CAIA Miami Chapter Launch
Please join us for the inaugural event of
the CAIA Miami Chapter.
We are commencing our Chapter activities with a
keynote speaker and a panel discussion on the current use
of alternatives in today’s market environment
Agenda
5:00 PM
Cocktail Reception and Registration
6:00 PM
Welcome and remarks by Bill Kelly, CEO, CAIA Association
Presentation Commences
7:30 PM
Networking Reception
Drinks and light fare will be provided courtesy of CAIA.
Keynote Speaker:
Current State of Liquid Alts: Products & Regulations
Karim Simplis, CFA
VP/Senior Product Managers, Alternatives
Franklin Templeton Investments
Moderator:
Christopher T. Battifarano, CFA, CAIA
Director of Research
GenSpring Family Offices
Panelists will include:
David C. Coggins, M.B.A.
Principal
Coral Gables Asset Management
Helen Doody
Managing Director, Abbey Capital
Shawn Lese
Managing Director | Global Real Assets
TIAA Global Asset Management
With the generous sponsorship of:
Christopher T. Battifarano, CFA, CAIA
Director of Research, GenSpring Family Offices
Christopher Battifarano is GenSpring’s director of research having rejoined GenSpring Family Offices in 2015. In this role Christopher oversees the firm’s robust manager evaluation process with a particular focus on alternative investments. Prior to rejoining GenSpring Chris was the chief investment officer and partner at Palm Equity, a single-family office that he helped develop into a multifamily office during his tenure, which began in 2012. At Palm Equity Chris was responsible for establishing the firm’s strategic and tactical asset allocations as well as directing manager due diligence across both traditional and alternative asset classes. Chris originally joined GenSpring Family Offices in 2001 where he served as Senior Portfolio Strategist, spearheading due diligence and manager selection. While at GenSpring, he chaired the Manager Selection Committee and played a contributing role on the Portfolio Allocation and Construction Committee. Mr. Battifarano began his career as an equity research analyst at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. specializing in wireless telecom research. Chris is a CFA Charterholder, member of the South Florida Society of Financial Analysts and holder of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation. He received both his Master and Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Miami. He has also passed FINRA Series 7 and 63 exams as well as the Florida Life Heath and Variable Annuities licensing requirements. He is frequently asked to speak at high-profile industry conferences and regularly quoted in a wide range of media including Bloomberg, Barron’s, Investment News and others.
David C. Coggins, M.B.A.
Principal, Coral Gables Asset Management
Mr. Coggins serves as the COO of the fund and also helps with the portfolio management activities of the fund. Mr. Coggins has worked in the financial services industry for over ten years, working in portfolio management, securities trading and investment management as VP, SVP, and Director. Mr. Coggins began his career in 2001 as an Equity Research Associate at Prudential Securities in New York, NY. Mr. Coggins was part of a team that focused on investment management and strategy. Soon after, Mr. Coggins moved to South Florida and became the Managing Director of a real estate development and startup investment firm called 3 Star Development Group, LLC. Mr. Coggins with three other members built the company from the ground up. Mr. Coggins helped lead the company in acquisitions, and all financial analysis of real estate transactions and investment opportunities. In 2011, Mr. Coggins moved back into banking and was a Sales Manager at Wells Fargo The Private Bank, where he focused on private banking needs of high net worth and ultra night net individuals. Soon after graduating from business school in 2014, David launched Coral Gables Asset Management with two distinguished academics from the University of Miami School of Business.
Mr. Coggins earned his M.B.A. from The University of Miami School of Business Administration with an emphasis in, Management Science, Finance, and International Business, his G.M.I.F. and M.S.F. from IE Business School in Madrid Spain and his undergraduate degree from the University of Hartford Barney School of Business where he received his B.A. in Finance and Economics and a minor in Entrepreneurial Studies. David is also on the Board of Directors for The Student Finance League, an organization that educates youths on the importance of finance and growing your own business.
Helen Doody
Managing Director, Abbey Capital
Abbey Capital (US) LLC is a registered Broker Dealer, a member of FINRA and a wholly owned subsidiaryof Abbey Capital Limited. Helen oversees US client servicing, business development and the running ofthe US subsidiary office which currently is a seven-person team.Prior to working with Abbey Capital in 2008, Helen was an equity trader for almost ten years. In 1999Helen commenced employment with ABN AMRO where she was employed for five years. She tradedIrish equities before moving to London to be a FTSE 250 Market Maker. Helen returned to Dublin in2005 and headed up Anglo Irish Bank’s Centralised Dealing Desk until 2006 when she moved to theUnited States of America. Helen joined Chilton Investment Management where she was responsible forthe group’s European Equity Trading until January 2008.Helen graduated from University College Dublin with a bachelor of Commerce Degree and Dublin CityUniversity with a Certificate in Investment Management. She is also a member of the Society ofInvestment Analysts in Ireland.
Karim Simplis
Senior Product Manager, Franklin K2 Alternative Strategies Fund
Karim is responsible for directing Franklin Templeton's global retail and institutional alternatives product management including the support of K2, Pelagos and Real Assets platforms. Karim works to ensure that Franklin Templeton has complete, profitable and locally competitive product ranges that meet FT clients' needs across all distribution channels and geographies globally. Karim focuses on directing a team of product management professionals, new product development and pricing, product positioning, articulating the investment process, and product/process quality control.
Karim Simplis joined the FTS Global Product Management team in November 2014 as a vice president, senior product manager with over 13 years of industry/investing experience.
Prior to joining Franklin/ K2, Karim was a vice president at Wilshire Associates in their Consulting division and Chair of their Hedge Fund Committee. While he was at Wilshire, Karim was responsible for performing manager research across asset classes with specialization in both hedge fund and private equity funds. Karim also spent time at First Q as an equity analyst, JLL Partners as a private equity analyst and Merrill Lynch as an investment banking industrials analyst.
Karim holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was a Soros Fellow and Toigo Fellow, and a BA in Economics/ Business Management from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he was a UC Regents Scholar. He also is a CFA charterholder.
Shawn Lese
Managing Director, TIAA Global Real Estate
With 20 years of experience in the finance and real estate sectors, Shawn Lese is a Managing Director on the U.S. Business Development team of TIAA Global Real Estate where he is responsible for developing, structuring and negotiating new proprietary investment products focused on private equity and debt strategies involving various real estate sectors and risk profiles. Shawn also leads strategic activities relating to the acquisition and formation of partnerships with third-party platforms and investment teams to augment the firm's current investment skill set, track record and assets under management, including identification of platforms/teams, due diligence, valuation and synergy assessment. Shawn joined TIAA in May 2015.Prior to this role, Shawn served as a Managing Director on the Capital Markets team of Grosvenor Fund Management, which he joined in June 2012. At Grosvenor, Shawn performed roles similar to those at TIAA, in addition to raising capital from U.S., Canadian and European institutional and high net worth investors for the firm's global real estate-related private equity and hedge fund products.Between April 2005 and June 2012, Shawn worked as a Vice President and Executive Director in Morgan Stanley's Real Estate Investment Banking Group at the firm's New York and London offices. Shawn's specialized in working with real estate investment managers to help them raise capital for new investment strategies, as well as execute their strategic objectives.Additional experience includes positions at Lazard (Vice President on the Real Estate Investment Banking team in New York), JPMorgan (Associate on the Equity Capital Markets team in London) and Sullivan & Cromwell (Associate in New York and London).Shawn holds a J.D. degree from Columbia University School of Law, an M.B.A. degree from Columbia Business School and a B.A. degree from Columbia College of Columbia University.