HEDGE FUND - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President
- VP at Apex Group Based in Miami
Yolanda Perez is a Senior Vice President and International Wealth Advisor at Truist Wealth, where she is responsible for the development of relationships with international individuals, families and companies. Yolanda has over 18 years of experience working with high-net-worth clients in various roles throughout her career in North America and Europe. Prior to joining Truist, she held senior roles in prominent financial institutions in Miami, New York and London in their wealth management and investment banking divisions. She is fluent in Spanish and French and earned her LLM (Master of Laws) in international law, with a specialization in U.S. and transnational laws, from the University of Miami School of Law. She also graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of London in England and received her Bachelor of Arts degree from McGill University. She is a native of Montreal, Canada.
Yolanda serves as a Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP) and is a member of numerous local community organizations, including the Finance & Investment Committee of the Broward College Foundation Board and the Planned Giving Advisory Boards for the University of Miami and the NSU Art Museum. Yolanda is passionate about financial literacy education and has done seminars and workshops for professional athletes in various sports and for organizations, such as the Miami Marlins, Minnesota Twins and The Philadelphia Phillies.
Alex Contreras is a Sr. VP at Apex Group based in Miami, focusing on Fund Services for Hedge, PE, VC & Digital Assets managers. His work includes Corporate Services, Fund Administration, ESG Ratings & Advisory, European Vehicles and Manco Work. Apex currently has over $2.3T in assets serviced.
In addition, with over 18 years of experience in financial services and capital markets, he has a strong entrepreneurial background with a prior leadership role in the growth of a global fund and asset securitization platform out of Miami, co-founded and established an e-commerce venture in the early online shopping days, and assisted other financial start-ups.
Alex holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management, along with a Master in Global Business Management from Adolfo Ibañez University (Chile). He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles majoring in Business | Economics with an International Relations concentration.
Prior to joining Citrin Cooperman, Alex held senior positions at Mitchell Titus LLP and Ernst & Young LLP with a specific focus on assisting clients in the financial services industry.
Job Titles:
- Wealth Advisor at Gorilla Investments Co
Amy is a Wealth Advisor at Gorilla Investments Co. based in Miami, FL, where she works with private business owners, entrepreneurs, executives, and high-net-worth families to help define, pursue and integrate their financial priorities.
Job Titles:
- Founding Partner & CEO of Meraki Global Advisors
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner of the Gold Coast Angel Investors in Miami
Bo Megginson is the managing partner of the Gold Coast Angel Investors in Miami. Prior to joining Gold Coast, Megginson was the Gulf Coast Executive Director (Mobile, AL/NW FL) for the 250+member Angel Investor Management (AIM) Group in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. Joining AIM shortly after its inception in 2012, he helped grow AIM into the largest and most-active angel investor network in the Southeast U.S., completing 62 deals involving 43 companies, and investing more than $40 million in early-stage transactions. In its first year, Gold Coast added 7 companies to its portfolio and structured more than $1.6M in private investments.
A veteran of multiple start-up companies, Megginson's eclectic background helps him relate to today's capital-seeking entrepreneur…from developing projects with Native American Indian tribes, to setting up specialty insurance programs in niche ag markets, to structuring joint ventures on government contracts.
Born in Mobile, AL and an Auburn University graduate, he is now active in the Miami community, serving on the board of the St. John Bosco Clinic, a free healthcare clinic in Allapattah for low-income and uninsured patients. He is a Pillar Member of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, and serves on the MBCoC Board of Governors. Megginson is also an award-winning journalist, claiming 4 Alabama Press Association awards prior to turning his attention to private business pursuits in the 1990s.
Job Titles:
- Member of the American Institute of CPAs
- National Asset Management Group Leader at FORVIS
Brian is the National Asset Management Group Leader at FORVIS and is based in the firm's Southern Florida office. He has significant experience with audit, accounting, and compliance matters related to alternative investment funds, including private equity funds, hedge funds, venture capital funds, mutual funds, debt funds, and SBIC funds, for more than 23 years. His extensive knowledge in this area extends to a wide range of strategies, including but not limited to debt and credit strategies and real asset strategies. He has provided assistance to emerging managers and institutional funds, alike.
Brian is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and Florida Institute of CPAs.
Job Titles:
- Chairman, HFA Sports & Entertainment Committee / CEO, Heart of an Athlete LLC
Jake is a partner in Citrin Cooperman's Assurance practice based out of the Braintree office. Jake is an experienced professional with over 13 years of experience focused on financial services, life sciences and technology industries.
Prior to joining Citrin Cooperman, Alex held senior positions at Mitchell Titus LLP and Ernst & Young LLP with a specific focus on assisting clients in the financial services industry.
Job Titles:
- Member of the HFA Board of Directors & Officers Team
Deloris Dunk-Vickers, CPA, has over 20 years of professional experience in the financial services industry including roles at premier financial institutions and CPA firms. She currently serves as Director of Assurance for Katz, Sapper & Miller LLP's Financial Services division where she is responsible for the audit of hedge funds, private equity funds, fund of funds and broker-dealers, and review of clients' regulatory and compliance requirements.
Prior to joining Katz, Sapper & Miller in July 2018, she was employed by KPMG LLP as Senior Manager, Audit (November 2014 - May 2018); McGladrey LLP (Assurance Manager, September 2004 - November 2014), TIAA-CREF (Senior Investment Fund Accounting Analyst, October 2001-September 2004); JP Morgan Chase (Assistant Treasurer, June 1994 - May 2001).
Deloris earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from North Carolina A&T State University.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director of Freedom Capital
Enna Weng is a Managing Director of Freedom Capital Markets managing the investment banking business with expertise in equity capital market, venture investing and family office investing.
Prior to joining Freedom, Enna held senior positions in various global financial institutions. She was the Head of U.S. Equity Structured Issuance at Barclays Capitals where she led Barclays to achieve "Best-Selling Product of the Year" and "Best House of US Equities" award. Prior to that, she was managing the Fully Funded Portfolio Risk Trading desk at Wells Fargo and won the "iAward on Innovation". In her earlier career, she also covered Structured Financing at Macquarie USA, and Fixed Income at Morgan Stanley. Her experience includes deal origination, due diligence, and execution across industry sectors on domestic and cross-border transactions. She was also a senior advisor at HELENE BioMed Pte. Ltd where she helped the company at executing an IPO plan as well as cross boarder M&As. She has a breadth of knowledge as an entrepreneur as well as a deep understanding of the capital markets.
Enna holds an Executive MBA degree from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where she completed executive courses at WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She also has a BBA degree from Macaulay Honors College and completed her Economics degree at Sophia University in Japan.
Job Titles:
- Analyst at Goldman Sachs
- HFA Student Leader
Jannis Meindl is an incoming Equity Strats analyst at Goldman Sachs, where he and the team lend against the equity interests of hedge funds, funds-to-funds, etc. In his role, Jannis will analyze the underlying collateral on a fundamental level, understand macro drivers behind micro moves, and help construct credit facilities.
In the past, Jannis interned with Chicago-based SpringTide Partners, an OCIO with an extensive research arm, providing capital allocation solutions to family offices, wealth managers, and various other allocators. As an intern, Jannis supported the team with fund manager due diligence, weekly research projects, and analytical modeling of trends across macro and micro.
Jannis also interned with Chicago-based futures brokerage Blue Line Futures and its sister wealth manager Blue Line Capital. Moreover, Jannis supported the research efforts of the CTA-arm Blue Creek Capital Management. Jannis spearheaded research projects for Blue Line's businesses, helped with allocations in wealth portfolios, and conducted extensive single-stock analysis/modeling for Blue Line Capital's Concentrated Alpha equity bucket.
Jannis is an undergraduate student at NYU Stern in New York, where he studies Finance and Econometrics. As an HFA student leader, he helps organize speaker events with leading figures in finance.
Job Titles:
- BNY Mellon Investor Solutions
- Director of Operational Due Diligence at BNY Mellon
- Member of the Alternative Investment Management Association 's Sound Practices Committee
Jennifer Keeney is the Director of Operational Due Diligence at BNY Mellon Investor Solutions. Her responsibilities include implementing and leading a risk-based operational due diligence program across alternative investment and traditional managers. She has over twenty years of experience in alternative investment operational due diligence and hedge fund manager research.
Prior to joining BNY Mellon Investor Solutions, Ms. Keeney was a Senior Risk Officer, Alternative Investments on the Global Manager Operational Due Diligence team at Russell Investments. She was responsible for leading the operational due diligence program across global hedge fund, private equity, private real estate, and infrastructure managers and served on the Alternative Investments Pricing Committee. Previously, she was a Senior Consultant with the Enterprise Risk Management team at General Motors Asset Management, and a Managing Director at Fairfield Greenwich Group, where she evaluated hedge fund managers for an Asian joint venture. Ms. Keeney also served as the Head of Due Diligence for a hedge fund-of-funds, and earlier, held research positions at Bear, Stearns and Standard Chartered Securities.
Ms. Keeney is a member of the Alternative Investment Management Association's Sound Practices Committee and was a contributing writer to the AIMA Guide to Sound Practices for Operational Risk Management, published in November 2020. She also serves as a global board member of the Hedge Fund Association and is a member of industry groups, including the Investment Management Due Diligence Association and 100 Women in Finance.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Regulatory Committee
- Founder and Principal of FundsLawyer PLLC
- Legal and Compliance Advisor
Josh Stone is the founder and principal of FundsLawyer PLLC. Josh is the Legal and Compliance Advisor of the Hedge Fund Association, an international non-profit organization that promotes the understanding and development of the hedge fund industry. Josh also serves as a Director of the Miami Finance Forum, which brings together professionals from the world of finance, investment management, banking, capital markets, private equity, venture capital, legal, accounting and related fields.
FundsLawyer PLLC is a law firm that focuses on private funds and family offices, and was also established to serve as an outsourced general counsel to private investment funds and family offices. In this regard, it provides a unique solution to emerging and more established investment advisory firms in South Florida and beyond. Josh has nearly 20 years of experience, including at international law firms in New York, as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of a multi-billion-dollar family of hedge funds with operations in Miami, Singapore and Switzerland and as a partner at a large Miami law firm. During his tenure with leading law firms in New York and Miami, Josh worked with some of the largest and best-known private investment fund managers.
Josh has particular experience evaluating and pursuing investments in emerging and frontier markets. He has worked with funds in distress, such as those that have suspended redemptions or have wound down. Josh is also a well-rounded corporate attorney, advising on M&A deals, private placements, venture capital investments, and corporate governance and securities matters.
Josh holds a B.A., magna cum laude, from Binghamton University (State University of New York) and a J.D. degree from New York University School of Law.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Regulatory Committee
- Principal
In addition to traditional assurance and tax services, Nick leads engagements for investment advisors related to performance reporting. He also works with investment advisors on compliance with the SEC Custody Rule by performing surprise examinations, trust company internal control examinations and independent representative services. Since joining Kaufman Rossin in 1993, Nick has worked with clients on due diligence, internal controls, financial analyses, financial reporting, financial modeling, mergers and acquisitions and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance procedures.
Krista Oldfield is a member of the fundraising team at I Squared Capital, a global infrastructure investment company based in Miami with offices in London, New Delhi, Singapore, Taipei and Sydney.
With over 15 years of experience in client relationships, including fundraising and business development, Krista has worked for Lee Equity Partners, Karsch Global Credit, and Compass Group in New York. As a legacy New Yorker, she is passionate about contributing to Miami's growth as a global financial and cultural hub and is actively involved with local organizations.
Krista holds a B.A. in English from Oberlin College and has post-graduate studies in Computer Science from DePaul University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Member of the HFA Board of Directors & Officers Team
- Member of the Regulatory Committee
- HFA Global COO / Counsel, Seward & Kissel LLP
- Member of the Derivatives and Trading Practice Group at Seward & Kissel LLP
Lauri K. Goodwyn has extensive experience representing hedge fund clients and other buy side market participants on a wide array of matters, including but not limited to (a) negotiating: (i) ISDAs and related confirmations; (ii) prime brokerage agreements, futures and options agreements, FX and credit intermediation agreements, term margin agreements, securities lending agreements, tri-partite, control and custody agreements as well as other trading related documentation; (iii) employment agreements; (iv) electronic trading agreements; and (v) vendor, service and general commercial contracts; (b) implementing new businesses and product lines (including FX intermediation- prime brokerage and a start-up commodities swaps business); (c) structuring trades and trading facilities; (d) responding to counterparty defaults and market disruptions; (e) managing funds in distress situations; (f) advice relating to Dodd Frank compliance and other regulatory issues; and (g) advice regarding credit/risk and general corporate matters. Lauri offers a unique perspective derived from her prior experience as Deputy General Counsel of a broker-dealer and futures commission merchant and before that as a litigator.
Lauri is a member of the Derivatives and Trading Practice Group at Seward & Kissel LLP and serves on the Executive Committee of the firm's Women's Initiative. Lauri also belongs to the firm's Blockchain and LIBOR Committees.
Lauri serves on various industry related committees related to ISDA and is a member of the Securities Law Committee of the International Bar Association. She is also a member of the Miami Funds Forum.
Lauri is an alumna of Dartmouth College and New York University School of Law.
Job Titles:
- Director of HTC Fiduciary Services Limited
Leanne Golding is a Director of HTC Fiduciary Services Limited and an officer of The Harbour Trust Co. Ltd. (together, doing business as "Harbour"). She is responsible for providing fiduciary services to Harbour's fund clients, including serving as an independent director for such funds.
Ms. Golding has been in Cayman since 1996 and previously worked for Goldman Sachs Administration Services (GSAS), where she was Vice President, Global Investor Services managing the Investor Services team in multiple jurisdictions. Ms. Golding joined the Harbour team in 2009.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Economics from Queen's University in Canada and is a CFA Charterholder and an Accredited Director (Chartered Secretaries of Canada). She has been involved with AIMA Cayman on their Education and Research Sub-Committee and is past Chair of the Impact Committee of the Cayman Islands location of 100 Women in Finance and currently chairs their Program Partners Grant Committee.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Founder
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Member of the HFA Board of Directors & Officers Team
- Member of the Regulatory Committee
- for Media and Sponsorship Inquiries, Please Contact
- HFA Global President / CEO, Hedge Fund PR
Mitch Ackles is the founder and CEO of Hedge Fund PR, and the global president and spokesman of the Hedge Fund Association, an international non-profit organization that promotes the understanding and development of the alternative investment industry.
With over 30 years experience, Mitch has a track record for excellence. He has executed campaigns for hedge funds, political and economic leaders, service providers, luminaries, conferences, charitable organizations and local, national and global hedge fund groups. Previously, Mitch was marketing director for vFinance, VP of hedge fund capital introduction for Global Partners Group and worldwide marketing manager for Dow Jones TradeStation. Mitch holds a B.A. in PR and communications, is fluent in English and Spanish, and manages reputations for some of the brightest minds and brands in the alternative investment industry.
When raising visibility, his efforts have resulted in thousands of successes, including product and company awards, news articles, cover stories, speaking engagements, broadcast interviews, events, alliances, and product placements on TV and in books, blogs and movies. His contact network is coveted, and includes virtually every editor, reporter, producer, blogger, lawmaker and influencer that has used the term hedge fund. In times when a low profile is preferred, Mitch has insulated clients from press, influenced search engines, and provided guidance on communicating with media, investors, employees and counterparties.
Mitch is devoted to service, demonstrated by pro-bono support of non-profit organizations. As Hedge Fund Association president and spokesman, Mitch is an advocate for the entire hedge fund community. For HFA, he directs media relations, member events and lobbying on Capitol Hill. Mitch also serves as the media contact for Help For Children, a global charitable organization which raises funds for programs that work to prevent and treat child abuse and A Leg To Stand On, a non-profit organization providing free orthopedic care to children in the developing world.
Mr. Paul Gray is the CEO and Founder of the global value-based hedge fund Ironhold Capital Management headquartered in New York City. Mr. Gray spends the majority of his time building product, managing teams and scaling company operations and systems.
Mr. Gray brings over a decade of asset management experience after overseeing a family real estate portfolio while also working in Product Development at Morgan Stanley and in Corporate Credit at Societe Generale. Today Mr. Gray is the proud host of "Leaders in Business and Investing" which features some of the top business leaders and investment managers in the world.
Furthermore he is also the founder of the Capital Allocators Roundtable, a forum for Family Offices, as well as Iron100, a private investor community for affluent individuals. Mr. Gray also holds an Executive MBA from Fordham University's Gabelli School of Business and holds a Bachelor's of Science from Pace University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Regulatory Committee
Job Titles:
- COO at Warshaw Asset Management
Mr. Arulpragasam is the COO at Warshaw Asset Management, a non-directional, relative value diversified volatility fund manager. Prior to Warshaw, he was CEO of Archetype Risk Advisors, Inc. ("ARA"), a quantitative hedge fund manager that managed investment strategies across a variety of asset classes. Mr. Arulpragasam was previously COO of Pavise Capital Management (2019-2022) and worked at Mariner Investment Group as a portfolio manager and product specialist (2017-2018). Notably, Mr. Arulpragasam created a joint venture with renowned short seller Jim Chanos, and launched a market-neutral version of Mr. Chanos' short portfolio. Mr. Arulpragasam was also head of marketing at ARA, where he raised significant AUM for the firm.
Job Titles:
- CEO and Founder of Westmark Enterprises, LTD
Richard Westmark,M.D. has over thirty years of experience in the financial industry.
Richard is the CEO and founder of Westmark Enterprises, LTD. For over two decades, Westmark Enterprises has managed assets across multiple asset classes including private equity, real estate, public equity, and public debt.
In 2019 Richard launched Triple V Management, LLC with a focus on alternative asset management. He currently serves as Managing Member as well as CIO.
Richard is a Harvard trained neurosurgeon currently deploying his training and experience to bring more advanced neurosurgical care to underdeveloped countries.
Job Titles:
- Chairman, HFA Digital Assets Committee / Co - Founder, Formidium
- Co - Founder of Formidium
Shalin Madan is the Co-Founder of Formidium, a global leader in technology enabled fund administration. He was formerly Founder of Bodhi Tree Asset Management, a quantitative macro hedge fund that generated a top-10 globally ranked performance in 2020. Prior to Bodhi Tree, he was a Managing Director at Strenta Investment Management, an SEC-registered investment adviser for a major family office, where he was responsible for all aspects of investment and portfolio management in a multi-asset class portfolio. Prior to that, Shalin was a Vice-President at Ivy Asset Management, where as a Portfolio Manager, he oversaw the firm's flagship multi-manager hedge fund portfolios. He began his alternative assets career 23 years ago at Dome Capital Management, a hedge fund advisory firm for European institutional and super high net worth investors. In addition, Shalin has personally supported multiple highly successful Silicon Valley based tech startups as an investor and board advisor. Shalin holds an MBA in Finance from the Stern School of Business at New York University and a BA in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley. In his spare time, Shalin practices yoga and meditation.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Member of the HFA Board of Directors & Officers Team
- Officer
- Vice President
- HFA Global Vice President / Partner, N1 Investments
Tony C. Acquadro is a Vice President and Officer of The Hedge Fund Association, and serves as a Partner at N1 Investments in New York and Miami.
His prior roles include Managing Director for BroadRiver Asset Management in New York, Managing Director and Investment Committee Member for Windsor Securities & MFI Associates, a Family Office and RIA, Vice President of Institutional Markets for BTS Asset Management, CEO of DaVinci Investment Advisors, National Vice President for ProFunds and Vice President at Morgan Stanley.
Tony graduated from The Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech and holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing Management.
Tony is a champion for the entire alternative investment industry and has served in HFA's senior leadership for over a decade. He is based in New York and Connecticut.