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Jason Cope is Head of Global Fixed Income and Rates at Polar Asset Management Partners where he is responsible for managing the firm’s credit and rates business lines. Prior to joining Polar in 2025, Mr. Cope was at TD Securities from 2009-2025. Most recently, he served as the Executive Managing Director and Head of Global Fixed Income, overseeing the global fixed income team. In his prior roles at TD Securities Mr. Cope was the Head of Canadian Fixed Income and US Leveraged Finance Sales & Trading as well as North America Rates Trading. Before his tenure at TD Securities, he was the Director of Canadian Credit Trading at Scotiabank from 2007-2009 and Vice President of Canadian Credit Trading at RBC Capital Markets from 2002-2007. Mr. Cope is also a Board Member of CanDeal.ca Inc. and actively supports the annual fundraising campaign of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Mr. Cope graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen's University in 2002. He is a CFA® Charterholder, having earned the designation in 2005.

Hazlitt Gill joined BCI’s Partnership Portfolio team in 2022 and leads the group’s absolute return fund program. Prior to joining BCI, Hazlitt spent over 13 years at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, most recently as Senior Vice President and Head of Alternatives Manager Research. Hazlitt also worked as CIO of RLJ Select Investments and Vice President of Alternative Investments at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management. Hazlitt has more than 25 years of capital markets experience primarily in alternative investments.

Vikas Kapoor is Head of AB Hedge Fund Solutions. He joined the firm in 2016. Previously, Kapoor was co-CEO and part owner of Ramius Alternative Solutions, which was acquired by AB in 2016. Before Ramius, he was a managing director at Arden Asset Management, focusing on portfolio construction and risk management, and was a member of Arden's Investment and Management Committee. Earlier in his career, Kapoor was managing director of Deutsche Bank's Absolute Return Strategies Group, where he headed the Quantitative Analysis and Applications Group. Kapoor holds an MS in computational finance from Carnegie Mellon University, an MBA (Hons) in finance from Tulane University and a BTech in mechanical engineering from Regional Engineering College, Kurukshetra, India.

Richa joined Pender in January 2025 as Director of Business Development and Investor Relations.

With over 19 years of experience in the asset management industry, Richa specializes in client relationship management by fostering strong partnerships and strategic growth within the institutional sector. In her previous roles, she worked with institutional, portfolio manager and ultra-high net worth clients at some of Canada’s leading asset management firms.

Richa holds an MBA from the S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University and is a Chartered Investment Manager (CIM).  

Beyond her professional work, Richa is actively involved in philanthropy. She is a dedicated member of the Arthritis Society and serves on the financial committee at the Arthritis Research Centre, using her expertise to support advancements in arthritis research and advocacy.

Michael Rapps is a Managing Partner of Converium, leading the firm’s activist, engagement and restructuring-driven investments. Prior to co-founding the firm, Michael was President and CEO of Clarke Inc., a publicly listed investment holding company in Canada. At Clarke, Michael focused on making concentrated investments in distressed and underperforming companies where he would seek board representation and employ a hands-on approach to restructure their businesses, operationally and financially, before either selling them or transforming them into growth platforms. Michael was also Managing Director of Geosam Capital Inc., the family office of George Armoyan and largest shareholder of Clarke. At Geosam, Michael led an activist and distressed strategy, including an investment in distressed residential real estate following the US financial crisis, where he acquired uncompleted subdivisions from developers, financial institutions and the FDIC, eventually building the platform into one of the largest residential land development companies in the US Southeast. In executing his strategy, Michael has acted as a CEO, CFO, director and/or chairman of six public companies. Michael began his career practicing corporate law at Davies Ward Philips & Vineberg LLP. He earned both Common Law and Civil Law degrees from McGill University.

Allan Seychuk is Vice President and Senior Investment Director and leads Mackenzie’s Alternatives Team. In this role, Allan is responsible for product strategy and investment communications for Mackenzie’s suite of Alternative Products. Prior to the launch Mackenzie’s Alts business in 2019, Allan was the Senior Investment Director responsible for Mackenzie’s Multi-Asset Solutions. 
Allan joined Mackenzie in June 2015 from Mercer Global Investments, Mercer’s multi-asset, multi-manager outsourced investments business, where Allan was the Head of Client Service for Mercer’s Institutional clients across Canada. 

Prior to Mercer, Allan spent seven years with Phillips, Hager & North Investment Manage¬ment, where he was an Institutional Client Portfolio Manager and was responsible for mac¬roeconomic research, asset allocation and investment strategy. Allan began his investment career as an Economist with RBC, where he conducted research and gave presentations on global macro and financial market developments. 

Allan has undergraduate and graduate degrees in Economics from Queen’s University and the University of Toronto respectively, and is a CFA Charterholder.

Ash Tahbazian brings more than two decades of experience working with institutional investors across asset management, digital assets, and client strategy. Throughout his career, he has partnered with pension plans, asset managers, insurance companies, and family offices in Canada and internationally, helping them navigate complex investment structures, integrate new technologies, and strengthen governance and operational frameworks. He is recognized for his ability to take fast-moving market developments and translate them into clear, practical guidance for senior decision-makers.

Ash built his institutional foundation in senior roles at State Street and CIBC Mellon, supporting some of the world’s largest asset owners and managers. His experience spans custody, fund administration, capital markets, investment analytics, and product development, giving him a broad understanding of how major portfolios are constructed, monitored, and supported across the full investment lifecycle.
He later joined the leadership team at Virgo Digital Asset Management, contributing to the firm’s distribution strategy, key partnerships, and institutional education initiatives as digital asset investing continued to evolve. During this time, he focused on bridging established financial infrastructure with emerging blockchain-based platforms while maintaining the governance and regulatory standards institutions expect.

Ash now serves as Head of Sales for Canada at 3iQ Digital Asset Management, where he is responsible for advancing 3iQ’s presence with asset owners, allocators, and the advisor community, expanding market education, and supporting broader adoption of regulated digital asset solutions across the Canadian investment landscape. His approach emphasizes clarity, disciplined execution, and aligning innovation with institutional needs.

A graduate of the University of Toronto, Ash holds both the CFA charter and the CPA designation.

Hilary Wiek, CFA, CAIA, is a principal analyst at PitchBook, where she covers PitchBook’s fund strategies and performance, publishing primary research on the alternatives space and contributing to core report development. Wiek also covers ESG and impact investing. She has over 20 years of experience in asset owner, manager and advisory roles. Prior to joining PitchBook, Wiek was the director of investments at the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundations, where she handled portfolio management, impact/ESG, investment diligence, and monitoring and investment operations. Before that, she held senior positions at Segal Rogerscasey, the South Carolina Retirement Systems Investment Commission, Buckingham Financial Group, Dayton Power & Light, and KeyCorp.

Wiek received a master’s degree in finance and economics from Case Western Reserve University and a bachelor’s degree in business leadership and finance from the University of Puget Sound. She is based in PitchBook’s Seattle office.