About IMDDA

About Us

The IMDDA is the leading and most affordable training platform and community for financial professionals in the world.

Our mission is to empower our members to improve their knowledge and skills to accelerate their growth and development to advance in their careers.

We do this by providing exceptional training, a vibrant community, and essential tools that make our members and their organizations more successful.

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Advisory Board Members

With a combined 250+ years of experience in all facets of the financial world the IMDDA advisory board provides guidance on innovative programs, subject matter selection, instructor recruitment and curriculums.

Patrick Colegrave
Partner Forbes Hare’s Investment Funds and Corporate Practice

Patrick Colgrave

Patrick is a partner in Forbes Hare’s Investment Funds and Corporate Practice advising on both Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands law. Patrick has particular experience of the investment management industry, including time spent in the investment management group at Linklaters and in-house for well-known London-based investment managers. Patrick has been involved in the establishment of a multitude of collective investment vehicles, both closed-ended and open-ended, across a diverse range of asset classes and acting in the capacity of both lead counsel and offshore counsel. Additionally, Patrick has advised on liquidations and funds in distressed situations, investor representations, restructurings, regulatory matters, downstream corporate and financing transactions. He has been the trusted advisor to a broad and global clientele ranging from leading financial institutions to start-ups, development finance institutions, banks, family offices and corporates in established, emerging and frontier markets. He has over 20 years’ legal experience, 14 of which have been with leading Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands law firms. Prior to joining Forbes Hare, Patrick was a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, and prior to that a partner with another top tier offshore law firm, where (amongst other things) he founded and headed that firm’s Africa practice, travelling extensively throughout the continent. He has spoken at numerous conferences and contributed to a range of industry journals.    
Anne Dyer
Director Howard Hughes Medical Institute Retired

anne

Anne Dyer

Anne heads up business due diligence and investment compliance at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She started her career at Legg Mason where she was an analyst in equity research and then a member of the institutional sales team. She was a managing member of a SEC registered investment adviser that managed institutional accounts and a family of global mutual funds. Prior to joining HHMI she was Director of Research at Farr, Miller and Washington. Anne graduated from Georgetown University, magna cum laude, and Harvard Business School.    
David Kim
Vice President of Operational Due Diligence Harvard Management Company

David-KimDavid Kim

David Kim, Vice President of Operational Due Diligence, joined Harvard Management in 2016. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Kim served as Head of Operational Due Diligence for Crestline Investors providing operational due diligence services to institutions, endowments, high net worth clients, and wealth platforms.  Previous experiences include serving asPrincipal at Mercer Investment Consulting, Vice President of Investment Operations at Northern Trust, Director of Trade Operations at UBS Global Asset Management, and Business Unit Controller at Citadel Investment Group.  Mr. Kim holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA in finance from the University Of Chicago Booth School Of Business.  
Kelly DePonte
Managing Director
Probitas Partners

Kelly DePonte

Kelly DePonte, Managing Director at Probitas Partners, responsible for research. With offices in San Francisco, New York, London, and Hong Kong, Probitas Partners is a global provider of alternative investment solutions, with an emphasis on the placement of private equity, private debt, real estate, infrastructure, and real asset funds.

Before joining Probitas Partners, he was Chief Operating Officer at Pacific Corporate Group, a private equity consultant and fund-of-funds manager, where he managed the partnership investment program, which oversaw more than $20 billion in capital dedicated to private equity globally. Before joining PCG, Kelly held various senior positions at First Interstate Bancorp, including managing a $170 million private equity portfolio, serving as President of First Interstate Equity Corporation (an SBIC), and overseeing all financial derivative activity in the corporation.

Kelly has also edited several books, including Private Equity Fund Due Diligence (2016), The Guide to Fund-of- Fund Managers, Third Edition (2011), and The Definitive Guide to Distressed Debt and Turnaround Investing, Second Edition (2010). He has also contributed chapters to several books covering various topics in private equity and infrastructure investing.

Kelly has an MBA in Finance from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA and a BA in Communications from Stanford University.

 
David Regan
Director, Alternative Investments Consulting Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking

Regan_David-head-shotDavid Regan

David Regan, CFA has over 20 years of experience in the alternative investments space working for several hedge fund managers and allocators.  He is currently holds a senior position on Societe Generale's Alternative Investment Consulting team within its Corporate & Investment Banking group.  The Consulting team provides hedge fund manager research and analytics to the bank's hedge fund manager and allocator clients.  Mr. Regan was most previously the head of manager due diligence for PivotalPath LLC, a hedge fund consultant advising on $4 billion in institutional hedge fund allocations.  Mr. Regan also previously worked for various hedge fund-of-funds including Commonfund Asset Management, and started his career as a trader and systems researcher at a trend-following Commodity Trading Advisor (SSARIS) and a global macro fund (Alpha Investment Management).  Mr. Regan holds an M.A. in Economics from Trinity College and a B.A in Economics from the University of Connecticut.
Kara Riley
Chief Operating Officer Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust

Kara RileyKara Riley

Kara Riley joined the Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust in 2005 and holds the position of Chief Operating Officer. She is responsible for investment operations, operational due diligence, technology and systems, operational risk management, compliance, and other non-investment related business operations. Prior to joining the Trust, Kara worked in the Investment Operations Department of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Chevy Chase, Md. Her primary responsibilities included managing daily cash movements, portfolio administration, trading activity and vendor relationships for the $14 billion endowment. Before this, Kara worked for the Calvert Group, a socially responsible mutual fund company, in Bethesda, Md. Ms. Riley earned her bachelor’s degree in finance from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
Samantha Rosenstock
Head of Investment Research

Samantha Rosenstock

Head of Investment Research. At Man FRM, Samantha is responsible for the evaluation and monitoring of managers across relative value hedge fund and private market strategies and also assists in the portfolio construction process. She has over 20 years of experience in the alternative asset management industry. Prior to joining FRM, Samantha worked at the State of New Jersey, Department of the Treasury, Division of Investment where she was Head of Alternative Investments for the state pension fund. In this role, Samantha oversaw manager research and due diligence and managed the pension’s strategic private equity and credit partnerships. Prior to joining the State of New Jersey, Samantha spent seven years as a member of the hedge fund team at PineBridge Investments, formerly AIG Asset Management. She started her career as a model developer and trader at R.G. Niederhoffer Capital Management, a short-term systematic hedge fund. Samantha holds a BA in Mathematics from Wesleyan University.    
John Ward
Managing Director
Duff & Phelps

John Ward

John Ward is a managing director in the New York office and is a member of the Alternative Advisory Group and the Portfolio Valuation practice. He has more than 30 years of financial and investment management experience. John specializes in the valuation of operational risks for hedge funds, private equity funds, real estate funds, and fund of funds. He has performed operational risk assessments on some of the largest and most complex hedge funds, private equity funds, real estate funds, and industry counterparties and service providers. John has extensive experience in a wide variety of investment strategies, and in both large institutional investment advisors and emerging managers. John also works with endowments, foundations, pensions, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices to develop best practices in investment due diligence, and support their efforts to implement institutional best practices throughout their organizations. Prior to joining Duff & Phelps, John was a managing director and Head of Operational Due Diligence for Gottex Fund Management and its predecessor firm EIM Investment Management where he was a member of the Global Investment, Risk, and Counterparty Credit Committees. Previously he was chief operating officer and executive director of Nomura Funds Research & Technologies America, Inc., the alternative asset investment management affiliate of Nomura Securities. John started his career with Shearson Lehman Brothers working in a wide variety of operations departments, as well as the financial consulting division where he worked on the divestiture of Lehman Brothers and later the merger of Smith Barney and Shearson’s operations and financial controls departments. He later joined W.P. Stewart & Co. Inc. as head of trading, and principal of their broker dealer. John received his BSBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Florida. He is also a Certified Due Diligence Analyst
Mark Flanagan
Head of ODD AON

Mark Flanagan

Mark Flanagan has worked in financial services since 1994. He was Co-Head of AonHewitt EMEA Operational Due Diligence and special projects across all asset classes totaling $5trn. Prior to working with AonHewitt he was a Director in the Risk, Structuring and Operations team with AXA Investment Managers. Before that he was SVP and Deputy Head of Cayman National Fund Services in the Cayman Islands where he was responsible for growing the business from $1bn to $8bn in AuA to provide consulting, fund launches and fund administration services. He has also worked in the telecoms sector as a financial analyst for capital investments. As a non-executive director he has worked across all assets classes. In addition to the above he has helped launch over 100 funds in all asset classes for start-up, emerging and institutional investment managers. He started his career in Dublin working in consulting, corporate finance and audit. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst. He heads up a number of industry initiatives working with managers, service providers and investors to create and implement operational best practices, transparency and to reduce risk. He works with various industry organisations, media outlets and is a frequent speaker at conferences to promote and advise on these issues. He has also been heavily involved in developing AIMAs new due diligence questionnaires.
Kevin Eastwood
Head of Operational Due Diligence Local Pensions Partnership

Kevin Eastwood

Kevin has over 30 years’ experience in investment operations. A former Chief Operating Officer, he has spent the majority of his career in senior roles either building, developing or enhancing operational functions both here in the UK and in the US across the full spectrum of investment products. Kevin has insourced the Operational Due Diligence function, established the business governance framework and has built a review process that is widely considered to be at the leading edge of Operational Due Diligence review structures. Kevin is the first UK charter holder of the CDDA (Chartered Due Diligence Analyst), is a CFA Claritas certification holder, is a member of the CISI and is the founder and Chair of the UK Pension Fund industry forum on Operational Due Diligence.
Ryan Mueller
Managing Director
Monument Group

Ryan Mueller

Ryan Mueller joined Monument Group in 2003 and is a Partner in the Boston office. Ryan co-leads the firm’s analytics team and has investor coverage responsibility in the US. Previously he worked at Commonfund Capital, where he was responsible for analytical and research support on private equity, venture capital and natural resources investments. Prior to this, Ryan was a Research Analyst and Account Executive at Venture Economics. He has a BS in Finance with a minor in East Asian Studies from Lehigh University. Ryan is FINRA Series 7 and 63 registered through Monument Group, Inc.
Kurt Spero
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer Old Farm Partners

Kurt Spero

Mr. Spero is the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Old Farm Partners where is responsible for all non-investment related functions of the firm including operational due diligence of the fund’s investment managers and is a member of the firm’s investment committee.   Prior thereto, Mr. Spero was the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Compliance Officer at Citrine Capital Management, a commodity focused hedge fund, from 2015 to 2018 where he managed all of the non-investment related activities of the firm.  Before joining Citrine Mr. Spero Co-Founded and was the Chief Operating Officer of Real Economy Capital, a long/short equity hedge fund.  Prior to Real Economy Mr. Spero served as the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Compliance Officer of Galtere, a global macro fund with peak assets of approximately $2.5 billion, from 2009 to 2014.  Before joining Galtere Mr. Spero was the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of TGRA Capital Management, a long/short equity hedge fund, from 2006 to 2009.  From 2000 to 2006, Mr. Spero was an Associate Director at UBS in the Global Prime Brokerage Department and held trading positions at several brokerage firms prior to 2000. Mr. Spero earned an MBA from Seton Hall University in 2006 and a Bachelors Degree from Rollins College in 1994.
Andrew Borowiec
Co-Founder of IMDDA

Andrew Borowiec

Co-Founder of IMDDA.
Daniel Strachman
Co-Founder of the IMDDA and Managing Partner A&C Advisors LLC

Daniel Strachman

Co-Founder of the IMDDA and Managing Partner A&C Advisors LLC.

 

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