CAIA Chicago 2016 Outlook for Hedge Funds

Please join the CAIA Association and 50 South Capital for a luncheon and panel discussion on the 2016 Outlook for Hedge Funds. The panel will discuss how higher market volatility, increasing dispersion and rising interest rates are setting the stage for hedge funds. Join us for a deep dive into the opportunities and various risks that may impact the different hedge fund sectors in 2016. 

“2016 Outlook for Hedge Funds”

Panel Members:

Tristan Thomas, CFA, Director of Portfolio Strategy, 50 South Capital

Mark Koschik, CFA, Senior Portfolio Manager, Exelon Corporation

Angela Cantillon, CFA, CAIA, Associate Partner, Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting

Moderator:

Kweku Obed, CFA, CAIA, Senior Vice President, Marquette Associates

Location:

Northern Trust Global Conference Center
50 South LaSalle Street, Chicago, IL 60603

Fees:

CAIA Members and Candidates: Free
Guests: $10.00

Speaker Bios:

MARK KOSCHIK, CFA, Senior Portfolio Manager, Exelon Corporation

Mark Koschik is a Senior Portfolio Manager with Exelon Corporation.  In his current role Mark is responsible for the hedge fund investments for Exelon’s Investment Office which oversees approximately $35B in Pension, VEBA, Nuclear Decommissioning Trusts and Employee Savings Plan Assets.  Prior to joining Exelon in November 2010, Mark was a research analyst for Mesirow Advanced Strategies, focusing on credit and equity strategies for the firm’s Fund of Hedge Funds.  He previously also was with Credit Suisse Securities in their fixed income sales group. Mark received an M.B.A from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BS Finance From Miami University.  Mark is also a CFA Charterholder.

TRISTAN THOMAS, CFA, Director of Portfolio Strategy, 50 South Capital

Tristan Thomas is Director of Portfolio Strategy for 50 South Capital’s Hedge Fund Investment Team, responsible for portfolio construction and monitoring and a member of the team’s Senior Investment Committee. Prior to joining 50 South Capital, he was a Strategy Head at Mesirow Advanced Strategies and a member of the Senior Investment Group.  He was responsible for the monitoring and sourcing of all strategies that fell outside of credit and equity including macro, commodities, relative value, multi-strategy, volatility, convertible arbitrage and reinsurance.  Prior to his role as a Strategy Head, he was a Senior Analyst covering all hedge fund strategies in Asia.  He began his career at Lehman Brothers where he was on the emerging markets fixed income desk focused on sovereign debt and derivatives. Mr. Thomas received a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin in political science and international relations and holds a Masters in Business Administration from NYU’s Stern School of Business. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the CFA Institute.  He also holds his series 7 and 63 licenses. 

ANGELA CANTILLON, CFA, CAIA, Associate Partner, Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting

With 14 years of institutional investment experience, Angela is an Associate Partner and senior researcher in the liquid alternatives investment group of Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting. She is actively involved in the sourcing, vetting and monitoring of direct hedge funds and leads liquid alternatives (hedge fund) programs for a select number of Aon Hewitt retainer and project clients. Her additional responsibilities include educating client on hedge funds, participating in industry conference and panel discussions and advising clients on structure, selection, and implementation of hedge funds into their portfolios. Prior to joining Aon Hewitt, Angela was a senior investment consultant for a boutique investment consultancy, the manager of corporate finance for a $5 billion publicly traded multinational firm with oversight of pension assets and the Corporate Treasurer for the YMCA with oversight and endowment and pension assets.

She has a B.S. degree in finance from Northern Illinois University and M.B.A. degree from the University of Chicago Booth School Of Business, is a CFA charterholder, a CAIA charterholder, a member of CFA Institute, and a member of the CFA Society of Chicago.

KWEKU OBED, CFA, CAIA, Senior Vice President, Marquette Associates

Kweku Obed is a senior vice president for Marquette Associates. As a member of the investment consulting team, Kweku is actively involved in the daily management and administration of client relationships. He has more than 16 years of investment experience and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences. He is chair of the firm's defined contribution services group and sits on the firm's investment committee.

Kweku joined the firm from Mercer Investment Consulting, where he served as a principal and senior investment consultant in their Chicago office. His responsibilities included working with defined benefit and defined contribution clients on asset allocation, performance measurement and analysis, investment manager search, and investment policy development. Prior to Mercer, Kweku worked at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (now part of BlackRock) as an assistant vice president in their tax-exempt fixed income research group. 

Kweku holds a B.S. with honors in economics from Queen Mary College, University of London, and a M.S. in development economics from SOAS, University of London. He is a recipient of the Bernard Corry Prize in Economics. Kweku is a CFA charterholder, holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation and contributed to the official CAIA textbook, CAIA Level I: An Introduction to Core Topics in Alternative Investments, Second Edition. He is a member of the board of trustees for the La Rabida Children’s Hospital and a recipient of the Harlem YMCA 2013 Black Achievers in Industry award for corporate and community leadership. Kweku is also a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and sits on the investment committee for the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA).