Mike Abbey, Vice President of Network Services, Eze Castle Integration (M)

Mike Abbey is the vice president of network services at Eze Castle Integration. Mr. Abbey joined the company in 1999 and is currently responsible for ECINet, Eze Castle’s global carrier class network platform. In addition to managing ECINet, Mr. Abbey provides design consulting and best practice audits on fault tolerant and scalable optical, Ethernet, and IP based networks, from single and multi-site domestic networks to multi-site, global deployments. He is a graduate of Binghamton University with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting.

Bob Guilbert, Managing Director, Eze Castle Integration (M)

With more than 20 years of IT experience, Bob Guilbert is responsible for leading all of Eze Castle Integration’s marketing, partnership and product development functions. The scope of his efforts ranges from maximizing the value of the company’s brand, establishing core strategic partnerships, and developing new product lines for the company. Prior to joining Eze Castle in 2005, Mr. Guilbert was vice president of business development at Virtual Iron Software, where he developed and oversaw all facets of business development and channel management. Mr. Guilbert has also held senior marketing and business development positions at Double-Take Software (formerly NSI), EMC Corporation, and Digital Equipment Corporation. He is fluent in German and graduated from Northeastern University with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science.

Mary Beth Hamilton, Director of Marketing, Eze Castle Integration (M)

As director of marketing for Eze Castle Integration, Mary Beth Hamilton is responsible for marketing strategy and integrated marketing programs to drive awareness and demand for the company’s IT services and solutions. With a decade of marketing and technology experience, Mrs. Hamilton is skilled in guiding marketing efforts for services organizations. She is a member of the 100 Women in Hedge Funds Boston Philanthropy Committee.  Mrs. Hamilton holds a BS from Loyola University New Orleans and MBA from Boston College.

Sachin Kachhla, Director of Business Development, Tradar

Sachin Kachhla joined Tradar in 2003 and currently manages the company’s US division based in New US. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in business administration from The University of Texas - McCombs School of Business, where he focused on management information systems and finance. Prior to Tradar, Mr. Kachhla worked at both Citigroup and Deloitte & Touche.

Doug Kline, Managing Director of Hedge Fund Consulting, Deutsche Bank

Doug Kline joined Deutsche Bank’s Prime Finance group in February of 2010 to build out and run the US Hedge Fund Consulting group. The consulting group works with hedge fund clients to advise on business and operational issues in addition to industry best practices. Mr. Kline joined Deutsche from Viking Global Investors LP, where he was a partner and chief information and chief technology officer. He joined Viking at its inception and was responsible for all technologies, systems development, data management and business continuity. Prior to Viking, Mr. Kline had a senior management role at BofA Montgomery Securities and additionally spent time at JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley. He graduated cum laude from Middlebury College with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Adam Menkes, Vice President, Morgan Stanley

Adam Menkes is a vice president within the Business Consulting group of Morgan Stanley Prime Brokerage, and 15-year veteran of the financial industry, focusing on technology. Mr. Menkes has been with Morgan Stanley since February of 2007 and has helped over 200 clients with various needs involving technology solutions. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Menkes was the director of technology consulting and project management for Eze Castle Integration, where he personally managed over 100 startup and relocation projects, and oversaw a staff of six project managers. Mr. Menkes spent the first six years of his career building and supporting trading floors for hedge funds and broker dealers in over 20 locations throughout the US. He holds a bachelors degree in Computer Science from the University at Albany-SUNY as well as a number of technical and project management certifications.

Vinod Paul, Managing Director, Eze Castle Integration (M)

Leading a talented team of customer service and engineering professionals, Vinod Paul oversees all customer-facing engagements for Eze Castle Integration. Mr. Paul joined the company in 2002, and his responsibilities include service delivery and business development for the firm. Previously, Mr. Paul was the director of technical services for Martin Progressive, supervising a staff that supported 6,000 customers. Prior to that, he provided project management and engineering consulting services to IBM Global Services, Lucent Technologies, Tyco Submarine Systems, and Penguin Putnam Publishing. Mr. Paul is a member of the Hedge Funds Care East Coast Committee of Hearts 2011 and founder of the New York Hedge Fund Technologists Group. He is a graduate of Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences. He also holds numerous advanced certifications with Microsoft.

Steve Schoener, Vice President of Client Technology, Eze Castle Integration

As vice president of client technology, Steve Schoener is responsible for driving technology growth through Eze Castle Integration’s global offices as well as assisting in product and service evaluations with new and existing hedge fund clients. Prior to joining the Eze Castle Integration team, Mr. Schoener was head of IT for DW Investment Management in New York, where he oversaw all technology initiatives for the firm. He was also previously employed by Eze Castle as an associate director of technology in the New York region.

Jeremy Siegel, Managing Director, Credit Suisse

Jeremy Siegel is a managing director at Credit Suisse in the Investment Banking division, based in New York.  He is Global Head of the Prime Services Prime Consulting Team, which advises hedge funds clients on best practices throughout their business life cycle. Mr. Siegel joined Credit Suisse in 2004 from Eze Castle Integration where he was head of sales for the New York Metropolitan area. Mr. Siegel has spent over 17 years working in the financial services and financial technology industries and has held previous positions at Morgan Stanley and American Express. Mr. Siegel holds a Bachelors degree in Economics and many industry licenses including Series 7, 63 and 24. He is a trustee of the JCCA, a non-profit organization that works with impoverished youth in the tri-state area.

Tom Smykowski, Vice President, Goldman Sachs

Tom Smykowski is a Vice President on the Prime Brokerage Consulting Services team at Goldman Sachs responsible for infrastructure technology planning and project management. Mr. Smykowski has over twenty-five years experience as a technology professional in the financial services industry. His background has led him to develop comprehensive project management skills with extensive knowledge in design, development and implementation of various technologies. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in 1997, Mr. Smykowski worked as a project director at CS Technology, Inc. and as vice president of global communications planning at Kidder Peabody. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from St. John's University.

Eldon Sprickerhoff, Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer, eSentire

With over 15 years of tactical information security experience, Eldon Sprickerhoff leads both the eSentire security research team, as well as the eSentire customer-facing team that conducts vulnerability assessments.  Mr. Sprickerhoff sets the future vision and direction for security technology within the company, defines operational security best practices, and oversees the security posture on behalf of customers.  He holds several security industry certifications and is considered to be a subject matter expert in information security analysis.  Mr. Sprickerhoff holds a B.Math. in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo. He is a practitioner and instructor of Yoshinkan Aikido.

Chris Turek, Managing Director/Global Head of IT, Evercore Partners

Chris Turek is managing director and global head of IT for Evercore Partners in New York, where he is responsible for managing all aspects of the firm’s global technology department. Prior to joining Evercore in 2009, Mr. Turek was the director of product development at Eze Castle Integration, where he established and led the company’s virtual CTO practice. Mr. Turek also previously served as chief technology officer at Bridger Capital and Zinc Capital Management, both based in New York. He studied management information systems at Fairfield University and currently maintains a number of technical proficiencies and certifications.

Justin Warner, Vice President of Development, Advent Software, Inc.

Justin Warner is vice president of development in Advent Software’s Global Accounts organization. In this role, Mr. Warner is responsible for product design and delivery of Advent’s solutions in the alternative asset management industry, including the Geneva® platform and Advent’s Tamale research management solution. Mr. Warner has been with Advent since 2002, holding a variety of technical leadership roles in product development.  Prior to joining Advent, he held development and services leadership positions with TenFold Corporation, an enterprise solution and technology provider. Mr. Warner earned his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering and Economics from the California Institute of Technology.

Perry Vais, Co-Head of Quantitative Strategy, BlueMountain Capital Partners

Perry Vais is co-head of quantitative strategy at BlueMountain where he helps oversee analytics, software engineering, and IT across the firm. Prior to joining BlueMountain in 2006, Mr. Vais was responsible for the development of portfolio management, risk, and trading systems at DKR Oasis Capital Management. Before DKR, Mr. Vais worked in development at Devix Group a technology startup that provided business process management solutions for small and midsize e-commerce companies. Vais received his B.S. in computer science from Binghamton University.

Steve Wilhoit, Torchlight Investors

Steve Wilhoit has more than 25 years of professional experience and has overseen multiple functions at Torchlight including operations, legal, accounting and administration. Prior to Torchlight, Mr. Wilhoit co-founded and, from 2004 until its sale in 2009, was president of Lydian Data Services, a business process outsourcing company providing loan fulfillment services to leading Wall Street firms including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank. Prior to that, he was with Ocwen Financial Corporation (NYSE: OCN) from 1990 to 1997, where he was senior vice president with responsibility for the Law and Default Servicing groups. From 1986 to 1990 he was in private legal practice with a focus on corporate and securities law.

Elad Yoran, CEO, Vaultive
Board Member, Cloud Security Alliance - NY Metro Chapter

Elad Yoran is CEO of Vaultive, a pioneering cloud data security provider, as well as a recognized expert on information security market and technology trends. Mr. Yoran’s nearly 20 years in the cyber security industry spans experience as an executive, consultant, investor, investment banker and a several-time successful entrepreneur. Mr. Yoran’s previous entrepreneurial experience includes Sentrigo, MediaSentry, and Riptech. He also previously served as vice president of global business development at Symantec.  Recognized as “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Ernst & Young, Mr. Yoran also currently serves as general partner of Security Growth Partners and is a member of several technology, security and community boards, including Cloud Security Alliance New York Metro Chapter, FBI Information Technology Advisory Council (ITAC), and Department of Homeland Security Advisory Board for Command, Control and Interoperability for Advanced Data Analysis (CCICADA). Mr. Yoran served as an officer in the U.S. Army and is a veteran of Operation Restore Hope in Somalia. He holds an MBA degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelors degree in science from the United States Military Academy at West Point.