Custody Risk Americas Awards 2014

The judging panel

David Geffen, president, hedge fund consultancy, Geffen Advisors
David Geffen has worked in the hedge fund industry, both on the sell side and buy side, for more than 20 years. His current firm, which he founded in 2012, offers strategic advice to hedge funds and solutions in areas including treasury and counterparty risk management. The firm also advises hedge funds on foundational aspects of their launches and provides training on hedge fund topics. Based in San Francisco, David was previously managing director at BlackRock and Barclays Global Investors, where he established and managed the team overseeing relationships with Wall Street for global prime brokerage, financing and futures clearing services. David is an alumnus of Amaranth, Goldman Sachs and Citibank.

Joyce Heinzerling, managing director, Meridian Fund Advisers
Joyce Heinzerling is the managing director of Meridian Fund Advisers, a New York-based wholly independent firm. Formed in April 2009, Meridian Fund Advisers provides regulatory and strategic consulting services to managers of hedge funds, funds of funds and private equity funds, as well as to hedge fund administrators. Prior to forming Meridian Fund Advisers, Joyce was a partner of Archery Capital, a New York-based family of fund of funds focused on alpha-strategic investing in emerging managers. Previous to joining Archery Capital in 2000, Joyce served as counsel to the asset management group at Shearman & Sterling, and was a special counsel at Kramer Levin Naftalis Kamin & Frankel.

Mike Seery, director, Kinetic Partners
Mike Seery, a director in the New York office of Kinetic Partners, has more than 20 years of investment experience, specialising in hedge fund and private equity fund regulatory compliance, operations and portfolio valuation. Mike manages client relationships with both emerging and multi-billion-dollar investment managers, helping clients create compliance programmes that follow Securities and Exchange Commission best practices. He also advises extensively on operational areas including trade execution and portfolio valuation. Before joining Kinetic, Mike advised special situations investors on valuation questions in financial restructurings. He graduated with an MBA from Anderson Graduate School of Management at University of California, Los Angeles and holds a BA from Yale University.

Freeman Wood, principal and director, Mercer Sentinel Group
Freeman Wood works in Mercer Sentinel Group’s investments business. Freeman joined Mercer in 2009 and has a broad background and significant expertise in risk management. He leads Sentinel’s Americas team, which specialises in operational, transaction and service provider risk management consulting. This includes custodian evaluation, investment manager operational risk assessment, transitions management and risk management governance. Prior to joining Mercer, Freeman led quantitative market and credit risk management teams within large banks, corporate treasury functions and regulators, and has experience in derivatives trading and alternative investment portfolios. Immediately prior to joining Mercer, he was head of investments and risk management for a hedge fund of funds.