agile and transformational mindsets?
- To what extent is it possible to be truly adaptive and innovative in an industry that is typically more conservative and governed by regulations?
PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE MACRO-ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
9:20 am - 9:40 am
Opening Keynote Panel: Succeeding Amidst Geo-Political Instability: How can operations leaders best prepare their business to thrive in today’s volatile geo-political and global macro-economic environment?
Gary Paulin -
Head of International Enterprise Client Solutions,
Northern Trust
- What impact has 2024’s election result had on the capital markets industry and how can Buy Side firms best respond to new market conditions?
- What are the Geo-Political considerations business leaders need to bear in mind when it comes to strategizing for 2025 and beyond?
- Is the global macro-economic environment showing signs of recovery following the black swan events of Covid, Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine and the Middle East conflict?
BECOMING A DATA-DRIVEN ORGANISATION
9:40 am - 10:25 am
Panel: Success factors for becoming a data-driven enterprise: How can you streamline your data sourcing, governance, and analytics to achieve operational excellence and boost your bottom line?
Patty Aenchbacher -
Director, Enterprise Data Governance,
American Century Investments
Evan Fire -
Chief Operating Officer,
Pzena Investment Management
Grace Bang -
Director Data Products,
Liberty Mutual Investments
Christine Knott -
Managing Director, Transformation & Client Solutions,
RBC Investor Services
- Beyond technical capabilities, what are the processes and mindsets that you need to have in place to become a truly data-driven organisation?
- How does data ‘flow’ around your organisation and how can you set up robust processes and structures that ensure data standards are maintained at a high level?
- How can you effectively manage the cost pressures of external data sourcing?
- Which tools and technologies should you leverage to build a culture that facilities greater data democratisation and boosts data usage across your firm?
10:25 am - 10:45 am
Keynote: Title TBC
DRIVING CROSS-FUNCTIONAL COLLABORATION
10:45 am - 11:30 am
Panel: Breaking Down Operational Siloes: How can you leverage the latest operational tools and platforms to pioneer a culture of cross functional collaboration between teams and boost operational performance through shared objectives and metrics?
Walter Joyce -
Head of Investment Services,
TIAA
Kim St. Hilaire -
COO,
Aristotle Investment Services
Frank Spizzoucco Jr -
Director, Collateral Management,
PGIM Fixed Income
- How can you build a roadmap for effective cross-functional collaboration that works for your front-to-back set-up?
- How are closer levels of collaboration enabling your Ops team to drive higher levels of performance and what have been the outcomes of taking a more collaborative approach?
- What tools and platforms can you equip your Ops function with, to break down operational siloes and take a more collaborative approach towards manual tasks?
- How can you implement performance metrics to best measure output and use these insights to create a plan that drives continuous improvement across your operations function?
11:30 am - 12:00 pm
Networking Break
11:30 am - 12:10 pm
Buy Side Workshop
TIPPER X – GUEST KEYNOTE SPEAKER
12:00 pm - 12:25 pm
Guest Speaker: The Inside Story of TipperX
Tom Hardin -
Former Buy Side Trader and FBI Whistleblower ,
Independent
Known as “Tipper X,” Tom became one of the most prolific informants in securities fraud history, helping to build over 20 of the 80+ individual criminal cases in “Operation Perfect Hedge,” a Wall Street house cleaning campaign that morphed into the largest insider trading investigation of a generation.
Join Tom’s keynote talk to get the insights into how he helped the FBI bring down some of its biggest targets in the industry.
PIONEERING CROSS-INDUSTRY INNOVATION
12:25 pm - 12:55 pm
Panel: Driving Cross-Industry Transformation: How can Buy Side firms collaborate more effectively with the Sell Side and Market Infrastructure providers to boost cross industry standards and affect real change across financial markets
Olga Sudvarg -
COO Data,
Invesco Ltd
Aruna Parthiban -
Vice Presidnet - Operations Senior Leader,
Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Brad Kirk -
Vice President, Investment Operations,
Mackenzie Investments
- What initiatives or industry transformations would benefit the Buy Side which would require participation from the wider capital markets eco-system?
- What role do regulatory bodies play in facilitating cross-industry collaboration, and what changes in regulation could further drive transformational progress and standardization across the financial industry?
- Leveraging AI, blockchain and the cloud: How can greater adoption of new technologies promote greater cross-industry transformation and what are the key challenges and opportunities?
THE FUTURE OF OPERATIONAL TALENT
12:55 pm - 1:20 pm
Panel: Building Talent Pipelines & Programmes: How can you create a talent strategy that ensures retention and team upskilling, whilst also attracting new skillsets into the operations function?
Vince Pasqualicchio -
COO Investments,
American Family Insurance
Joe Volman -
SVP Head of Investment Administration,
Northern Trust Asset Management
James Watson -
Global Investment Management Services,
Franklin Templeton
- How can investment operations teams identify and attract new skillsets that are increasingly important in today's digital and data-driven environment, such as expertise in AI, machine learning, and data analytics?
- How can you implement effective development programs to ensure continuous upskilling of your investment operations function and drive performance in the face of rising industry demands?
- What are examples of successful talent pipeline initiatives that have resulted in both high retention rates and the successful integration of new skillsets, and what key factors contributed to their success?
1:20 pm - 1:40 pm
Panel: From Challenges to Change: Women in Finance
Join our InvestOps innovators during this exciting Shark Tank style session, where you will hear from four new and disruptive start-up FINTECH firms as they present their offerings in a bid to win first place. Listen up as the ’Shark’s’ review the technologies’ benefits to your business, predict their future success and deliver their verdicts. The ultimate decision is in your hands though, as the audience get to vote for their favourite.
Will you find the next big thing?
1:40 pm - 2:40 pm
Networking Lunch
Kick back on our terrace in the Floridian sun with a cold drink and light bites, to share your event learnings and make final connections with peers in these interactive working groups.
Open to all event attendees.
LUNCH WORKING GROUPS
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Working Group A: Developing the hybrid working model: How can you continue to explore and develop the optimal hybrid working balance to retain talent whilst ensuring operational efficiency?
Jim Seng -
Director Investment Operations,
Longview Asset Management
Jim Seng
Director Investment OperationsLongview Asset Management
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Working Group B: Head of Investment Operations Working Group: What are the core capabilities and technologies that need to be upgraded to offer market leading service levels and drive revenue generation?
Jason Minkler -
Managing Director, Head of Operations,
Jennison Associates
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Working Group C: Active ETFs: What are the Operational challenges faced when considering launching an active ETF strategy?
Jared Tramutola -
COO,
Harding Loevner
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Working Group D: Supporting robust ESG investment strategies: How can you develop enhanced data and reporting capabilities to respond to greater client demands for ESG funds and avoid ‘greenwashing’?
Matt Greenspan -
Principal, Business Intelligence,
Brown Advisory
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Working Group E: Creating a Global Operating Model: How can you scale operational capabilities and processes to develop a model that services global markets and benefits from operational scale?
Zane Howard -
VP Business Manager – Globalization,
Voya Investment Management
Zane Howard
VP Business Manager – GlobalizationVoya Investment Management
