Ensuring excellence is rewarded

Alejandra has close to a decade of experience across operational functions in hedge funds. Her deep understanding of technology, counterparties, and various asset classes was gained at several firms across the UK and Europe, covering institutional and professional clients. Alejandra spent 5 years at Cantab Capital, a $4 billion, multi-asset, multi-fund, systematic firm – where she had broad responsibilities and firm wide engagement within the operations team. She then moved on as Operations Manager at rates macro firm, Alpstone, based in Switzerland, before being promoted to Deputy COO. Alejandra became Infusive’s COO in 2022 and serves on several leadership committees. She has a BSc degree in Mathematics from the University of Glasgow.

Anna Colombatti is a Chartered Investment professional with broad experience in Asset Management and Financial Services as an executive and non executive. Anna has two decades global experience in the selection, allocation and oversight of investment products, firms and service providers. She is passionate about digital transformation, sustainability and D&I. Currently Anna is the functional COO for the Front Office department of the AXA IM multi managers business, responsible for investment and ESG research, due diligence and all operational initiatives.

Anna joined Algebris Investments as Group General Counsel in 2016 and was appointed Group Chief Operating Officer in February 2020. Anna has oversight of operations, legal and HR and manages the firm’s strategic projects.

Anna trained and qualified at leading law firm Allen & Overy LLP focusing on M&A and ECM. She holds a law degree from the University of Cambridge.

Boura joined Polar Capital in October 2007 and is responsible for the legal, compliance and operational & enterprise risk functions within the company. Before joining Polar Capital she spent seven years at the Financial Services Authority supervising wholesale and derivatives firms. Most recently she was an enforcement manager bringing disciplinary cases against investment firms. Prior to this she was a manager at Metropolitan Securities and Life. Boura is an attorney and solicitor admitted to practice law in California (1996) and in England and Wales (2002).

Eddie Steel is COO, CRO and a founding partner at Broad Reach, an emerging markets macro hedge fund manager running both discretionary and systematic investment processes. Broad Reach was founded in 2016. Previously, Eddie was front office CRO and COO for Global Equities at Nomura. Prior to that, he was Global Head of Equity Derivatives at Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong, and a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan in London running Equity Derivatives Trading and Structuring. Eddie holds an MSc in Mathematical Trading & Finance from University of London Business School and an MEng in Engineering from Exeter University.

Frances is COO at Forada Limited, a fixed income focussed global macro manager, based in London. She has over 20 years’ experience in financial and operations management, and prior to Forada, served as COO at Ardevora Asset Management, COO at Salt Rock Capital and CFO at COMAC Capital. Frances started her career in equity research at Goldman Sachs.

She is a chartered accountant, CFA charter holder and graduate of the University of Cambridge with a MSci (Hons) in Natural Sciences.

Iain Colquhoun is the CFO of Sona Asset Management. He joined Sona in June 2018, bringing with him 21 years of experience in fund operations, finance, and infrastructure.

Iain started his career in 2000 at Globeop Financial Services (now Globeop SS&C) as a fund accountant. He subsequently moved over to the buy-side in 2004, where he worked in operations for Tudor and then ran operations at Finisterre. Iain then spent several years working abroad from 2006 with the launch of a large fund in Monaco. Following that, he held the positions of COO at Oceanwood in Malta and CFO at Selwood Asset Management.

Iain holds a BSc in Business Studies from the University of Wales European Business Management School and is a Chartered Accountant and a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

Lisa Conibear is the UK and Group CEO of Laniakea Funds Manager LLC. Previously Lisa was a member of the management team of Zoomo a Sydney-headquartered startup in the transportation sector. Prior to Zoomo Lisa was the Head of Mobility and Agriculture portfolios at Shell Foundation, a charity that uses its U.S. $0.5b endowment from Shell to invest in startups in emerging markets. Lisa has also held various roles at Shell and Shell Trading including five years in origination on the crude and liquified natural gas desks. She was based in London, The Hague and Dubai during her tenure. Ms. Conibear received a B.Sc. in International Business and Economics from Copenhagen Business School (CBS), a double Master’s degree from SDA Bocconi University and CBS, an M.Sc. in Economics and Business Administration from CBS, and a Graduate Degree in Economics and Management of Innovation and Technology from Bocconi.

Lizzie is the Founding Partner of Growth Credit Partners and is responsible for fund operations, deal structuring and legal execution. She is the Chairman and Member of the Investment Committee of Shard Credit Partners and the Managing Director and Associate General Counsel at Barings responsible for legal oversight, deal execution and fund structuring for the special situations team. Represented Barings on European restructuring committees and workouts. Lizzie is a trained and qualified lawyer at Hogan Lovells specialising in leveraged finance and restructuring and has a Bachelor of Laws (LLB), Manchester University.

Malcolm Goddard has 30 years’ experience in developing financial services businesses.

He is currently the proprietor of Crooklets, an advisory firm for developing alternative managers. He is also a senior advisor to a private equity manager and an NED on several corporate, fund and charity boards.

Until recently he was a Partner and CFO/COO of Zetland, a double-award-winning first-time manager which specialises in European mid-market distressed and special situations. During his tenure the firm successfully raised and deployed its first two funds, completed fifty private transactions and grew from 4 to 35 people and €1.8bn in assets.

Before Zetland, he spent a decade as Partner and COO of Altima an award-winning global special situation manager who managed $5bn in assets. He joined Altima after 15 years in investment banking where he performed a number of business development, structuring and operational roles.

Melanie has over 38 years of experience and spent eight years as COO at Bybrook Capital before its acquisition by Cairn Capital in 2021 – the combined entity was subsequently rebranded as Polus Capital Management in 2022.

Olga joined Aaro Capital as Head of Operational Due Diligence in February 2022. She has over 25 years’ experience in due diligence and audit, specialising in hedge funds. Before joining, Olga was Head of ODD at International Asset Management Limited in London for five years. Prior to that, Olga was part of the ODD teams at AXA Investment Managers and GAM, focusing on hedge funds and alternative credit vehicles. Olga started her career with Ernst & Young as an auditor. Olga is a CFA Charterholder and an American CPA. Olga graduated from Moscow Finance Academy in 1996.

Olive is currently the COO of Salt Rock Capital Partners LLP, a global discretionary macro manager. She is an experienced COO, CFO and Fund Director with 25 years’ experience in the Funds Industry.

She began her career in Fund Administration, having worked in various jurisdictions including Ireland, Australia and Bermuda during this time. The last 20 years she has worked at various Investment Managers from large institutions like Man Group and Schroders to smaller boutique managers.

During her career she has worked across various product types, including UCITS, Hedge Funds, Private Equity and Unit Trusts and across multiple jurisdictions including the UK, Ireland, Luxembourg, Cayman Islands, USA and Australia.   

Olive is a qualified Accountant and Certified Investment Fund Director.

Paul is Co-Founder & CEO of Corinthian Digital Group, an investment management & advisory firm headquartered in Dubai. Corinthian’s flagship is Chiron, which runs relative value strategies in the global Crypto Markets. Paul is a regular commentator on developments in Crypto and acts as an expert witness on Alternative Investments and Digital Assets for SEDA Experts, LLC in New York. Paul is also a member of the Digital Assets Working Group for the Standards Board for Alternative Investments and is a Steering Committee member of Acuiti.io, the crypto research network.

Paul has over 30 years’ experience in international financial markets, having held regional and global management positions at JPMorgan, Credit Suisse and Swiss Re. His previous multi-strategy hedge fund, Castlegrove, was acquired by Millennium Management LLC.

Paul holds a Master’s Degree in Law from Trinity Hall, Cambridge University and commenced his career as a corporate finance lawyer with Slaughter and May. He is admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales and Hong Kong.

Phillip Chapple is the COO of Monterone Partners LLP. He has been involved in the financial services industry since 1997. From 2010 to 2015 Mr. Chapple was the founder of the London branch of KB Associates where he focused on assisting fund managers to build investor friendly operational infrastructures and prepare for investor due diligence. Prior to joining KB Associates, Mr. Chapple was CFO/COO of Ironshield Capital Management LLP, a European Distressed investment management company. Previously he was COO at IBIS Asset Management, a $10bn family office, and Head of Operations at OLEA Capital. Mr. Chapple had commenced his career at Morgan Stanley before spending a number of years in prime brokerage at both Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch. Mr. Chapple holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honours (LLB) from Exeter University.

Ray Haslam joined Brummer & Partners in 2010 when the firm partnered with Observatory Capital Management LLP ($1bn+ L/S Credit). In his fourteen years at Observatory Capital, Mr Haslam’s roles included Operations, Business Development and latterly as Chief Operating Officer and Partner. Mr Haslam was appointed as CEO of Brummer & Partners Asset Management (UK) in 2021. Mr Haslam has a BA in Business Finance from University of Durham.

Richard is CEO and Managing Partner of ProMeritum Investment Management LLP, an Emerging Market credit investment firm, and is responsible for all of the non-investment areas of the business, including compliance, operations, risk, finance and technology. He joined ProMeritum in 2014 and prior to this was a founding partner of Quiris Capital LLP, a specialist asset management firm set up in 2010, delivering systematic absolute return currency strategies. He started his career at Morgan Stanley, where he spent 10 years, with his most recent role there being Head of Morgan Stanley’s Investment Management’s (MSIM) Systematic Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities division’s research technology group. His main focus in this role was the development of the portfolio solutions and quantitative trading strategy applications.

Russell is a Chartered Management Accountant and COO with 15+ years of experience in the financial services sector. He is currently the COO of Northstar Fund, a fund managed by a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp. Prior to joining Softbank, Russell has performed the COO role at both start-up hedge funds with an Equity L/S focus, and within family offices of UHNWIs.

Sonia Malik is the Head of Operations at Castellain Capital and a Non-executive Director. Prior to this Sonia worked for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) undertaking roles in Accounting and Treasury.

Sonia graduated from King's College London with a BSc in Biochemistry and went on to complete the ACT (Association of Corporate Treasurers) diploma.

I am Chair of Qube Research & Technologies Limited, a quantitative and systematic investment manager, and a Director of Insurance Linked Strategy Funds. I am also a Director of a UBS Spanish Investment and Wealth Management Company. Between 2013 and 2020 I was Head of Credit Suisse Asset Management in the UK and CEO of Credit Suisse Asset Management Limited which managed predominantly credit strategies as well as raising capital for private equity firms and distributing funds. Prior to that I was COO for a portfolio of Hedge Funds managed by Credit Suisse including Insurance Linked, Credit, Global Macro, Emerging Markets and Fund of Hedge Funds strategies.

I was also Chair of Aventicum Asset Management in the UK until 2021 which managed emerging market credit and real estate strategies. Prior to 2007 I was Global Co-Head of Hedge Fund Services in Prime Services and from 1997 I was the COO for the Hedge Fund Development Group at CSFB, from which Brevan Howard and CQS came and I was a Director of the first CQS Fund. I hold a Certificate in Investment Management and I am a Certified IoD Director and Fellow of the Institute of Directors. I was a previous member of the Alternative Investment Management Association COO Committee and London Investment Banking Association Prime Brokerage Committee.

Umar is a Partner of DG Partners / BH-DG Systematic Trading, where he serves as Chief Operating Officer as well as GC and CCO. He has been with the firm since 2012. Umar is also an English qualified Solicitor-Advocate, having previously worked in private practice with Clifford Chance and Travers Smith.