Event Speakers

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Sonia is a Partner at Cedar Mountain Consulting, a boutique compliance consulting firm. She has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Sonia has significant experience working with fund managers on their policies and procedures and regularly provides strategic advice to senior management as firms grow and evolve. She also has extensive experience related to pay-to-play and lobbying regulations. Previously, she was a partner in the financial services groups of Dechert LLP and K&L Gates LLP, where she advised private fund managers on fund formation matters and ongoing advice across a variety of strategies. Sonia obtained her B.A. in Environmental Studies and Economics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and her J.D. and LL.M. (International Law) at Cornell Law School.

Karen Halliday is Head of Private Credit Solutions at Raymond James Investment Management. Halliday joined the firm in 2024 bringing more than three decades of experience in non-investment grade corporate credit, leveraged finance, capital markets and private credit. Before joining RJIM Halliday was a Partner at Varagon Capital Partners, a U.S. direct lending manager. Prior to Varagon she held senior roles at Golub Capital, Silver Point Capital, GE Capital and Deutsche Bank (formerly Bankers Trust). Halliday earned a Bachelor of Arts, Economics, from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario and is a board member of the Mohonk Preserve in the Hudson Valley.

William Lin, CFA, serves as Principal Counsel, Investments, at the Office of the General Counsel of the University of California, where he advises the Office of the Chief Investment Officer of the Regents on a variety of investment, transactional, finance, and operational matters. Previously, William was a Corporate Counsel at the Voleon Group, an investment management firm specializing in managing hedge funds based on artificial intelligence and machine learning strategies. He started his legal career as an Associate at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, where he counseled start-up companies and venture capital funds on corporate transactions and general corporate matters. Prior to his legal career, William worked as a staff editor at The New York Times. He earned his J.D. from UC Berkeley School of Law and B.A. from Yale University.

Casey is a Principal and Senior Investment Consultant in the Phoenix office of Mercer’s Wealth Business. Casey has over 25 years of experience working with a broad range of financial institutions and institutional investors focusing on financial intermediary and multi-family office clients. His work with these clients includes; asset allocation, portfolio construction, investment manager evaluation, selection and monitoring, and creating multi-manager portfolios. He is a member of Mercer’s Internal Wealth Management Strategic Research Team and past voting member of the Wealth Management Investment Committee. Casey is a frequent speaker at national industry conferences and events, addressing a wide variety of topics. Prior to Mercer, Casey was Senior Vice President at Infinity Capital Partners specializing in alternative investments with advisor firms, family offices and institutions. He has also held leadership roles at notable investment firms focused on asset allocation, manager research, and portfolio construction. Casey graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX with a BBA in finance from the Cox School of Business.