Stacia Graham
Managing Director and Asset Management Lead
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
Director, Research
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
Todd Spillane
Senior Director, Consulting
Todd Spillane brings more than 20 years of industry experience, with a focus on compliance and legal functions in investment management, to his Senior Director’s role at Cutter Associates. At Cutter, he is the subject matter expert and advisor on compliance initiatives, providing thought leadership as well as strategic and tactical advice. In addition to compliance, his areas of expertise include risk management, valuation, and legal oversight. A featured speaker at various industry forums on compliance-related topics, he has presented on compliance and risk management for investment managers. Prior to Cutter, he held several compliance, general counsel, and COO leadership roles, including most recently as GC, CCO, and COO of AlphaTrAI. He also was Executive Director at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where he oversaw the compliance program for Morgan Stanley Funds. A graduate of Fairfield University and Western New England School of Law, Todd is a member of the Connecticut Bar.
Compliance officers face increasing pressure to deliver effective and efficient compliance programs. Heightened expectations from clients and regulators, increased supervisory requirements in today’s hybrid/remote work environments, and constant regulatory changes all contribute to this pressure. Firms find themselves increasingly turning to technology to enhance their compliance program’s effectiveness and control costs.
This report includes the results of participating Benchmarking firms’ Compliance practices.