Charleston, SC Cutter Connect 2025

Cindy Castellano is the CEO of Cutter Associates and has over 30 years of experience in the investment management industry. She formerly led Cutter Associates’ Client-Facing and Wealth practices, advising asset and wealth management firms on their sales and distribution, marketing, product development, consultant relations, client service, and client reporting. Cindy has conducted system searches for CRM, marketing automation, portals, pitchbooks/client presentation, content management, client reporting, client onboarding, and RFP systems. Prior to joining Cutter, Cindy served as Vice President and Head of Operations for a division of Guggenheim Investments, where she led mutual fund accounting and administration; institutional accounting, billing, and client reporting; SMA operations, performance reporting (GIPS); and fixed income performance, attribution, and risk reporting. As Vice President and Head of Equities, Cindy led the firm’s investment team and supervised equity trading activities.

Cindy also spent 10 years as a Senior Portfolio Manager and Research Analyst, managing over USD 500 million in AUM for mutual funds and VITs using social awareness (ESG), large cap growth, and mid-cap growth investment strategies. She developed the investment process, directed research analysts’ day-to-day efforts, and created the firm’s social criteria and proxy voting guidelines. Cindy, a Chartered Financial Analyst, holds a bachelor’s of business administration from Washburn University. 

Angela Centeno has more than 25 years of experience in financial services. Prior to joining Cutter in 2015, Angela worked for The Northern Trust Company in multiple roles including sourcing and procuring enterprise market data, investment operations outsourcing, and vendor and custodian relationships. She previously held senior positions in operations management, project management, data management, and solutions implementation. Angela earned a bachelor of science in accounting and a bachelor of science in business administration from the University of Kansas, as well as an MBA in finance from DePaul University. She is a registered CPA.

Recent research assignments and publications include the following:

• AI Use Cases in Investment Management: Infinite Possibilities
• Alternative Investments
• Client Reporting Systems
• Cutter Benchmarking: Alternative Investments
• Cutter Benchmarking: Derivatives and Collateral Management
• Cutter Benchmarking: Firmwide ESG Capabilities
• Derivatives and Collateral Management Solutions
• ESG Data Management
• ESG: It’s a Jungle Out There ─ A Look at the Data Provider Landscape
• ESG Investing: One Vision, Many Lenses
• Market Data Administration
• Private Debt

Jon Chandler has 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Cutter Associates in 2014, Jon was a senior business analyst for State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), where he was involved in a number of projects for the front and middle office, including UAT design and execution for an order management system (Fidessa IMS), the implementation of a web-based due diligence platform (FundInsight), and an enterprise solution to support blended benchmarks. Prior to his project roles, Jon was a principal in fixed income trade operations at SSGA. He has extensive experience with post-trade operations and applications, such as OASYS/CTM, PORTIA, MBSExpert, and FailStation. Jon earned a bachelor of arts in history from the University of Florida and an MBA from Northeastern University.

Recent research assignments and publications include the following:

• Alternative Investment Systems
• Cutter Benchmarking: Alternative Investments
• Cutter Benchmarking: Derivatives and Collateral Management
• Cutter Benchmarking: Investment Risk
• Cutter Benchmarking: Performance Measurement and Attribution
• Derivatives and Collateral Management Solutions
• Execution Management Systems
• Managed Data Services
• Order Management Systems
• Outsourcing Solutions
• Performance Measurement and Attribution Systems
• Portfolio Analytics Solutions
• Private Debt
• Risk Management Systems
• The Evolving Front Office Support Model

Austin has over 20 years of experience with investment management Technology at leading investment firms. He has worked across front office & back office leading the development of global enterprise solutions. He has consistently helped teams leverage new technologies to automate, reduce costs and provide new business capabilities.

Prior to Cutter Austin spent time at Hulu/Disney as a Senior TPM leading data analytics initiatives across multiple product groups for the convergence of Disney & Hulu streaming analytics platforms.

From 2007-2020 Austin worked at Western Asset Management, an affiliate manager of Legg Mason with $450BN AUM. Austin held a senior technology leadership role responsible for the strategy, roadmaps and implementation of Enterprise Data, Cloud Migration, Dev Ops and Citizen Development. Prior to 2019 he held various lead roles managing teams responsible for the delivery of solutions for portfolio management, research, trading, portfolio compliance, back-office operations including confirmations, settlements, collateral management, TBA processing and regulatory reporting.

Prior to Western Asset he held the role of Director of IT and Plusfunds group, a Fund of Funds managing $3BN AUM where his team overhauled the technology improving operational efficiencies for NAV validation, Risk reporting & client reporting. Austin previously spent 5 years with Deutsche bank in New York & London on various enterprise technology initiatives including the replacement of legacy global equity settlement solutions, cash management systems and stock lending & borrowing.

Austin holds an HND in Business Information Technology from the University of Central Lancashire (UK)

Stacia Graham has more than 25 years of experience in investment management, bringing a deep understanding of end-to-end asset management processing and project management to her role as Managing Director, Asset Management Research Lead at Cutter Associates.

Stacia also serves as a subject matter expert for targeted engagements in Enterprise Risk and Compliance.

Prior to joining Cutter in 2018, Stacia worked at Wellington Management Company LLP in Boston in various senior roles within compliance, investment administration, and operational risk, including leading and managing the global Investment Guideline Compliance team for eight years. She earned a bachelor of science in business administration from Bryant University and an MBA from Bentley University.

Recent research assignments and publications include the following:

• Client Portal Solutions
• Client Reporting Systems
• Cutter Benchmarking: Client Reporting
• Cutter Benchmarking: Modern Compliance in Investment Management
• Electronic Communications Surveillance Systems
• Hybrid Work Arrangements and Their Impact on Firm Culture
• Performance Measurement and Attribution Systems
• Portfolio Analytics Solutions
• Research Management Systems
• Using RPA to Automate Business Processes

Recent Consulting Engagements include:

• Assessment of business processes and systems to support regulatory reporting (shareholder disclosure reporting) for a large asset manager

• Assessment of requirements and vendor solutions for Electronic Communication Surveillance for a small asset manager, to rectify SEC findings

Laura Jesson has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry as a project manager, business analyst, and consultant. She joined Cutter Associates in 2013. Prior to Cutter, Laura spent eight years at Wells Capital Management and Evergreen Investments, where she managed investment operations projects, including those focused on outsourcing, client reporting, and trade management. She previously worked at Omgeo as a member of the Central Trade Manager (CTM) product design team. Laura started her career at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) as a process consultant supporting a variety of projects for clients in the financial services industry. Laura earned her bachelor of arts in economics and psychology from Amherst College. She holds the Project Manager Professional (PMP) certification.

Recent research assignments and publications include the following:

• AI Use Cases in Investment Management: Infinite Possibilities 
• Business Intelligence Tools
• Cutter Benchmarking: Client Reporting
• Cutter Benchmarking: Firmwide ESG Capabilities
• Cutter Benchmarking: Managing Vendors and Service Providers 
• DataOps: In Theory and Practice
• Enabling Data Analytics
• ESG Data Management 
• ESG: It’s a Jungle Out There ─ A Look at the Data Provider Landscape
• ESG Investing: One Vision, Many Lenses 
• Execution Management Systems
• Hybrid Work Arrangements and Their Impact on Firm Culture
• Using RPA to Automate Business Processes
• The Role of the CRM for Asset Managers

Gina McCafferty has 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. She served at Cutter from 1999 to 2011 as Principal and Managing Director of CutterResearch, and she was instrumental in growing that business. Gina returned to Cutter in 2017, and established and ran the company’s Wealth Management research division. In 2019, she was appointed to Head of Research, responsible for Asset Management and Wealth Management product development and delivery to over 200 member firms around the globe. Gina was previously at Investit Ltd., where she served for six years as head of the company’s research service. Prior to that, she held senior positions at DST International with product responsibility for their global accounting and performance measurement systems, and at SunGard as Vice President of Client Services for their securities trading products.

Kathy McDermott has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Kathy, who joined Cutter Associates in 2011, has authored multiple Cutter Research reports on a wide range of topics. She spent ten years as a consultant for a variety of asset management firms, with a focus on business analysis for front- and middle-office projects. Kathy was previously the senior business analyst, equity trading systems, at Wellington Management, specializing in the firm’s proprietary electronic and basket trading applications. Earlier in her career, Kathy worked for Thomson Financial Services (now Thomson Reuters), supporting FirstCall and PORTIA clients in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and Thailand, and later went on to manage PORTIA implementations. She also worked at LongView (now Linedata) as an account manager and then product manager of electronic trading. Kathy earned her bachelor of arts in mathematics from Hamilton College.

Recent research assignments and publications include the following:

• Alternative Data and the Expanding Universe of Investment Information
• Cutter Benchmarking: Data Management
• Cutter Benchmarking: Market Data Administration
• DataOps: In Theory and Practice
• Enabling Data Analytics
• The Evolving Front Office Support Model
• Evolving Data Governance: Building a Data Culture
• Making Snowflake Part of Your Modern Data Platform
• Managed Data Services
• Market Data Administration
• Order Management Systems
• Outsourced Trading: Has the Time Come?
• Reference Data Management Solutions

Natalie McIntyre, Head of Consulting at Cutter Associates, brings extensive asset and wealth management background experience, along with technology expertise, to Cutter’s team. During her career, she has been at the forefront of leveraging data, technology, and AI to drive next-generation investment management across the value chain.

Prior to joining Cutter in January 2025, Natalie was the Head of Technology Consulting, formerly Axxsys Consulting, and a partner at Alpha FMC AWM North America, where she served as a senior advisor to asset and wealth managers, delivering end-to-end solutions spanning business strategy, transformation, technology design, and implementation. She advised clients on their strategic technology direction, data governance practices, trading platforms and practices, portfolio management tools, and operational organization, as well as data management architecture, tools, and practices. Natalie holds a Bachelor of Science in business and economics, with a pre-law concentration, from Skidmore College.

Alijah Poindexter is an experienced professional in financial services research and consulting, with a background spanning banking, healthcare, asset management, and fintech. He joined Cutter Associates in 2025, where he supports the firm’s research initiatives with a focus on research production and design, analysis, and content development. Prior to Cutter, Alijah was a senior research associate at Datos Insights, producing market research on commercial banking, digital payments, and healthcare payments. He also led multiple client consulting engagements, delivering strategic, data-centric advisory work. Earlier in his career, he served as associate editor at Bank Automation News, where he focused on banking coverage and industry events, and held program and research analyst roles. Alijah earned his BBA from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Neil Sheehan brings more than eight years of experience in the financial services industry prior to his research and consulting role at Cutter Associates. Neil has been involved in several system selection projects while at Cutter. His experience includes supporting the documentation of requirements, building and managing the RFP processes, and completing due diligence calls. Prior to joining Cutter in 2021, Neil was an analyst in the wealth management group at Celent, a division of Oliver Wyman. At Celent, he contributed to the wealth management team’s global research agenda, supporting advisory relationships with clients and completing and delivering on consulting engagements.

Prior to Celent, Neil was a business analyst in fintech product development at Brown Brothers Harriman, where he was responsible for business analysis and management of client-driven projects, research to support key business initiatives, and maintenance and​ implementation of products and solutions. Prior to that role, Neil served as a supervisor within the Investor Services Group at Brown Brothers Harriman.

Neil earned his bachelor’s degree in finance, with a minor in economics, from Providence College. ​

Mahesh oversees Arcesium’s capabilities for institutional asset managers, including the Arcesium Data Platform, middle- to back-office solutions, and associated financial operations.

Previously, he was the commercial director of BlackRock’s Aladdin Data Cloud, the data warehouse platform, supporting large global asset managers and asset owners in their data strategy, data analytics, and data re-platforming needs.

Before BlackRock, Mahesh was Global Head of Portfolio Management and Research at Refinitiv, responsible for Refinitiv’s buy-side data, workflow, and analytics solutions to a diverse set of financial institutions across the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific. Earlier in his career, Mahesh worked for various hedge funds, including S.A.C. Capital and Calypso Capital Management, and as a consultant with McKinsey & Company.

Education & Credentials

MBA, NYU Stern School of Business

BS/BTech in Engineering, IIIT Mumbai

A legendary presence behind one of America’s most beloved television shows, Lindsay Shookus is an Emmy award-winning producer who, for 20 years, worked as a veteran producer for “Saturday Night Live.” During her tenure, as producer and head of the talent department, Shookus was responsible for engineering the show’s success from booking celebrity hosts and musical guests and creating comfort and connections between them and the cast, to scouting rising stars to join the show’s ranks. She played a pivotal role in launching the careers of household names, including Kristin Wiig and Kate McKinnon — cementing her reputation for having a sharp eye for talent within the entertainment industry. She points to her own experiences to lead an on-stage masterclass on personal transformation, building connections, and embracing life’s obstacles on the road to overcoming them.

In this talk, Shookus draws parallels between the worlds of TV and business to lead a dynamic and interactive session filled with actionable tactics for creating meaningful, in-depth relationships that are a crucial component for success in any pursuit. An engaging storyteller who uses stories from behind the scenes at SNL to show her relationship-building strategies in action, Shookus delves into the mindfulness behind the madness of nurturing authentic relationships in transactional and quickly changing environments. Through humility, humor, and wisdom, she prepares the audience to become impactful communicators who add value to every interaction.