Jeff Parks

Chief Executive Officer & Director

Stack Capital Group Inc.

Jeff brings over a decade of investment industry and portfolio management experience to Stack, having successfully co-managed various North American strategies including long/short equity, a high conviction ‘best ideas’ mandate, in addition to a yield-based Fund. During his career, Jeff has actively invested across the capital structure, including high yield credit, convertible notes, preferred debt, public equity (both long & short), and private equity.  Through an extensive research and due diligence process, Jeff has specialized in identifying compelling public and private company investment opportunities and has collaboratively worked alongside management teams to help grow business operations and increase shareholder value. Jeff is a graduate of the Richard Ivey School of Business and is a CFA charter holder.

Kamal Hassan

Managing Partner

Loyal VC

Kamal Hassan is a Managing Partner of Loyal VC, a global venture fund with a unique investing process designed to drive excess returns with lower volatility. Loyal’s gate-stage process involves monthly diligence calls with portfolio companies over years, with the top 2% of the portfolio each month offered next, progressively larger, stages of funding. The fund is broadly diversified, with almost 300 investments, in 50+ countries globally, across industry sectors, made across the economic cycle. Deals are almost exclusively sourced through global partnerships with INSEAD and the Founder Institute accelerator. Value is added by Loyal’s proprietary network of over 1,000 people, who share in the fund’s carry. Loyal’s process and diversification is enabled by the fund’s open-ended structure, with quarterly repricing and liquidity opportunities.

Prior to Loyal, Kamal had a 20-year career as an entrepreneurial CEO and angel investor, following time as a consultant with Bain. Outside activities included serving as president of the INSEAD Canadian alumni association, and working as a Global Director with the Founder Institute. Kamal has an INSEAD MBA, a degree in engineering physics from Queen’s University, has traveled to over 100 countries and speaks five languages.

Anthony Faiella

Senior Vice President

AGinvest Farmland Properties Canada Inc.

Anthony has almost 30 years of experience in the investment industry. Anthony was a licensed portfolio manager and worked extensively with high-net-worth individuals. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a member of the CFA Institute. He earned an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and a CPA from the State of Illinois. Anthony spent 5 years as an Executive-in-Residence at the Schulich School of Business, where he oversaw the student-run investment fund, working with students to guide and mentor them as they manage an actual investment portfolio. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Ronald McDonald House in Toronto, sits on the Audit and Finance Committee and is Chair of the RMH Investment Committee.

Neil Andrew

Managing Director

Overbay Capital Partners

Neil Andrew is a Managing Director at Overbay Capital Partners and is a member of the investment team. Prior to Overbay, Neil was a senior member of Setter Capital, where he acted as an advisor on private equity secondaries for financial institutions globally. Neil was also a portfolio manager and partner of a long-short equity hedge fund, Sevenoaks Capital. Neil holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University and is a CFA Charterholder.

Jason Landau

Managing Director, Portfolio Manager and Head of Investment Team

Waratah Capital Advisors

Jason joined Waratah Capital Advisors in 2010. Jason is the Lead Portfolio Manager on the Waratah Alternative ESG fund and Co-Portfolio Manager on Waratah One and Waratah One X. Jason also leads the investment team.

Prior to Waratah, Jason worked at TD Securities as an Associate in Investment Banking and Equity Capital Markets. During his time at TD, Jason was involved in domestic mergers and acquisitions, as well as the structuring and pricing of equity securities, convertible debentures, and preferred shares. Jason received an Honours Business Administration degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario

Mike Quinn

Principal, Senior Advisor (former CIO)

RP Investment Advisors LP

Mike co-founded RP Investment Advisors LP (RPIA) in 2009 and is currently involved in an advisory capacity as Senior Advisor. Mike sits on the Investment Committee, ESG Committee, and Risk Committee. Previously, he was the firm’s Chief Investment Officer and was responsible for formulating and implementing the firm’s investment strategy across the funds.

Mike is a former Managing Director at RBC Capital Markets and during his 15 years at the bank, he held increasingly senior roles, including managing the global credit trading business and the global structured credit business. Mike brings to RPIA an expert knowledge of the global credit markets coupled with extensive experience in managing credit risk exposures across multi-billion dollar portfolios. Prior to joining RBC Capital Markets, Mike worked for a leading Toronto-based real estate developer as a Leasing Manager.

Mike holds a BComm from Queen’s University and an MBA from the University of British Columbia. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Smith School of Business and is involved with several charitable organizations, including being a Board Member for Beat the Streets Toronto and sitting on the Quinn Family Future Foundation Board.

Jonathan Colligan

Principal & Portfolio Manager

Westcourt Capital Corporation

As a registered Portfolio Manager, Jonathan provides investment advisory services to Westcourt Capital Corporation’s clients. Jonathan’s core responsibility is to construct, implement, monitor,and rebalance diversified alternative investment portfolios that will achieve specific investment objectives.

Since the onset of his career in 2006, he has been involved in determining investment suitability and conducting due diligence on a wide range of asset classes from private equity and real estate to hedge funds and structured products.  

Prior to joining Westcourt, Jonathan was a Director at UBS Bank (Canada), where he was avoting member of the Bank’s Investment Committee.

Jonathan earned a BA (Honours) in Economics from Queen’s University and is a CFACharterholder.

Joseph Borda

SVP, Head of Research, Americas at Preqin

Preqin

Joseph Borda (Joe) is SVP, Head of Research, Americas at Preqin, the industry’s leading source of data, insights, and solutions across alternative assets. Joe is responsible for Preqin’s Americas data offerings, including the implementation and future advancement of the database. He is a Chartered Alternative Investments Analyst (CAIA) and holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics degree from Syracuse University.

Ida Khajadourian

Portfolio Manager, Investment Advisor

Richardson Wealth

For over 20 years, Ida has worked closely with Institutions, Family Offices, wealthy entrepreneurs, and high net worth families building trusted relationships and delivering a high level of holistic Wealth Management services.

Ida’s beliefs include the importance of estate planning, tax minimization, capital preservation and evolutionary portfolio construction using alternative strategies to achieve consistent absolute returns with a risk reward-oriented approach.

Ida obtained a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Toronto with specialization in Finance and major in Economics. Ida is a multi award winning Portfolio Manager and obtained her Chartered Alternative Investment Advisor (CAIA®) designation in 2005.

James Burron

Co-founder & Partner

CAASA

James co-founded CAASA in response to industry support for a Canadian alternatives association to serve all aspects including: hedge / alternative strategies; liquid alternatives; 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, organized 100+ committee meetings, and increase member numbers over his 7-year tenue from 66 to 164 corporate entities.

James currently sits on the Canadian Investment Funds Standards Committee (CIFSC), which categorizes mutual funds and alternative mutual funds (aka liquid alternatives) for the retail space in Canada. He is also called upon by membership and industry groups to speak to risk ratings and portfolio placement of all types of alternative investments.

James also has experience in research and writing for the CAIA Association (holding the designation since 2006) as well as serving on CAIA’s exam council and as a well as other duties. He had roles in institutional sales and FoHF structuring in Seoul, South Korea, as a Product Manager at ICICI Wealth Management, and as an Investment Advisor at RBC Dominion Securities. James graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BBA (Finance).

Steven D’Mello

Partner, Operational Due Diligence

Albourne Partners

Steve joined Albourne Partners (Canada) Ltd as an Operational Due Diligence Analyst in 2014 to focus on the credit and fixed income sector before expanding into private markets ODD. Steven has played an important role in developing Albourne’s framework for assessing operational risk pertaining to digital assets, and is a contributor to the SBAI Crypto Assets Toolkit, the AIMA Digital Assets Custody Guide, the AIMA Digital Assets Trading Guide and the AIMA Digital Assets DDQ.

Steven joined Albourne from RBC Capital Markets where he worked in Corporate Treasury and Product Control and previously worked for Citco Fund Services in pricing and fund accounting. Steven holds a Bachelor of Administrative and Commercial Studies degree from Western University and has earned both the CFA and FRM designations.

Ruairi Hanafin

Chief Investment Officer

Firinne Capital

Ruairi Hanafin is the Chief Investment Officer at Firinne Capital. He is an entrepreneur, investor, and early proponent of blockchain technology. He also co-founded Canadian agricultural technology startup Grain Discovery. He has held positions in research and portfolio engineering in the quantitative portfolio management teams at CPP Investments, where he also founded the blockchain research group, and at the Vancouver derivatives analytics company FINCAD.

He holds a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Trinity College, University of Dublin.

Shaun Martinak

Portfolio Manager

Coinbase Asset Management

Shaun Martinak leads Project Diamond, a platform bringing digitally native assets to fully regulated institutional users. He is also a Portfolio Manager at Coinbase Asset Management. He joined Coinbase AM in July 2021 and has contributed to the creation of the firm’s Ethereum staking fund, digital indices, token classification system and credit strategy. Prior to joining, Mr. Martinak built and led BCI’s $1B global direct and co-investment strategy team as Managing Director. Prior to BCI, Mr. Martinak was a Senior Principal at OTPP where he ran a global, $3B portfolio of hedge fund strategies. He began his career in finance at D.E. Shaw in New York.

Pascal St-Jean

President & CEO

3iQ Corp.

Throughout his career, Pascal has focused on the transformation and disruption of industries via rapid scaling of businesses under his leadership. Having successfully created and grown multiple business ventures, Pascal was recognized as one of the youngest recipients of the Forty Under 40 award.
Before joining 3iQ, Pascal was an active angel investor and served as Strategic Advisor and Fractional Executive to over 5% of the Globe and Mail’s 500 fastest growing companies in Canada.
Pascal’s experience in open-source technologies and distributed systems led him to invest in cryptocurrency in 2016, and act as an educational resource on digital asset investments to several organizations. As President & CEO of 3iQ, Pascal is focused on overseeing the growth and global expansion of the company as it continued to pave the way as a global leader in Digital Asset Management.

Rahul Mehta

Investor

Rahul Mehta is a full-time investor. His main area of focus is Digital Assets/ Web3 and has invested in many startups in this space since he began in 2017 and has early stage investments in most top crypto projects today, like Sol, Near, Link, Avax etc. Few things he is involved in currently, apart from being an investor –
– Advisory roles – He is advising Web3 companies and hedge funds.
– Angel Investor – Web2 and AI space (Anthropic, OpenAI, RainAI, Solarcore etc)
– Speaker/Panelist – Crypto and Family Offices conferences/events.
– Movie production in India to begin in Q3-2024.
– Crypto TenX Digital Assets Fund to be launched in Q3-2025

Ben Fox

Chief Investment Officer

Members Capital Management

Ben is Chief Investment Officer at Members Capital Management, a newly incorporated investment manager at the intersection of reinsurance, digital assets and the capital markets.  With over 16 years’ experience in reinsurance, insurance-linked securities, investment management, and alternative risk transfer, Ben is responsible for all aspects of the firm’s investment activities, and has previously held senior positions at Hiscox, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and the World Bank.  Ben holds a Doctorate degree in Seismology, and a Master of Science degree in Earth Sciences, both from the University of Oxford.

Esther Zurba

Director

Castle Hall – The Due Diligence Company

Esther Zurba is a Director with Castle Hall, responsible for lending subject matter expertise across Castle Hall Diligence’s ongoing product development and client engagements. Esther has more than 20 years of professional experience including over 15 years conducting operational due diligence on global investment managers across all asset classes. Esther joined Castle Hall Diligence in 2012 from Scotia Capital’s Trade Operations and Risk Control group, where she conducted ODD on external asset managers supporting multiple business lines. Prior to joining Scotia Capital, Esther worked with Mapleridge Capital, a Toronto based short-term systematic CTA.

Esther holds an MBA from Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, and BA (Hons) from University of Toronto. Esther is also a CAIA charterholder and has been actively involved with the CAIA Association since 2007 in various capacities, including as current co-head of the CAIA Toronto Chapter. Esther is also a member of AIMA Canada’s Legal, Finance & Compliance Committee.

Michael Nicks

Deputy CIO

Pepperdine University Endowment

Mr. Nicks is a leader and innovator in the institutional investor community. In over two decades at Pepperdine’s endowment, Mr. Nicks has managed multiple alternative investment portfolios and pioneered new technology and strategies for the investment team. He has run a successful portable alpha strategy for over a decade, and has incorporated machine learning into both the information management and asset allocation processes. He also leads research into new strategies, manager analysis, and portfolio construction. As a former Scuba instructor and dive master, he has a deep appreciation for risk management and a great love of the sea.

Mr. Nicks is a CFA charter holder (2006) and a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (2006). He has a Bachelor of Science in Management degree from Pepperdine University and an MBA with an Emphasis in Finance from Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Business and Management (2002).

Lois Tullo

Executive in Residence, The Global Risk Institute

Instructor of Financial Services and Risk Management, Schulich School of Business

Lois Tullo is an expert in the area of risk, technology, finance, compliance and corporate governance.She has over 30 years of business experience spanning financial services, technology, cryptocurrency, telecommunications, strategy consulting, raising venture capital, M&A, and natural resources. In 2024 she was awarded Top 10 Women CFOs in Canada. She is a UN CEFACT Expert, and Global Blockchain Business Council Ambassador.

As CFRO/CCO she is responsible for financial oversight for KuberMIC a Mortgage Investment Corporation and Advisor for YAMS LLP a Crypto system company. She has over 20 years of Board experience as Chair, Treasurer, and Risk and HR Committee Chair, for a tier 1 bank, private sector and not-for-profit organizations. As an Executive-in-Residence for the Global Risk Institute she spoken on and published the Global Risks and Trends Framework (GRAFT), the linkage of risk management and business strategy, Polycrisis, and the Future of Digital Assets. She has publications for the Banking, Government, and Pension/Asset Management sectors. She is an conference speaker at the United Nations, IACPM, Risk.net, etc, author, and faculty of risk mgt; cyber security, data and IT risk; and financial services at the Schulich School of Business, York University. She teaches in the Master of Risk Management Certificate program, executive programs, MBA, and undergraduate program. She is the author of the whitepaper Enterprise Risk Management – Canadian Best Practices, and Nonfinancial Risk Best Practices in Canada.

She was previously CFO for CIBC Finance Inc. where she was responsible for a $6 Billion credit portfolio, Human Resources, and $1.5 securitization. She held senior positions with a large telecommunication company in the area of Finance, HR, and Business Process Redesign. She provided strategy and technology advice for a Boston consulting firm in the financial, oil and gas,

Nick Rhodes

Nick is a Digital Asset enthusiast and active investor in the space. He previously spent time as an institutional allocator to Digital Asset strategies and other asset classes. Prior to that, Nick spent a decade with Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Fixed Income Sales & Trading Division in New York focused on Asset Backed Securities.

Nick holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and lives in Toronto with his family.

Shaun Cumby

Chief Executive Officer

Virgo Digital Asset Management

Previously CEO at Arxnovum Investments, CIO at 3iQ Digital Asset Management, Managing Director at TD Securities. Won the landmark case with the OSC that allowed the launch of the first bitcoin and ether funds on Toronto Stock Exchange. Over 20 years in trading and portfolio management across many asset classes, including asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities, credit default swaps, bank loans and equities and related derivatives.  Current investment strategy has returned 53% per annum since inception of April 2022.

Ana De Sousa

Chief Executive Officer

Agio Ratings

Ana De Sousa is CEO of Agio Ratings, a VC-backed credit rating agency focused on the digital asset sector. She was previously the VP of Fintech at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. There she was responsible for leading a team of technology and policy experts in assessing the risks of integrating crypto into the US banking system. Prior to joining the Fed, Ana launched and scaled operations at FalconX, a global crypto prime brokerage. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s in economics from Harvard College.

Sean Stapley

Senior Partner and Co-Founder

Penrose Partners

ean is a Senior Partner and Co-Founder at Penrose Partners, an emerging technology consulting firm that advises institutions, governments and startups on the blockchain and digital asset industries. With a focus on security, custody and institutional adoption, Sean provides strategic and business development support for family offices, asset managers and enterprises looking to enter the digital asset space. He is additionally an Advisor to Outlier Ventures, a premier web3 accelerator based in London, and the Holt XChange, a FinTech-focused incubator based in Montreal.