London Cutter Connect 2024

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
  

Jon Chandler brings more than ten years of experience in the financial services industry to his Director's role at Cutter Associates. Prior to joining Cutter, 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
• Collateral Management
• Investment Accounting Solutions
• Order Management Systems
• Performance Measurement and Attribution Systems
• Reconciliation Solutions
• Risk Management Systems

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 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. She joined Cutter Associates in 2011 and has authored a number of 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
• Behavioral Analysis in Investment Management
• Client Reporting Systems and Practices
• Data Access for Business Users
• Managed Data Services
• Market Data Administration
• Mastering Client, Account, and Product Data
• Order Management Systems
• Outsourced Trading: Has the Time Come?
• Reference Data Management Solutions

Arnie Wachs, Head of Consulting at Cutter Associates, brings extensive business and technical knowledge to the role, with over 30 years of investment management industry experience. Arnie advises 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. He has extensive experience working for investment management firms, financial software vendors, and consulting firms, in roles that included business analyst, developer, system architect, development management, project management, product management, sales, and executive positions. He has a deep understanding of investment management system use and design. He also leads the firm’s Technology and Architecture practice.

Prior to joining Cutter, Arnie worked for ITG, where he led the product management efforts for the development of the next-generation OEMS platform. Prior roles include Head of Equity Systems at BlackRock Solutions, Senior Product Manager at Charles River Development, and Vice President at Fidelity Investments, where he designed and developed the firm’s global trading platforms. Arnie also led efforts at State Street Global Advisors to create an enterprise-wide, cross-asset class security and benchmark master. He holds a Bachelor of Science in physics from Clarkson University.

Mr. Chris Ellis is the Executive Vice President and head of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships at FactSet. In this role, he collaborates with our Strategic Business Units on a range of initiatives to help FactSet better address the needs of our clients, most specifically asset managers and asset owners. Mr. Ellis joined FactSet in 1994 in Client Solutions. His career path since then has included successfully defining and expanding the Portfolio Manager Workstation Sales business unit; ultimately becoming its Vice President before assuming the position of Director of Portfolio Analytics. He subsequently led the development team for FactSet’s core workstation. Prior to his current role, he led the business development function at FactSet through a series of successful acquisitions and strategic partnerships. Mr. Ellis is a graduate of Stanford University and a CFA charter holder.

Will Keuper is General Manager – Software at Verity, a leading provider of research management software, ESG, and data analytics. He oversees the RMS and ESG software verticals at Verity. Will is a founding employee at VerityRMS, formerly MackeyRMS, having been with the firm since 2012 in a variety of product and commercial roles.

Da Wei is the company's founder and CEO. He has 18 years of experience in software and consulting in the financial industry, working for several software companies and financial clients. He holds degrees in computer science and finance and is qualified as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Financial Risk Manager (FRM). Da leads Orbit’s overall product research and development.