ESG Capabilities: Cutter Member Virtual Meeting

Angela Centeno joined Cutter Associates in 2015, bringing more than 20 years of experience in financial services. Prior to Cutter, Angela worked for The Northern Trust Company in multiple roles managing enterprise market data, investment operations outsourcing, vendor relationships, 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:

• Asset Management Trends: 2022 and Beyond
• Market Data Administration
• An Introduction to Vendor Management
• Best Practices for Developing a Vendor Management Program
• Vendor Management: Trends ─ And the Tools that Can Help
• Data Cataloging Tools
• Rethinking Research Management
• Alternative Investments
• Managing Benchmark and Index Data
  

Dru Holmquist has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. He has developed expertise across asset management distribution, investment management, and wealth management technology and operations. Dru is a successful senior leader with a deep track record of collaboration initiation, strategy design, team building, program management and process innovation. He has conducted strategy programs for CRM, client mastering, data architecture, client reporting, client onboarding, trading, research, and portfolio management capabilities. His knowledge spans the equities, fixed income, municipals, commodities, private debt, private equity, real estate, farmland, agri-business, and timber management sectors, as well as the following vehicle types: Mutual Funds, Closed-end Funds, ETFs, UCITs, UITs, Institutional Separate Accounts, SMAs (traditional, dual contract and models), LPs, 529 Plans and REITs.

Prior to joining Cutter Associates, Dru served as Managing Director of Technology for Nuveen Advisory Services, the business organization responsible for delivering the investment and asset management expertise of Nuveen. Dru was responsible for all business applications and technology that supported the Sales, Client Service, Marketing, Product and Fund Administration business teams. He oversaw the deployment of Salesforce as a CRM application, that unified multiple investment manager affiliates by redesigning the lead generation process, sales pipeline stages, sales reporting, distribution analytics, marketing analytics, and client engagement model. In addition, Dru implemented a product and account master, and initiated the business case to begin a client master effort. He was the technology leader that owned the business transformation efforts for the advisory services organization.

Laura Jesson has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry as a project manager, business analyst, and consultant. She joined Cutter Associates in 2013. Prior to joining Cutter, Laura spent eight years at Wells Capital Management and Evergreen Investments, where she managed investment operations projects. 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:

• Client Reporting
• Corporate Actions
• Cyber Security
• Front Office Data
• Managing Operating Costs
• Managing Vendors and Service Providers
• Opportunities for External Sourcing

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.

Philip (Phil) Orlando is a Consultant at Cutter Associates and brings over eleven years of consulting, organizational strategy, client service, operations, accounting, and IT experience to Cutter clients. Phil has been involved with multiple Front, Middle, and Back Office strategy engagements covering accounting systems, portfolio management and trading, pre and post-trade compliance, risk management, and data management and governance. Phil also has extensive experience with client and sales management (e.g. client reporting, CRM).

Prior to joining Cutter Associates, Phil was an Organizational Strategy Business Analyst at State Street Bank where he worked on several large-scale projects including the implementation of an enterprise workflow tool and a new inquiry management system. He also guided a program purposed to transition complex cash, reconciliation, and trade tasks from the business units to centers of excellence (COEs).

Previously, Phil was an ETF Client Operations Account Manager at State Street Bank. He launched new ETFs & on-boarded new clients, managed relationships with several ETF sponsors, and crafted specifications for IT resources to continuously improve the accuracy, reliability, and efficiency of ETF processes.

Phil holds a B.S. in Finance from Stonehill College and is also a CFA charterholder.

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. ​

Rein van Rooyen is a results-driven finance and investment industry leader with international experience spearheading teams and achieving outcomes within highly competitive environments. Rein is well versed in leading change agendas, including building capabilities, integrating functions, culture journeys, structure realignment, and operational transformations. Rein comfortably navigates ambiguity, drives forward change, and develops innovative commercial solutions with a sustained commitment for stakeholder centricity and broader organizational impacts. A global thought leader and champion of innovation and transformation, he has extensive experience across superannuation, investment management, banking, risk, and insurance. He has a deep understanding of investment management system use and design.

Prior to Cutter, Rein spent five years at QSuper, where he led the middle and back office for the AUD 100 billion fund, including overseeing investment data, investment performance & analytics, investment risk & compliance, trade support, cash & treasury, collateral management & optimization, valuations & alternatives, investment implementation and deal team, as well as fund operations. He also worked for PwC in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, where he led a variety of client engagements.

Bess Joffe has 20+ years of experience in corporate governance, ESG, stewardship and responsible investment with unique experience on both the institutional investor side and corporate side providing depth of experience in helping manage ESG-related reputational risks, and crafting relevant messaging. She has a broad global network among investors, corporate directors, executives of large public companies and ESG experts.

Neil Kelly is a senior member of the Rimes commercial team and has played an integral role in growing the Rimes brand and client base for more than twenty years. More recently Neil has been focused on building enterprise relationships and positioning Rimes’ EDMaaS solutions globally - including the Rimes ESG Master Service. Prior to joining Rimes, Neal was with Thomson Financial.

Greg Klotz is a Managing Director within Nuveen’s Global Client Group, leading the global Business Transformation team. His team is tasked with elevating the client experience and enhancing operating scale, while covering client reporting, portals, and other client technologies across Nuveen’s global client base. Greg is focused on addressing the evolving needs of Institutional and Wealth channel Asset Owners, as demands for enhanced portfolio information grow in tandem with preferences in digital experiences. Prior to joining Nuveen, Greg was a Management Consultant at Kepler Cannon and Bain & Company, advising clients across Financial, Manufacturing, and Agricultural sectors. Greg holds an M.B.A. from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Volker Lainer is Head of Connections, ESG and Regulatory Affairs at GoldenSource. He is responsible for supporting GoldenSource’s global client base run their businesses on trusted data and efficiently meet their regulatory demands. Most recently, Volker has spearheaded the company’s ESG Impact solution, helping clients to make sense of and operationalize the varied data required to comply with sustainability reporting requirements – including MiFID II, SFDR, the EU Taxonomy and most recently the latest TCFD and TNFD taxonomies.

With almost 20 years of experience at GoldenSource, Volker has held a variety of senior management positions relating to product development and has a strong technical background

Ms. VanderBrug is Head of Sustainability Strategy. She is responsible for leading Putnam's ESG-focused business functions, including Stewardship, Engagement, Partnerships, and ESG Strategy and Integration and is a member of Putnam's Operating Committee.

A recognized thought leader in sustainable investing, Ms. VanderBrug joined Putnam from Bank of America, where she served as Head of Sustainable and Impact Investment Strategy in the Chief Investment Office. Previously, she was Managing Director at Criterion Ventures, where she helped advance the field of Gender Lens Investing.

Ms. VanderBrug is the author of a number of published works, including the book Gender Lens Investing: Uncovering Opportunities for Growth. She is a First Mover Fellow at the Aspen Institute.

Eric is currently FactSet’s SVP for ESG and Regulatory Content and Strategy. Eric joined FactSet in 1995 as a Consultant, and has had various in product development and management over the past 28 years.

Eric built FactSet’s Internal Research Notes application, which launched FactSet’s suite of Research Management Systems (RMS) products. Eric moved to London to head up FactSet’s acquisition of StreamVPN (AlphaNetwork) from 2008-2010, and led FactSet’s acquisition of Code Red in 2015, both products eventually folding into the RMS suite. In 2019, Eric assisted in forming FactSet’s Regulatory Solutions product team. One of his main focuses had been Sustainable regulations around the globe and the impact of those regulations on the Financial industry. In 2023 Eric was tapped to lead the ESG & Regulatory teams at FactSet.

Eric holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Master of Business Administration from Binghamton University. He resides in New York with his wife Jennifer and their two daughters Kathryn (22) and Erin (19).