WOMEN IN FINANCE AWARDS 2019

ERICA BARRETT

Tradeweb

Erica Barrett is a Managing Director at Tradeweb. With over twenty years’ experience helping to drive the evolution of fixed income markets, Ms. Barrett manages Tradeweb’s commercial relationships with its largest dealers, and is a member of the firm’s Operating Committee. Ms. Barrett also leads key teams at Tradeweb, including the firm’s money markets platform which she helped establish and expand over the course of her tenure with the company. She also oversees operational teams responsible for client system integration, and customer service, as well as the implementation of enterprise- trading solutions. Ms. Barrett has sponsored a number of initiatives to better support women working in financial services. She is a charter member and co-head of the Tradeweb Global Women’s Network and is a member of the Women’s Bond Club industry association. It is Ms. Barrett’s honor to service on the Board of Directors for Tuesday’s Children, which was first founded in the aftermath of the tragic events of September 11th, 2001, and now serves communities altered by acts of terrorism and violence in both the U.S. and around the world. Ms. Barrett began her career working in programming and electronic trading sales at Bloomberg L.P. and holds a B.S. in Business from the State University at Albany.

CAROLYN CUSHMAN DESENA

WEforum Foundation

Carolyn Cushman DeSena graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Texas with a degree in Communications (Radio/Television/Film).  After spending a short period working for production companies, movies and television shows, Carolyn moved to New York City where she began her Wall Street career working for Spear, Leeds and Kellogg as an assistant specialist and eventually as a derivatives specialist on the floor of the American Stock Exchange. Carolyn later moved to London where she helped open SLK Global Markets, a London based operation, managing their US Clearing business and equity and derivative electronic trading sales.  Goldman Sachs later bought SLK and Carolyn became one of the first employees to transition to GS where she helped integrate product lines and services. Carolyn later moved back to NYC where she ran a sales team focused primarily on high frequency, algorithmic electronic trading integrating REDIPlus with prime brokerage and clearing services. Carolyn has always been very philanthropic and began fundraising for the New York Junior League. She later became a Board Member of The 52nd StreetProject, an organization that works with underprivileged children living in Hell’s Kitchen (NYC) who are taught life skills through theater based programs.   Since moving to Rumson, NJ in 2010, Carolyn has supported numerous charitable organizations in Monmouth County. She is currently the Founder and Presdient of WEforum, a female-lead organization devoted to raising community awareness on how to live a healthier lifestyle and to raising money for free educational health and wellness programs and services that are accessible to everyone in the community. She currently serves as Board member of both Monmouth Medical Center Foundation and The Two River Theater. In addition to her philanthropic endeavors, Carolyn spends her spare time investing in various private equity, independent films and real estate projects. Carolyn married Neil DeSena, Co-Founder of SenaHill Partners in 2007, who sadly passed away in 2017.  They have three beautiful children and her greatest achievement in life is being a mother.

SILVIA DAVI

Thesys Technologies, LLC

Silvia Davi is Senior Vice President and Global Head of Marketing and Communications at Thesys Technologies, LLC, the leading capital markets technology company . In this role, Silvia is focused on corporate and product marketing, business engagement, external and internal communications, public and government affairs, and digital communications for Thesys Technologies and its subsidiary, Thesys CAT LLC, the plan processor for the Securities and Exchange Committee’s Consolidated Audit Trail. Ms. Davi is a seasoned global corporate communications, marketing and business development professional with over 20 years of experience in strategic public relations, financial communications, branding, turnarounds, content strategy, corporate social responsibility, relationship management, and international affairs across key industry sectors. Her experience stems from global PR agencies, in-house Fortune 500 organizations, start-ups, and non-profits. She is a recognized, multi-lingual expert in global and international affairs with an expertise in financial services, fintech, technology, media, entertainment, and food & beverage sectors. Having received various industry accolades throughout her career, she was most recently recognized on a “Women in Fintech Powerlist 2017,” run by Innovate Finance, an independent association that represents the UK’s global FinTech community.

SUSAN ESTES

OpenDoor Trading, LLC

Susan Estes
Co-Founder, President, and CEO, OpenDoor Securities Ms. Susan Estes is a chief executive with exceptional depth and understanding of the fixed income markets. She has over 30 years of experience trading U.S. Treasuries and related fixed-income products; the majority spent on starting, developing and managing domestic and international high-quality rates operations and related businesses for large financial institutions including Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank, as well as start-ups. Susan is a past member of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee (TBAC), a Federal Advisory Committee. The TBAC meets quarterly with Treasury to provide advice on funding requirements and separately with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to address topical market issues. Previously served as a Member of the Board of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), a leading financial industry trade group whose mission is to promote effective and efficient regulation, facilitate more open, competitive, and efficient global capital markets. Formerly Chaired the Government and Agency Division of the Bond Market Association, now SIFMA.

KRISTINA FAN

Founder, 7 Chord

Co-Founder and CEO, 7 Chord Kristina Fan is a co-founder and CEO of 7 Chord. Prior to 7 Chord, Kristina was a market structure specialist at BlackRock and JP Morgan. She represented BlackRock at the CME Risk Co, other industry forums. She started her 20-year career at Bear, Stearns in credit derivatives trading. BA in Economics from NYU, MSc in Finance from LSE. Markets Choice Awards: Women in Finance 2017. Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars, Class of 2017.

CINDY FINKELMAN

FactSet Research Systems

Cindy Finkelman joined FactSet Research Systems as Chief Information Officer in June 2015. Cindy is responsible for internal technology strategy/delivery, the Project Management Office, the Security function that supports FactSet’s products and Enterprise Risk Management; and works with senior business leaders to build strategic, effective and efficient capabilities through innovative and transformational programs. Cindy was recognized as CIO of the Year by the 2017 Markets Media Women in Finance Awards, for her transformative impact on the company, her mentoring of women technologists and her philanthropic work. Cindy is a senior executive with 20+ years of diversified management, technology and operations experience and has a proven track record of designing and delivering technology driven transformational programs in many blue-chip firms, including New York Life Insurance Company, ALICO, Merrill Lynch, Marsh & McLennan, Prudential, Booz Allan & Hamilton and MetLife. Cindy’s passion is for people development. She has sponsored various mentoring programs and Women in Technology initiatives. Cindy has an MBA from NYU in Corporate Strategy/Entrepreneurship, and a BS from SUNY/Albany. Cindy is currently a Board member of the Society for Information Management (SIM) NY chapter where she is responsible for the Program Committee and actively participates in SIM Women.

BETTY GEE

Barclays

Ms. Gee is a Managing Director and Head of Prime Sales, Americas at Barclays. Based in New York, Ms. Gee is responsible for leading the sales franchises across the equity financing, synthetics, origination sales and account management businesses. She works with the sales teams to drive the origination pipeline and grow existing client relationships. Prior to that, Ms. Gee was Head of Strategic Consulting, Americas, which is part of Capital Solutions also within Prime Services Distribution. Ms. Gee joined Barclays in 2016 from BlackRock, where she served in various roles including Chief Marketing Officer and Interim COO for the Financial Markets Advisory business. Prior to that, Ms. Gee was also a portfolio research analyst at Serengeti Asset Management and a consultant at McKinsey & Company. Ms. Gee was recognized as one of ’50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds’ in 2017 by The Hedge Fund Journal and EY. She holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a BA from Yale University.

CHRISTINE GAELZER HELOU

V2V Associates

Christine Gaelzer Helou, CFA Managing Partner, V2V Associates and Principal, Global Fund Match Christine N. Gaelzer Helou, CFA, is a Managing Partner at V2V Associates and the Principal of Global Fund Match, where she assists global institutional clients and family offices in identifying notable non- traditional investment opportunities in Multi Asset, Alternatives, Commodities and Private Equity. Most recently Mrs. Helou was a Managing Director at CoreCommodity Management, LLC, where she oversaw European and Latin American markets providing professional commodity management services to investors seeking exposure to the asset class. Previous to joining CoreCommodity, Mrs. Helou oversaw global client portfolio management for Commodities, Quant Equities and Volatility Management at Credit Suisse where she was responsible for product development and expanding Credit Suisse’s global presence in the asset class. Prior to that role, Mrs. Helou served as the lead portfolio manager for Multi Asset Class Solutions (MACS) portfolios and mutual funds in the U.S. as well as in Switzerland. In that capacity, Mrs. Helou chaired the Asset Allocation Investment Committee in the U.S. (CIO role) and led portfolio management where she was actively involved in allocating assets and trading across various asset classes and instruments. Mrs. Helou graduated magna cum laude with a Masters in economics and business administration from the University of Zurich, Switzerland. She is business proficient in English, German, Swiss German, French, Portuguese and Spanish. Mrs. Helou holds the Series 7, 63 and 3 licenses, is a CFA charter holder and currently serves as Chair of 100 Women in Hedge Funds’ Connecticut/Westchester Committee. Mrs. Helou is also a frequent speaker at leading industry panels.

SEEMA R. HINGORANI

SevenStep Capital

Founder & Chair, Girls Who Invest and Founder & Chief Investment Officer, SevenStep Capital Seema R. Hingorani is the Founder and Chair of Girls Who Invest, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the number of women in portfolio management and leadership in the asset management industry. She is also the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of SevenStep Capital, an opportunistic alternatives seeding platform that has a focus on investing in women and minority portfolio managers. Hingorani is also a Senior Advisor at Crestview Partners and an Advisory Group member at Walter Scott & Partners Limited. Hingorani served until June 30, 2014 as Chief Investment Officer for the New York City Retirement Systems which had assets of $160 billion. Previous to this appointment, Hingorani was Interim Chief Investment Officer and before that Head of Public Equities & Hedge Funds for the pension funds. Under her leadership, the pension fund was named Hedge Fund Manager of the Year – Large Public Pension Plans by Institutional Investor. Prior to Hingorani’s four years of public sector experience, she served as Global Director of Fundamental Research at Pyramis Global Advisors; a General Partner, Portfolio Manager and Senior Equity Analyst with hedge fund Andor Capital Management; a General Partner and Senior Equity Analyst at hedge fund Pequot Capital Management; Co-founder of hedge fund Mirador Capital Management; and an Equity Analyst with T. Rowe Price. Hingorani has worked with several organizations focused on issues concerning women and girls and is a prolific speaker on the topic of a more robust inclusion of women in the corporate sector. She was honored as the 2016 Woman with Impact by the Connecticut Women’s Business Development Council, Wall Street Women Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015 by Traders magazine and received the 2015 Women in Finance Achievement award from MarketsMedia for her work with Girls Who Invest. Hingorani served as a member of the National Finance Committee of Secretary Clinton’s 2016 Presidential Campaign. She is an active member of the Center for American Progress U.S. India Task Force, The Economic Club of New York and 100 Women in Finance. Hingorani earned her BA in Psychology/Philosophy from Yale College and her MBA in Finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

LYDIE HUDSON

Credit Suisse

ANDREA LEUNG

Deutsche Bank

Managing Director, Deutsche Bank Andrea Leung is a Managing Director in the Structured Solutions Group within Deutsche Bank’s Corporate and Investment Banking division. She is Head of Financial Sponsors Coverage in private credit and financing products. Andrea joined Deutsche Bank in 2002 and spent 12 years in the equity division as a member of the Equities Management Committee. She was previously Global Head of Synthetic Equity Trading and North American Head of Securities Lending and Financial Resources, managing a team of 80 equity traders in New York, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo. In 2014 she joined the Relationship Management group focusing on sales strategy and cultivating senior management relationships for hedge fund, pension and investment management clients. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, she ran the US Equity Swap trading desk at JP Morgan. She started her career at JP Morgan in 1994 marketing commodity and fixed income derivatives. She is a currently a member of the Deutsche Bank Americas Debt Leadership Team and the Equities Regional Management Forum. She is also Co-Chair of the CIB Women’s Network and responsible for business engagement in diversity and undergraduate recruitment. Andrea holds a BA from Northwestern University.

MARINA LUTOVA MEYERS

Citadel LLC

Ms. Meyers has nearly 14 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Citadel, she was a Partner and Portfolio Manager at BlueMountain Capital Management, where she led performing credit globally, which included the firm’s long/short credit portfolio in North America and Europe, as well as its relative value index and index arbitrage strategies. Ms. Meyers also oversaw global credit and equity trade execution while at BlueMountain, and sat on the management and investment committees.

JEN NAYAR

Vela

CEO, Vela Jennifer Nayar is Vela’s CEO, joining in June 2015. Based in the firm’s New York headquarters, Jen is responsible for all aspects of Vela’s business globally. Jen has been successfully leading and driving the growth of market data businesses since 2007, when she served as the Global Head of Market Data Products and Business Operations for the New York Stock Exchange. She’s also held senior management positions at REDI Global Technologies, NYFIX, Omgeo, Mercator Software and the London Stock Exchange. Jen was voted CEO of the Year by Markets Media in the 2017 Markets Choice Awards as well as the 2017 Women in Finance Markets Choice Awards. In 2016, Jen was the recipient of Markets Media’s Markets Choice Women in Finance Award for Excellence in Trading Technology. She was also included in Institutional Investor’s 2017 and 2016 Trading Technology 40, a ranking of the 40 most influential individuals in the trading technology space. In 2014, Jen was honored by Traders Magazine with its Women on Wall Street award for her excellence in leadership. Jen was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Security Traders Association of New York (STANY) in August 2017. She is also a member of the advisory board of the Women in Finance Awards by Markets Media.

SAPNA C. PATEL

Morgan Stanley

Executive Director, Head of Market Structure and 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 a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology from American University.

TRACY RUCKER-WILSON

Vanguard

NATASHA SHAMIS

LiquidNet

EDEN SIMMER

Pimco

Eden Simmer is an Executive Vice President and heads up the global equity trading desk based out of New York City. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2010, she was a trader focusing on equities, foreign exchange and preferred securities for Deutsche Bank Asset Management. Previously, Eden was a foreign exchange and derivatives trading associate at ABN AMRO. She has 14 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.

MANJUSHA TIPRE

Megalodon Capital

Manjusha is a senior business leader in the financial services industry who has 25 years of experience in global sales, Account and relationship management. She has led numerous projects involving the technical implementation and migration of complex integrated technology platforms. She has built a career on a keen understanding of the intersection of capital markets domain and Technology. Manjusha has a proven track record of successfully expanding into new geographies. She is known for building long term profitable relationships with clients that consistently result in high levels of satisfaction. Manjusha is a founder of FinTech firm and is excited to begin her second inning after a successful stint at MillenniumIT- part of London Stock Exchange Group. Prior to starting her own firm, Manjusha was an integral member of the MillenniumIT promoting team- now a part of London Stock Exchange Group. During her tenure MillenniumIT she held various positions such as Head of Technical Training, Head of Quality Assurance, and Head of Program Management. In her latest role, she was responsible for expanding MillenniumIT’s business into the Americas and India. Manjusha is a passionate believer in the power of women in the workforce and has strived to promote gender equality throughout her career. She was a member of LSEG’s Women Inspired Network. She was also a member of the advisory board of the Women in Finance Awards by Markets Media for two consecutive years. A busy mother of two boys, when she has free time she can be found tending to her organic garden or biking/jogging around Princeton.

SUPURNA VEDBRAT

BlackRock

Global Head of Trading Managing Director, BlackRock As Global Head of Trading, Supurna oversees BlackRock’s global trading activities and is responsible for driving innovation and setting the trading platform’s strategic vision. Supurna is a member of BlackRock’s Trading and Liquidity Strategy Executive Committee, Global Operating Committee as well as the Human Capital Committee. Previously, Supurna was BlackRock’s Deputy Head of Trading, where her responsibilities included Global Equities Trading and Prime Brokerage Financing. She was also Co-head of electronic trading and market structure across asset classes. Her understanding of both the buy-side and sell-side as well as electronic trading and technology allowed her to work towards industry solutions that work for both sides during this unique period of rapid change in the industry as it relates to trading. Externally Supurna sits on the CFTC Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) and the CFTC Global Markets Advisory Committee (GMAC). Apart from BlackRock, Supurna’s professional history spans over more than two decades in both the US and Europe and within the Financial Industry and the Technology Industry. Prior to joining BlackRock, she consulted for the firm she founded, Strategic Solutions Consulting Corp. Supurna also held various positions at Bank of America, ING Barings in London and Lehman Brothers in NY. She started her career as a software engineer with IBM at their research center in New York. Supurna is a committed member of the board of Women in Derivatives (WIND, a non-profit organization). She is also a member of BlackRock’s Women’s Initiative Network (WIN). Supurna was ranked #8 on the Institutional Investor’s 2018 Trading Tech 40 list. She was also a recipient of the Markets Media Women in Finance Award for Excellence in Leadership. She has a Computer Science degree from Rutgers University, USA, and a Mathematics (Hons) degree from Delhi University, India.

ANNA VELLA

Millennium Investor Relations

Anna K. Vella
Millennium Investor Relations
WMQS Portfolio Solutions

Anna Vella works closely with Millennium’s largest investment team, WorldQuant, to develop new investment solutions offered through the joint venture, WorldQuant Millennium Quantitative Strategies (“WMQS”). Since joining Millennium in 2010, Anna has been responsible for building and developing new and current investor relationships for the firm. Prior to Millennium, Ms. Vella’s career was focused on alternative investments – as a Director on the Hedge Fund Research team at Union Bancaire Privée following a role of Vice President of Investor Relations at Galleon Group. Ms. Vella began her career at Watson Wyatt Worldwide (now Towers Watson) as a Strategy Consultant and graduated with honors from Boston University.

VICTORIA VYSOTINA

Family Office RPP

Chief Investment Officer, Family Office RPP Dr. Vysotina is a Chief Investment Officer for Family Office RPP, a single family office of a prominent entrepreneur with businesses in the banking, insurance, retail, healthcare and education. Previously, she ran V V Strategic Group, a boutique Outsourced CIO advisory firm working with prominent families globally. Prior to launching her advisory firm in 2011, Dr. Vysotina was with the Rockefeller Foundation as a Managing Director and a Portfolio Manager for the $1bn hedge fund and distressed-for-control Private Equity portfolio and a co-Manager for the Fixed Income, Portable Alpha and Long-only Equity portfolios. Dr. Vysotina was also a member of the Investment Committee with HSBC’s Alternative Investment Group, a $40bn+ hedge fund platform, after a decade long career on Wall Street. During her tenure on Wall Street in the Fixed Income divisions of Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley, she worked in areas of structured credit, high yield and emerging markets and managed distressed restructuring deals, both sovereign and corporate globally. Dr. Vysotina received her Ph.D. in Mathematics from Emory University. She continues to be a passionate supporter of education and is a member of the Advisory Board for the Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) in New York.

MEE WARREN

CFA, CAIA

CFA, CAIA Mee Warren recently left her position as portfolio manager at Two Sigma Investments L.P., an investment management firm. During her fifteen years at the firm, the firm grew from under $100 million in assets under management (AUM) to over $55 billion. She leveraged her expertise in investments, market structure and trading to develop new strategies, increase capacity and enhance returns. In her previous role she managed the US & Americas Equities Trading desk. In addition to covering the Americas, she also traded European and Asia regions equities, hard & soft commodity futures, bonds, currencies, interest rate swaps, and derivatives. In 2015, Mee received two industry awards: the “Women in Finance Outstanding Contributions” award from Markets Media and the “Women on Wall Street Trailblazer” award from Traders Magazine. Mee graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management with majors in Finance, International Business, and Risk Management and minors in Latin, Chinese, and East Asian Studies. She also completed the distinguished University of Minnesota Talented Youth Mathematics Program (UMTYMP). Mee is on the Board of Narcolepsy Network Inc. and Financial Women’s Association. She is a member of the National Organization of Investment Professionals (NOIP), CFA Society of New York, 100 Women in Finance, and Women in ETFs. She also sits on several advisory boards. Mee is a competitive pool, poker, and bridge player. She is also a motorcycle enthusiast and training for the NYC marathon.

KATHRYN ZHAO

Cantor Fitzgerald

Kathryn Zhao joined Cantor Fitzgerald in Sept. 2017 as the Global Head of Electronic Trading. She spent the first six months developing the Precision Algo Platform and has successfully rolled it out since July this year in a record speed, leveraging the most advanced technologies today. Her mandates at Cantor Fitzgerald has expanded to cover other asset classes now that she has built such a great track record in the equity space. Kathryn joined Cantor Fitzgerald from JPMorgan where she was the Global Head of Algorithmic Quantitative Research. She started off at JPMorgan as the Head of Linear Quantitative Research in Asia where she spent almost five years before relocating to New York to take on the Global Head of Algorithmic Quantitative Research. She was leading quantitative research efforts for not only Electronic Trading business but also Delta-One, ETF Market Making, Automated Market Making, Cash, Central Risk Book, as well as Block Trading. Prior to JPMorgan, Kathryn worked at Deutsche Bank, based in Hong Kong, where she started as a portfolio trader before she took over the Electronic Trading team for APAC. She rose very quickly to head up the electronic trading team in Asia because of her portfolio trading experience, deep knowledge in Asian markets microstructure as well as her strong quantitative background. Strong research professional graduated from Cornell University, Kathryn is an experienced quant with a demonstrated history in the financial services industry, skilled in Electronic Trading across Asset Classes, Market Microstructure, Data Analysis and Portfolio Management. Kathryn graduated from Cornell University and Purdue University with double degrees in Statistics and Finance.