Featured Speakers

Hester M. Peirce
Commissioner
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Hester M. Peirce was appointed by President Donald Trump to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and was sworn in on January 11, 2018.

Prior to joining the Commission, Commissioner Peirce served as Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Financial Markets Working Group (now Program on Financial Regulation) at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. While at the Mercatus Center, Commissioner Peirce’s research explored how financial markets foster economic growth and prosperity and the role well-designed regulation plays in protecting investors and consumers while promoting financial stability and innovation.Commissioner Peirce co-edited two books, authored publications, testified before Congress, and served on the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee.

Before joining the Mercatus Center, Commissioner Peirce worked on Senator Richard Shelby’s Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs staff as Senior Counsel. In that position, she oversaw financial regulatory reform efforts following the 2008 financial crisis and conducted oversight of the regulatory implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act.

From 2004 to 2008, Commissioner Peirce worked as counsel to SEC Commissioner Paul S. Atkins. Prior to serving Commissioner Atkins, Commissioner Peirce worked as a Staff Attorney in the Division of Investment Management.

Before working at the SEC, Commissioner Peirce was an associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale) and clerked for Judge Roger Andewelt on the Court of Federal Claims.

Commissioner Peirce earned her B.A. in Economics from Case Western Reserve University and her J.D. from Yale Law School.

Steven Cakebread
Chief Financial Officer
Yext

Steven Cakebread is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Yext, Inc. since October 2014. Prior to joining Yext, Mr. Cakebread served in various senior executive roles, including as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer of D-Wave Systems, a quantum computing company, from March 2013 to September 2014 and as Chief Financial Officer of Pandora Media Inc., a provider of personalized internet radio and music discovery service, from March 2010 to December 2012. From 2009 to March 2010, Mr. Cakebread was a Principal with J. Stevens & Co. LLC, a consulting company. From February 2009 to December 2009, Mr. Cakebread served as Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Xactly Corporation, a provider of on-demand sales performance management software. Mr. Cakebread also served as President and Chief Strategy Officer of Salesforce, a customer relationship management service provider, from March 2008 to February 2009, and as Chief Financial Officer of Salesforce from May 2002 to March 2008.

Mr. Cakebread has served on the board of directors of ServiceSource International, Inc., a publicly held revenue lifecycle management software company, since 2010. He previously served as a member of the boards of directors of Solar Winds from January 2008 to February 2016, Care.com from December 2013 to November 2014 and eHealth from June 2006 to June 2012.

Mr. Cakebread holds a B.S. in Business from the University of California, Berkeley, and a M.B.A. from Indiana University.

Chris Concannon
President & COO
MarketAxess

Chris Concannon has been the President and Chief Operating Officer of MarketAxess since January 2019. In this role, Mr. Concannon oversees day-to-day operations, corporate development, long-term technology strategy and global data strategy for MarketAxess globally.

Mr. Concannon was most recently the President and Chief Operating Officer of Cboe Global Markets Inc., where he was responsible for Cboe’s transaction businesses, including Global Derivatives, U.S. and European Equities, and Global Foreign Exchange, as well as overseeing the company’s Technology, Operations, Risk and Marketing divisions. Prior to his role at the Cboe, Mr. Concannon was the Chief Executive Officer of Bats Global Markets, where he led the company’s initial public offering in 2016, as well as its acquisition by the Cboe in February 2017.

Mr. Concannon has more than 20 years of experience as an executive at Nasdaq, Virtu Financial, Instinet, and as an attorney at Morgan Lewis and Bockius, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. He holds a B.A. from Catholic University, an M.B.A. from St. John’s University and a J.D. from Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law.

Brian Conroy
President
Liquidnet

As President of Liquidnet, Brian Conroy works in close partnership with Seth Merrin, CEO and Founder. Mr. Conroy shares the responsibility of providing strategic leadership for the company with a focus on building new businesses both organically and through acquisition.

Mr. Conroy brings more than 30 years of experience in financial services industry. He has relocated back to the U.S. from London where he was the President of Fidelity International, responsible for strategic direction and oversight of the firm’s international asset management and distribution businesses across 25 countries. Prior to that, he was the President for Fidelity Capital Markets and Global Head of Equity Trading in Boston for FMR. Mr. Conroy has also held senior roles at JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, ABN AMRO and SAC LLC.

Stacey Cunningham
President
NYSE Group

Stacey Cunningham is the President of the NYSE Group, which includes the New York Stock Exchange and a diverse range of equity and equity options exchanges, all wholly-owned subsidiaries of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE). She is the 67^th President and the first woman to lead the NYSE Group.

Most recently, Ms. Cunningham was the NYSE Chief Operating Officer where she was responsible for NYSE’s four equity markets and two options markets. In this capacity, she led the company’s strategy for its equities, equity derivatives and exchange-traded funds businesses. Prior to serving as COO, Ms. Cunningham was President of NYSE Governance Services, a provider of governance, compliance and education solutions for companies and their boards. Ms. Cunningham also served as Head of Sales & Relationship Management at NYSE, where she managed the sales team for U.S. cash equities and options markets. Before joining NYSE, Ms. Cunningham held several senior positions at Nasdaq.

Ms. Cunningham began her career on the NYSE trading floor where she served as a specialist. She earned her B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University.

Daniel Keegan
Co-Head Global Equities and Securities Services
Head of Markets and Securities Services, NA
Citigroup

Dan Keegan is Global Co-Head of Equities and Securities Services (ESS), in his capacity he is responsible for the broad trading and execution capabilities for electronic and complex structured products, financing and hedging solutions, clearing, and custody and funds services. In addition to this role, Mr. Keegan is the Head of Markets and Securities Services for North America at Citi.  

Mr. Keegan joined the CGMI Board in 2018 and has recently taken the role as President and CEO of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (CGMI). 

Mr. Keegan joined Citi in 2007 as part of Citi’s purchase of Automated Trading Desk (ATD), where he was on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors. He has held several roles at Citi including Head of Equities Americas, Head of Global Cash Equities and Head of Global Electronic Trading. 

Prior to joining ATD, where he was responsible for building their Institutional Equities business, Mr. Keegan held numerous management positions at JP Morgan. 

Prior Board Memberships include BATS, BIDS and Level. Mr. Keegan is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, as well as Notre Dame Law School.

Brett Redfearn
Director, Division of Trading and Markets
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Brett Redfearn was named the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Director of the Division of Trading and Markets in October 2017.

Mr. Redfearn joins the SEC from J.P. Morgan, where he was Global Head of Market Structure for the Corporate and Investment Bank.

Mr. Redfearn has a long history in the U.S. equity markets, having worked with investors, exchanges and broker-dealers. During his career, he has focused on how technology, regulation and business trends are changing trading patterns across asset classes and geographic regions. He has helped build electronic trading products, worked closely with exchanges and other trading venues as these products evolved, and engaged with global asset managers on major regulatory developments. He has also been a frequent contributor at policy forums surrounding U.S. equity markets, and has been an active participant at several meetings of the SEC’s Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee.

He has served as Chairman of SIFMA’s Equity Markets and Trading Committee and was a participant on the Security Traders Association (STA) Market Structure Analysts Committee and the Canadian STA (CSTA’s) Trading Issues Committee. Previously, Mr. Redfearn has served on the boards of Bats Global Markets, BATS Exchange, the National Organization of Investment Professionals, the Chicago Stock Exchange, and BIDS Trading.

Mr. Redfearn earned his M.A. in political science from the New School for Social Research and his B.A. from the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.

Jim Ross
Executive Vice President,
Chair of the Global SPDR Business
State Street Global Advisors

Jim Ross is an Executive Vice President of State Street Global Advisors and is Chairman of the Global SPDR Business. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of State Street Global Advisors Funds Management, Inc., State Street Global Advisors’ Registered Investment Advisor, and as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of State Street Global Advisors Funds Distributors, LLC, State Street Global Advisors’ registered broker dealer. In these roles, Mr. Ross is responsible for leading State Street Global Advisors’ engagement with ETF stakeholders including regulators, mutual fund and ETF Boards of Directors, industry associations, key clients, partners and the media. Mr. Ross leads State Street Global Advisors’ positioning on important issues related to ETFs and is responsible for advancing State Street Global Advisors’ long-term ETF strategy and innovation. He has an extensive history with exchange traded funds and is frequently quoted in the media. Mr. Ross is responsible for State Street Global Advisors’ Global Funds Management organization and is a member of the State Street Global Advisors’ Executive Management Group as well as State Street Global Advisors’ Global Product Committee. He also serves on the Investment Company Institute’s Board of Governors and is Chairman of the ICI’s Exchange Traded Funds Committee.

Mr. Ross serves as a volunteer board member of the Alzheimer Association of MA/NH. Prior to joining State Street in 1992, he worked for Ernst & Young as a senior accountant, responsible for auditing investment companies and insurance companies. Mr. Ross holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy from Bentley College.

Tal Cohen
Executive Vice President and Head of North American Market Services 
Nasdaq

Tal Cohen is Executive Vice President and Head of North American Market Services at Nasdaq. In this capacity, he is responsible for client relations and driving growth across cash equities, derivatives, commodities, clearing and trade management services across Nasdaq’s U.S. and Canadian businesses.

Prior to joining Nasdaq in April 2016 as the Senior Vice President of North American Equities, Mr. Cohen was the Chief Executive Officer of Chi‐X Global Holdings, LLC from 2010 to 2016. From 2008 to 2010, he served as CEO of Chi‐X Americas.

Prior to joining Chi-X, Mr. Cohen held several senior leadership roles at Instinet, including Senior Vice President of Business Development and Product Strategy, and Co‐head of electronic trading for North America, from 2005-2008. Before joining Instinet, he served as M&A Manager at American Express; building out its strategic investment portfolio. He started his career at Arthur Andersen as an Auditor and Senior Business Advisor focused on the Financial Services and Telecom industries.

From 2009-2016, Mr. Cohen served as a Director on the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) Board. He additionally served as a Director on the Canadian Depository for Securities (CDS) Board from 2013-2016.

Mr. Cohen holds a B.A. from SUNY Albany, an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business, and is a Certified Public Accountant. He also holds FINRA Series 24, 7 and 63 licenses, the CSI Partners, Directors, and Senior Officers Designation (PDO).

Bryan Harkins
Executive Vice President, Head of Markets Division
Cboe Global Markets

Bryan Harkins is Executive Vice President, Head of Markets Division at Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe), joining the firm in 2017 as part of the Bats Global Markets acquisition. Based in New York, he oversees the sales, product development and competitive strategy for the company’s U.S. equities, futures, options and global foreign exchange businesses, its suite of market data and access services products, as well as Cboe’s growing ETP listings business.

He joined Bats in 2014 when it acquired Direct Edge Holdings, creating the largest U.S. equities stock exchange operator (excluding auctions). As a founding employee and COO at Direct Edge, Harkins led the firm’s growth into one of the largest players in the U.S. equities market. He also was responsible for operations, product development, sales and the day-to-day activities of the EDGX and EDGA stock exchanges, which continue to operate under Cboe’s current equities franchise.

During his nearly 20 years in the electronic trading space, Mr. Harkins has held numerous technical, operational, product and senior sales positions. He has also received many accolades including selection to the 2014 Crain’s New York “Business 40 under Forty,” the 2013 NJBiz magazine “Forty Under 40,” the 2013 Silver Best in Biz award for Best Executive and the 2013 Business Intelligence Group award for Executive of the Year.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame, an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business, and Series 7, 24, 55 and 63 licenses.

Jonathan Kellner
Chief Executive Officer
Members Exchange

Jonathan Kellner is the CEO of Members Exchange (MEMX), a recently launched venture that intends to be an independent U.S. securities exchange. The venture is backed by a diverse group of market participants, including some of the industry’s largest broker-dealers, banks, and market makers. Mr. Kellner is responsible for MEMX’s strategic vision, with an initial focus on assembling the staff, establishing and maintaining a positive workplace culture, and guiding the company through the build-out of its technology platform and the exchange approval process with the SEC.

Prior to accepting the role as MEMX CEO, Mr. Kellner was the CEO of Instinet Incorporated, an institutional agency-only broker and independent equity trading arm of its parent company, Nomura Holdings, Inc. In this role, he led a global organization of 800 team members, including registered broker-dealers in six separate regulatory jurisdictions. During his tenure, Instinet strengthened its leadership position as a global agency broker through the delivery of market-leading execution technology and customer-centric trading innovations. He also led the company through its successful acquisition of BlockCross ATS from State Street, and through periods of significant regulatory change, including Dodd-Frank and MiFID II.

Mr. Kellner spent 11 years at Instinet, serving in a number of different leadership capacities. He began his career in the financial services industry working in a variety of technology and equity trading roles at global financial services firms, including Charles Schwab and Morgan Stanley. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan.

Brian Kelly
Chief Executive Officer
BKCM LLC

Brian Kelly is Founder & CEO of BKCM LLC, a digital currency investment firm. He is the portfolio manager of the BKCM Digital Asset Fund and the REX BKCM Blockchain ETF (NYSE: BKC). Mr. Kelly is the author of “The Bitcoin Big Bang – How Alternative Currencies Are About to Change the World.”

Prior to BKCM LLC, Mr. Kelly was Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Shelter Harbor Capital LLC and managed the Shelter Harbor Capital Global Macro Hedge Fund. As well, Mr. Kelly was a co- founder and President of MKM Partners, a brokerage firm catering to institutional investment managers.

He is a graduate of the University of Vermont where he received a B.S. in finance. He also holds an M.B.A. from Babson Graduate School of Business with a concentration in finance and econometrics.

Manisha Kimmel
Sr. Policy Advisor
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Manisha Kimmel serves as Senior Policy Advisor for Regulatory Reporting to Chairman Jay Clayton. In this role, Ms. Kimmel coordinates the SEC’s oversight of the self-regulatory organizations’ (SROs) creation and implementation of the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT). Ms. Kimmel joined the SEC from Refinitiv, where she served as Head of Regulatory and Compliance, Wealth Management. In addition, Ms. Kimmel served as the chair of the Advisory Committee for CAT NMS LLC. She has previously been a member of the SEC’s Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee (EMSAC) where she chaired the Customer Issues Subcommittee.

Prior to Refinitiv, Ms. Kimmel served as Managing Director of the Financial Information Forum, where she worked on issues involving regulatory and market data technology issues. She has also held positions at Jordan & Jordan and Automatic Data Processing.

Ms. Kimmel earned her B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and her B.S. in Engineering from Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Ronan Ryan
President & Co-Founder
IEX Group

Ronan Ryan is President & Co-Founder of IEX Group, and is responsible for strategy and decision-making related to all of IEX’s client-facing businesses. As part of that role, Mr. Ryan focuses on building and strengthening relationships with external stakeholders, including broker-dealer members, institutional investors, and publicly-traded companies.

Prior to co-founding IEX, Mr. Ryan was the Head of Electronic Trading Strategy at RBC Capital Markets, where he used his prior experience in network, hardware and co-location technology to generate client-facing solutions. Previously, Mr. Ryan was the Head of Financial Services Development at Switch and Data and Head of DMA and Co-location solutions at BT Radianz, a leading network solutions provider.

Sarah G. ten Siethoff
Associate Director, Division of Investment Management
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Sarah G. ten Siethoff is the Associate Director for the Rulemaking Office of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management. Ms. Ten Siethoff leads the development of policy and rulemaking relating to investment advisers and investment companies. Prior to joining the SEC, Ms. ten Siethoff was an associate with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in their New York and Washington, DC offices. 

Ms. ten Siethoff received her J.D. from Yale Law School, her M.A. in International Relations from Yale University, and her B.A. from the University of Virginia.

Leonard Amoruso
Partner
Murphy & McGonigle

Leonard Amoruso focuses his practice on securities compliance, regulation, market structure matters, as well as counseling broker-dealers and financial institutions on a wide array of legal, compliance and regulatory matters. He counsels market participants regarding regulatory requirements and controls, examinations, investigations, enforcement and disciplinary proceedings with a particular focus on trading-related matters and he also advises those entities with respect to corporate governance. Mr. Amoruso also has extensive experience with multiple asset classes and in dealing with U.S. and foreign regulators, including, the SEC, CFTC, FINRA, NYSE and the Financial Conduct Authority (UK).

Mr. Amoruso has 25 years of financial industry experience, specifically in the legal, compliance, operational and regulatory policy arenas. From 1989-1999, Mr. Amoruso was with the New York office of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), having served as Chief Counsel and, subsequently, Deputy Director. In these roles, Mr. Amoruso oversaw hundreds of examinations, investigations, enforcement matters, and new/continuing member applications. After FINRA, Mr. Amoruso spent more than 14 years at Knight Capital Group, Inc. – initially, as the Chief Compliance Officer of its broker-dealer, Knight Securities, LP, and subsequently as the General Counsel for the parent company – managing the legal, compliance, AML, internal audit, regulatory affairs, and government relations programs for the firm on a global basis.

Mr. Amoruso has served on numerous industry committees and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences. Mr. Amoruso has been a member of the regulatory boards of the NASDAQ Stock Market LLC and Direct Edge Exchange.

Julie W. Bauer 
Executive Vice President, Government Relations and Investor Education
The Options Clearing Corporation

Julie Bauer is Executive Vice President, Government Relations and Investor Education at OCC, the world’s largest equity derivatives clearing organization.  

In this role, Ms. Bauer manages OCC’s interactions with congressional and regulatory policymakers, as well as leading the advocacy efforts of the U.S. Securities Markets Coalition on behalf of the listed options industry.  She also oversees The Options Industry Council (OIC), an industry resource managed by OCC, that provides educational programs and research about the benefits and risks of exchange-listed options to market participants. Ms. Bauer joined OCC in September 2016.

Prior to joining OCC, Ms. Bauer was Senior Vice President, Government Relations for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), where she spent nine years. She previously had a 17-year career with the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), ultimately serving as Vice President for Government Relations and heading the CBOT’s Washington, D.C., office. 

Ms. Bauer is a graduate of the University of Virginia and received her master’s degree in American Government from Georgetown University.

Shelly Bohlin
Chief Operating Officer
FINRA CAT LLC, FINRA

Shelly Bohlin is Chief Operating Officer of FINRA CAT LLC, a subsidiary of FINRA that is the Plan Processor for the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT). She also co-chairs the CAT Industry Member Technical Specifications Working Group. In addition, Ms. Bohlin served on the CAT Plan Participant Leadership Team until FINRA was selected as the CAT Plan Processor.

Previously, Ms. Bohlin was Vice President in the Quality of Markets Section of FINRA’s Market Regulation Department. She oversaw the Market Analysis and Audit Trail Group, which is responsible for monitoring member-firm compliance with FINRA rules and federal securities laws related to market making, order handling, trade reporting and FINRA’s Order Audit Trail System (OATS).

Ms. Bohlin worked in FINRA’s Market Regulation Department for the past 25 years in various surveillance areas, including insider trading, anti-competitive practices, alternative trading systems, and fixed-income securities.

Ms. Bohlin is a Certified Public Accountant and has a B.S.B.A. in Finance and Accounting from the University of Arkansas.

Christopher Bok
Director
Financial Information Forum

Christopher Bok is Director of the Financial Information Forum (FIF), an industry association focused on assisting industry members with implementation issues affecting the securities industry, as well as to engage, inform and offer alternative solutions to regulators concerning the impact of proposed rules/regulations and other market structure changes. 

As Director, Mr. Bok is responsible for management and oversight of all operational and content-driven activities including leading several content-based working groups and subgroups.  In this role, he works directly with industry stakeholders and regulators to develop and advocate for practical solutions to several implementation-based issues on several topics, including SEC Rule 606, SEC Rule 605, SEC Rule 613 (CAT), FINRA Rule 2232, TRACE, EBS, OATS, SEC 13H-1 and several additional regulatory initiatives.  During his tenure at FIF, he has written and submitted over 30 comment letters to the SEC, FINRA, MSRB, and the CAT Operating Committee on behalf of FIF members on several critical industry initiatives. 

Prior to assuming his current role, Mr. Bok served as an industry consultant at Jordan & Jordan, a financial services consultancy. He holds a bachelor’s degree from St. John’s University and earned his JD from the University of Notre Dame, and is a licensed attorney in the state of New York.

Reginald Browne
Head of ETF Market Making
GTS-Mischler

Reginald Browne is Head of ETF Market Making at GTS-Mischler.

Prior to joining GTS, Mr. Browne was a Senior Managing Director at Cantor Fitzgerald and Co. He was Managing Director of the ETF Team and Global Co-Head of The Listed Derivatives Group at Knight Capital Group, Inc. He joined KCG in 2009 from Newedge USA. Mr. Browne began his career at O’Connor & Associates. He is a 15-year ETF industry veteran with a core focus on market-marking and institutional sales.

Mr. Browne earned a B.S. in Finance from LaSalle University.

Stephen Cavoli
Executive Vice President, Markets
Virtu

Stephen Cavoli has been Virtu’s Executive Vice President, Markets since December 2017, and previously served as Virtu’s Senior Vice President, Strategy and Market Development since September 2015. Prior to joining Virtu, Mr. Cavoli was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley in the electronic trading group, where he served in various roles from April 2004 to September 2015. Mr. Cavoli previously held positions at Instinet where he focused on U.S. equities trading and execution. 

Mr. Cavoli graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1992 and has served as an Infantry Officer in the United States Army.

Frank Chaparro
Director of News
The Block

Frank Chaparro leads editorial efforts for The Block, a research and information property in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space, as its Director of News.

Mr. Chaparro started his career at Business Insider, where he specialized in the intersection of digital assets and Wall Street, market structure, and financial technology. He has received numerous accolades for his work and maintained the position as one of the most well-read fintech reporters through his time there, breaking stories on bulge bracket investment banks, exchanges, and high-frequency trading firms. 

Soon after joining Business Insider in 2017, Mr. Chaparro was interviewing top finance and tech executives, including billionaire Mark Cuban, “Flash Boys” star Brad Katsuyama, and New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley. In 2018, he become a sought after reporter in the crypto world, interviewing luminaries such as Tyler Winklevoss, the cofounder of Gemini, R Martin Chavez, the former chief information officer of Goldman Sachs, and Mike Bodson, the CEO of DTCC. He joined The Block to dive deeper into his specialty and is responsible for investigating the most powerful figures and firms in the cryptocurrency market, while leading a global team of financial journalists and researchers.

Steve Crutchfield
Head of Market Structure and Electronic Trading Strategy
CTC Trading Company, LLC

Steve Crutchfield is Head of Market Structure and Electronic Trading Strategy at Chicago Trading Company (CTC), a proprietary options market maker. CTC provides liquidity on U.S. and European derivatives exchanges, both electronically and in open outcry, in asset classes including equity index and ETF options, single-name equities, interest rate options, and energy products. Mr. Crutchfield also serves on the Advisory Board of Cboe Global Markets and on the NYSE American Board of Directors.

Prior to joining CTC in 2016, Mr. Crutchfield served as Executive Vice President and Head of Options, Exchange-Traded Products, and Bonds at the New York Stock Exchange (an Intercontinental Exchange company), where he sat on the Management Committee and oversaw the two NYSE options exchanges, the Global Index Group, and the nation’s largest ETF/ETP listings business. He was also CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of NYSE Amex Options LLC, and sat on the Board of Directors of The Options Clearing Corporation.

Before joining NYSE, Mr. Crutchfield was Chief Operating Officer at Matlock Capital LLC, a proprietary options trading firm, where he supervised trading, quantitative research, and technology. Prior to joining Matlock, he was Managing Director of research and development at Botta Capital Management, an options market maker.

Mr. Crutchfield holds an MBA in Econometrics and Analytic Finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an MS in Computer Science from Stanford University, and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University. He was named one of the Crain’s New York Business “40 Under Forty” in 2012, and now lives in Chicago with his wife and small dog.

Mark Davies
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
S3

Mark Davies is Co-Founder and CEO of S3, a full-service compliance and trade analytics software. He is responsible for the organization’s business strategy, the executive team, and has oversight of the company’s day-to-day operations, including client relations, sales, and business development.

A financial services executive with over 15 years’ experience in fintech and regtech, Mr. Davies has deep industry knowledge in trading technology, particularly trade surveillance, best execution analysis, and regulatory reporting. Currently, Mr. Davies is leading the industry on market structure and regulatory reporting requirements for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Rule 606 under Reg NMS and is sought after for his subject matter expertise.

Mr. Davies co-founded S3 in 2002. In 2004, S3 launched its first trading analytics product, redefining S3’s core business. Since then, under Mr. Davies guidance, S3 has improved trust in the industry through appropriate and intelligent disclosure via regulatory reporting and analytics.

Mr. Davies holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and three children.

Steph Davis
Climb2Fly

Steph’s resume of climbing achievements spans 25 years. She was the first woman to free climb the Salathe Wall on El Capitan, and the second woman to free climb El Cap in under 24 hours. She has established first ascents around the world, of difficult rock climbs and high altitude mountains from Yosemite to the Karakoram.

Few climbers practice the high risk style of free solo climbing, using no ropes or protective gear. Steph is the most accomplished female free soloist in the world and is also one of world’s top wingsuit base jumpers. She is one of just a few people in the world, and the only woman, combining free solo climbing with base jumping.

From an unusual start as a classically trained pianist with a Master’s degree in literature, Steph chose to leave law school in order to pursue climbing full time. She has become one of the most successful professional climbers in the world. Steph has written two memoirs, High Infatuation and Learning to Fly, and curates a blog at stephdavis.co with a focus on community, health and wellness, simple living and travel.

She owns and operates Climb2Fly Productions in Moab, Utah, a climbing and base jumping stunt company

John Donahue
Executive Director
National Organization of Investment Professionals

John Donahue is the Executive Director of the National Organization of Investment Professionals (NOIP), a nonprofit association of investment professionals with a common objective of fostering a favorable regulatory environment for institutional participation in the securities markets with fair and open markets for all participants.

Prior to his role at NOIP, Mr. Donahue was a Senior Vice President and Head of Equities for Fidelity Capital Markets (FCM), the institutional trading arm of Fidelity Investments providing trading, products and services to a wide array of clients and Fidelity businesses. Fidelity Investments is a leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, benefits outsourcing and other financial products and services to more than 20 million individuals, institutions and financial intermediaries.

Over his 28 years at Fidelity, Mr. Donahue had a number of leadership roles within Fidelity’s asset management division as well as its institutional brokerage operation. He oversaw FCM’s equity offering, which includes electronic trading solutions, domestic and international agency trading, options trading, portfolio trading and transition management.

Walter Ferstand

Walter Ferstand is a veteran compliance and regulatory expert with more than 30 years of capital markets experience in the broker/dealer and exchange side of the business. Prior to joining BestXStats, Walter was the Compliance Subject Matter Expert at both Redkite Financial Markets and NICE Actimize. He has also held senior-level compliance positions at Man Financial and Instinet, and served in market operations management capacities during a 10-year tenure with NASDAQ.

Mr. Ferstand specializes in cross-asset electronic and DMA trading requirements, including REG NMS 611, 605 and 606, OATS, TRACE, TRF, and MSRB Compliance Reporting. Mr. Ferstand also has extensive knowledge of the development, forensic testing and risk assessment of compliance programs in accordance with SEC, FINRA, and CFTC rules and regulations, including new and proposed rules.

Heidi Fischer
Instinet

Tom Gira
Executive Vice President, Market Regulation and Transparency Services
FINRA

Thomas Gira oversees FINRA’s Market Regulation Department, which provides regulatory services to U.S. exchanges, including, among others, NASDAQ’s family of U.S. markets, The New York Stock Exchange’s family of U.S. markets, the Cboe’s family of U.S. markets, the BOX Options Market, Individual Investors Exchange, and the Miami Securities Exchange’s family of markets. Market Regulation also regulates Trade Reporting Facilities, FINRA’s Alternative Display Facility, the over-the-counter market, and corporate and municipal bonds.

Mr. Gira also oversees FINRA’s Transparency Services Department, which is responsible for the operation of FINRA’s trade reporting facilities. These facilities include the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE), the FINRA facility for reporting and disseminating corporate bond, agency debenture and securitized product transactions; the Alternative Display Facility, FINRA’s listed equity quote and trade reporting vehicle; the trade reporting facilities, FINRA’s joint ventures with the exchanges for printing listed equity trades; and the over-the-counter equity transparency facilities, including the OTC Bulletin Board.

Before joining FINRA in 1992, Mr. Gira was an Associate General Counsel of The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. Prior to that, he was Branch Chief for Options and Derivative Products Regulation within the Division of Market Regulation at the SEC.

Mr. Gira is a graduate of Wake Forest University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in economics. He received his law degree from the University of Maryland.

Melissa Hinmon
Director, Equity Trading
Glenmede Investment Management

Melissa Hinmon is Director of Equity Trading for Glenmede Investment Management LP.

Prior to joining Glenmede, Ms. Hinmon was employed as a Trader at Turner Investments, Merrill Lynch and NatWest Markets. Her three decades of experience at buy-side and sell-side firms includes positions as a Senior Proprietary Trader, Quantitative Trader, and Customer Facilitation Trader. She began her career as a runner on the Midwest Stock Exchange.

Ms. Hinmon is Co-Chair of the NYSE Institutional Traders Advisory Committee. She is also the NYSE Arca, Inc. participant selection for the CTA/UTP Advisory Committee. She is also a member of the Nasdaq Quality of Markets Committee and the CBOE Institutional Advisory Committee.

Ms. Hinmon is a board member of the National Organization of Investment Professionals, serves on the advisory committee for Quorum 15 and is a member of the Investment Traders Association of Philadelphia. She is a regular featured speaker and panel participant at securities industry conferences.

Ms. Hinmon received the Rising Star Award by Traders Magazine, awarded that year to “high-impact women professionals who will continue to lead the industry in the next generation.” She was selected by an independent advisory council of women in the industry.

Away from the desk, Ms. Hinmon contributes time to charitable organizations and serves as a board member of Trellis for Tomorrow.

Amy Hong
Global Head of Market Structure
Goldman Sachs

Amy Hong is global head of Market Structure Strategy for the Securities Division. She serves on the Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC Fixed Income Best Execution Subcommittee and was previously co-head of the Securities Division Women’s Network. Earlier in her career, Ms. Hong was in Global Credit Trading. She joined Goldman Sachs in 2006 as an analyst in the Investment Banking Division and was named managing director in 2017. Before joining the firm, Ms. Hong worked at UBS.

Ms. Hong serves on the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Global Markets Advisory Committee, the board of ICE Clear Credit, and the risk committees of ICE Clear Credit and ICE Clear Europe on behalf of the firm.

Ms. Hong earned a BA in Political Science and International Relations from Bucknell University and an MBA from Columbia University, and was awarded the George E. Doty Global Master’s Degree Fellowship.

Carrie Jaquith
Vice President
Lazard

Carrie Jaquith is a Vice President at Lazard where she leads efforts in emerging tech, digital product, and analytics. She is a thoughtful leader, mentor, diplomat, and designer of elegant solutions to problems that lie within fixed frameworks. She is a mapper and navigator of the invisible networks that connect humans and systems. Following studies in classical music and art she has charted a career spanning design, software development, and technology. She has designed human-friendly software experiences in the finance space and has led technology deployments in 21 countries. She co-founded Lazard’s first digital group and has collaborated with teams at Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and Microsoft. Ms. Jaquith is an active participant in NYU’s annual ITP Camp where she gets to play with lasers, sensors, and robots. She is a member of a think tank and innovation teams focused on data visualization, machine learning, and finance. A student of Joan Lader and member of One World Symphony, she loves to collaborate on projects that blend classical music, education, and social good. She is inspired by experiences in voice and painting studios, machine shops for things that go fast, computer labs, and video games.

Vlad Khandros
Managing Director
Global Head of Market Structure and Liquidity Strategy
UBS

Vlad Khandros is a Managing Director and Global Head of Market Structure and Liquidity Strategy at UBS. He is actively engaged in the Americas Cash strategy and investments in financial technology focused on equity trading. His oversight includes the Smart Order Router (SOR), Americas Cash Architecture, and the ATS team, which is currently the largest ATS as per FINRA. He also created and leads the global cross-asset Market Structure team.

Mr. Khandros works closely with exchanges, regulators, and policy makers around the world to help further improve capital markets. He represents UBS on numerous advisory committees, industry groups, and company boards including the CBOE Equity Advisory Committee, IEX Quality of Markets Committee, and SIFMA Equity Markets & Trading Committee. He is a founder and advisor to MEMX (Members Exchange). He is on the board of the UBS Americas Inc. Political Action Committee, and was previously a board member of BIDS Trading LP and Chi-X Global LLC.

Prior to joining UBS in 2011, he was Global Co-Head of Corporate Strategy at Liquidnet, working directly for the founder and CEO. There he was responsible for business development including M&A and strategic partnerships, global market structure and government relations. 

Mr. Khandros serves on the board of Stay Pawsitive, Inc., an animal welfare charity, and Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV), a youth village empowering orphans in Rwanda. He received the POTUS Volunteer Service Award from the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation for his work with the American Red Cross.

He was the featured Rising Star of Finance in 2011 in Forbes Magazine’s 30 under 30, a Rising Star of Finance in 2017 in Business Insider’s 35 under 35, and is part of the Institute of International Finance’s Future Leaders Class of 2019.

Mehmet Kinak
Global Head of Systematic Trading & Market Structure
T. Rowe Price

Mehmet Kinak is a vice president of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. He is the Global Head of Systematic Trading and Market Structure. His primary focus is electronic and program trading, market structure analysis, and transaction cost analysis.

Mr. Kinak is the Co-Chair of the NYSE Institutional Traders Advisory Committee and serves on the Institutional Traders Advisory Committees of CBOE Global Markets, IEX Group, and Nasdaq. He previously served as a member of the SEC Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee. He is a board member of the National Organization of Investment Professionals (NOIP) and Chairs ICI’s Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee.

Mr. Kinak joined the firm in 2000 and worked as a portfolio accounting associate, investment liaison, portfolio implementation manager, and electronic trader before assuming his current role in 2014. He earned a B.S. in finance from Virginia Polytechnic University.

Rich Korhammer
Sena Hill

Rich has spent his career as senior executive and advisor building and growing companies within the technology, trading, market data, finance, and exchange sectors. He was the CEO, co-founder and Chairman of Lava Trading, an equities and FX best execution trading and order management system platform that he successfully guided from its inception to its acquisition by Citigroup Inc. where he became MD, managing global electronic equities execution at Citigroup. Rich has been serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors for Yieldbroker, a Sydney Australia based debt and derivatives exchange since January 2012.  Yieldbroker is a consortium consisting of 12 leading global banks and the ASX. Throughout his career, Rich has held roles as a senior advisor to Lightyear Capital, a private equity firm focusing on the financial sector; Chairman of The Receivables Exchange, an SMB and Fortune 500 receivables trading platform; and systems engineer and business development roles at NeXT Computers, founded by Steve Jobs and acquired by Apple. He holds a B.S.E. in computer science and electrical engineering from Princeton University.

Matt Levine
Deputy General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer
Virtu

Matt Levine is Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Virtu.  Matt has been with Virtu and its predecessor firms since 2009.  Matt began his career his career at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in 1991, has counseled clients in private practice, and has held legal and compliance positions at the NYSE, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch.

Matt graduated from SUNY Albany in 1988 and Albany Law School in 1991.        

Jennifer Litwin
Senior Vice President – Head of Relationship Management
Greenwich Associates

Jennifer Litwin is responsible for spearheading the Firm’s relationship management and marketing initiatives with key decision-makers at select priority buy-side institutions, and is a frequent speaker at industry and investor conferences. Prior to joining the firm in 2007, she was a senior sales trader on the Synthetic GIC desk at UBS Investment Bank. She began her career as an Associate in the Operations Group at AIG Financial Products Corp. 

Ms. Litwin is a recipient of Traders Magazine Women of Wall Street, A Celebration of Excellence 2012 – Crystal Ladder Award, and was elected to the National Organization of Investment Professionals (NOIP) in 2016. She is also a professional opera singer and earned her Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and Yale University School of Music, respectively.

Frank Loughlin
Global Co-Head of Equity Trading
AllianceBernstein

Frank Loughlin was appointed Global Co-Head of Equity Trading at AllianceBernstein in 2014. Prior to that, he was most recently responsible for all EMEA equity trading. In his AllianceBernstein career, he has previously held the roles of Co-Head of Americas Trading and Head of US Value Equity Trading. Loughlin joined the firm in 1990 as an associate portfolio manager in equities. 

He holds a BA in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA in finance from the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University. Loughlin is a CFA charterholder and a member of both the CFA Institute and CFA Society New York.

Tim Mahoney
Chief Executive Officer
BIDS Trading

As Chief Executive Officer, Tim Mahoney is responsible for the strategic direction and growth of BIDS Trading, the alternative trading system (ATS) designed to increase competition and liquidity in the U.S. equity block trading market.

Mr. Mahoney has over 30 years of experience in the financial industry and global equities market.

Prior to joining BIDS Trading, Mr. Mahoney served as Head of Equity Trading for Merrill Lynch Investment Managers for seven years where he was responsible for a 14-person, 24-hour trading desk that traded over $100 billion in equities. Mr. Mahoney also worked in the firm’s Unit Investment Trust Department for 16 years, holding a number of positions, which included Head of Equity Trading and Chief Investment Officer. During his tenure at Merrill Lynch, Mr. Mahoney helped create the popular “Dogs of the Dow” series of investments. Mr. Mahoney began his career at Merrill Lynch in 1979 as a summer intern on the floor of the American Stock Exchange.

Mr. Mahoney has served as a member of the New York Stock Exchange’s Institutional Advisory Committee and Market Performance Committee. He also served on advisory committees for NASDAQ Stock Market, The Boston Stock Exchange and the Investment Company Institute. Mr. Mahoney is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross (BA) and New York University’s Stern School of Business (MBA). He is a CFA Charterholder.

Tim McCourt
Managing Director and Global Head of Equity Products and Alternative Investments
CME Group

Tim McCourt serves as CME Group’s Managing Director and Global Head of Equity Products and Alternative Investments. He is responsible for leading the company’s global Equity Index product line. He also serves on the S&P Dow Jones Indices U.S. Advisory Panel. 

Before joining CME Group in 2013, McCourt worked for the Royal Bank of Scotland, where he was responsible for building and managing the Americas Index and Delta One trading book. Prior to RBS, he held a senior trading role with JPMorgan in New York, spending 10 years with the Equity Derivatives Group. 

McCourt holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Boston College and an MBA from The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Bob McDonald

Baritone Bob McDonald holds a BA in Vocal Performance and an MA in Opera Directing from Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He enjoys a diverse career across many artistic disciplines, including musical theatre, opera, and the concert stage, as well as his job as a baritone in the US Army Chorus.

Mr. McDonald has performed a variety of musical theatre roles on various Washington DC stages, including Louis in Sunday in the Park with George; Lombardi in Passion; Sweeney Todd (Kennedy Center); the Husband in Putting it Together (Signature Theatre); and principal roles in HMS Pinafore, The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance and Down at the Old Bull and Bush (Interact Theatre). Regionally, he has performed Curly in Oklahoma!, Fred in Kiss Me Kate and The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance. Bob also had acting roles in Don Quixote and The Second Shepherd’s Play at the Folger Elizabethan Theatre.

Mr. McDonald’s active-duty Army career has given him the opportunity to perform in the US and abroad for our troops, as well as entertain presidents and visiting heads of state. Bob is a familiar face to DC hockey fans as he has been the National Anthem singer for the Washington Capitals for 25 years. He is also well known for his annual summer cabaret at Signature Theatre.

Joe Mecane
Head of Execution Services
Citadel Securities

Joseph Mecane is Head of Execution Services at Citadel Securities. In this role, he is responsible for the firm’s client-facing equity, options, FX, and ETF businesses.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Mecane was Global Head of Electronic Equities at Barclays. Previously, he worked for the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for six years, most recently serving as the Head of U.S. Equities. His earlier career included roles at UBS Securities, Schwab Capital Markets, Knight Capital Group and Price Waterhouse.

Mr. Mecane is involved with numerous industry organizations, currently serving as Chairman of the Nasdaq Quality of Markets Committee and serving on the FINRA Board of Governors and the Board of Trustees for the Museum of American Finance. He is also a member of the National Organization of Investment Professionals and the SIFMA Advisory Council. He was previously a member of the SEC’s Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee and a member of the Nasdaq Exchange Board and BATS Exchange Board.

Mr. Mecane received an MBA, with honors, from the Wharton school of the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree from Pace University.

Jack Miller
Head of Trading
Robert Baird

Jack Miller is Baird’s Head of Trading. He oversees the execution function within the trading business including cash, program, electronic, and related services, and is responsible for driving Baird’s strategic investments in execution services and related technologies. 

Mr. Miller began his career at an Internet-based enterprise software company before joining Baird’s research department in 2006 as an associate analyst covering the technology sector. He is a member of the Security Traders Association of Wisconsin, and serves on the STA’s Market Structure and Retail Advisory committees. He is also a member of the board of the Wisconsin Conservatory. 

Mr. Miller earned a BA in Computer Science from Harvard University and is a CFA charterholder.

Marcus New
Founder & Chairman
Stockhouse

Marcus New is a passionate and experienced entrepreneur with a strong track record of success. He is the founder and chairman (and previously the CEO) of Stockhouse, Canada’s leading financial community and a global hub for affluent investors, with up to 1 million unique monthly visitors. Prior to launching Stockhouse, Marcus built Stockgroup Media, an online information company whose client base consisted of 13 of the top 25 Canadian brokerage firms, 14 of the top 15 global institutional sales desks, and over 200 hedge funds.

Marcus is an active participant in the entrepreneurial community, having served as the past President of the Vancouver Chapter and Canadian Conference Chair for the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) and a finalist for Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year.” Marcus is an alumni of MIT’s prestigious “Birthing of Giants” program (completed the course in 2004).

He also co-founded the Equity Crowdfunding Association of Canada (ECFA), with a mandate to support, educate and develop the Equity Crowdfunding industry in Canada. Marcus holds a B.A. with Business major from Trinity Western University.

Mina Nguyen
Managing Director
Jane Street

Mina Nguyen has over 20 years of experience working with executives in financial services and leaders in the United States government. Currently, as Managing Director at Jane Street she focuses on global business development and strategic initiatives. Prior to this, she was a Senior Advisor to the CEO of AQR Capital Management.

Ms. Nguyen serves on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee which is tasked with advising the Commission on regulatory priorities, the regulation of securities products, trading strategies, and on initiatives to promote investor confidence and the integrity of the securities marketplace.

Ms. Nguyen previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary to US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Special Assistant to the US Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao. She was also a Director on the 2004 Presidential campaign and head of Congressional Affairs for the Republican National Committee. Prior to her government career, she was a management consultant at Accenture specializing in technology and financial services. Ms. Nguyen currently serves on the national board of the Girl Scouts of the USA and the World Health Ambassadors organization. She has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Business Administration from the University of California Berkeley.

Sapna C. Patel
Executive Director, Head of Americas Market Structure & Liquidity Strategy
Morgan Stanley

Sapna C. Patel is the Head of Market Structure and Liquidity Strategy at Morgan Stanley for the Americas and is an Executive Director on the Morgan Stanley Electronic Trading desk. In her current role, Ms. Patel focuses on market structure issues, regulatory developments, order routing and liquidity strategies, as well as business development. Prior to joining the desk in 2008, Ms. Patel spent three years as an institutional equities coverage attorney in the Morgan Stanley Legal and Compliance Division. Ms. Patel began her career at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the Division of Trading and Markets (formerly the Division of Market Regulation), and held various positions during her five years at the agency. Ms. Patel holds a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Maryland School of Law and Bachelor of Science degrees in Criminal Justice and Psychology from American University. 

Steve Quirk
Executive Vice President,
Trading & Execution
TD Ameritrade

Steve Quirk oversees the strategy and deployment of initiatives for Trading at TD Ameritrade. He also serves as a member of the company’s Senior Operating Committee, which shapes the strategic focus of the organization.

Under Mr. Quirk’s leadership, TD Ameritrade debuted the Investor Movement Index® (IMX^SM), a proprietary, behavior-based index that aggregates Main Street investor positions and activity. Mr. Quirk focuses on teaching the next generation of investors and has championed the creation of the TD Ameritrade U program to bridge the gap between academia and reality.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Quirk was responsible for the development of new trading tools and technology enhancements for the thinkorswim® trading platform.

Mr. Quirk’s trading career began in 1987 on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). While at the CBOE, he served on the exchange’s Index Market Performance Committee and the Arbitration Committee. He was a partner with SCMS for seven years, trading options on index products. He also led the Chicago operations of Van der Moolen USA.

He is often asked to comment on the markets and for insight into Retail client behavior and has been featured on CNBC, Fox Business, Barron’s and The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Quirk graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a BBA in Risk/Insurance and Marketing. He holds Series 3, 4, 7, and 24 licenses.

Kevin Sampson
President, Equity Trading
TMX

As President, Equity Trading, Kevin Sampson leads the trading businesses of Canada’s premier equity Exchanges, Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), TSX Venture Exchange and TSX Alpha Exchange, and is a member of TMX’s Executive Operating Committee. His responsibilities include developing and evolving an integrated strategy, creating new innovative products and services, and overseeing the business development activities for TMX’s entire equity trading business. In addition, he is accountable for the reliable operations of TMX’s equities marketplaces.

Mr. Sampson joined TMX Group in 2006 and has held various leadership positions across multiple facets of the equities division, including business development, strategy, and product management. Prior to working for TMX, he spent seven years at SS&C Technologies, where he held senior positions in product management and relationship management. Mr. Sampson has been an active contributor to constructive dialogue regarding market structure and policy issues in Canada over the years, including as a member of the OSC Market Structure Advisory Committee and IIROC’s Market Rules Advisory Committee (MRAC).

Christine Sandler
Head of Sales and Marketing
Fidelity Digital Assets^SM

Christine Sandler is Head of Sales and Marketing for Fidelity Digital Assets^SM, which provides enterprise-grade digital asset solutions for institutional investors.

Christine has a 30-year career in financial services, known for building, leading, and developing top-performing sales teams at global institutions including Barclays Capital, NYSE Euronext, and Merrill Lynch. Prior to joining Fidelity Digital Assets, Christine was the U.S. Head of Sales at Coinbase Inc., a popular exchange and custodian for digital assets.

Prior to her sales career, Christine actively traded on the buy-side and on a proprietary basis. She has also invested in and advised a diverse set of new technology ventures.

Christine has served as president and board member of the Security Traders Association of New York, and chair of the Security Traders Association Women in Finance Committee. Christine co-founded the Women’s Leadership Action Network, and has received several accolades for her efforts to expand the role of women in leadership across the financial industry.

Christine has a B.A. in economics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Justin Schack
Managing Director & Partner
Rosenblatt Securities

Justin Schack heads Rosenblatt’s Market Structure Analysis group, which provides asset managers, exchange groups, proprietary trading firms, regulators and other clients with in-depth intelligence on global market structure and the exchange industry. Prior to joining Rosenblatt in February 2008, Mr. Schack spent 14 years as a financial and public-affairs journalist, most recently as Assistant Managing Editor of Institutional Investor, where he authored more than 20 cover stories in eight years on the magazine’s staff. He is a frequent conference speaker and widely quoted as an expert by major media outlets. In 2014 The Trade magazine named him to its list of the decade’s 100 most influential people in buy-side trading. Mr. Schack also has served on the Market Structure Advisory Committee of the Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange, testified before the US Securities and Exchange Commission and prepared US Congressional testimony on market-structure issues. His work in journalism has been recognized with awards from the National Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Society of Business Publication Editors. He holds a BA in history from Seton Hall University and an MA in history from the University of Connecticut.

Eden Simmer
Executive Vice President, Head of Global Equity Trading
PIMCO

Ms. Simmer is an executive vice president and equity trader in the New York office. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2010, she was a trader focusing on equities, foreign exchange and preferred securities for Deutsche Bank Asset Management. Previously, Ms. Simmer was a foreign exchange trading associate at ABN AMRO. She has 13 years of investment experience and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and undergraduate degrees in finance and economics as well as an international business certificate from the University of Iowa.

Bill Stephenson
Managing Partner
AIR Summit Holdings, LLC

Bill Stephenson has 25 years’ experience of buy-side trading experience, most recently completing 20 years at Franklin Templeton Investments where he was the Global Head of Trading. In addition to leading the equity, foreign exchange and derivatives trading desks across 13 locations, he ran the market data solutions team and a quantitative research team that supported both the trading and research teams.

While at Franklin Templeton, Mr. Stephenson created the Global Best Execution Committee and chaired the Global Trading Oversight Committee. He was also a member of the firm’s Executive Investment Risk Committee, Investment Liquidity Committee and Client Commission Oversight Committee. 

Mr. Stephenson founded the AIR Summit in 2013, which is an industry event focused on emerging and innovative technologies that help investment managers generate or preserve alpha in their portfolios. In 2014, he was included in the Trade 100 by The Trade Magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people in buy-side trading.

Since leaving Franklin Templeton in late 2017, Mr. Stephenson has been consulting financial technology companies on business strategy, and investment and venture capital companies on M&A targets. He is currently organizing the AIR Summit 5.0, which will be held in September 2019 and the AIR Summit London 2.0 to be held in early 2020.

Andrew Volz
Managing Director, Head of Prime Brokerage Services
JonesTrading

Andrew Volz serves as Managing Director, Head of Prime Brokerage Services for JonesTrading based out of the New York office. Prior to JonesTrading, Mr. Volz spent 6 years at Wells Fargo Prime Services, a technology focused Prime Services firm that Wells Fargo acquired in 2012, previously known as Merlin Securities. In his role at Wells, he both worked on the product/consulting side of the business as well as in sales where he was a top producer focusing on both emerging and large established managers. Spanning a number of roles and firms, he has over 10 years’ experience helping funds both launch and streamline their business and operations with technology and process. Prior to joining Merlin, Mr. Volz worked in a variety of finance and technology related roles including derivative risk management, hedge fund technology solutions, and algo/smart order routing product management. He regularly speaks at industry conferences on topics such as prime services, COO/CFO alpha, business optimization, and industry regulations. He has his BA from the University of Connecticut in Management of Information Systems, is a CFA Charterholder and has the Series 7 and 63 industry licenses.

Joe Wald
Chief Executive Officer
Clearpool Group

Joe Wald is CEO and a Founder of Clearpool Group. He is responsible for the execution of Clearpool’s vision and strategic direction. He identifies and executes on growth opportunities, leading all corporate financing initiatives and is responsible for the overall growth and success of the company. Mr. Wald has a proven track record, years of industry experience, thought leadership and public speaking. Prior to Clearpool, he was executive vice president at GAIN Capital where he ran GTX, the institutional electronic FX trading business. Prior to Gain, he was managing director and head of Knight Direct, Knight Capital Group’s institutional electronic trade execution business. Before Knight Capital, he was CEO and co-founder of EdgeTrade Inc., the pioneer developer of agency-only, liquidity seeking algorithms and direct market access technologies for the U.S. equities market. EdgeTrade was sold to Knight Capital Group in 2008. He holds a BS in Business, Management and Finance from Brooklyn College.

Eva Walsh
JP Morgan Asset Management

Dan Zinn
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
OTC Markets Group

Dan Zinn is OTC Markets Group General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. He leads the company’s regulatory and policy making efforts and is often a speaker on over-the-counter equity markets. Prior to joining OTC Markets Group in 2010, he served as outside counsel to OTC Markets, as a partner at The Nelson Law Firm LLC. Previously, Mr. Zinn worked in the corporate office of AIG. He earned his JD at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and received his BS from Pennsylvania State University.