Panayiotis Lambropoulos, CFA, CAIA, FRM

Portfolio Manager, Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS)

Panayiotis Lambropoulos CFA, CAIA, FRM is a Portfolio Manager at the Employees Retirement System of Texas – a $34 billion retirement plan – located in Austin, Texas. His responsibilities include sourcing, analyzing and evaluating potential third party managers deploying all types of alternative investment strategies. His primary focus is on the Trust’s Absolute Return Portfolio. He also has a leading role for the Trust’s Emerging Hedge Fund Manager program – ERS Launchpad. Panayiotis holds a B.S in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance and Marketing from Boston College, and an M.B.A in General Management from Northwestern University.

Marc Lasry

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, Avenue Capital

Marc Lasry is the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Avenue Capital Group, a global alternative investment manager focused on specialty lending, distressed and undervalued debt and equity opportunities. In 1995, Mr. Lasry formed Avenue with his sister, Sonia Gardner, with less than $10 million in capital from friends and family. Today, Avenue is one of the largest distressed debt investors globally, managing assets of approximately $12.6 billion. Avenue is headquartered in New York, with three offices in Europe, four offices in Asia, offices in Silicon Valley and Abu Dhabi, and over 175 employees worldwide.

Mr. Lasry is known as a pioneer in distressed investing which has been the focus of his professional career for over 35 years.

After law school, Mr. Lasry clerked for the Honorable Edward Ryan, Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York. He spent the following year practicing law at Angel & Frankel, which focused on bankruptcies.

Mr. Lasry subsequently became the Director of the private debt department at R.D. Smith, the firm where he first became involved in “trade claims,” the market in purchasing and selling to investors the unsecured claims of vendors and other creditors against a debtor. In 1987, he moved to Cowen & Company where he was Co-Director of the bankruptcy and corporate reorganization department. It was at Cowen that he caught the attention of the Texas investor Robert Bass, who was a client of the firm. When he left Cowen, Mr. Lasry went to manage over $100 million for the Robert Bass Group, where he invested in bank debt, senior bonds, and trade claims. The Bass fund Mr. Lasry oversaw, Amroc Investments, L.P., was, at the time, one of the largest distressed funds in the U.S. In 1990, he co-founded a boutique distressed brokerage firm, keeping the Amroc name and maintaining the affiliation with the Robert Bass Group.

Mr. Lasry is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and he has served and will continue to serve on various other boards of advisors/directors of both for-profit and not-for-profit private and public companies. He is also the former co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks NBA team.

Mr. Lasry received a B.A. in History from Clark University (1981) and a J.D. from New York Law School (1984).

Robert Wolf

Founder, 32 Advisors

Robert Wolf is the Founder of 32 Advisors and the direct investing arm 32 Ventures, and does advisory services for corporate clients on financial matters, risk, and governance. Robert was named Chairman of the AI-driven messaging software platform Community in Summer 2022. Prior to forming 32 Advisors, Robert spent 18 years at UBS, a global financial services firm. While at the firm, he held several senior positions including Chairman and CEO of UBS Americas and President and Chief Operating Officer of the Investment Bank. He joined UBS in 1994 after spending 10 years at Salomon Brothers. In November 2022, Robert was appointed by President Biden to the Pentagon’s Defense Business Board and prior to that he held three Presidential appointments under President Obama: as a member of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board from 2009-2011, the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness from 2011-2013 and the Export Council from 2014-2016. Currently, Robert serves on the Board of Directors of the Obama Foundation, on the Alumni Board of the Wharton School, and on the Leadership Council of NYC’s Robin Hood Foundation. In 2016, Robert joined Fox News/Fox Business as a contributor. Robert is a 1984 graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving a B.S. in Economics.

Gareth Shepherd, PhD, CFA

Co-Head of Voya Machine Intelligence & Portfolio Manager, Voya Investment Management

Gareth Shepherd is co-head of the Voya machine intelligence (VMI) team and a portfolio manager at Voya Investment Management. Prior to joining Voya, Gareth was a managing partner and co-founder of G Squared Capital LLP. Prior to that, he held various positions within risk and asset management in Australia, Switzerland, the U.S. and the UK. Gareth earned a PhD in applied expert systems and a Master of Applied Science from the University of New South Wales, and a BE from the University of Queensland. He also completed a World Economic Forum sponsored Executive Masters (INSEAD, London Business School, and Columbia University) and is a CFA® Charterholder.

AJ Scaramucci

Founder & Managing Partner, Kyber Capital

AJ Scaramucci is a Founder & Managing Partner at the SALT. Previously AJ was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence alongside Dr. Peter Diamandis building Cellularity, an allogeneic cellular therapies company focused on cancer immunotherapy (NASDAQ: CELU). AJ was also a Managing Director at ABG (successor of Tony Blair Associates) where he focused on advising and financing late stage technology companies like Hims & Hers, JUST, and SpaceX. Prior to that AJ held roles at Google, Tesla, Planetary Resources, Sinovation Ventures, HubSpot, and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. Holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Mrinal Manohar

Chief Executive Officer, Casper Labs

Mrinal Manohar is the CEO of Casper Labs. Prior to this he was a principal and the Technology/Media/Telecom sector head at a ~$1b long only hedge fund, a private equity associate at Bain Capital in Boston and was an associate consultant at Bain and Company. He has an MS from Carnegie Mellon University and has been passionate about computer science ever since he began programming at age 11. He has been personally investing in the blockchain industry since 2012.

Julia La Roche

Host, The Julia La Roche Show

A veteran financial journalist, Julia has interviewed some of the world's top CEOs and investors. Julia dives deep into the lives and minds of her guests, uncovering their stories, experiences, and insights. She doesn’t shy away from the hard-hitting questions, and her guests always bring thoughtful answers.

William J. Kelly

Chief Executive Officer, CAIA Assocation

William (Bill) J. Kelly, CAIA is the President & CEO of the CAIA Association. Bill has been a frequent industry speaker, writer, and commentator on alternative investment topics around the world since taking the leadership role at the CAIA Association in January, 2014. Previously, Bill was the CEO of Boston Partners and one of seven founding partners of the predecessor firm, Boston Partners Asset Management which, prior to a majority interest being sold to Robeco Group in Rotterdam in 2002, was an employee-owned firm. Bill’s career in the institutional asset management space spans over 30 years where he gained extensive managerial experience through successive CFO, COO and CEO roles. In addition to his current role, Bill is a tireless advocate for shareholder protection and investor education and is currently the Chairman and lead independent director for the Boston Partners Trust Company. He has previously served as an independent director and audit committee chair for ’40 Act Mutual Funds and other financial services firms. He is also currently an Advisory Board Member of the Certified Investment Fund Director Institute which strives to bring the highest levels of professionalism and governance to independent fund directors around the world. A member of the board of the CAIA Association, Bill also represents CAIA in similar capacities via their global partnerships with other associations and global regulators. Bill began his career as an accountant with PwC and is a designated Audit Committee Financial Expert in accordance with SEC rules. Follow Bill Kelly on Twitter @CAIA_BillKelly

Ivelina Green

Founder & Chief Investment Officer, Pearlstone Alternative

Ivelina Green is the Founder and CIO of Pearlstone Alternative, a London-based credit asset manager focused on special situations and distressed investing. Pearlstone seeks idiosyncratic opportunities with high execution complexity in companies which come under cyclical and structural pressure.

Prior to launching Pearlstone, Ivelina was a Partner at CQS, where she headed the Global Special Situations Group. In this capacity, Ivelina was a senior portfolio manager and built a global team of dedicated special situations analysts based in London, New York and Hong Kong.

Prior to CQS, Ivelina was a Head of European Distressed Trading and Investing at Goldman Sachs in London. She started her career at Goldman Sachs in 2004 in New York.

Ivelina has been actively involved in various female leadership and mentoring initiatives seeking to promote women in finance throughout her career at Goldman Sachs and later at CQS and Pearlstone. She was named to the Hedge Fund Journal’s Leading Women in Hedge Funds in 2018. Ivelina was recently named to the HFJ’s Global Report of Leading Portfolio Managers for 2021.

Anthony Scaramucci

Founder & Managing Partner, SkyBridge

Anthony Scaramucci is the Founder and Managing Partner of SkyBridge Capital. He is the author of four books: The Little Book of Hedge Funds, Goodbye Gordon Gekko, Hopping Over the Rabbit Hole (a 2016 Wall Street Journal best seller), and Trump: The Blue-Collar President.

Prior to founding SkyBridge in 2005, Scaramucci co-founded investment partnership Oscar Capital Management, which was sold to Neuberger Berman, LLC in 2001. Earlier, he was a vice president in Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs & Co.

In 2016, Scaramucci was ranked #85 in Worth Magazine’s Power 100: The 100 Most Powerful People in Global Finance. In 2011, he received Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year – New York” Award in the Financial Services category. Anthony is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), vice chair of the Kennedy Center Corporate Fund Board, a board member of both The Brain Tumor Foundation and Business Executives for National Security (BENS), and a Trustee of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Foundation. He was a member of the New York City Financial Services Advisory Committee from 2007 to 2012.

In November 2016, he was named to President-Elect Trump’s 16-person Presidential Transition Team Executive Committee. In June 2017, he was named the Chief Strategy Officer of the EXIM Bank. He served as the White House Communications Director for a period in July 2017.

Scaramucci, a native of Long Island, New York, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Tufts University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

Bob Diamond

Founding Partner & Chief Executive Officer, Atlas Merchant Capital

Mr. Diamond is Founding Partner and Chief Executive Officer of New York-based Atlas Merchant Capital. Until 2012, Mr. Diamond was Chief Executive of Barclays, having previously held the position of President of Barclays, and was responsible for Barclays Capital and Barclays Global Investors (“BGI”). He became an executive director of Barclays in 2005 and was a member of the Barclays Executive Committee since 1997.

Prior to Barclays, Mr. Diamond held senior executive positions at Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley in the United States, Europe and Asia. Mr. Diamond worked at Credit Suisse First Boston from 1992 to 1996, where his roles included Vice Chairman and Head of Global Fixed Income and Foreign Exchange in New York, as well as Chairman, President and CEO of Credit Suisse First Boston Pacific. Mr. Diamond worked at Morgan Stanley from 1979 to 1992, including as the Head of European and Asian Fixed Income Trading.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Colby College in Maine and an MBA from the University of Connecticut.

Ibrahim Ajami

Head of Ventures, Mubadala Capital

Ibrahim Ajami is the Head of Ventures at Mubadala Capital, the wholly owned asset management subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, a $284 billion sovereign investor. Ibrahim joined Mubadala in 2006.

In his role, Ibrahim is responsible for leading Mubadala Capital’s ventures strategy with a focus on technology and healthcare. In 2016, Ibrahim launched the ventures platform in San Francisco, and has overseen a cross-discipline team that has invested in over 100 companies. Ibrahim also leads Mubadala’s partnerships with some of the leading technology investors globally.

Prior to launching the ventures platform, Ibrahim built and led Mubadala’s strategy in semiconductors and advanced technology. He is one of the founders of GlobalFoundries, a global semiconductor leader and one of the leading manufacturing companies in the world.

Ibrahim started his career working for various companies in Silicon Valley and for Occidental Petroleum in Abu Dhabi.

Ibrahim also serves as co-founder of The Ajami Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Lebanon given the economic and social crisis that the country is facing.

Ibrahim holds a Bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Southern California.