MBA
Andrew is a Managing Director in the Investment Science group where he leads strategic partnerships to develop investment analytics capabilities to accelerate the value creation potential of data and advanced analytics across the enterprise. He joined CPP Investments in 2017 in Corporate Strategy, where he was responsible for enterprise strategy and strategic initiatives.
Prior to joining CPP Investments, Andrew worked in corporate strategy at Scotiabank and as an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company where he led teams serving clients on corporate strategy, organizational design, and restructuring in the institutional investing, basic materials, and energy sectors.
Andrew obtained his B.A.Sc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo and his MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
CFA, PRM, CQF, M.Sc. PhD
Doug joined UTAM in 2017. He is responsible for asset allocation modeling, risk management and measurement, research, and performance analysis. Previously, Doug worked for 15 years at OPTrust, where his responsibilities included developing strategic asset allocation models, risk factor research, internal and external investment strategy evaluations, implementing performance and ALM systems and developing a set of quantitative tools to inform investment decisions. Doug holds a PhD in Finance from the EDHEC Business School.
Ph.D, FRM
Sohini Chowdhury is a Director and Senior Economist with Moody’s Analytics. She specializes in applying macroeconomic forecasts, scenarios, and models in different industries such as banking, insurance, government, and asset management. These applications include stress testing such as CCAR/DFAST and ORSA, impairment accounting such as CECL/IFRS9, and asset allocation. She also works on incorporating climate scenarios and ESG metrics in underwriting and portfolio management. Previously, she led the global team responsible for the Moody’s Analytics market risk forecasts and modeling services while managing custom scenarios projects for major financial institutions worldwide.
An experienced speaker, Sohini often presents at global industry conferences, roundtables and client meetings on topics such as the global and regional macroeconomic outlook and risks, and industry best practices for managing credit and market risks, portfolio modeling and meeting regulatory mandates. Sohini holds a PhD and a master’s degree in economics from Purdue University, and a master’s degree in applied statistics from West Chester University in Pennsylvania. She is a GARP® certified Financial Risk Manager (FRM) and has been working at Moody’s Analytics since 2011.
Bobby Dhungana is the Director of Data Science at OMERS.
Bobby started his career in Alberta with his own startup that provided advanced analytics solutions for local oil and gas clients. He followed up his entrepreneurial journey with a successful career within the consulting industry by building products for clients globally starting with Accenture and most recently with Slalom.
Currently, at OMERS, Bobby collaborates with investors, portfolio managers, and domain experts to engineer products that reduce risk, improve ROI, and automate processes.
His most memorable experiences include building software for autonomous marine vehicles and cyber threat analytics using machine learning. In his spare time, Bobby enjoys woodworking, camping, and volunteering.
Bobby also sits on the board of the Learning Enrichment Foundation.
CFA
Dave Finstad recently retired as Managing Director, Partnership Portfolio within BCI’s Public Markets department, where he led the management of the firm’s external absolute return and long-only equity fund investments.
Mr. Finstad has over 30 years of investment industry experience. Previously, he built and led the external management team at the New York office of OMERS, a Canadian pension fund based in Toronto. Prior to that, he spent 10 years at AIMCo in Edmonton, Alberta in a similar position. He also worked for Frank Russell Canada (now Russell Investments) and for the Workers’ Compensation Board – Alberta.
Mr. Finstad has spoken at numerous industry conferences and has written a number of articles across a range of investment topics including manager selection and investment culture. He has a M.Sc. in Finance from the London School of Economics and is a CFA charterholder.
Guillaume Gfeller is part of CDPQ’s Investment Funds and External Management team, where he focuses on alternative strategies in public markets. Prior to joining CDPQ in 2020, he worked at Fiera Capital, as a Senior analyst, Fixed income, from 2012 to 2016, before taking on the role of Vice-president, Systematic investment strategies, from 2016 to 2019.
Mr. Gfeller holds a Bachelor of Computer Engineering from Polytechnique Montréal as well as a Masters’ degree in Financial Engineering from HEC Montréal.
He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, one of the most important pediatric centres in North America, where he is president of the audit committee.
CFA
Jim Hwang is a Co-Founder and the Chief Operating Officer of Firinne Capital, a digital assets investment management company. He also independently consults on various topics including digital asset investing, multi-asset factor modeling, total portfolio allocations, equity factor investing, and organizational design. He previously worked at CPP Investments (CPPIB) as a Managing Director in Capital Markets & Factor Investing, responsible for public markets strategy allocation, and in Total Portfolio Management, heading portfolio design research. Prior to CPPIB, Jim had worked globally, managing portfolio management and research teams at major global institutions including Bosera Asset Management in HK and China, and Barclays Global Investors and UBS Brinson in the US.
Jim holds an MS in Mechanical Engineering from U.C. Berkeley and a BS in Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering from MIT. He is also a CFA charter holder.
MBA, CFA, CAIA
Ela Karahasanoglu advises institutional investors and asset managers on alternative investments, risk mitigation and portfolio construction from a total portfolio perspective. Previously, Ela led the Total Fund Management team at BCI. With roughly $200bn of managed assets, BCI is a leading provider of investment management services for British Columbia’s public sector.
Prior to joining BCI, Ela was a Managing Director, Multi-Asset Strategies at Investment Management Corporation of Ontario and WSIB, where Ela oversaw the $8.5bn Multi-Asset Strategies portfolio and acted as the Deputy CIO leading the investment team that managed WSIB’s $35bn portfolio. Before WSIB, Ela was the Vice President of Currency and Asset Allocation team at CIBC Asset Management. Prior to that, she was a Principal and Senior Manager Research Consultant in the Alternatives team within Mercer, covering a broad set of absolute return and hedge fund strategies.
Ela was previously the Head of Research and Trading for six years at a New Yorkbased quantitative macro hedge fund and also worked in the areas of credit derivatives and asset management at Merrill Lynch, New York. Ela started out her career as a currency and bond trader in Turkey.
Ela has over 20 years experience in the investment industry with over 13 years dedicated to research, trading, portfolio management and construction in the alternatives and absolute return space.
Ela holds a Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University. She has been a CFA Charterholder since 2002 and a CAIA Charterholder since 2010. Ela serves as the Co-Head for CAIA’s Toronto Chapter.
CFA, FSA, FCIA
Soami Kohly, CFA, FSA, FCIA, is an investment officer and fixed income portfolio manager with
MFS Investment Management® (MFS®). In his role, he is responsible for final buy and sell
decisions, portfolio construction, risk assessment and cash management and participates in the
research process and strategy discussions. He also serves on the MFS Fixed Income Strategy
Group and the MFS Risk and Opportunities Group. He is based in Toronto.
Soami joined MFS in 2009 in his current role. Previously, he spent three years with RBC Capital
Markets as an associate analyst in equity research and later as a vice president of structured
products. He also spent twelve years as an actuarial consultant with Hewitt Associates. He began
his career in the financial services industry in 1993.
Soami earned a Bachelor of Science degree in actuarial science from the University of Western
Ontario. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation from the CFA Institute and is
a fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries.
CFA, FRM
CFA, CAIA, FSA, FCIA, CERA, FRM
Ju Hui Lee is Head of Market Risk of UNJSPF (United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund), responsible for market risk oversight and asset-lability management. The fund manages assets of US$91.5 billion as of 31 December 2021.
Before joining UNJSPF, Ju Hui worked on the asset-liability analysis of the Canada Pension Plan and the factor studies at Canada Pension Investments (CPP Investments). In addition, she led modelling groups in the Global Risk Management at Scotiabank and ALM consulting, pension investment strategy development and risk management activities for financial institutions, model vetting, and actuarial valuation reporting for clients at KPMG and Mercer and developed the LDI methodology and was responsible for the strategic asset allocation at Manulife Financial.
Ju Hui holds a BSc. Mathematics, an MBA from the Yonsei University in Korea, and an MSc in Financial Mathematics from the University of Chicago. Ju Hui holds the CFA, CAIA, FSA, FCIA, CERA, and FRM designations.
Matt Leatherman is Managing Director and Head of Programs at FCLTGlobal, a nonprofit research institution whose mission is to focus capital on the long term to support a sustainable and prosperous economy. Together with our members, a community of leading companies and investors worldwide, we develop actionable research and tools to drive long-term value creation for savers and communities. As Head of Programs, Matt leads FCLTGlobal’s efforts to grow problem-solving communities of member institutions, executives, and staff and to organize them for action. The programming function both informs and implements FCLTGlobal’s research in this way. Previously, Matt served as Policy Director for the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer, an institutional investor responsible for providing retirement security for the state’s educators, civil servants, and first responders. Matt also chairs the board of the John Rex Endowment, a grant-maker whose mission is to strengthen organizations that center racial equity and justice to improve the social emotional health of children living in Wake County (NC), and is an advisor to Ethical Systems, a behavioral economics think tank within NYU Stern’s Business and Society Program.
Alison Loat is the Managing Director, Sustainable Investing and Innovation at OPTrust where she leads OPTrust’s responsible investment program, its total fund climate change strategy, and oversees an investment portfolio focused at the intersection of sustainability and innovation.
Previously, she was the Senior Managing Director of FCLTGlobal where she worked to advance long-term investing. She also worked at McKinsey & Company, a healthcare technology company and was on the founding team of the MaRS Discovery District.
Alison has a deep commitment to public service. She co-founded the Samara Centre for Democracy and was a Senior Fellow at the University of Toronto. She is on the boards of the Max Bell School at McGill University, Ridley College, the think tank CIGI, Ai-Media, an ASX-listed technology company, and privately held media company.
She received the Queen’s Gold and Diamond Jubilee Medals and was named one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada. She has degrees from Queen’s University and the Harvard Kennedy School.
CFA
Mr. Malaket is currently the Chief Executive Officer at InBenefits, a Non-Profit Pension & Benefits Management Solutions Firm. Mr. Malaket is also a current member of FSRA’s Technical Advisory Board on Multi-Employer Pension Plans, sits on Real Estate and Infrastructure Advisory Boards as well as on the editorial board of Pension & Benefits Monitor. With over 30 years of experience in the Industry Mr. Malaket offers a unique perspective having worked as a Pension Regulator, Consultant and overseeing Pension & Benefit programs in Canada and the US for one of the largest private sector companies in Canada. Mr. Malaket also sat as Chair or Trustee on various National and Provincial Pension and Benefit Trusts.
CFA, Esq
CFA, FSA, CAIA, PRM
Steve Mahoney was appointed NS Pension’s Chief Investment Officer on April 1, 2022.
Steve was born and raised in Nova Scotia. His career started with the Maritime Life Assurance Company as an Investment and Actuarial Analyst. He then moved on to Keel Capital as a Risk Manager and then to the Halifax Regional Municipality Pension Plan also as a Risk Manager. Steve worked for six years at Morneau Shepell (now LifeWorks) as a Partner in their investment consulting division. He was then with Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group in Toronto as Vice President of Institutional Sales prior to joining NSPSC in 2022 as Chief Investment Officer.
Steve’s education includes a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) degree from Mount Allison University and a Bachelor of Education degree from St. Francis Xavier University. He also holds several professional designations including Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA), Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA), and Professional Risk Manager (PRM).
Darcie James Maxwell is Head of Canadian Operations, Data & Platform Solutions, BNY Mellon. She is also a member of the CIBC Mellon leadership team.
As Head of Canadian Operations, Data & Platform Solutions Darcie works with institutional and wealth investors to assess and analyze their business strategy, business requirements, current state environment and technology choices, bringing forward alternatives that designed to meet their business needs. She works across our Canadian and global organization to translate a client strategy into operational reality.
Darcie has more than 25 years of data, investment technology, performance and attribution experience. Her previous roles across the BNY Mellon global enterprise include project management, implementation consulting, and relationship management. She also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for The Learning Partnership.
CFA
Sean has more than 20 years of experience leading investment teams in fixed income strategies that included private lending exposures in emerging and developed countries around the world.
Having built and led investment management businesses at world-class financial institutions, most notably managing the fixed income asset class for Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan ($100 billion plus fund). Sean possesses a global and institutional perspective as well as possessing the unique knowledge base of how to manage a successful debt-based investment strategy.
Veena Ramani is an expert in corporate governance, climate change and ESG issues. Veena comes to FCLTGlobal after 15 years at Ceres, a leading sustainability nonprofit. During this time, Veena played a number of roles including launching a program on corporate governance, creating online training curriculum for board directors on ESG (in partnership with the Berkeley School of Law), jumpstarting efforts to engage financial regulators on the systemic risk of climate change and engaging with large global companies on their sustainability and climate change strategies and disclosures.
Veena has published and presented extensively on these topics. Key publications include Turning up the Heat: The need for urgent action from US financial regulators on climate change (2021); Addressing Climate Change as a Systemic Risk: A role for financial market regulators (2020); Running the Risk: How corporate boards can oversee ESG issues (2019) and Systems rule: How board governance drives sustainability performance (2017).
Prior to Ceres, Veena held roles at CDM Smith and Integrative Strategies Forum. Veena has also practiced law in India.
Veena is a board director of Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary and Foundation, which is an 8000 acre refuge created to preserve, protect and propagate native flora and fauna in Western Massachusetts. She holds a BA (Hons) LL.B degree from the National Law School of India University and an LL.M degree from the Washington University School of Law.
Alik’s professional experience spans machine learning consulting, investing at a large venture capital fund, and most recently as CEO of his startup, Responsibli, building better tools for institutional investors to assess environmental, social, and governance impacts of their investments. Alik’s academic background is in mathematical finance, with an undergraduate and Master’s degree from the University of Toronto, where Alik is currently a Vanier Scholar working on his PhD. Alik’s research focus is at the intersection of machine learning and finance, and he has several publications on applying machine learning techniques to responsible investing, as well as other general problems in quantitative finance. Alik is also an educator in the machine learning field, teaching machine learning at the University of Toronto Master’s of Mathematical Finance program.
CFA, FRM
PhD
CFA
Master of Science (MS), Computational Finance University of Washington
Jon Spinney, MS, CFA, is Chief Investment Officer and VP Quantitative Investing at Vestcor (formerly New Brunswick Investment Management Corp.) in Fredericton. In addition to directing the firm’s overall investment activities and managing the investment research agenda, he is responsible for the implementation and management of all quantitative strategies (currently totaling approximately $3.5 billion in actively managed AUM across several portfolios). Previously, Jon held positions in portfolio management, applied research, and fixed income derivatives analysis.
Jon’s research interests are in quantitative investment strategies/asset pricing as well as pension & endowment management, and he has both published articles and acted as a reviewer in peer-reviewed academic and practitioner journals such as the Financial Analysts Journal and the Journal of Portfolio Management.
M.Sc
Jeffery Sun is an Associate PM at OPTrust where he focuses on investments in the Digital Assets and Fintech space. Prior to joining the Digital Assets team, he worked on OPTrust’s Capital Markets focused on macro trading and systematic strategies. He also worked in OPTrust’s Portfolio Construction team. Mr. Sun holds a master degrees in Computer Science from Georgia Tech and a Mathematical Finance degree from University of Toronto. He is also a coder of Ethereum smart contracts and in Solidity.
CFA, CAIA
CFA, ICD.D
Terri Troy, CFA, ICD.D is C0-Founder of Placemore Capital Inc., an advisory firm that works closely with investment managers/GPs and accredited investors to match the right solutions with the right partners. In 2018 Terri retired as CEO of the Halifax Regional Municipality Pension Plan. She has more than 25 years of experience in investment management, pensions, corporate strategy, and mergers and acquisitions. As CEO of the Halifax Regional Municipality Pension Plan, she transformed the governance structure, investment strategy, and customer service function. Innovative investment strategies implemented included factor investing, portable alpha, and a significant emphasis on private investments including co-investments, syndications/club deals with other large institutional investors, and direct investments, etc.
While CEO, Terri was a Board member of a UK based energy company and a Board member of a Canadian financial services corporation. She was a member of Investor Advisory Committees for various global private investments including UK, European and US private equity; UK, Australian and Canadian infrastructure; European, UK, Asian, US and Canadian real estate; and European, UK, and US private debt.
Prior to the CEO role, Terri was responsible for the investment strategy for RBC’s 33 global pension plans between 2000-2006. Prior to RBC, Terri held various roles at CIBC including corporate strategy, mergers & acquisitions, and wealth management.
Terri has held various leadership roles in the pension industry including being a Board Member of the Pension Investment Association of Canada (PIAC), Chair of PIAC, Chair of PIAC’s Investment Practices Committee and Chair of PIAC’s Government Relations Committee.
Terri was a member of the International Limited Partnership’s Association’s Education Committee 2016-2018 and is currently on ILPA’s Teaching Faculty.
Over the course of her career, Terri has received many awards including the Leading Pension Plan Sponsor Award and the Top 25 Most Influential Plan Sponsors.
Terri has an MBA from York University and an HBBA from Wilfrid Laurier. She also holds the CFA charter and completed the ICD Rotman, Directors Education Program
CFA
Aaron White is a member of the Institutional Asset Management team. He focuses on sustainable investing and enhancing the firm’s ESG capabilities, including policy development and implementation and client communication. He also manages and creates effective sustainable investment solutions for clients, prospects and consultants.
Prior to his current role, Mr. White held the roles of Associate Client Portfolio Manager and Director of Regional Sales with CIBC Asset Management. He consulted with financial advisors to develop investor asset allocations and optimize portfolio construction. He began his career as a Managed Solutions and Sales Support Specialist at CI Investments.
Mr. White holds a BEd degree from McGill University and the Chartered Investment Manager designation.
Mike Woollatt is a Managing Director in Hamilton Lane’s Client Solutions Group and Head of Canada. He previously worked on the Fund Investment and Direct Equity team.
Prior to joining Hamilton Lane in 2019, Mike was a Director at OMERS pension plan in the venture capital and growth equity groups. Prior to OMERS, Mike was the CEO of the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. He has also co-founded a management consulting firm and has held senior executive roles at a few major Canadian corporations.
Prior to entering the private sector, Mike worked for the Government of Canada, first as a research economist and then as a political and policy advisor to the Minister of Finance. Mike has also worked overseas as an economist on World Bank funded international development projects and taught economics at the university level. Mike is a frequent commentator on both broadcast and print media on the state of the Canadian private capital markets.
CFA
Kevin Zhu is Senior Managing Director, Head of Portfolio Construction at OPTrust, one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension funds with net assets of almost C$25 billion.
Kevin has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, including both central banking and total portfolio investment
framework and strategy design for large Canadian defined benefit pension plans.
Kevin joined OPTrust in 2016 where he has been leading Total Fund portfolio management functions, including portfolio construction research and innovation, capital and risk allocation across asset classes and strategies, total portfolio management framework design, and dynamic total portfolio management.
Prior to joining OPTrust, Kevin held the position of Director, Strategy & Asset Mix at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Prior to this appointment, Kevin was Senior Economist at the Bank of Canada focusing on monetary policy research and model development. He holds a MA in Economics from Carleton University and is a CFA Charterholder. In 2017, Kevin was named to Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute’s Public Investor 100.
