Speakers & Biographies

Keynotes:

Marc Lasry
Avenue Capital Group
Marc Lasry is the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and a founding Partner of Avenue Capital Group, a global investment manager with approximately $20.1 billion in assets. Distressed investing has been the focus of his professional career for over 22 years.  Previously, he managed capital for Amroc Investments, L.P., which was affiliated with Acadia Partners, an investment partnership whose general partners include Keystone, Inc. (an investment partnership firm that was associated with the Robert M. Bass Group, Inc.), American Express Company and the Equitable Life Assurance Society of America.  Prior to that, Marc was Co-Director of the Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganization Department at Cowen & Company. Prior to that time, he served as Director of the Private Debt Department at Smith Vasiliou Management Company. He also clerked for the Honorable Edward Ryan, former Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York. Marc graduated with a B.A in History from Clark University and received a J.D from New York Law School.  Marc is on the Board of Directors of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Mount Sinai Medical Center, The Clinton Foundation, and the 92nd Street Y.  Marc lives in New York City with his wife and five children. 

John Paulson
Paulson & Co. Inc.
John Paulson is the president and senior portfolio manager of Paulson & Co. Inc., which he founded in 1994. Paulson manages approximately $27 billion in merger, event and distressed strategies. Prior to this, John was a general partner of Gruss Partners and a managing director in mergers and acquisitions at Bear Stearns. John received a Masters of Business Administration with high distinction, as a Baker Scholar, from Harvard Business School in 1980.  He graduated summa cum laude in Finance from New York University’s College of Business and Public Administration in 1978.

John Burbank
Passport Capital
John Burbank founded Passport Capital in August 2000 and is currently the sole managing member and chief investment officer. Between 1999 and 2000 he worked as a consultant for JMG Triton Offshore, a $1 billion market neutral arbitrage fund. Prior to this, from 1996 to 1999, John was director of research for ValueVest Management, a $150 million long/short global value fund. He has also held management positions in start-up companies and been active as a private investor. John received a M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1992 and a B.A. in English Literature from Duke University in 1987.

Other speakers confirmed so far:

Bill Ackman
Pershing Square Asset Management
Bill Ackman is the managing member and portfolio manager of Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P., a concentrated research-intensive fundamental value investor in long and occasionally short investments in the public markets, with assets under management of approximately $6 billion. Pershing Square has played an active role in creating value at companies including Wendy’s International, McDonalds, Ceridian Corporation, and Sears Canada. Prior to forming Pershing Square, Bill co-founded Gotham Partners, L.P., a public and private equity investment partnership. Prior to Gotham Partners, he began his career in real estate investment banking at Ackman Brothers & Singer, Inc. Bill received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College magna cum laude and a M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.

Neil Barsky
Alson Capital Partners
Neil Barsky founded Alson Capital Partners LLC in September 2002 and is the portfolio manager for all of Alson’s investment vehicles. Prior to founding Alson Capital, Neil was a co-founder and managing partner of Midtown Capital Partners LLC, where he managed it’s investment partnerships from 1998 to 2002. Between 1993 and 1997, Neil was an equity research analyst at Morgan Stanley, specializing in real estate, gaming and lodging. In 1997, Neil was ranked number one in lodging and number two in gaming in the prestigious Institutional Investor All-American Research Poll. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Neil was an award-winning reporter at the Wall Street Journal and continues to contribute articles to both the Wall Street Journal and Barron’s. He currently serves on the Oberlin College investment committee and is active in numerous charities. Neil earned a M.S. from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and a B.A. from Oberlin College.

Ron Beller
Peloton Partners
Ron Beller is the co-founder and CEO of Peloton Partners. Peloton Partners is a global alternative investment management company with approximately $2.5 billion under management. Prior to forming Peloton in 2005, Ron spent 15 years with Goldman Sachs where he was named a partner in 1996. He spent the 2002/2003 academic year working with the New York City Department of Education running the reorganization of the New York City public school system which comprised of 1.2 million students, 150,000 staff and a $12 billion budget.  In the U.K., Ron is the co-chairman of Ark Education, which is working with the U.K. Government to build a network of innovative, non-selective public schools in some of the most disadvantaged London boroughs. Ron graduated from Brown University in 1984.

Stuart Bohart
Morgan Stanley Investment Management
Stuart Bohart is a managing director and head of alternative investments at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. He joined Morgan Stanley in 1997 as a portfolio manager in the investment management business, where he co-managed a global multi-strategy equity fund.  He subsequently headed risk management for the firm’s prime brokerage and stock loan businesses. He became head of international prime brokerage in 2003 and global head of prime brokerage in 2005. He was appointed head of alternative investments in 2006. Stuart’s previous experience includes portfolio management and trading positions at Harvard University’s endowment fund, Bankers Trust, and FrontPoint Partners. Stuart graduated from Northwestern University in 1989 with dual degrees in Economics and Asian Studies. 

Jane Buchan
PAAMCO
Jane Buchan is the chief executive officer and one of the four original founders of Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company (PAAMCO), a leading independent fund of hedge funds investment firm dedicated to offering strategic alternative investment solutions to the world’s preeminent sophisticated investors. In her investment role, Jane oversees the convertible bond as well as the sovereign debt and mortgage hedge fund allocations in the various PAAMCO portfolios. Jane has 20 years of experience in investment management and portfolio construction, beginning with her career at JPMorgan Investment Management. Prior to forming PAAMCO, she held positions ranging from director of quantitative analysis to CIO of non-directional strategies at Collin Associates, an institutional fund-of-funds and consulting firm. Jane received her undergraduate degree in Economics from Yale University and her Masters and Ph.D. in Business Economics (Finance) from Harvard University. 

Robert Caruso
Highbridge Capital Management
Robert Caruso is a managing partner and the chief operating officer of Highbridge Capital Management and has been a member of the firm’s board of directors since 2002. Highbridge and its affiliates manage in excess of $30 billion of capital for many of the world’s most highly regarded financial institutions, corporate pension funds, university endowments and family offices. Bob is the chairman of the firm’s operating committee and is a member of the firm’s management and markets committee. Prior to joining Highbridge, Bob spent four years at investment banking firm Robertson Stephens, where he served as the CFO and COO of the firm’s global equity financial products business. In 2001, he was promoted to managing director, chief financial officer and treasurer of the global firm. Bob began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a member of its global capital markets advisory practice. Bob holds a B.S. degree from Saint Joseph’s University.

Neil Chriss
Hutchin Hill Capital
Neil Chriss is managing principal and chief investment officer of Hutchin Hill Capital. He was previously a managing director, head of quantitative strategies and a member of the operating committee at SAC Capital Management. Before joining SAC, Neil was founder and president of ICor Brokerage Inc., an electronic derivatives trading firm. Prior to ICor, Neil was a portfolio manager in the quantitative strategies group at Goldman Sachs Asset Management in charge of volatility arbitrage strategies. Neil has a Ph.D. and a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Chicago, a M.S. in Mathematics from the California Institute of Technology and has held academic positions in the Mathematics departments of Harvard University and the Institute for Advanced Study. Neil is a founding board member of Math for America and a visiting committee member at the University of Chicago.

William Cline
Clovis Capital
William Cline is the president, and one of the three original founders in 2002, of Clovis Capital, a New York based registered investment adviser. Clovis’ value biased long/short equity strategy seeks to provide attractive absolute returns while maintaining a keen eye toward capital preservation and risk control. Previously, William was an executive vice president with Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn and a vice president with Delaware Investment Advisers.

Claire Davis
Perennial Advisors
Claire Davis is the managing partner of Perennial Advisors, a long/short equity hedge fund focused primarily on domestic small and mid-cap investment opportunities. Prior to forming Perennial Advisors in 2001, she was portfolio manager of the Discovery Technology Fund, a fund within Discovery Management’s family of hedge funds. Claire launched the Discovery Technology Fund in 1999, and it was the highest performing fund at Discovery in both 1999 and 2000. Prior to joining Discovery, she worked for Cardinal Investment Company, a hedge fund in Dallas. Claire earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1995, graduating with high honors.

Harry Davis
Schulte Roth & Zabel
Harry Davis is a partner in the litigation department of Schulte Roth & Zabel in New York. Harry specializes in complex commercial litigation and regulatory matters for financial services industry clients, including hedge funds, funds of funds, prime brokers, auditors and administrators. Throughout his career, he has handled a wide variety of insider trading, market manipulation, short swing profit and securities and common law fraud. Most recently, Harry has represented clients in connection with regulatory investigations and litigations relating to Manhattan Investment Fund, Beacon Hill, Durus and the ongoing mutual fund market timing and PIPEs investigations by federal and state regulators. Prior to joining Schulte Roth & Zabel, Harry was associated with Cravath Swaine & Moore and served as a law clerk to Hon. Joseph Tauro (United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts). Harry graduated from Cornell Law School and is a graduate of The Johns Hopkins University.

Marko Dimitrijeviæ
Everest Capital
Marko Dimitrijeviæ, CFA, is the founder, president and chief investment officer of Everest Capital, a $3 billion investment management firm with a global and emerging markets focus. Founded in 1990 with offices in the U.S., Asia and Europe, the firm seeks to identify specific macro trends globally and execute thematic investments across industries, regions and asset classes to produce superior returns for its investors. Its clients include pension plans, foundations, endowments and high net worth families. Marko is a graduate of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland and received a MBA from the Stanford Business School where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar (top 10%) and currently serves on its advisory council.  Marko’s investment career is featured in the books Inside the House of Money and Investing with the Hedge Fund Giants.

Robert Discolo
AIG Investments
Robert Discolo joined AIG Investments in 1999 and is a managing director of alternative investments and the head of the hedge fund strategies group. Robert, who is also a member of AIG's hedge fund investment and strategy allocation committees, has over 20 years’ experience with major financial institutions in various capacities relating to investment products, primarily hedge and private equity funds. Previously, he held positions at PaineWebber Inc., Bank Julius Baer, and Merrill Lynch, where his responsibilities included creating portfolios of hedge funds for private and institutional clients, development of hedge fund and private equity products, oversight of business structure and development for hedge funds and hedge fund of funds. He was also president of the European Warrant Fund and Julius Baer International Equity Fund. Robert received a B.S. in Accounting from St. John's University and a M.B.A. from the Lubin School of Business at Pace University.

Alex Ehrlich
UBS Investment Bank
Alex Ehrlich is a managing director and member of the board of UBS Investment Bank, where he is global head of Prime Services. Based in New York, he is responsible for directing UBS's Prime Brokerage and ETD businesses globally, and is a member of the equities management committee. Alex joined UBS in May 2003, following 22 years at Goldman Sachs & Co, where he had most recently served as global co-head of prime brokerage.

David Einhorn
Greenlight Capital
David Einhorn is president of Greenlight Capital, Inc., which he co-founded in January 1996.  Greenlight is a value-oriented investment advisor whose goal is to achieve high absolute rates of return while minimizing the risk of capital loss.  Greenlight’s investment philosophy is to combine the analytical discipline of determining fair value with a practical understanding of markets. The firm believes that an investment approach that emphasizes intrinsic value will achieve consistent absolute investment returns and safeguard capital regardless of market conditions.  David is chairman of the board of Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLRE) and a director of BioFuel Energy Corp. (NASDAQ:BIOF).  David graduated summa cum laude with distinction in all subjects from Cornell University in 1991, where he earned a B.A. from the College of Arts and Sciences.

Marcy Engel
Eton Park Capital Management
Marcy Engel is chief operating officer and general counsel of Eton Park Capital Management, L.P., a global alternatives investment firm. She is responsible for all of the non-investment related areas of the firm, including finance, operations, risk, treasury, technology, investor relations, legal and compliance, and human resources.  Prior to joining Eton Park, Marcy spent 18 years at Citigroup and its predecessor firms, Salomon Smith Barney and Salomon Brothers Inc. in two main roles: as a senior member of the legal department from 1987 to 2003, and as head of planning and operating risk for the fixed income division. Prior to joining Salomon Brothers, She was an associate in the litigation department of Sullivan & Cromwell. Marcy graduated with distinction from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Economics and also from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.

Steve Evans
Tudor
Steve Evans is the managing director of systems trading for Tudor Investment Corporation. In this capacity he directs a group of over 40 research and operational support personnel responsible for over $2.7 billion in notional assets and more than 50 proprietary trading systems. Steve is also the portfolio manager for the Tudor Tensor Funds, systematic multi-strategy managed futures funds launched on September 1 2005.  During the course of his employment with Tudor, he has also held the chief information officer position. Prior to joining Tudor in 1997, Steve was a vice president of software development at D.E. Shaw & Co. From 1987 to 1996, he served as a senior manager for Accenture in the advanced technology group. Prior to this he developed video games for international retail between the ages of 14 and 21. Steve holds a M.A. (first class hons.) in Mathematics from Wadham College, Oxford University.

Kurt Feuerman
Caxton Associates
Kurt Feuerman joined Caxton Associates in October 1998, and is a senior managing director. Kurt's primary emphasis is in equity securities traded on U.S. exchanges. From 1990 to 1998, he was a managing director of Morgan Stanley & Co. where his responsibilities included managing Morgan Stanley Asset Management’s U.S. equity business. From January 1984 until February 1990, Kurt was a managing director of Drexel Burnham Lambert, specializing as a securities analyst. He began his career in June 1982 at The Bank of New York. Kurt holds a B.A. degree from McGill University, a M.A. degree from Syracuse University, and a M.B.A. degree in Finance from Columbia University.

Josh Friedman
Canyon Partners
Joshua Friedman is co-chairman and co-chief executive officer of Canyon Partners LLC, a Los Angeles based money management firm. Founded in 1990 by Joshua and Mitchell Julis, Canyon currently manages approximately $19 billion in alternative asset categories. Most of Canyon’s assets under management are in hedge fund strategies, with a focus on bank debt, distressed debt, high yield and convertible bonds, direct investments, arbitrage and value equities. Prior to forming Canyon, Joshua was director of capital markets for high yield and private placements at Drexel Burnham Lambert.  Prior to working at Drexel, he worked in the mergers and acquisitions department of Goldman Sachs in New York.  Joshua is a graduate of Harvard College (B.A., summa cum laude, Physics), Oxford University (M.A., honors, Politics and Economics, Marshall Scholar), Harvard Law School (J.D., magna cum laude) and Harvard Business School (M.B.A., Baker Scholar).

Sanford Grossman
Quantitative Financial Strategies
Sanford Grossman is chairman and chief executive officer of Quantitative Financial Strategies (QFS), which he founded in 1988 to develop financial investment models based on his research discoveries in the fields of economics and quantitative finance. 
From 1975 to 1999, Sandy was a distinguished academic, holding appointments at Stanford University, the University of Chicago, Princeton and at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. His research spanned the analysis of information in securities markets, corporate structure, property rights, and optimal risk management.  He was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal in 1987. In addition, he was an economist with the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System, and a public director of CBOT. In 1994 he was president of the American Finance Association. Sandy earned a B.A. in 1973, M.A. in 1974 and Ph.D. in 1975, all in Economics, from the University of Chicago. 

Alice Hackett
Citi
Alice Hackett is a managing director and co-head of the global Prime Finance division at Citi. The Prime Finance business operates across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, providing prime brokerage services across multiple asset classes: equities, fixed income and foreign exchange. Recently, Ali co-headed the equity finance business until the organization asked her to be responsible for the fixed income and foreign exchange prime brokerage services as well. Prior to that, Ali managed Citi's futures business. Her career in finance and at Citi began when she joined the firm in 1989. Ali received a B.A. in Philosophy from Rutgers University.

Robert Hackney
Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder Advisers
Robert Hackney is a senior vice president of Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder Advisers, LLC with responsibility for the firm’s alternative asset management activities.  He joined Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder Advisers, LLC in 1995 and became the portfolio manager for the firm’s risk arbitrage department in the following year. He assumed his current responsibilities in 2004. Prior to joining the firm, Robert was a research analyst and portfolio manager for several investment firms specializing in merger arbitrage, including Kellner, DiLeo & Company, Coniston Partners, and S.B. Lewis & Co.  Robert began his career in 1979 as an investment banker specializing in mergers and acquisitions.  He earned a B.A., a M.B.A. and a J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar.

Renee Haugerud
Galtere Ltd
Renee Haugerud is the founder, chief investment officer and managing principal of Galtere Ltd., which is the registered investment advisor of a commodity based global macro hedge fund, with current assets under management in excess of $1 billion. Previously, Renee served as the financial trading manager at Hunter Douglas N.A. She also spent two years with Natwest Markets in its Asian headquarters as the head of proprietary trading for its global financial markets. Renee began her tenure in financial markets by trading cash commodity markets for Cargill and Continental Grain, where she ultimately served as Cargill’s foreign exchange trading manager. Also at Cargill, Renee held the positions of manager of the U.S. fixed income trading desk, financial division manager of the Melbourne office and finally vice president/structural trading manager. Renee received a B.S. degree with honors in Forest Resource Management from the University of Montana in 1980.

Joel Katzman
Industry consultant 
Joel Katzman was previously president and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Alternative Asset Management, Inc. from its inception in 1995 until his retirement in April 2005. In this role he was responsible for developing and managing hedge fund of fund products for JPMorgan Chase's institutional and private banking clients. During his tenure the group grew from $7 million to over $9 billion in assets under management. At the time of his retirement the group had over 70 staff and invested with over 120 hedge fund managers. Joel was involved in the firm’s alternative investment business beginning in 1988 and became head of the group in 1993. Prior to his responsibilities in alternative investments he was involved in the bank's strategic planning, financial management and treasury functions, both domestically and overseas. Joel received a B.S. in Finance from the University of Connecticut and a M.B.A. from New York University.

Leslie Lake
Invus Financial Advisors
Leslie Lake is a founding partner of Invus Financial Advisors, LLC., a hedge fund advisory firm founded in 2006 which manages $2 billion. Prior to founding Invus Financial Advisors, Leslie was a managing director of The Invus Group, a $4 billion private equity firm. While at The Invus Group, she managed the $1 billon internal hedge fund of funds business. Prior to joining Invus, Leslie was the external chief investment officer to the Mitchell Kapor Family (founder of Lotus 1-2-3). While acting in her CIO position, she was solely responsible for developing and implementing the investment strategy for the family's liquid investments. Prior to this, she was the executive vice president and managing director of Cofinam, Inc. She began her career as an analyst with Joseph P. Kennedy Enterprises. Leslie holds a B.A. in Economics from Simmons College.

David McCarthy
Martello Investment Management
David McCarthy co-founded Martello Investment Management in 2002. Martello is a specialist fund of funds and advisory firm concentrating on absolute return hedge fund strategies including global macro, systematic directional, and relative value strategies. From 1994 to 2000, David was an investment manager for Global Asset Management (GAM) where he managed its trading funds of funds. He has been an investment officer with the Atlantic Philanthropies, a partner in Rayner and Stonington, a deputy manager of the international financial advisory service of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co, and a consultant with McKinsey & Co. He has also taught finance and investments at Skidmore College and the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) in the U.S., and University College Dublin, Ireland. David holds a Ph.D. from University College Dublin, a M.B.A. from Stanford University and a B.A. from the University of New Hampshire.

Peter Muller
Morgan Stanley
Peter Muller is a senior advisor of Morgan Stanley and head of Process Driven Trading, a proprietary trading group which he founded in 1992. He is co-founder and chairman of the advisory board of Chalkstream Capital Group, an investment firm. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, he was with BARRA for seven years. Peter is a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Investment Management and has previously served in the same capacity for the Financial Analysts Journal and the Journal of Portfolio Management. He has served on the advisory board for both MIT's Track in Financial Engineering (Sloan School) and NYU/Courant’s program in Financial Mathematics. Peter’s published research includes work on financial optimization, mortgage prepayments, and equity valuation models. He graduated with honors from Princeton University with a B.A. in Mathematics in 1985. 

Kevin O'Connor
U.S. Department of Justice
Kevin O'Connor was appointed by President George Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Connecticut's 48th United States Attorney in 2002. He also currently serves as chief of staff to the United States attorney general, and from January to April 2007, served as associate deputy attorney general of the U.S. Prior to his appointment, Kevin was a partner in the law firm Day, Berry and Howard. He has previously served as staff attorney and senior counsel in the division of enforcement of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Prior to this, Kevin was a litigation associate with Cahill Gordon and Reindel. Kevin graduated, with high honors, from the University of Connecticut, School of Law and with honors from the University of Notre Dame. Kevin currently serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Bruce Richards
Marathon Asset Management
Bruce Richards is the president and CEO of Marathon Asset Management. Established in 1998, Marathon manages hedge funds, private equity funds, real estate and structured finance transactions that include strategies dedicated to distressed securities and special situations, high yield bonds, bank debt and mezzanine loans, asset based lending, CLOs and CDOs, emerging markets and real estate finance. Bruce is responsible for general oversight and strategic direction of the firm, as well as developing its culture and various business lines. Prior to founding Marathon, he had a 15 year tenure working on Wall Street, including 10 years as a managing director in charge of trading, investments and risk management in the fixed income division at Smith Barney and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Bruce started his career at Paine Webber and received a B.A. in Economics, summa cum laude, from Tulane University in 1982.

Paul Roth
Schulte, Roth & Zabel
Paul Roth is a founding partner of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP. He is the head of the firm's private investment funds' practice, an area in which he has 40 years’ experience and which involves over 85 attorneys and approximately 1500 hedge funds, private equity funds and offshore funds. In addition, his practice focuses primarily on investment advisers and broker/dealers, cross-border acquisitions to the United States, securities regulation, mergers and acquisitions and financial transactions. He is a member of the advisory board of the center on lawyers and the professional services industry at Harvard Law School and is a past president and member of the board of the Harvard Law School Alumni Association of New York. Paul is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College. He graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School and received a Fulbright Fellowship for study of Law in The Netherlands. 

Daniel Schwartz
York Capital
Daniel Schwartz is the chief investment officer and a managing partner of York Capital, which he joined in March 1993. From July 1990 to March 1993, he worked as an associate at Morgan Stanley & Co., spending two years in the investment banking division and one year in the global equity derivatives department. Daniel received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Yeshiva University and a M.S. in Industrial Engineering from Columbia University.

Kurt Silberstein
California Public Employees’ Retirement System
Kurt Silberstein is currently a senior portfolio manager for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s (CalPERS’) risk managed absolute return strategies program and external equities.  Kurt is responsible for the $7 billion internal multi-strategy hedge fund portfolio and the $35 billion externally managed global equity portfolio. Prior to joining CalPERS in 1999, Kurt worked for the pension fund consulting firm Strategic Investment Solutions (SIS). During his four years at SIS, Kurt consulted to public and corporate plan sponsors, high net-worth family offices, foundations, and endowments. Prior to SIS, he worked at the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association as an investment equity analyst for four years. Kurt holds a B.S. in Finance from California State University, Northridge. He is a CFA charterholder and CAIA charterholder.

Jeffrey Tannenbaum
Fir Tree Partners
Jeffrey Tannenbaum is the managing partner at Fir Tree Partners, which he founded in 1994. From 1988 to 1993, Jeffrey was an investment professional at the private equity firm Kohlberg & Co., beginning as the sole analyst for Jerome Kohlberg, the firm’s founder and senior founder of KKR. Jeffrey has served as chairman on the board or acted as a corporate officer for the following companies: Industrial Funding Corp., a public financial services firm; The Official Information Company; B. Manischewitz Company (food products); Colorado Prime Corporation (food products); and Deknatel Inc. (medical devices). He received both a J.D. degree and a M.B.A. from New York University, during which time he studied Finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.  He also received a B.A. in Economics and graduated summa cum laude from Tulane University. 

Philip Vasan
Credit Suisse
Philip Vasan is a managing director of Credit Suisse, head of Prime Services and co-head of Capital Services, based in New York. He is a member of the investment banking division's Global Equity Management Committee and Management Council. Prior to his current position, Philip was worldwide head of equity derivatives and convertibles. He joined Credit Suisse in 1992, to develop a global currency derivatives business, later becoming head of global foreign exchange. Philip has also directed both the firm's e-commerce investments and cost reduction efforts, and has co-chaired the Bank’s managing director Evaluation Committee. Before joining Credit Suisse, Philip ran Citibank's FX options business in the U.S. after trading interest rate derivatives. Philip received a B.A. with High Honors from Oberlin College and a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. He has served as a visiting lecturer in Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Byron Wien
Pequot Capital Management
Byron Wien is the chief investment strategist for Pequot Capital. For 21 years he was managing director and the chief (later senior) investment strategist for the U.S. at Morgan Stanley. In 2006, Byron was named by New York Magazine as one of the 16 most influential people in Wall Street, and also appeared in the 2004 SmartMoney Power 30 list of Wall Street’s most influential investors, thinkers, enforcers, policy makers, players and market movers. In 2000 Byron was ranked the number one strategist by smartmoney.com based on his market calls during the year, and in 1998 was named by first call the most widely read analyst on Wall Street. In 1995, he co-authored a book with George Soros on the legendary investor’s life and philosophy, Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve. Byron received a A.B. with honors from Harvard College and a M.B.A. with distinction from Harvard Business School.

Doug Wurth
JPMorgan Private Bank
Doug Wurth is a managing director of JPMorgan Securities Inc and global head of alternatives of JPMorgan Private Bank’s alternative investments group, which supervises over $33 billion in alternative investments including hedge funds, private equity and real estate. Doug is also a director and president of JPMorgan Private Investments Inc, which oversees private investment funds with $5 billion under management. Doug has been with JPMorgan since 1997, when he joined the Bank’s mergers and acquisitions group. He has helped lead the Private Bank’s global alternative investments business while based in San Francisco, London and New York. Prior to joining JPMorgan, he practiced law at the New York firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom, and served as General Counsel to former Senator Robert Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign. Doug holds a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

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