LSEG Financial Markets Connect 2024
London (25 Sept) & New York (9 Oct ) & Hong Kong (6 Nov)
Time: 4:00pm - 9:00pm GMT & 4:00 - 9:00pm EST
Location: Hard Rock Hotel New York &. Leonardo St Pauls
Speakers
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Wen-Fu Wu
Deputy Chief Investment Officer and Head of Fixed Income
TIAA
Wen-Fu Wu is Deputy Chief Investment Officer and Head of Fixed Income for the TIAA General Account (GA) portfolio. In his capacity as Deputy CIO, he supports the CIO in directing overall portfolio strategy and providing oversight across all of the General Account’s assets. As Head of Fixed income, Wen-Fu focuses on the GA’s more than $200bn of fixed income investments, developing and directing investment strategy within these mandates, which include public and private debt investments in investment grade, high yield, municipal debt, project finance and infrastructure, middle market direct lending, emerging markets, and structured asset classes.
Previously, Wen-Fu was at Susquehanna International Group, where he served as a quantitative desk strategist and corporate bond trader. Prior to Susquehanna, he was a quantitative analyst at The Hartford where he helped manage the general account portfolio there as well as third party institutional assets. He has also held positions as an interest rate strategist at Lehman Brothers and as a credit analyst at Putnam Investments.
Wen-Fu holds dual bachelor’s degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He is a member of the Board of Directors at LEAP, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the development and representation of Asian and Pacific Islanders. He also serves on the Advisory Board for AsianUpward and is a member of the Ascend Executive Network of pan-Asian leaders.
Wen-Fu Wu
Deputy Chief Investment Officer and Head of Fixed Income
TIAA
Joyce Choi
Managing Director, Head of iShares Fixed Income Institutional Strategy
BlackRock
Joyce Choi is a Managing Director at BlackRock, leading the institutional product strategy effort for the United States iShares Fixed Income ETF business. Ms. Choi is responsible for the commercialization and adoption of fixed income ETFs, innovation through new products and the expansion of the ETF ecosystem.
Prior to joining BlackRock in 2017, Ms. Choi was a Founding Partner at the London-based Vinci Zafferano Capital ("VZ Capital"). In this role, Ms. Choi was responsible for managing and trading EM rates, FX, credit and equities. Before launching VZ Capital in 2012, Ms. Choi was an investment analyst at Tudor Investment Corporation, investing in public, private and distressed credit opportunities across global Emerging Markets. Ms. Choi began her career as an investment analyst at Morgan Stanley, with coverage spanning across IG and HY in the US, and Asian corporates in HK.
Joyce Choi
Managing Director, Head of iShares Fixed Income Institutional Strategy
BlackRock
Alessio de Longis, CFA®
Head of Asset Allocation and Senior Portfolio Manager
Invesco
Alessio de Longis is Head of Asset Allocation and Senior Portfolio Manager for the Invesco Solutions team, which develops and manages asset allocation strategies and comprehensive portfolio solutions across institutional and private client channels. In this role, he leads portfolio management responsibilities, research and investment process for strategic asset allocation, tactical asset allocation and manager selection across the platform, which leverages Invesco’s fundamental, systematic, and alternative strategies to deliver precise, tailored investment outcomes to unique investor needs.
Mr. de Longis joined Invesco in 2019 when the firm combined with OppenheimerFunds. Prior to his current role, he led the group's global tactical asset allocation capabilities, focusing on the development, implementation, and management of macro regime-based strategies across asset classes. At OppenheimerFunds, Mr. de Longis was a team leader and senior portfolio manager of the Global Multi-Asset team. Before that, he was a member of the Global Debt team, where he served as currency portfolio manager and global macro analyst. Mr. de Longis is a published author in the field of macro-based systematic tactical asset allocation, factor investing, and currency overlay strategies. He is regularly featured across financial media outlets.
Mr. de Longis earned a BA and an MA degree, summa cum laude, in economics from the University of Rome Tor Vergata, as well as an MSc in financial economics and econometrics from the University of Essex. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) charterholder.
Alessio de Longis, CFA®
Head of Asset Allocation and Senior Portfolio Manager
Invesco
Luca Mertens, PhD
Quantitative Researcher
Fidelity Investments
Luca Mertens is a quantitative researcher in the Systematic Fixed Income Strategies, a division of Quantitative Research & Investments team (QRI) of Fidelity Management and Research Company. In this role, Mr. Mertens is responsible for designing and developing active systematic investment strategies across global fixed income markets by researching and back-testing new investment insights.
Prior to joining Fidelity, Mr. Mertens was a quantitative analyst in the Fixed Income Portfolio Analytics team at Bloomberg, LP. Mr. Mertens was also an adjunct professor of quantitative risk methods and financial econometrics at the National Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA) and a risk specialist at B3 Brazilian Stock Exchange responsible for clearinghouse modeling risk. He has been in the financial industry since 2011.
Mr. Mertens earned his Master of Science degree in mathematics from Padova University and his PhD in geometry and mathematical physics from the SISSA International School for Advanced Studies.
Luca Mertens, PhD
Quantitative
Researcher
Fidelity Investments
Jiho Han, CFA ®
Managing Director and Senior Quantitative Researcher
State Street Global Advisors
Jiho Han is a Managing Director and a senior quantitative researcher for Investment Solutions Group (ISG) and Fixed Income, Cash & Currencies (FICC) at State Street Global Advisors. He is responsible for developing and implementing quantitative fixed-income strategies as well as designing portfolio management tools globally.
He was previously a fixed-income quantitative analyst with US-based asset manager Alliance Bernstein. Prior to that, he was a portfolio manager at Samsung Securities. He started his career as a quantitative equity analyst at Pequot Capital Management in 2006.
He has an BA in Mathematics and Economics from University of California at Berkeley and an MSc in finance from Stanford University. He earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Institute and the Boston Security Analysts Society.
Jiho Han, CFA ®
Managing Director and Senior Quantitative Researcher
State Street Global Advisors
Todd N Bean, CFA®
Managing Director, Head of U.S. Cash, Global Fixed Income Solutions
State Street Global Advisors
Todd is a Managing Director and Head of U.S. Cash in the firm's Global Fixed Income Group. In that role, he oversees a team of portfolio managers while maintaining portfolio management responsibilities for several strategies. He began his career at State Street in 1999, joining the firm as an analyst in the firm's custody and accounting area. Following a stint on the Cash Operations staff, Todd joined the Cash Management Group as a portfolio manager in 2004. He is a member of the firm’s Senior Leadership Team. Todd received Bachelor degrees in Economics and Government from St. Lawrence University and a Master of Science in Finance degree from Northeastern University. Todd has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst Designation and is a member of CFA Society Boston.
Todd N Bean, CFA®
Managing Director and Senior Quantitative Researcher
State Street Global Advisors
Dan Eckstein
US Treasuries Sales Trader
Virtu Financial
Dan Eckstein joined Virtu Financial’s US Treasuries desk in February 2024 after serving as Barclays Global Head of eRates Product and U.S. Head of eFixed Income Distribution. Dan has over 20 years of institutional sales experience with an intense focus on fixed income electronic trading, technology, and market structure.
Prior to joining Barclays, Dan worked in fixed income electronic sales at Deutsche Bank, Tradeweb and Bloomberg. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and an MBA from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College, New York.
Dan Eckstein
US Treasuries
Sales Trader
Virtu Financial
Ted Basta
Executive Vice President of Market Analytics & Investor Strategy
LSTA
Theodore Basta is Executive Vice President of Market Analytics and Investor Strategy for the LSTA, where he leads the LSTA’s Market Analytics team which is responsible for the LSTAs analytical and reporting initiatives, all of which enhance market visibility, transparency, and liquidity. Mr. Basta also manages key strategic products and partnerships for the Association, including the LSTA’s secondary trading and settlement data initiatives, the LSTA/Refinitiv LPC Mark-to -Market Pricing Service and the S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan Index. In addition, Mr. Basta organizes the Association’s global investor conferences and NYC based annual loan conference. Mr. Basta also runs the LSTA’s Shift Date Process and the LSTA’s website. Finally, Mr. Basta plays an active role in speaking at industry conferences, both in the US and abroad, and has authored chapters on the secondary loan market in numerous books and market publications.
Prior to joining the LSTA, Ted was Vice President and Director of Global Pricing with Loan Pricing Corporation (LPC), where he managed the LSTA/LPC Mark-to-Market Pricing Service. During his tenure at LPC, Ted was instrumental in driving new product development and secondary market analytics, while playing an influential role in several initiatives that enhanced the liquidity and transparency of the secondary loan market.
Mr. Basta received an M.B.A. from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College and a B.A. in Accounting from Long Island University.
Ted Basta
Executive Vice President of Market Analytics & Investor Strategy
LSTA
Mark Bress
Managing Director and Senior Trader
Jennison Associates
Mark Bress is a Managing Director and senior trader at Jennison Associates. While his main focus is Agency MBS, he has experience trading across securitized and rates sectors over his 20-year career. Mark earned a BS in economics and finance from Bentley University, an MS in finance, and an MBA with a concentration in asset management from Boston College's Carroll School of Management.
Mark Bress
Managing Director and Senior Trader
Jennison Associates
Katie Kolchin, CFA®
Managing Director, Head of Research
SIFMA
Ms. Kolchin is an experienced research analyst, proficient in sell side equity and fixed income research. She has extensive global capital markets industry knowledge garnered through a unique set of professional experiences. She is known for identifying trends and structural shifts in capital markets, analyzing the intersection of traditional financial institution business models and emerging financial technologies, and assessing winning corporate strategies for the capital markets environment.
Currently, she is the Head of Research at SIFMA, where she develops all report content, manages the team, and leads the group’s strategic initiatives. She also created and remains sole author of the research brand SIFMA Insights, providing analysis on industry fundamentals. Kolchin also writes research reports analyzing the current economic environment and survey results from the SIFMA Economist Roundtable, oversees the team’s extensive market statistics databases, and runs the SIFMA Directors of Research group to share best practices on key research industry topics (AI, MiFID II, etc.).
Previously, Ms. Kolchin was a senior equity research analyst at Rosenblatt Securities, covering exchanges and capital markets firms on a global basis. Prior to that, she was a senior investment research analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, covering exchanges, clearing houses, and other market infrastructure firms and launching on Moody’s clearing industry methodology and company coverage. She also analyzed the global investment banks for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and worked as a global equity research analyst at UBS Securities, where she performed fundamental research and undertook an investment strategy role.
A CFA charterholder, Ms. Kolchin also holds an MBA with a concentration in Finance from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business and both a BA in Economics and BS in Environmental Science from Lehigh University. She is also a member of the CFA Society New York Board of Directors Nominations Committee.
Katie Kolchin, CFA®
Managing Director, Head of Research
SIFMA
Iseult Conlin, CFA®
Managing Director, Head of U.S. Institutional Credit
Tradeweb
Iseult Conlin, CFA, is a Managing Director, Head of U.S. Institutional Cash Credit at Tradeweb Markets. Conlin oversees Tradeweb’s strategy and implementation of electronic credit products and works closely with market participants to advance trading and market structure.
Iseult joined Tradeweb in 2018 after almost eight years at BlackRock, where she most recently served as a Vice President and Investment Grade Bond Trader. In that role, she spearheaded the firm’s electronic credit trading efforts and market structure advisory, alongside trading a variety of investment grade credit products.
Iseult was named to Forbes’ Finance 30 under 30 list in 2016 and was recognized by Markets Media as Top Fixed Income Trader in the publication’s Women in Finance Awards in 2017.
Iseult holds a B.A. from New York University in Economics and Psychology. Iseult is a CFA charterholder and holds her FINRA Series 7 and Series 63 licenses.
Iseult Conlin, CFA®
Managing Director, Head of U.S. Institutional Credit
Tradeweb
Indrani De
Global Head of Investment Research
FTSE Russell, An LSEG Business
Indrani De leads a global team to produce investment research that provides market insights and thought leadership. Experienced across asset classes, Indrani has previously worked for DBRS Morningstar, Nuveen/TIAA, and is on the Board of the Society of Quantitative Analysts (SQA). A strong believer in thought leadership-based investment management, Indrani has been published in the Journal of Investing, Journal of Investment Consulting, CFA society publications and Risk.Net books. She has been a frequent speaker at leading industry conferences and quoted in major media outlets. Indrani holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore), the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) and PRM (Professional Risk Manager) designations.
Indrani De
Global Head of Investment Research
FTSE Russell, An LSEG Business
Chip Thresher
Director, Government Relations and Regulatory Strategy, Americas
LSEG
Chip Thresher is Director, Government Relations and Regulatory Strategy, Americas at LSEG. Chip originally joined Thomson Reuters in 2014 covering the Financial Data & Risk business which subsequently became Refinitiv. Following LSEG’s acquisition of Refinitiv in 2021, Chip joined the LSEG team in the Americas, focusing on issues impacting the Data & Analytics and FTSE Russell businesses of LSEG as well as key group-wide issues including sustainable finance and geopolitical risk.
Prior to joining the company, Chip held various government affairs and regulatory positions in the private and public sector spanning industries including pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, energy, and finance. Chip served in the George W. Bush Administration from 2003-2008 with roles at the White House and U.S. Department of Commerce.
Chip holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Colorado, an MBA from Pepperdine University, and a J.D. from George Mason University School of Law
Chip Thresher
Director, Government Relations and Regulatory Strategy, Americas
LSEG
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At LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group), we are more than a leading global financial markets infrastructure and data group. We are dedicated partners with a deep commitment to excellence, delivering value for our customers. We’re leaders in data and analytics, risk, collateral and processing solutions, capital formation and trade execution.