Event Speakers

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Jim Costello is an economist who analyzes the commercial property markets. Jim communicates stories on market performance to clients of Real Capital Analytics by way of writing and presentations. Jim has worked in the commercial real estate space on issues of urban economics since 1990, including a 20-year stint with CBRE's Torto Wheaton Research team. Jim expanded the reach of the Torto Wheaton Research team developing forecasts of global market trends. Jim also developed approaches to pair the forecast results with frameworks to answer investor questions on asset values and relative investment opportunities. Jim is a member of the Counselors of Real Estate and of the Commercial Board of Governors of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Rocky manages the client service and trading operations of the Northern California office. He oversees the advice and portfolio strategies implemented in Northern California. Prior to joining Beacon Pointe, Rocky was the Chief Investment Officer of Excelcia Financial Group and the Portfolio Manager for Excelcia Capital Partners a Global Macro Hedge Fund. His background is in Macroeconomic research, Portfolio Construction and Derivatives Trading. Rocky graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a BA in Business Economics. He has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and is a member of the CFA Society of San Francisco. Rocky resides in San Jose, California where he continues to enjoy his passion for Ice Hockey and Snowboarding.

Thet Myothwe, CAIA, is a Financial Advisor & Alternative Investment Specialist at Proxy Financial. Thet joined Proxy after working as a Wealth Management Advisor at Northwestern Mutual. Prior to joining Northwestern, Thet worked at Yoma Bank, Myanmar, as Head of Sales and Performance Management responsible for implementing sale strategies across all business units. Thet also served on the Yoma Bank’s Junior Credit Committee. Prior to Yoma Bank, Thet worked at Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., San Francisco, for over 16 years as Senior Manager, where she managed Alternative Investments OneSource® platform and helped institutional clients in Alternative Investment asset allocation and portfolio management. Thet received her Bachelor of Science in Economics from Institute of Economics (Yangon, Myanmar), an Advanced Diploma in Business Administration from University of Oxford (UK), and a Master of Business Administration (MBA, Finance) from Hawaii Pacific University. Thet has held a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA(R)) designation since 2007, and also holds FINRA Series 7,9,10 & 63, 65.

Marketa Ostadalova, CAIA, is an investment officer with the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (“CalPERS”). She is a member of the New Investments Team in Real Assets where she is responsible for underwriting of infrastructure and real estate opportunities globally. In her role, Ms. Ostadalova works on due diligence of funds, co-investments and direct investments as well as restructuring of existing holdings. She joined CalPERS in 2013 as a member of the Private Equity team where she helped form their co-investment program. Prior to joining CalPERS, Ms. Ostadalova worked at Cliffwater LLC, a boutique advisory firm, where she performed due diligence on private equity and real estate investments for institutional clients. Ms. Ostadalova received her B.S. degree in Finance - Investments from California State University in Long Beach. She holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation and is a member of CalPERS Women Investor Network and the CFA Society of Sacramento.

Justin "Biff" Ourso is responsible for leading Nuveen’s global private infrastructure group. In this role he leads the strategic direction and execution of investment activities and funds in the agribusiness, clean energy, and diversified infrastructure sectors. Additionally, he is a member of Nuveen’s Global Investment Committee and Senior Leadership Team, and serves as a director on the board of a number of investment funds and companies in the real asset space. Since joining Nuveen’s parent company TIAA in 2005, Biff has led a number of the firm’s businesses and has been a member of the firm’s investment committees across real assets. In his most recent role, as Head of Nuveen Real Assets, he was responsible for leading the real assets business strategies across private infrastructure, agribusiness, timberland, farmland, commodities and impact investing. Biff has also served as a farmland portfolio manager and supported the development of the firm’s agricultural investment platform since its inception in 2007, growing the portfolio into its market leading position. In previous assignments, he conducted privately placed debt underwriting and portfolio management. Biff graduated with a B.A. in Economics from Davidson College and holds the CFA designation.

Sharon Vosmek is the CEO of Astia and Managing Partner of the Astia Fund. Astia is a global organization that levels the investment playing field for startups that include women. Vosmek developed the Astia Expert Sift, a proven approach to investment that eliminates bias in the investment screening process and contributes to the success of female entrepreneurs and their ventures. Sharon is known for her opinions, research and commentary on the importance of women leaders as integral to innovation and high-performing entrepreneurial teams. She has spoken at the United Nations, and many universities on the topic of building inclusive ecosystems. Her notable investments include nVision acquired by Boston Scientific, Ellevest, Pallet Shelter, CNote, Goalsetter, Full Harvest, and Catch&Release, among others. She serves on the boards of Pagedip, Ozo Innovations, and is on the advisory boards of E²JDJ Venture Fund, and Illuminate Ventures.