Sydney Cutter Connect 2026

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. 

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

Stacia Graham brings more than 30 years of experience in investment management as Head of Research at Cutter Associates, where she leads a team of analysts that delivers insights and events to Cutter’s global members.

Stacia joined Cutter in 2018 and, as part of the research team, worked closely with members and vendors to author numerous reports and deliver insights at events on many topics, including client reporting, modern compliance in investment management, investment management platforms, portfolio analytics solutions, asset allocation and total portfolio approach, and research management systems. She brings a deep understanding of end-to-end asset management processes and project management, and has also served as a subject matter expert for targeted engagements in enterprise risk and compliance.

Prior to joining Cutter in 2018, Stacia held various senior roles at Wellington Management Company in compliance, investment administration, and operational risk, including leading the global Investment Guideline Compliance team for eight years.

She earned her bachelor of science in business administration from Bryant University and an MBA from Bentley University.

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

Nahean is a seasoned professional with a strong foundation in financial consulting and strategic operations. Previously serving as a Director at Alpha FMC in Toronto, Nahean played a pivotal role in shaping the firm's North American Asset Owner practice. His leadership spans go-to-market strategy, talent acquisition, and transformation initiatives for major pension and asset management clients. Prior to Alpha FMC, Nahean worked at KPMG LLP, where he delivered strategic solutions across wealth and asset management, banking, and insurance sectors, including operating model designs and fintech partnerships.

Simon has over 30 years of Financial Technology and Asset Servicing expertise, currently serving as Chief Commercial Officer and Group Operating Committee member at FundGuard. His career spans senior leadership roles at BNY (formerly PFPC), Deutsche Bank, GlobeOp, Virtus Partners (FIS), Ocorian, and Finbourne.

Over the past three decades, Simon’s relentless drive has empowered commercial and product transformation across firms at various growth stages. His remit has encompassed the full commercial spectrum: from sales and business development through solution architecture, implementation, and client management to product marketing, analytics, and global communications.

Simon has a proven track record of building and scaling high-performing commercial teams across multiple regions, setting adaptive strategies as businesses evolve and executing against ambitious growth targets.

Toby Glaysher is Chairman of FINBOURNE, where he leads the Board and acts as a strategic advisor, supporting the company through its next phase of growth.

Based in London, he works closely with FINBOURNE’s executive team to align strategic priorities, shape product development, and pursue opportunities across the firm’s core client segments—asset owners, asset managers, and servicers.

Toby brings over 30 years of global experience in scaling financial services businesses. Before joining FINBOURNE, he spent his career at Northern Trust, most recently as President of Global Fund Services. In that role, he led a division of more than 7,000 employees, serving asset management clients worldwide and driving over $2 billion in annual revenue.

He also played a key role in the firm’s data and digital transformation initiatives and represented Northern Trust on the Investment Association’s Technology Working Group. Toby also served as Chairman of the University of Greenwich Business School Advisory Board for 7 years until 2024.

EXPERTISE
Leon is the Head of Australia and New Zealand at Northern Trust. He is responsible for the overall business and strategic direction for asset servicing, asset management and capital markets solutions for sophisticated institutional clients across the region.

EXPERIENCE
Leon has over 20 years’ experience in operations, investment administration and fund services in the Australian market. He joined Northern Trust in 2010 and was most recently a global services executive responsible for Northern Trust’s asset servicing operations across Australia, and for ensuring the provision and development of Northern Trust’s tailored range of asset servicing solutions to clients across Asia Pacific.

Prior to joining Northern Trust, Leon held managerial roles at National Australia Bank Asset Servicing.

EDUCATION
His qualifications include a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne, a Certified Practicing Accountant and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment.