CAIA London Chapter
Revolutionising the Alts Markets: Exploring Opportunities in the Digital Age
Tuesday, June 6th, 2023
from 18:00- 20:30 BST
CAIA London is delighted to cordially invite you to join our panel discussion on Revolutionising the Alts Market: exploring opportunities in the digital age.
The alts market has seen significant growth in recent years and the adoption of digital solutions has played a vital role in this paradigm shift for institutional investors. Now, a wave of digital solutions, especially in data, are pioneering the way forward for this newfound ecosystem. Our panel discusses the opportunities and challenges of institutional adoption across fixed income, private secondary markets, infrastructure, digital assets, and more. The panel also discusses how investors can enhance their decision-making process, and navigate risks in this exciting era.
Join us for an evening of impactful discussions and networking with other local investment professionals.
Agenda
17:45 – Registrations and coffee
18:10 – Welcome by Moderator Pedram Parhizkari, CAIA
18:15 – Opening remarks by Host Paul Deakins, Partner at Clifford Chance
18:20 – Panel discussion on Revolutionising the Alts Market: exploring opportunities in the digital age, in collaboration with:
- Robert Koller, CAIA - CEO and Founder at NowCM
- Olga Ponomarenko - VP Head of Quant Analytics at Caplight
- Lisa Scott-Smith - MD, Digital Business at Millennium Global Investments
- Mark Taylor - Fixed Income Product and Business Development at Liquidnet
- Achaiah Thimmaiah - Portfolio Director, Innovation and Ventures at HSBC
Moderator: Pedram Parhizkari, CAIA - Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Beurzbyte and CAIA London Chapter Executive
19:30 – Q&A Session
20:00 – Closing remarks by Moderator Pedram Parhizkari, CAIA
20:05 – Cocktail and Canapes Reception
SHORT BIOS
Host:
Paul Deakens - Partner at Clifford Chance
Paul Deakins is a partner in the London office of Clifford Chance. Paul is an English qualified solicitor specialising in all aspects of public and private debt capital markets transactions, including eurobonds, convertible bonds, regulatory capital, corporate hybrid securities and liability management. Paul has worked with NowCM on the development of their documentation suite for primary issuance and supported NowCM with the debut sterling transaction for the London Borough of Sutton.
Speakers:
Robert Koller, CAIA - CEO and Founder at NowCM
Robert is the Founder and CEO at NowCM and is a rare expert with in-depth knowledge of every single step and stakeholder in the primary capital markets value chain. He also has a deep understanding of programming and IT processes paired with 15+ years’ experience as a lawyer and partner in top tier law firms. As a lawyer Robert has vast expertise in debt capital markets, regulatory and funds as well as in the social impact area. This unique combination of both, IT, and law, allowed him to develop NowCM – the world’s first regulated, fully integrated, and cloud-native debt issuance platform, including the globally only regulated primary marketplace.
Olga Ponomarenko - VP Head of Quant Analytics, Caplight
Olga is the Head of quantitative analytics at Caplight. Caplight is on a mission to improve liquidity and transparency in the secondary VC market, enabling investors to take long and short private company positions via synthetic, cash-settled derivatives. Prior to Caplight Olga worked as a quant at Barclays. She started her career as an economist covering the post-Soviet states at Citi and EBRD.
Lisa Scott-Smith - MD, Digital Business at Millennium Global Investments Ltd
Lisa is a Managing Director with primary responsibility for Millennium Global’s Digital Asset Solutions team, and for managing digital investment strategies of SONAR Digital, by Millennium Global. Lisa had previously been employed by Millennium between 2005 and 2018 as Co-Head of Portfolio Investments where she had responsibility for the day-to-day management of the discretionary investment team and for coordinating the development of all investment research.
Prior to Millennium, Lisa was a Director at Credit Suisse First Boston in the Global Foreign Exchange group, where she ran the London team responsible for hedge funds (2001 to 2005) and a Vice President within the Global Foreign Exchange group at J.P. Morgan (London). During her ten years at J.P. Morgan, Lisa advised a global mix of institutional, corporate and hedge fund clients in foreign exchange markets, derivatives and strategies. In her final four years at J.P. Morgan, Lisa managed the Foreign Exchange Global Options Sales team. Lisa has served as a member of the Bank of England’s London Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee (FX JSC) and was the first buy-side representative, having previously served as Chairperson of the FX JSC buy-side sub-group. She was also a member of the Bank for International Settlements Foreign Exchange Market Participants Group (MPG) contributing to the creation of the FX Global Code. She is currently serving as a non-executive director of Millennium Global Treasury Services.
Mark Taylor - Fixed Income and Business Development at Liquidnet
Mark has 23 years’ experience in Fixed Income and Credit Trading and Distribution.
He joined Liquidnet in 2015 to run UK Sales, helping develop and launch the first successful dark pool for trading corporate bonds in Europe. Mark is now responsible for Product Development for both the Dark Pool and Primary Markets Business.
Prior to Liquidnet he spent just over two years at HSBC in London, as a MD heading up the UK Credit Sales team covering the insurance, pensions and asset management community. This was a continuation of his role at Morgan Stanley where he spent twelve years, principally in sales but also drawing on experience in the credit structuring and research teams. Before transferring to the City, he was a Research Associate at the Bullard (Earth Sciences) Labs at the University of Cambridge.
Mark holds a BA in Natural Sciences (Physics) from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in Geophysics from Harvard University.
Achaiah Thimmaiah - Portfolio Director, Innovation and Ventures at HSBC
A senior banking professional, Ash’s 20+ years career in HSBC spans across multiple geographies, businesses and domain practices. His building of some of the marquee consortium initiatives within the bank is a testament to his skill of driving and delivering cross industry solutions.
He currently heads the ‘Products & Platforms’ vertical within the ‘Innovation & Ventures’ group where he is responsible for, among other things, building an understanding of current industry challenges, innovation trends and their applicability into the real world. He oversees delivery of key Sustainability initiatives, including a Public & Private consortium aimed at launching a Sustainable Finance platform.
Moderator:
Pedram Parhizkari, CAIA - Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Beurzbyte and CAIA London Chapter Executive
Pedram is the co-founder and co-CEO of Beurzbyte. Beurzbyte is a London-based fintech company focused on financial literacy and investment intelligence for retail investors. Previously, Pedram worked at Clermont Group, a multi-billion-dollar private fund, where he managed portfolios across special situations, distressed, quant strategies, and private equity. His expertise also spans into investment banking where he previously worked for Financial Technology Partners, advising fintech companies and banks on M&A transactions, capital raising, and IPOs. Most recently, he held the position of Director of Financial Strategy at Fnality International, focused on capital raising and investments in the digital asset space.
Pedram holds a BSc in Finance (summa cum laude) and graduated as Valedictorian from Richmond, American University in London and a MSc in Finance from Cranfield School of Management. He is a CAIA charter holder and is an advisor to the board of Richmond Business School.
Important notes before the event
- At this time, this event is open to CAIA Members.
- Registration for this event must be done in advance. Walk-ins will not be permitted.
- The event has a limited capacity. We ask that you please register as early as possible to reserve your spot. You may be registered on a waiting list. Should the allowed attendance level be increased, we will inform you.
- Each person attending will need to register themselves.
- Please kindly let us know at least 48 hours in advance if you are not able to attend the event. Your timely cancellation allows us to be more responsible and avoid food waste, and ecological and avoid energy waste.
This event is organised in partnerships with our sponsors: