December 6 - 7, 2010
Hyatt Regency Toronto, Toronto, ON

About Your Speakers

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Shaen Ramsay

Head Trader

Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc.

Shaen Ramsay has been in the investment business for seventeen years and is currently the Head Equity Trader for both Canadian and U.S. securities at Gluskin Sheff & Associates. Prior to joining Gluskin Sheff in 1998, Shaen was an institutional equity trader for C.M. Oliver & Company Limited. Shaen commenced her career in the financial markets in 1993 as a trading assistant with ScotiaMcLeod Inc. Her education includes a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Ontario and has completed the C.S.C., C.I.M., R.R., and Technical Analyst course. Shaen has also successfully completed Level I of the Chartered Financial Analyst course. She is an active member of both Women in Capital Markets and the Institutional Equity Traders Association and participates in key industry events.

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Alison Graham

CIO

Voltan Capital Management

 

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Sal Guatieri

Senior Economist

BMO Capital Markets

Sal Guatieri has nearly two decades experience as a macro economist. With BMO Financial Group since 1994, his main responsibilities include analyzing and forecasting the U.S. and Canadian economies, interest rates and exchange rates. He is a regular commentator on economic and financial market trends to the media. Prior to joining BMO, Sal worked at the Bank of Canada as an economist, contributing to the staff’s quarterly economic projection and analyzing foreign exchange markets.

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Tom Brown

Manager, Trade Support and Settlement

RBC Asset Management

 

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Michael Levas

Founder and CIO

Olympian Capital Management

Michael J. Levas has been in the investment management business for over twenty years and is the founder, chief investment officer and managing member of the Olympian Group of Investment Management Companies. Prior to Olympian, he was a VP and Portfolio Manager in the Private Client Group at Lehman Brothers Inc. Prior to that, he was a VP with SG Cowen, UBS PaineWebber and Bear Stearns where he managed in excess of $250 million in both institutional and retail portfolios.

Mr. Levas is the founder and managing member of Olympian Securities LLC, and is a licensed Series 24 general securities principal, Series 7 general securities representative, and a Series 65, 66 investment adviser representative with (FINRA). Mr. Levas is also the founder and principal of Olympian Futures LLC, an (NFA) registered introducing broker, and a licensed Series 3 associated person. Mr. Levas currently holds the Chartered Portfolio Manager (CPM) designation from the American Academy of Financial Management. Mr. Levas completed investment management studies at Harvard Business School and additionally, Mr.Levas has completed the Hedge Fund Programme at The London Business School. He is a current member of the CFA society of South Florida, Securities Traders Association of Florida, and formerly served on the 2008/2009 board of directors of The Hedge Fund Association.

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Julie El-Taher

Director, Head of Institutional Sales

Credit Suisse AES

Julie is Head of International sales of Credit Suisse’s Advanced Execution Services (AES) offering in the Americas. The AES group designs and builds algorithms and systems capable of fully-automated trading based on client specifications. Algorithms based on thorough execution research and continuous live experimentation, performed by teams of Credit Suisse quantitative analysts and traders located throughout the globe.

In marketing direct market access and algorithms, Julie and the AES team focus on market microstructure research, pre/post trade analysis and liquidity profiles of individual names and markets. They work with the AES quantitative research team within Credit Suisse to develop and understand the most suitable strategies for the various markets to assist in customizing strategies and educating clients on optimal usage.

Prior to joining Credit Suisse, Julie was in sales and management of various regions within North America marketing electronic international equity trading for Bloomberg Tradebook/G-Trade Services. She is a graduate of Marymount College where she studied Economics and currently resides in Manhattan.

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Jamie Ritchie

Director, Capital Markets Trading

Brockhouse & Cooper

 

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Allen Karakastanis

Senior Project Manager, Business and IT Solutions

Sprott Asset Management

 

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Jason Russell

President and Chief Information Officer

Acorn Global Investments

As founder of Acorn Global Investments, Jason Russell serves as the firm’s Chief Investment Officer. Jason is an accomplished portfolio manager who brings more than 19 years of industry and alternative investment management experience to the firm.

Previous experience included roles at Bankers Trust, Merrill Lynch, CIBC, and his most recent position at Salida Capital where he was the sole Portfolio Manager for its Global Macro Hedge Fund. He has considerable expertise and experience in the areas of research, programming and systematic trading.

Jason continues to be very active in the areas of systematic trading research and trading psychology. He collaborates closely with several distinguished traders and founded two research groups focusing on system development and trading psychology. Jason was highlighted as a systematic trading professional in the book titled Trend Following by Michael Covel.

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Lee Morakis

Managing Director, Portfolio and Electronic Execution

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Lee manages North American Portfolio and Electronic Trading for Merrill Lynch, and has done so for the last three years.  Lee helped build Merrill's portfolio and electronic product suite into a top ranked position and integrated Merrill's highly regarded quantitative research into their electronic product suite.  Lee has spoken at many industry conferences and at the prior Tradetech Head Trader Think-Tanks.  Prior to Merrill Lynch, Lee was with Credit Suisse for eight years where he managed US Portfolio Trading.

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Laurie Berke

Principal

TABB Group

Laurie Berke joined TABB Group in May 2006, bringing more than 20 years’ experience in the equity and derivatives trading and technology arena.  As a Principal, her primary focus is on advisory and consulting work but her talents extend to authoring such TABB reports as Institutional Equity Trading 2008 and 2007, as well as on topics that include algorithmic trading in the FX markets.

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Sri Iyer

Senior Portfolio Manager, Head of Global Investments

Guardian Capital

Srikanth joined Guardian Capital in 2001 and is the architect and founding portfolio manager of the global equity process. His background in applied finance, portfolio engineering and accounting were key elements to his work in the field of Global convergence. Prior to Guardian, Srikanth worked in Princeton, New Jersey as Director of Research and Portfolio Engineering from 1993 to 2001 for Global Value Investors, a quantitative firm specializing in Global Tactical Asset Allocation. Srikanth graduated from the University of Bombay, is a Chartered Cost and Works Accountant (India), and received his Masters and MBA in Applied Finance from Rutgers Graduate School of Management, NJ.

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AnneMarie Ryan

President

AMR Associates

AnneMarie Ryan is President of AMR Associates Inc. and has over 25 years experience consulting to Canadian financial services firms and regulators on how technology is transforming the investment business and the regulatory impact of changes in the investment process. Her expertise covers all phases of Transaction Processing from front-office systems to back-office systems including: Trade Order Management, Online Trading, Exchange and Alternative Trading Systems as well as Clearing and Settlement Systems.

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Graham MacKenzie

Executive Director, Cash Equities

CIBC

Graham Mackenzie joined CIBC in 2008 as Executive Director, Cash Equities from RBC Capital Markets where he worked for approximately 12 years.  Mr. Mackenzie began his trading career as an options trader on the floor of the TSX.  He is a lead advisor and trader in large and complicated portfolio trades.  He is the primary contributor and editor to CIBC’s Hoot ‘n’ Holler™ product.  Mr. Mackenzie also manages CIBC’s NCIB business. 

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Edward J. Smith

Senior Trader

Pyramis Global Advisors

Edward J. Smith is Senior Trader at Pyramis Global Advisors, a Fidelity Investments Company where he oversees the trading team dedicated to Canadian assets with PGA. Until joining PGA in May 2008, Edward spent his career on the sell side-predominantly at Credit Suisse Canada as Head Trader.

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Robert Young

Managing Director

Liquidnet

Robert joined Liquidnet in 2005 to direct the launch of its Canadian business. From 2006 through 2009, Robert led the company’s continued expansion globally as Chief Operating Officer. In that role, Robert was also responsible for the development of the processes and capabilities of the company’s financial, legal, HR, operational and governance teams, as Liquidnet more than doubled in size. In late 2009, Robert returned to Liquidnet Canada as Managing Director.

Prior to joining Liquidnet, Robert was Vice President of Sales and Marketing at TSX Group, operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange, where he introduced several successful trading innovations and programs. Robert was previously an executive with, and served on the Board of OptiMark Technologies, and held several executive positions in New York and Toronto with financial publisher Dow Jones & Company including leadership of the company's key global equities initiatives during the late 1990s.

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Vidis Vaiciunas

VP and Head of Trading

Highstreet Asset Management

As Vice President, Head of Trading, Vidis is responsible for overseeing Highstreet’s trading operations. Vidis is dedicated to ensuring Highstreet’s trading procedures contribute to the firm’s commitment of excellence in the investment process.

Vidis has significant experience in quantitative management, trading systems, direct access and algorithmic trading, managing trading costs, and programming. His knowledge is rooted in more than 27 years of applying quantitative techniques to the investment and trading processes, on both sides of the ‘Street’.

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David Franasiak

Principal

Williams & Jensen

David Franasiak became a Principal of Williams & Jensen in 1992. As Vice President of Finance and a member of the Executive Committee since 1993, he is responsible for the day-to-day financial management of the firm, pension plans, and outside legal entities. Mr. Franasiak specializes in a legislative and administrative practice focused on tax, securities, financial institutions and natural resources. He represents a number of firms on equity, options and futures market structure issues before the SEC, CFTC and Congress.

Susan Wolburgh Jenah

President and CEO

Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC)

Susan Wolburgh Jenah is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Investment
Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), a position she has held since the
regulator was established in June of 2008.
Ms. Wolburgh Jenah was appointed President and CEO of the Investment Dealers
Association of Canada (IDA) in June 2007 and was responsible for leading the merger
of the IDA and Market Regulation Services Inc. (RS) to form IIROC. Before joining the
IDA, Ms. Wolburgh Jenah served as Vice Chair of the Ontario Securities Commission
from 2004-2007 and as Acting Chair of the Commission from July to November 2005.
Prior to her appointment as Vice Chair, she served as General Counsel and Director of
International Affairs, representing the Commission on various Committees of the
International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
She served as a Director on the Commission’s Investor Education Fund (2004-2006), as
the Canadian Securities Administrators representative on Canada’s Accounting
Standards Oversight Council (2004-2007), and on the Dean’s Advisory Council for
Osgoode Hall Law School (2007-2009). She currently serves on the Board of Directors
of IIROC, the ICD and on the advisory boards of both the Hennick Centre for Business
and Law as well as the Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI) National
Steering Committee on Financial Capability.

Brad Wylie

Managing Director and Head of Canadian Sales Trading

Barclays Capital

Robert Kissell

Executive Director

UBS

Dr. Robert Kissell is an Executive Director responsible for analytics product initiatives within UBS Direct Execution and UBS Portfolio Trading, working closely with both teams to develop a suite of quantitative services and value-added advisory as part of the firm’s pre-, at- and post-trade transaction cost analysis (TCA) offering; Investment Analysis & Portfolio Construction/Rebalancing; Risk Modeling; and Market Microstructure Analysis. He will work with UBS client facing teams to deliver execution advisory, provide education, advise our clients on the optimal selection and customization of trading algorithms and assess trading performance.
Prior to joining UBS, Rob was with JP Morgan, where he served for the last six years as Head of Quantitative Trading Strategies. He has over seventeen years of professional experience, working in similar capacities at Citigroup/Smith Barney, Instinet Corporation, and in various consulting roles. Author of the industry best selling book Optimal Trading Strategies, Rob has published numerous research papers and articles. He is currently working on a new book focused on evolutions in transaction cost analysis.

Daniel Bisaillon

Head Trader

Caisse de Depot Et Placement Du Quebec

Andrew Fairbanks

Director, Senior Research Analyst, Canadian Energy

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

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