Community and History
2nd Annual Capital Markets Conference in Israel
14-06-2017
Capital Markets Day
Hilton Tel Aviv,
Ha-Yarkon St 205, Tel Aviv-Yafo, 6340506, Israel
By Invitation Only
Welcome Remarks
Nikhil Rathi
CEO, London Stock Exchange plc
Nikhil was appointed CEO of our London Stock Exchange plc subsidiary in September 2015. He also has Group-wide responsibility for International Development. Nikhil joined LSEG from the UK Treasury, where he held a number of senior positions over an eleven year period. Most recently he was Director of the Financial Services Group, representing the UK Government’s financial services interests in the EU and internationally. He served as the UK representative on the EU Financial Services Committee. Prior to that, he was Head of the Financial Stability unit, overseeing a number of the UK’s financial stability interventions during the crisis.
Nikhil also served as Private Secretary to the UK Prime Minister for three years from 2005 to 2008.
Keynote Address
Eli Groner
Director-General, Prime Minister's Office
Eli Groner is currently serving as Prime Minister Netanyahu's Director-General, a position he assumed after being confirmed by the Israeli Cabinet in June 2015. The Director-General manages Israel's federal bureaucracy, and is responsible for formulation and implementation of most domestic policy decisions.
Among other responsibilities, Mr. Groner is the Israeli head of the China-Israel Joint Economic Task Force, oversees the National Cyber Bureau, and was designated by the government to lead Israel's National Intelligent Mobility Initiative Prior to assuming his role as Director-General, Mr. Groner served as the economic attaché to Washington, a position also requiring Cabinet confirmation. His time in the public sector was preceded by two years at Tnuva and six years as a consultant at McKinsey & Company.
Mr. Groner graduated from Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, and has an MBA from New York University. He lives in Elazar, Israel, with his wife Tamar and their five children.
Keynote Address
David Quarrey
British Ambassador to Israel
David became British Ambassador to Israel in July 2015. Prior to arriving in Tel Aviv, he served from 2012-15 as Director for the Near East and North Africa at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. David has held numerous jobs in the FCO and Cabinet Office including Private Secretary to Prime Minister Tony Blair from 2004-06, head of the UK team in the UN Security Council from 2008-11 and Foreign Policy Director in the National Security Secretariat from 2011-12.
In his 21 years in the FCO, David has served in various missions overseas:
- Political Counsellor, UK Mission to the United Nations, New York (2008-11);
- First Secretary (Political), British High Commission in New Delhi (2000-03);
- Second Secretary (Political), British High Commission in Harare (1995-98).
In June 2015 David was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for services to British foreign policy in the Middle East and North Africa.
ELITE- SMEs & Capital Markets as the Growth Engine of the Economy
Moderator: Luca Peyrano
CEO, Elite
Luca Peyrano is CEO of ELITE, a company of the London Stock Exchange Group whose mission is to support private and public companies connecting with capital using the digital technology. With over 15 years of experience in the industry, Luca started with Borsa Italiana in 1999 with responsibility for companies admission to listing and then moved on to manage the SMEs markets offering until year 2007. Following the merger with the London Stock Exchange he was appointed Head of Continental Europe for Primary Markets, until when he took on his present position as CEO of ELITE in 2016. Prior to the London Stock Exchange, he worked in the consumer goods sector and in the automotive industry. He holds a degree in Business Administration from Bocconi University and received an MBA from IMD. Luca serves as member of the Board of the Scale-up Institute in the UK and the Board of Trustees of OIV, the Valuation Standard setter in Italy
Hovav Ref
Senior Director, Head of Investor Relations, Invest In Israel
Hovav Ref serves as a Senior Director and Head of Investor Relations at the Foreign Investments and Industrial Cooperation Authority at the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry since December 2014.
Mr. Ref joined the Ministry of Economy and Industry (formerly the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Labor) in 2002 and held various positions:
2010 – 2014- Economic and Commercial Counselor at the Israeli Embassy in Beijing
2008 – 2010 - Director of East and Central Europe Department at the Foreign Trade Administration
2004 – 2008 - Director of Economic Affairs at the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei
2002-2004 - Assistant to the Director of the Foreign Trade Administration and Head of Branch at the Middle East and North Africa Department
Prior to joining the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Labor, Mr. Ref worked in the private sector as an international marketing and business development consultant and manager. His last position was Manager and Senior Consultant at KPMG Israel, where he led a team of professionals that provided business consulting services to start-up and technology companies. Mr. Ref’s experience also includes business development and project management positions with enterprises dealing with the UK and North American markets.
Mr. Ref Holds an MBA in Marketing Management and a BBA in International Marketing, both from Baruch College, City University of New York.
Mr. Ref is married and has three children.
Dan Leubitz
CTO, Innitel
Dan, a techie, speaker and author in customer engagement and data, now drives the technology behind Innitel as the CTO.
Charged with developing tomorrows real time engagement tools that enable contact centers to access their leads and customer base, Dan spends his time thinking about creating non-intrusive, effective engagement tools.
Previously, Dan was responsible for developing and marketing intelligent traffic systems (ITS) and it's realtime traffic data for the New York Tri-State area.
Dan’s exceptional track record of technical improvement is based on his belief in quality and scalability. He is known for his ability to quickly identify customer requirements and translate them into realizable product features.
Adi Katz
CEO and Founder of Geekapps
Is a serial entrepreneur and innovator - making ideas a reality.
geekApps is the fruit of a conversation about setting up a small business, when it came to how to get customers the mobile route was clearly the best way to go, but Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. all have their flaws and building an app was too expensive and time consuming. So geekApps came about – a platform that makes native apps at a price that anyone can afford in a manner that anyone can use.
geekApps is taking part in the LSEG’s Elite programme and is aiming at the global markets
Adi is also developing the Levent Project that is a behind the scenes tool, disrupting the trading market; again making something costly - affordable and easy to use.
He spent over eight years as the VP of Business Technology Development and Deputy CEO of the ATM GROUP one of the largest communication companies in Israel. He was responsible for building one of the first non-proprietary ATM machines in Israel, as well as cellular and WEB products including: a cellular wallet; the Matam electricity project (prepaid) and the robot project "Houston".
Adi, his wife Hanit and his two children live in Jerusalem, Israel
Karin Mayer Rubinstein
Founder & CEO IATI
Karin Mayer Rubinstein is the Founder and CEO of IATI, Israel’s Umbrella Organization of the High-tech, Life Science and other advanced technology industries, with hundreds of paying members from every level and aspect of the ecosystem. Prior to her current position, Karin served as a senior partner and managing director of business development in leading commercial law firms. Karin is a member of Advisory Boards and Steering Committees of leading industry organizations, a Member of the Board of Governance of Tel Aviv University and a Board Member of Israel-America Chamber of Commerce. Karin is a keynote speaker at many leading global conferences and in the United Nations.
Karin holds a BA at Economics, an LLB and an MBA from Tel-Aviv University. Karin was nominated, twice in a row, as one of the Top 100 Influential Young Business Persons in Israel by Forbes Magazine, as well as one of the Marker's Top 40 Leading Young Business Persons.
Delivering Global Demand for Israel's International Sovereign Debt
Alexander Imseeh
Fixed Income Product Specialist, LSEG
Alexander Imseeh joined the Debt Capital Markets team at the London Stock Exchange in September 2014 as a Fixed Income Product Specialist. In this role, Alex mainly advises companies and market participants on the process of issuing and trading bonds on LSE’s wholesale and retail bond markets while contributing to the expansion of the Green, Dim Sum, Masala and Sovereign bond franchises of the LSE across the world. During the past two years Alex was part of many “world first” and important bond listings including Israel’s recent $2.25 International Sovereign bond issuance on LSE.
Primary Markets Stream - Panel I: Capital Raising Environment in London
Yoni Assia
CEO, eToro
Yoni Assia is the CEO of eToro, the world’s largest social investment network. He has shown an interest in finance and computer science since his youth and so decided to merge his passions. It was this very passion along with the social revolution, which led to the founding and development of eToro’s investment network, where users connect, share, trade and invest in the world’s financial markets. Yoni is as passionate about his business, as he is for his family, wife plus 3 kids, which often results in excessive use of the word awesome, and hi-fives around the office. It’s this young CEO’s vision to disrupt the old banking industry and replace it with a new online transparent and social financial system for the benefit for everyone. Yoni is a member of the YPO, and was included by Financial News in its prestigious Fintech 40 ranking and by City A.M. as a Fintech 100 top influencer. Yoni holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Management and an MSC in Computer Sciences.
Tom Attenborough
Head of International Business Development - Primary Markets, London Stock Exchange Group
Tom joined the Primary Markets team at the London Stock Exchange Group in September 2013, with a focus on large-cap companies and the LSE’s relationships with private equity and venture capital clients. In this role, Tom advises UK and international companies and their owners on the process of going public and life as a listed company on London’s markets. Prior to joining the LSE, Tom was at Citigroup for over 15 years. Tom was a Managing Director in the Equity Capital Markets division, originating, structuring and executing equity and equity-linked transactions across Europe and the Emerging Markets. He has been involved in a large number of IPOs and follow-on capital raisings over the years, including many involving a London listing. Prior to Citi, Tom worked in Kleinwort Benson’s Equity Capital Markets team from 1994 to 1997.
Tom graduated from Oxford University in 1994 with a BA (Hons) degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
Tal Barnoach
co-Founder Disruptive Technologies Venture Capital
Over the last 20 years, Tal has founded and led companies such as S.E.A (IPO in 1996), Orca Interactive (acquired by France Telecom in 2008), BeInsync (acquired by Phoenix Technologies in 2008) and Dotomi (acquired by ValueClick in 2011).
Tal has been a seed investor in companies such as Qumranet (acquired by Redhat), Crossrider (acquired by The Market). Just to name a select few, Tal is currently on the boards of Beamr, Idomoo, Anodot, Roomer, IVY, Tailor Brands, CoCycles and Deep.
Tal served in the Israeli Special Intelligence Unit of the IDF and is a Tel-Aviv University graduate.
Dru Dranford
Head of Corporate Broking & Advisory, Shore Capital
Dru Danford is Head of Corporate Broking & Advisory at Shore Capital, having joined in 2004. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young in 1997 before moving into investment banking in 1999. Over the past 20 years, Dru has specialised in the quoted mid and small-cap segment of the market from both a financial advisory and corporate broking perspective. Dru has successfully led numerous transactions including IPOs, fundraisings, acquisitions, disposals and takeovers across a wide range of sectors on both AIM and the Main Market.
Yoram Tietz
Managing Partner, EY Israel
Yoram is the Managing partner of EY Israel, the largest accounting firm in Israel. Yoram has been spending most of my career helping the high tech sector globally and in Israel in particular.
With background deeply rooted in the research and development Yoram manage to weave together his knowledge and desire with his job. Yoram has been working with some of the best entrepreneurs and the best developments there is. Fascinated by the way technology enables a profound change in our life and the way we live, combined with healthy curios nature Yoram has been able to use his experience to take part of their journey and help many entrepreneurs achieve their dreams and goals.
Yoram has a vast experience working with entrepreneurs and startups on strategy, finance, growth and fulfillment and with big corporation on similar issues.
With over 30 years of experience Yoram has participated in many M&A’s and IPO’s on NASDAQ and the European and Tel Aviv Public Capital Markets. Yoram has helped many clients in a multitude of issues advising management on strategy, growth and Innovation.
BA in accounting and economics (honors) from Tel Aviv University
Moderator: Jonathan Morris
Global Head of Corporate and Co-Chair, BLP Israel Business Group
Jonathan handles a broad range of corporate finance work and has been involved in a number of significant IPOs, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, takeovers and joint ventures on behalf of UK and international companies. He has particular experience of advising clients in the technology, real estate and healthcare sectors.
Jonathan is a Board member of UK Israel Business, the Bilateral Chamber of Commerce between the UK and Israel.
Chambers Global ranks Jonathan in ‘Band 1’ for Corporate/M&A (Lawyers Based Abroad).
Primary Markets Stream: Panel II: London Stock Exchange as a home for Israeli Tech Companies
Ido Erlichman
CEO, Crossrider plc
Ido joined Crossrider Plc in May 2016 as Group Chief Executive Officer. Ido has more than nine years’ experience in the technology sector garnered through roles in private equity, consulting and finance. Prior to joining Crossrider, Ido was acting Joint Chief Executive Officer of VisualDNA, a leading psychographic big data business, where he led its geographic expansion and oversaw significant EBITDA growth (was acquired by The Nielsen Company). Prior to VisualDNA, Ido was Investment Director of a London based Private Equity house, leading its investments in Big Data and eCommerce. Previously, he also worked as a Senior Associate within KPMG's Private Equity deal advisory practice in London and as a Senior Manager within KPMG's Transaction Services practice focusing on technology deals in Israel and with the Israeli Ministry of Finance. Ido is the author of the book 'Battle of Strategies' published in Israel by Yediot Books. Ido is a Certified Public Accountant, graduated magna cum laude in Accounting and Economics from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, obtained his Masters degree in Law from Bar-Ilan University, and received an MBA from the University of Cambridge's Judge Business School.
Amir Guttman
Managing Partner, Aviv Venture Capital
Dr. Amir Guttman founded Aviv Venture Capital and serves as its managing partner since inception in 2001. Prior to founding Aviv, Amir served for 6 years as member of the senior management of Discount Investments Corp (TASE: DIC) where he served on many boards of directors of industrial and high-tech companies including Given Imaging (NASDAQ: GIVN).
Amir received his Ph.D. in accounting from the University of California at Berkeley and is an experienced investor and board member in private and public companies.
Amir is also a lecturer on new-venture creation and innovative business models in the MBA and GMBA programs at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya.
Inbal Lavi
CEO, webpals
Ms. Lavi heads Webpals Group, the Israeli subsidiary of XLMedia PLC, since January 2014. She is a result-driven leader with over 13 years’ experience in online marketing. Ms. Lavi has a diverse background and expertise in marketing strategy, operations and P&L management, including heading the 888poker business from December 2011 to January 2014. She holds a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. with honors in industrial Engineering from Tel-Aviv University, Israel
Moshit Yaffe
Co-Founder and CEO - Zirra
Zirra is a technology company that analyses companies based on public information and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Moshit is a seasoned investment and management professional. Prior to founding Zirra, she founded a boutique investment banking firm that successfully raised over $70M for 15+ clients. Prior to that, she was the CEO of Vigilant Technologies and led the company through its IPO on AIM. Moshit is an attorney who earned her LL.B. from the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya.
Moderator: James Clark,
Head of Tech and Lifesciences - Primary Markets, London Stock Exchange Group
James joined the London Stock Exchange in January 2016 in Business Development with a sector focus on the Technology and Lifesciences industries. James brings this sector focus to integrate with colleagues across Europe, Israel and the rest of the world.
Over nearly 20 years, James as developed a broad range of experience in marketing, policy and deep industry knowledge around venture funding and tech startups. In recent years, as a “one man think tank” at the British Venture Capital Association, James published policy research into the role of technology and innovation. His three major research papers Tech Country, The Missing Piece, and VC Evolved, looked at how early stage entrepreneurship interacts with sources of growth funding. Alongside this work, James was a founding member of the Tech City UK Cluster Alliance as well as the founder of TLA Triage, a free advice service for startups under the auspices of Tech London Advocates.
James has an MBA from Cass Business School in London and a BA in Political Science from Macquarie University in Sydney.
Primary Markets Stream: Panel III: IPO Preparation
Marc Cohen
Managing Director, The PR Office
Marc Cohen is a Managing Director at The PR Office. He is a specialist in financial communications/Investor Relations, corporate communications, media relations, CEO profiling and crisis communications. Marc has advised a wide range of companies (from start-ups to some of the world’s biggest business) and political leaders, governments and NGO’s on all aspects of their PR and communications.
During his career Marc is proud to have worked across almost every industry sector, holding the philosophy that the wider your experience the better your advice, bringing best practice, insights and know-how from a range of sectors. Marc does, however, have particularly strong experience in TMT, private equity, infrastructure/transport, energy/natural resources and consumer/leisure.
Marc has worked on some of the most interesting, complex and significant business and political communications events in recent years. Including Europe’s largest IPO post the financial crisis, Ebola, rise in European anti-Semitism, global private equity transparency agenda and the Israeli start-up technology revolution.
Marc has advised on over 60 M&A transactions, 15 IPOs and a range of debt/restructuring mandates, bringing deep experience of supporting financial transactions.
After graduating from Law School, Marc started his career working in the City at Deloitte, before moving into communications and working at Bankside Consultants, FTI Consulting and Kreab Gavin Anderson.
Gil Holzman
CEO, EcoAtlantic
Mr Gil Holzman, President and CEO of Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas Ltd, has 12 years of significant experience in the mining and energy resources sectors throughout Africa and South America. Prior to founding Eco Atlantic in 2011, Mr Holzman was the co-founder of GP Minerals Limited, a private resource investment and development company, and, between 2003 and 2005, was the Managing Director of the Middle East region of Bombardier Transportation. Before this, Mr Holzman held a variety of strategic consultancy roles, including co-founding GCS Issue Management Ltd, a global world leading political consultancy boutique.
Mr Holzman has a B.A. in Business Management and Finance and an L.L.B in Israeli and International Law from IDC Herzilya. He also has an MBA from The IDC Arison School of International Business.
Andrew Joannou,
Vice President, Depositary Receipts, Citi
Andrew joined Citi in 2003 and spent 12 years within Citi’s Agency & Trust business before joining the Depositary Receipt (DR) Services business in 2016. Within Agency & Trust, Andrew worked across the business from Operations, Transaction Management and Sales. As a Senior Sales Manager, Andrew was responsible for selling Citi’s Trustee and Paying Agent services to clients from USA, Canada, Portugal, Greece, Central and Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa. Andrew also assumed responsibility for our most significant client’s including the World Bank, IFC and European Investment Bank.
Andrew transferred to Depositary Receipt Services business in EMEA in September 2016 with primary responsibility for all DR Sales and Relationship Management in Israel, Turkey, Greece, Germany, Austria and Benelux. Clients include Partner Communications, Delek Group, Turkcell, Akbank, Deutsche Post, E.ON, Infineon Technologies, voxeljet, Aperam, ArcelorMittal, Celyad, Galapagos and Solvay.
Andrew holds a MMATH Degree in Mathematics from the University of Plymouth.
Bidhi Bhoma
Director – Corporate Broking & Advisory, Shore Capital
Bidhi Bhoma joined Shore Capital in 2011 and has over 17 years’ City experience, initially as an Equity Capital Markets lawyer at international law firm Dentons, before moving into investment banking in 2005. Bidhi has led numerous transactions including IPOs, secondary capital raisings and M&A deals across a range of sectors on AIM and the Main Market. Bidhi’s principal areas of focus include technology, healthcare and business support services.
Moderator: Justine Zwerling
Head of Primary Markets - Israel, London Stock Exchange Group
Justine is an expert in assisting businesses to achieve their goals of global growth. Working with private sector businesses with global aspirations she examines, defines and successfully implements market entry strategies utilizing the skills and the connections in her extensive professional network.
With 20 years of senior level experience working across Europe the Middle East, Indo-China and Africa to help business grow and succeed in new geographical markets, Justine has successfully built an unrivalled network and has earned a reputation "as someone who achieves results”.
Trading Stream: Panel I: Navigating the European Markets - Opportunities for Trading UK & European Securities
Simon Fine
CEO, Shore Capital
Simon Fine has a 15 year track record of success at Shore Capital since joining in 2002 as CEO of Shore Capital Markets, and is responsible for all aspects of trading and brokerage as well as the integration of related corporate broking activities. He is the former Managing Director and Co-Head of Pan European Equity Cash Trading at Lehman Brothers. Prior to that, Simon spent the previous 14 years at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, latterly as Head of Pan European Equity Cash Trading – developing its UK operations into one of the leading players in the UK and German equities.
Liana Hartal
COO, Sphera Fund
Liana Hartal Kaneti is Sphera Fund Management Chief Operating Officer, where she oversees Sphera funds' trading, back office and investor relations operations. Liana has over 10 years of experience in the hedge fund industry. Prior to joining Sphera in 2012, she was the COO of Axiom Fund, a macro/CTA fund in NY. Liana holds BA in Mathematics and Economics from Columbia University (2003) and MBA from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (2008).
Lior Segev
CEO, Liquant Asset Management
Mr. Segev has over 19 years of experience in alternative investments. He is the founder and CEO of Liquant Asset Management, a firm that specializes in quantitative strategies. Prior to his return to Israel in 2014, he was COO and acting CEO of Lyxor Asset Management in New York, the alternative investment management arm of Societe Generale. Prior to that Mr. Segev also held the position of General Counsel at Lyxor. Mr. Segev practiced law with the law firm of Sidely Austin with focus on hedge funds. Mr. Segev is a one of the founders and is a Board Member of the Israeli Hedge Fund Association (IHFA).
Ben Stephens,
Head of Business Development, Instinet Europe
Ben is responsible for the firm's regional liquidity strategy and trading products including Newport, the firm's award-winning EMS and liquidity venue BlockMatch MTF. He leads the region's MiFID2 implementation strategies, as well as Instinet's best execution and transaction reporting activities. Prior to joining Instinet in 2013, Ben spent three years at Nomura as Head of Quant Prime Brokerage, and 3 years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the electronic trading business. Instinet, with its agency execution model, global footprint, and top-ranked front, middle and back office capabilities, is uniquely positioned at the epicentre of the changes being driven by regulatory and market forces in Europe.
Moderator: Scott Bradley
Head of Sales & Marketing - Cash Secondary Markets, London Stock Exchange Group
Scott Bradley is the Head of Sales and Marketing, LSE Cash Secondary Markets and Turquoise with responsibility for business development in Equities, ETF and FIxed Income trading, promoting growth and development within both existing and new markets.
Scott joined the Group in March 2017 having spent the previous 17 years of his career in various roles more broadly within execution services with a number of Investment Banks and Global Brokerages including Instinet, Nomura, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and ITG. Having been actively involved in the early days of electronic trading and the development of analytics tools and services, Scott initially started out as a trader and then sales trader with ITG, before joining Goldman Sachs. As Managing Director of International Algorithmic trading at Bear Stearns, Scott was responsible for the build out of electronic sales trading in London before moving into senior sales positions as Head of Electronic Client Solutions, EMEA at JP Morgan and most recently Head of EMS and Analytics Sales at Instinet.
For a number of years, Scott has been actively involved within the FIX Trading community and is currently co-chair of the Global Membership Services committee representing the EMEA region.
Scott holds a BA(Hons) Finance from the University of Manchester and is currently part way through his MBA at Warwick Business School.
Trading Stream: Panel II: European Derivatives Landscape and prospects ahead
Alon Braginsky
Head of Trading, Inbar Group
Alon has over 15 years of extensive experience in trading, market making and senior management.
He began his career trading short term interest rate futures for GHF Israel, later he joined Pi financials to build and run the interest rates futures desk, during his 9 years tenure with Pi, Alon took a principal role in the process of moving from point and click trading to algorithmic trading, in 2013 he joined Barak Capital to head the fixed income desk and in May 2016 he joined Inbar group to co-found the desk for algorithmic trading and market making.
Alon holds a B.sc in Mathematics and operational research from Tel Aviv University.
Max Butti
Head of LSE Derivatives Business Development, London Stock Exchange Group
Max started his career in Switzerland as an equity options and futures trader, working for global banks Societe’ Generale and Merrill Lynch before joining LIFFE in 2001 where he was responsible for Single Stock Futures, the acquisition of Cscreen and the launch of Bclear.
From 2006 to 2010, Max was Strategic Development Director at Liquid Capital Securities, in 2011 he founded software consulting boutique Sofistar and in 2014 joined LSEG as a Senior Advisor. In 2016 he was appointed Head of Business Development at LSEDM with responsibility for equity products.
Max holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics and History from Birkbeck College and is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst. Max is also a member of the Financial Derivatives Diploma Panel of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment and a holder of the Investment Management Certificate from the CFA Society of the UK.
Eran Harari,
Managing Director, Alpha link
Eran Harari brings 15 years of professional experience in the financial markets, focusing on the futures trading asset class, with a staunch reputation for professionalism and reliability. Eran began as a trader specializing in short-term interest rates (STIR) in the European market, later serving in a number of senior managerial positions, such as Regional Manager – Israel & Eastern Europe in the Hertshten Group , which included responsibility for over 100 traders, management of recruitment and training, operations, regulation compliance, business development and risk management. Eran is a co-founder of Matrix ABC North Trading and Investments, which employed 35 traders in various markets (commodities, bonds, stock indices), and was purchased by a large international trading group. Eran holds an LLM degree from Bar Ilan University and a BA in Business Administration and Economics from Haifa University.
Richard Walker,
Head of Business Development, Curve Global
Richard is responsible for Business Development and Marketing at CurveGlobal.In addition to growing CurevGlobal’s footprint within the Dealer, Market Maker, Bank, Hedge Fund, CTA, Insurance and Asset Management Community, he is tasked with identifying the core market requirements from these firms as they seek to evolve their businesses in response to competitive pressure, regulatory change and other market forces. Richard has spent 25 years in financial markets in a variety of sales, business development and marketing roles. Most recently he led client clearing sales at LCH; in his five year tenure he saw SwapClear grow its client clearing business fifteen-hundredfold, from $240Bn at the end 2011 to $360Trn in the summer of 2016.
Richard arrived from Nomura where, among other responsibilities, he launched and ran Nomura’s managed account platform. Richard spent nine years
in San Francisco working in a sales and marketing capacity for several FinTech firms; including Infinity Financial Technology (acquired by SunGard in 1998), Calypso and most recently Traiana. Richard began his career in Capital Markets at Swiss Bank in London.
Richard holds a PhD in Artificial Intelligence and a B.Sc (Eng) in Aerospace Systems Engineering.
Moderator: Uri Peles,
Head of Business Development, Barak Capital
Uri Peles Joined Barak Capital as an equity & index derivatives trader at 2010. He Received his MSC. In Financial mathematics from Bar Ilan University, Israel at 2012. Since 2013 he is responsible for Barak capital's market making unit's business development , driving the growth of the team . in his role, Uri works with Exchanges, Brokers, vendors and regulators in Europe, US and Asia in developing international relationships and managing ongoing projects.
Trading Stream: Spotlight on ETFs and ETNs: new development & market trends in 2017
Oren Avraham
Director, Institutional Sales, Citi
Oren Avraham is the Head of Institutional Sales in the Markets Division for Citi Israel.
Mr. Avraham joined Citi Israel 16 years ago as a team member of the Operations and Technology department and paved his way through several roles after which he became Citi Israel Custody Deputy Head, where he built and led the Global custody business for Israeli clients.
He started working in the Markets Division in September 2013 and was promoted to Director and Head of the Institutional Sales desk in 2017.
In his current role, he is responsible for selling Citi suit of products to the local industry.
Mr. Avraham graduated in the field of economics and business management from the College of Management.
He is married with 3 children.
Alex Pollak,
Director, Country Head for Israel, Blackrock
Alex Pollak, Director, is Country Head for Israel. Mr. Pollak's service with the firm dates back to 2006, including his years with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which merged with BlackRock in 2009. At BGI, he previously served in the Capital Markets Team before initiating coverage of the Israeli Market in 2007 for iShares. Prior to joining BGI, he was a Portfolio Manager at a London based hedge fund, Marble Bar Asset Management.Mr. Pollak earned a degree in International Business from the University of Georgia (USA) in 2000.
Gary Rynhoud,
Head of EMEA, FTSE Russell
Gary Rynhoud is Head of the Middle East and Africa for FTSE Russell, part of the London Stock Exchange Group. Gary works very closely with asset owners, asset managers and the various stock exchanges across the region with a focus on their investment needs and index requirements.
Prior to joining FTSE Russell in 2016, Gary spent the last 18 years in the asset management industry with a focus on hedge funds. This included 16 years with Man Group where his role included corporate finance, global sales management and helping grow the presence of Man globally and more specifically the Middle East. More recently Gary was Global Head of Business Development for Stenham Asset Management, a boutique hedge fund in London.
Gary was educated in South Africa and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Natal and a Masters Degree in Business Finance.
Moderator: Anastasia Kutsepalova
Head of Key Markets Development, London Stock Exchange Group
Anastasia Kutsepalova is Head of Key Markets Development at London Stock Exchange Group. Ms Kutsepalova is responsible for identifying business development opportunities across the Group through cross-sales and lead generation activities in key regions including the US, Israel, Dubai, India and CIS/CEE countries. For 5 years Anastasia oversaw the International Order Book, the International Derivatives business for London Stock Exchange Derivatives Market (LSEDM) and lead a number of strategic international sales initiatives across the CIS/Russia region, Greater China and Israel.
Ms Kutsepalova engages with key buy side participants, hedge funds, propriety trading firms, brokers and banking institutions to increase of visibility of London Stock Exchange Cash Secondary Markets and Turquoise, as well as LSEDM and IDEM products. Prior to LSEG, Ms Kutsepalova was a Sales Director at Otkritie in New York where she was responsible for the development of all global electronic services in the US. She spent over five years with Otkritie Financial Group, focusing on building its international electronic trading platform. Prior to Otkritie she worked at ODL Securities and CME Group. Ms Kutsepalova holds a Masters in Finance degree from Cass Business School.
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