Ranjan Bhaduri

PhD, CFA, CAIA

Founder & CEO – Bodhi Research Group

Dr. Ranjan Bhaduri (he/him) is the Founder & CEO of Bodhi Research Group, an advisory and consulting firm dedicated to research and education in the investments industry. Under Dr. Bhaduri’s leadership, Bodhi Research Group has served clients on five continents and worked with over a dozen pension funds.

Dr. Bhaduri is a leading voice and recognized authority in shaping best practices of the alternative investments industry. Dr. Bhaduri has 25 years of experience in manager research, portfolio construction, due diligence, structuring, and implementing managed account solutions. At Morgan Stanley, Dr. Bhaduri performed due diligence and played a crucial role in developing customized portfolios of alternative investments. He also served in an advisory capacity at the East-West Center, an American think tank focused on U.S.-Asia-Pacific relations.

Dr. Bhaduri has been a featured speaker at both industry conferences and prestigious educational institutions, educating both entrants and seasoned professionals in the field. He has addressed diverse topics ranging from entrepreneurship strategies to advanced portfolio and risk management techniques. Dr. Bhaduri’s academic contributions extend to publishing papers on a variety of topics including liquidity, portfolio construction, managed account platforms, hedge fund strategies, and risk management in esteemed publications.

Dr. Bhaduri holds both the CFA and CAIA charters. Previously, he served on the All About Alpha Editorial Board and held roles such as Executive of the CAIA Chicago Chapter and currently serves as Executive of the CAIA Toronto Chapter. He has also contributed to AIMA Canada as a Board Member, co-chair of the Managed Futures Committee, and member of the Global Research Committee.

Dr. Bhaduri has demonstrated a strong track record of leadership and mentorship. Several of his former analysts and interns have achieved notable success, securing positions at renowned organizations.

David Ross

CFA

Senior Managing Director, Total Portfolio Management – OPTrust

David Ross, Senior Managing Director of the Total Portfolio Management (TPM) group at OPTrust, is responsible for overseeing OPTrust’s public market investments, executed both internally and externally. TPM pursues a total portfolio approach, deploying across strategies in equities, credit, rates, commodities, FX, and hedge funds. David’s responsibilities also include oversight of the Plan’s trading, funding and liquidity management, internal systematic strategy development, public markets data science analytics and incubation investments in novel and transformative technologies.

Before joining OPTrust in October 2016, David spent 10 years at the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in Toronto. He served 8 of those years as a Portfolio Manager, pursuing discretionary global macro value-added strategies on the Global Opportunities desk before serving as co-head of the Emerging Markets Fixed Income & FX desk within the FICC group. Prior to OTPP, David focused on developing emerging markets investment strategies in roles based in London, New York and Toronto.  David has a B.A., Economics from the University of Western Ontario and an M.A., Economics from the University of Toronto. David has been a CFA charterholder since 2006.

With net assets of $27 billion, OPTrust invests and manages one of Canada’s largest defined benefit plans with over 114,000 members and retirees

Shankar Kamath

Director, Partnership Portfolio – BCI

Shankar Kamath joined BCI in 2016. He is a member of the Partnership Portfolio, an investment team that bridges other BCI asset classes and invests in instruments that are expected to generate positive returns through market environments.

With $250.4 billion in gross assets under management as of March 31, 2024, BCI is one of the largest institutional investors in Canada.

Prior to joining BCI, Shankar was a litigator for 7 years in public and private practice in Canada. Prior to law, Shankar was an electrical engineer in the tech industry for 3 years.

Pierre‐Philippe Ste‐Marie

Visiting Researcher – Bodhi Research Group

Pierre‐Philippe Ste‐Marie has 25 years of experience in the financial industry working with fixed income and cross asset absolute returns teams. He has initiated and unwound absolute returns and indexed portfolios and managed Canadian, US and European cross asset exposure levered and unlevered as a team leader (CEO, CIO) as well as a portfolio manager. Pierre-Philippe joined the Bodhi Research Group in 2022.

James Burron

CAIA

Founding Partner – CAASA

James co-founded CAASA in response to industry support for a Canadian alternatives association to serve all aspects including: hedge / alternative strategies; private lending; private real estate; private equity; plus emerging areas where Canada is a leader such as digital assets / blockchain and robo-advisors.

Prior to CAASA, James was the Chief Operating Officer of AIMA Canada where his team of three worked with 12 committees to produce 50-60 events per annum across Canada, organize 100+ committee meetings, and increase member numbers over his 7-year tenure from 66 to 164 corporate entities.

James also has experience in research and writing for the CAIA Association as well as serving on CAIA’s Exam Council and as a grader for the Level II portion of the exam. He also had roles in institutional sales and FoHF structuring in Seoul, South Korea, as a Product Manager at ICICI Wealth Management, and an Investment Advisor at RBC Dominion Securities. He graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BBA (Finance).

Cordell W. Thomas, II

Director of Operations – New York State Nurses Association Pension Plan and Benefits Fund

Cordell is the Director of Operations at the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) Pension Plan and Benefits Fund.  He is responsible for leading operational due diligence reviews and broader investment operations functions within NYSNA.

Prior to NYSNA, Cordell served within General Motors Asset Management’s (GMAM) Enterprise Risk Management team; and was responsible for leading operational due diligence reviews on both alternative and traditional asset managers within GM’s Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution plans across the US, Canada, Belgium, and the UK.

Prior to GMAM, Cordell worked at Mercer Sentinel Group, Mercer Investments LLC’s operational due diligence consulting group.  While at Mercer Sentinel Group, Cordell performed operational due diligence on alternative and traditional asset managers for both external and internal clients.

During his over 20 years’ experience in the asset management industry, Cordell has served in various roles within reputable firms including Citco Fund Services, Société Générale and BNY Mellon Wealth Management.  He has worked with both alternative and traditional asset managers of various sizes and geographic locations including North America, South America, Europe, and Asia.

Armeen Bhesania

Senior Manager, Due Diligence & Advisory – Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan

Senior Due Diligence Consultant and advisor to institutional investors about systematic macro, real assets, renewable energy infrastructure, real estate, venture capital, and private equity strategies. Specializes in the Americas & Asia Pacific regions, within developed, emerging, and frontier markets. Prior to her current role, she was at CNID and prior to that worked at Albourne Partners (seven years in Toronto and four years in Hong Kong); she has published several articles and led initiatives related to fiduciary oversight, market abuse, and discerning conflicts of interest. Ms. Bhesania is a Chartered Accountant (Ontario, Canada) and CPA (Maine, USA).

Andrea Kilibarda

Co-Founder, Head of Client Delivery and Impact – Climate Finance Advisors

Andrea Kilibarda is the co-founder of Climate Finance Advisors, where she leads the client delivery and impact function, supporting institutional asset owners in managing systemic risks from climate change across their portfolios. Her work focuses on aligning investment decision-making processes with long-term, shared value creation and the broader goal of building prosperous, resilient societies.

In addition to her work with asset owners, Andrea advises governments, banks, and development finance institutions on sustainable finance strategy and implementation, bridging policy and finance to accelerate the deployment of climate-aligned capital at scale.

Prior to co-founding Climate Finance Advisors, Andrea was a core member of the sustainable finance team at one of Canada’s big six banks. There, she helped shape the bank’s sustainable finance capabilities, advising corporate and public sector clients on structuring innovative transactions. Notably, her work includes leading the development of Canada’s first syndicated Social Loan, targeting health equity and access in Northern communities, and the country’s first Blue Loan, designed to address water scarcity. Her approach is designed to tap into growing pools of sustainability-focused capital, while setting new market precedents. Andrea has also participated in IPO and M&A advisory where she played a key role in embedding sustainability into capital-raising narratives and strategic direction. Her advisory experience spans transition finance and carbon and nature-based solutions. She has provided insights into business strategy, governance oversight, commitment setting, and product development.

Andrea is currently pursuing an MSc in Global Environment and Sustainability at the University of London (Birkbeck), further strengthening her interdisciplinary understanding of global environmental risk and opportunity in capital markets.

Andrea holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from Concordia University and is a graduate of the Van Berkom Investment Management Program. She was selected as class valedictorian where her address emphasized the systemic nature of value creation, urging future leaders to redefine success through the lens of shared prosperity and environmental stewardship.

Mohamed Farid

Head of Absolute Return Strategies – World Bank Pension Fund

Mohamed Farid is a Head of Absolute Return Strategies at the World Bank Pension Fund, managing over $4 billion of Absolute Return Strategies portfolio. Mohamed has over 24years of experience investing directly in hedge funds and is an active member ofInvestment Committee at the Pension Plan portfolio. Mohamed has opportunistically co-invested with some hedge fund managers and implemented internal hedging strategies.

Prior to joining the World Bank Pension Plan, Mohamed worked for Deloitte & Touche and KPMG financial consulting groups in Toronto, Canada, Washington D.C, Egypt and Thailand where he led acquisitions and bankruptcy engagements for leading clients in North America and Asia. Mohamed started his career in commercial banking. He holds a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University in International Economics and Political Science as well as a Master’s degree in Banking and Finance from Finafrica Foundation in Milan, Italy.

Nirupa Muthurajah

Director, Equity Strategies Lead, Active Public Markets – University Pension Plan

As Director, Equity Strategies Lead at University Pension Plan, Nirupa oversees the design and management of active equity strategies. She is responsible for manager research and due diligence across long-only and hedge fund strategies, as well as the long-term strategic direction of the Active Public Equity portfolio.

Nirupa’s career spans Canada’s top pension plans, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and CPP Investments, as well as a prominent family office. Her experience encompasses diverse roles across private and public markets, building global systematic strategies, structuring hedge fund portfolios, supporting direct lending in Asia-Pacific, and has experience investing in early to late-stage private equity as well as public investment strategies.

Nirupa holds an Honours BA in Financial Mathematics with Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University. She is a member of the Investment Committee for the boards of the United Church of Canada and the Ontario Health Association. Outside of her professional pursuits, Nirupa enjoys spending time with her young family, and is a proud ambassador for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, an organization dear to her heart.

Kristaps Licis

Director of Exams – CAIA Association

Kristaps Licis has served as the Director of Exams at the CAIA Association since 2022 and as the Senior Associate Director of Exams from 2008 until 2022. He works in all areas of the examination process, including, but not limited to, managing CAIA’s exam team, item development, exam design, item analysis, and exam delivery. Prior to joining the CAIA Association, Kristaps worked at Alternative Investment Analytics as a senior analyst.

Yan Kvitko

CFA

Managing Director, External Portfolio Management – CPP Investments

Yan Kvitko is a Managing Director with CPP Investments’ External Portfolio Management (EPM) team. Yan is responsible for the Emerging Manager program globally which pursues investments in early stage hedge fund managers. Prior to joining CPP in 2019, he worked at New Holland Capital where he was a Senior Portfolio Manager responsible for investment research and portfolio management with a focus on quantitative strategies. Yan began his career at Ziff Brothers Investments.

Yan holds a BS in Computer Science from Stanford University and an MA in piano performance from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He is a CFA Charterholder.

Kevin Blank

Senior Analyst – State of Wisconsin Investment Board

Kevin is a Senior Analyst for the Private Markets and Funds Alpha Division at the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), which oversees approximately $156 billion in assets. Kevin’s responsibilities include manager due diligence, portfolio construction, and oversight of hedge funds and long-only external manager relationships. Kevin received a bachelor’s degree from Marquette University and is currently pursuing his MBA at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Wassim Sakka

CAIA

Senior Vice President – Wilshire

Wassim Sakka is a Senior Vice President focused on hedge fund research on Wilshire’s alternative managed accounts team. He joined the firm in December 2023 as part of the Lyxor U.S. acquisition.

Prior to joining Wilshire, Mr. Sakka was a member of the hedge fund research team at Lyxor U.S. where he was Head of Global Macro, CTAs and Risk Premia Research since 2017. Prior to that, he held a similar role at Lyxor Asset Management in Paris.

Previously, he was a member of Lyxor’s managed account platform serving in a product specialist role focused on quant and macro liquid alternatives. Before joining Lyxor in Paris, he worked within Société Générale’s ETF structuring department and at Sophis as a trading and risk software analyst.

Mr. Sakka earned an engineering degree in computer science and applied mathematics from ENSEEIHT with an exchange program in Polytechnique Montreal. He also holds a master’s in asset management from Dauphine University and the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association (CAIA) designation.

Greg Frank

PhD

Director, Model Validation – Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan

Greg Frank is a seasoned finance professional with over 25 years of experience specializing in quantitative modeling and executive-level communication. His career spans Canadian and U.S. banks, where he designed and implemented models for valuation, market risk, and credit risk. For the past decade, Greg has led model validation at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), evolving the function to encompass broader model risk and governance. He holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Western University, with a research focus on modeling and understanding emergent behavior in complex systems.

Marjorie Skolnik

CFA

Managing Director – CI Coriel Capital Inc.

Marjorie Skolnik is a Managing Director at CI Coriel Capital Inc., an Outsourced Chief Investment Officer supporting ultra high-net-worth Canadian families and foundations with their investment programs since 2006.

She previously held various positions in the institutional capital markets, including as Director, Global Equity Derivatives at National Bank of Canada. She began her career at Scotiabank, where she transacted interest rate derivatives with central banks, treasuries and hedge funds.

Marjorie is involved in several philanthropic projects. She currently serves as:

• Member of the Investment Committee of the Fondation Lucie et André Chagnon, and
• Member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Community Foundation of Montreal.

She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree, with a Major in Finance, from the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, and is a CFA charter holder.

Wagner Dada

CFA, PhD

Managing Director, Systematic Strategies Group, Capital Markets & Factor Investing – CPP Investments

Wagner oversees a global portfolio of systematic absolute return strategies in the macro space focusing on interest rates, currencies, and commodities at CPP Investments. Before his current role, he was previously focused on portfolio construction efforts in the global tactical and asset allocation group.

Prior to joining CPP Investments, Wagner was a Quantitative Portfolio Manager responsible for the development, research and management of a global macro multi-asset systematic strategy at Tudor Investment Corporation. 

Wagner holds a PhD degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge. He is a CMT and CFA charterholder.

Adam Smalley

MBA

Managing Director – FCC Capital

Adam Smalley is Managing Director at FCC Capital, a division of Farm Credit Canada, andfocuses on innovative investment strategies that support the growth of Canada’s agriculture and food sectors. He joined in 2025 after more than 20 years investing in public and private markets.

Previously, Adam spent eight years at PSP Investments in private markets, holding leadership roles in private debt and an alternatives portfolio focused on venture capital and non-correlated strategies. Earlier in his career, he held progressively senior roles at various asset managers, gaining significant experience in investment analysis, trading, and portfolio management. Hebegan his career in investment banking at Lehman Brothers in New York.

Adam holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BS in Accounting from Bucknell University. He has substantial governance experience having served on several boards, including a public company, and other advisory bodies.

Adam lives in Montreal with his wife and son.

Bill Bobey

Ph.D.

Managing Director, Portfolio Construction and Risk, Capital Markets and Factor Investing – CPP Investments

Bill is responsible for CMF’s portfolio strategy, design, and risk management, overseeing an absolute return global public market portfolio that integrates external funds with internal systematic investment programs. Prior to joining CPP Investments in 2011, he was an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Sobey School of Business and a Senior Quant at Capula Investment Management. He holds a PhD in Finance from the University of Toronto and an MSc in Financial Mathematics from the University of Warwick.

Marie Gruttadauria

Senior Advisor, Geopolitical Analysis – La Caisse | Conseillère principale, Analyse géopolitique – La Caisse

Angela Lin-Reeve

CFA

Senior Portfolio Manager, External Managers Program – HOOPP

Angela Lin-Reeve joined the Investment Management Team at Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) in 2023 as Senior Portfolio Manager, External Manager Program.  In this role, Angela oversees a portfolio of absolute return strategies that intends to complement HOOPP’s internal trading capabilities and provides exposure to a wide range of strategies and asset classes.

Prior to joining HOOPP, Angela held the position of Director, Pension Investments at Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) where she managed external manager portfolios in public and private equities, infrastructure, and hedge funds.

Angela began her career at Russell Investments, taking on increasingly senior roles as Portfolio Analyst, Associate PM and Director, Product Development and Strategy.

Angela holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McMaster University and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Safiya Bannister

CFA

formerly Mastercard Foundation and HOOPP

Safiya Bannister is a seasoned investment-finance executive with deep expertise in middle office, treasury, and investment operations. Most recently, she served as Director of Middle Office & Treasury at Mastercard Foundation Asset Management (MFAM), where she was responsible for liquidity management, investment performance reporting, and operational due diligence for a globally diversified portfolio.

Prior to MFAM, Safiya spent over two decades with the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), one of Canada’s largest defined benefit plans. At HOOPP, she led progressive investment operations teams and spearheaded major transformation initiatives, including system implementations, valuation automation, and the operationalization of complex alternative and total-fund strategies. Her work enhanced scalability, governance, and efficiency across both public and private markets.

Safiya is recognized for her ability to bridge investment strategy with operational execution, ensuring that institutions can deploy alternative strategies with confidence and rigour. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Finance from the University of Toronto and is a CFA charterholder.

Tishawna Clyburn

Investment Vice President, Head of Operational Due Diligence – Prudential Select Strategies

Tishawna Clyburn joined Prudential Select Strategies (f/k/a Prudential’s Alternative Assets Group) in August 2013 as an Investment Analyst on the Real Assets Investment Team. She has more than 12 years of investment and operational due diligence experience across all alternative asset classes. In 2014, she moved from the Real Assets Investment Team to the Hedge Fund Investment Team, where she assumed increasing amounts of responsibility for manager sourcing and due diligence, and was eventually promoted to Senior Associate. As a Senior Associate, she was responsible for manager research and due diligence of equity and credit-oriented hedge fund investments. In June 2022, she was promoted to Vice President, Head of Operational Due Diligence. In this role, she was tasked with launching and building out an independent operational due diligence function to support all private equity, hedge fund, real assets and manager of managers fund investments and SMA mandates. Prior to joining Prudential, Tishawna was a corporate and investment banking analyst for KeyBanc Capital Markets.

In 2017, Tishawna was recognized among CIO magazine’s 40-under-forty Rising Stars.

Tishawna graduated summa cum laude from the New Jersey Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in Finance in 2011.

Louis L’Ahelec

Junior Analyst – Bodhi Research Group