Event Profile

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Jeffrey Berman
Organization: BlackRock Alternative Specialists


Jeffrey Berman leads illiquid strategy development for BlackRock Alternative Specialists in the Americas. BlackRock Alternative Specialists group is focused on delivering the firm's global alternative investment platform to clients including public and private pension plans, insurance companies, foundations, endowments and industry consultants. In this role, Mr. Berman is responsible for the business development strategy for BlackRock’s infrastructure, private equity, and opportunistic platforms, including a focus on real asset strategies, which invests in equity and debt globally in excess of $30 billion. He has spent 11 of his 15-year career at BlackRock. Mr. Berman earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, with high distinction, from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and a Juris Doctor degree, magna cum laude, from Brooklyn Law School, where he was a Prince Scholar.


Tony Charles
Organization: Morgan Stanley


Tony Charles is an Executive Director and Global Head of Research and Strategy for Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing. Tony works with the global investment teams to integrate market research into investment decisions and strategy. He is responsible for conducting research on the global real estate markets to identify new products and investment opportunities designed to meet clients' investment goals. With his research team, he develops proprietary research tools and authors quarterly global macroeconomic, property sector, and capital markets updates, as well as white papers on real estate topics of interest. Tony also develops and articulates cross-platform investment perspectives in connection with broader marketing and investor coverage activities for the Merchant Banking & Real Estate Investing platform. He serves on Real Estate Investment Committees and Fund Valuation Committees. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Tony ran the Research and Strategy function for GE Capital’s real estate business, and was senior strategy manager in the financial services practice at Accenture. Tony received a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance from the Securities Institute of Australia.


Brian D'Costa
Organization: Algonquin Capital


Brian D’Costa is a Founding Partner and the President of Algonquin Capital, a boutique alternative fixed income Manager based in Toronto. Prior to founding Algonquin, Brian was the Global Head of Fixed Income and Rates for CIBC, where he was responsible for the bank’s entire bond and rate trading business, overseeing 40 traders globally. Before that, Brian spent 11 years with TD Securities, where he was the Global Head of Vanilla Interest Rate Derivatives, managing trading teams in Toronto, London, Tokyo and Sydney. Brian holds an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario (Gold Medal Winner) and a BSc. Engineering Science, University of Toronto. Before his career on Bay Street, he was a Captain in the Canadian Armed Forces and was awarded the Chief of Defense Staff Commendation for exemplary leadership for his peacekeeping services in Iraq. When not in the office, Brian can usually be found in the gym, at a hockey rink or undertaking an ambitious gardening project.


Catherine Marshall
Organization: Aon PLC


Catherine Marshall is an Associate Partner in the Toronto office of Aon Hewitt. As a member of the investment consulting practice, Catherine provides services to clients and project leadership by working as an extension of the senior staff. Catherine specializes in real estate investment consulting. Outside of Aon Hewitt, Catherine sits on the following boards/committees: • Chair, CFA Society Toronto Risk Management and Alternative Asset Committee • Member, Research Committee, RealPAC, • Past Treasurer of the Canada Green Building Council GTA Chapter. Catherine has over 20 years of experience in the investment industry. Prior to joining Aon Hewitt, Catherine worked for almost a decade as an independent Real Assets Consultant specialized in global investing. Catherine also held the positions of Director of Real Estate Research & Strategy for CPPIB, and Head of Real Estate and Mortgage Research at the BC Investment Management Corporation. She has also been Senior Vice President and Strategist for a large global real estate capital management firm. Her designations and professional affiliations include: • Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) • Master of Arts, Economics & Finance, Simon Fraser University (MA/MBA Finance)


Adam Mitchell
Organization: Polar Asset Management Partners


Adam Mitchell is an Event Driven Analyst on the Multi-Strategy team. He joined Polar Asset Management Partners in January 2016, with responsibility for fundamental investment research on event-driven investment ideas including capital structure arbitrage, distressed/stressed credit opportunities, and equity long or short event trading. Prior to joining Polar, Adam was at Scotia Capital since 2009, working as a high yield bond trader. Adam graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 2002 with a B.Sc. in Statistics and subsequently obtained his HBA from the Ivey School of Business in 2004. He obtained the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designation in 2006 and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2007.


Jason Russell
Organization: Acorn Global Investment


Jason Russell is the founder and Chief Investment Officer of Oakville based Acorn Global Investments. Acorn founded in 2005, is an alternative investment manager that identifies early stage opportunities in global futures markets. Jason has over 25 years of traditional and alternative investment experience including roles at Bankers Trust as an equity derivatives specialist and at Merrill Lynch as an advisor. He writes and develops trading systems for liquid, global markets and was highlighted in the book Trend Following by Michael Covel. Jason earned his business degree from the University of Ottawa in 1991 and completed his CFA in 1997. He is a member of the CFA Institute and is an active member of AIMA where he currently serves as Co-Chairman of the Managed Futures Committee.


Steve Turner
Organization: bcIMC


Steve Turner is a Portfolio Manager within the Infrastructure & Renewable Resources department at British Columbia Investment Management Corporation ("bcIMC"), a multi-asset class investment organization with over C$124 billion under management. Steve joined bcIMC in 2008 and is responsible for sourcing, executing and managing infrastructure investments. In addition to day-to-day asset management responsibilities on a number of files, Steve also serves on the boards of Macquarie Utilities Inc. and Aquarion Water Company, the parent companies to a suite of New England-based water utilities and Cleco Power—a Louisiana-based electric utility. Steve has a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Montana Tech of the University of Montana and holds an MBA from the University of Victoria. Steve is also a registered Professional Engineer in the Province of British Columbia and is a CFA charterholder.


Marc Williams
Organization: Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd


Marc Williams is an Institutional Portfolio Manager for Leith Wheeler having worked previously for a multinational consulting firm for 17 years, and also for a full service hedge fund of funds in a HF due diligence capacity. He brings over 20 years of experience in the pension and institutional investment industry. Marc’s experience encompasses previous roles as an Actuary and Investment Consultant. Marc’s clients have included corporate, government and union pension plans, as well as endowment funds and First Nations trust funds. Marc is a Fellow of the Canadian and UK Institute of Actuaries and is a CFA Charterholder.