3rd Annual Art Basel PPLI & PPVA Forum Speakers

Robert is the Founder and CEO of Gideon Strategic Partners, a boutique investment advisory firm headquartered in Century City, Los Angeles, with offices in Midtown Manhattan and Baltimore, Maryland. Since its inception in 2012 and independence in 2016, Gideon has grown under Robert’s leadership to manage over $1 billion in client assets, offering sophisticated financial planning, investment management, and tax-efficient strategies tailored to the unique needs of high-net-worth families, entrepreneurs, and executives.

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As a thought leader in the financial services space, Robert is a public speaker on topics such as alternative investments, tax structuring, estate planning, and wealth preservation strategies. He frequently shares his expertise at industry events and conferences, helping to demystify complex financial concepts for clients and peers alike.

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Robert began his career at Van Eck Global in 2007 before joining AXA in 2008, where he quickly rose to become Regional Vice President, building and leading the company’s largest and top-producing U.S. team. He earned multiple accolades during his tenure, including Circle of Excellence, Summit, and Hallmark I awards, as well as membership in the Elite Producer Group and Million Dollar Round Table.

Fred is a Partner at Freedom 3 Capital and has more than 30 years of experience in middle market finance including sourcing, structuring and syndication of private credit. His primary responsibilities consist of building out the Manager’s senior credit platform, managing relationships with investors in new and existing funds, and syndication of co-investments. Fred has been involved with over 100 different companies syndicating several billion dollars of investments.

Prior to joining the Manager in 2016, Fred was a Managing Director and Head of Capital Markets for Fifth Street Asset Management where he was responsible for origination of capital markets and club investments, providing market and investment intelligence to the firm and syndication of private credit to co-investors. He has held similar roles at TD Securities, Jefferies & Company, Berenson Minella & Company and CIBC World Markets, where he began their professional career beginning in 1994.

Tony is the Co-Founder, President, and Chief Investment Officer of Sage Mountain Advisors.

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Prior to Sage Mountain, he worked in Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs for nine years. There he focused on portfolio construction and analysis for a team that managed $4 billion for high net worth individuals, working with an exclusive group of entrepreneurs, executives, families, and foundations to align their investing strategy with their unique goals.

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Tony received a Master of Science in Finance from Vanderbilt University and an undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Kentucky where he serves on the Gatton College Finance Advisory Board. He lives with his wife and two children in Sandy Springs.

Michele D’Alto is the Vice President of Domestic Operations at Crown Global. Since joining Crown Global in 2012, she has become the lead compliance specialist in the U.S., handling the client due diligence process during onboarding to ensure compliance with KYC and AML requirements, acting as the direct liaison with the reinsurers during the underwriting process, and handling policy issuances. Mrs. D’Alto is also responsible for onboarding new funds and investment managers to Crown Global’s investment platforms.

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Prior to Crown Global, she worked for 2 family real estate offices for over 8 years and was directly involved in residential and commercial real estate acquisitions, dispositions, development and property management.

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Mrs. D’Alto is a certified anti-money laundering specialist (“CAMS”), holds Series 6 and 63 licenses and variable life and annuity insurance licenses.

Michael joined the Lincoln Financial Life team in February 2015 and has 15+ years of experience in the financial services industry. As the Sales Vice President, HNW PPLI and Executive Benefits, Michael trains life consultants, case managers, and internal sales consultants, as well as coordinates regional and home office insurance partnership
meetings.
 

Prior to this position, Michael worked within Lincoln's Specialty Markets Team, as a Business Insurance Consultant, helping financial professionals design and implement life insurance solutions to address business succession, executive benefits, and estate planning needs of high net worth business owner clients.
 

Michael holds FINRA Series 7 registration.

Michael currently resides in Greensboro, NC.

Sean provides consulting and case development expertise for NFP’s ICOLI clients and strategic alliances. Sean has over 25 years of experience in corporate-owned life insurance (COLI) and ICOLI and has a deep understanding of product, regulatory, taxation, accounting and investment related matters.
 

Prior to joining NFP, Sean spent 14 years as a senior consultant at Newport Group, Inc., where he led their ICOLI efforts and provided subject matter expertise for COLI
and nonqualified executive benefits. He also held similar roles in the COLI and nonqualified plan space at Promus Financial, Andesa Strategies and Hartford Life Private Placement.

Jonathan Donfeld founded DISC in 2017 after being a leading national producer at AXA Advisors.  Prior to working in financial services Jonathan worked for Senator John McCain’s Presidential Campaign where he was a campaign liaison with supporting politicians, business people and celebrities.  Jonathan graduated from Pepperdine University with a degree in Finance in 2007.

Dominique Drenckhahn, CAIA, is a Managing Director of Neuberger Berman and a senior member of the private equity investment team. Ms. Drenckhahn focuses on designing and implementing customized private equity and multi-asset class solutions for institutional and high net worth clients, acting as a program manager and a client investment contact for custom account mandates. In addition, she is also responsible for evaluating and executing private equity investments and assists with business development activities across the private equity platform. She joined the firm in 2008 and has experience in investment diligence, product and business development.

Ms. Drenckhahn received a BA in both Economics and Art History from Williams College. She is a member of the Neuberger Berman Foundation Associate Board, which is committed to helping at-risk children and youth achieve their potential through educational enrichment and support programs that promote academic success, independence and economic sustainability. Ms. Drenckhahn is also a Docent for the Neuberger Berman Art Collection and has been awarded the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation.

Ben co-founded Provenio in 2016 and is the Chief Investment Officer. Prior to Provenio, he was CIO of a large single family office and before that, a Director at ICG Advisors. Over the last twenty years Ben has also worked as a trader for Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Vantis Capital Management. Ben earned his BS in Psychology from Tufts University and his MBA from Columbia Business School with a concentration in Finance and International Business.

Ken brings 20+ years of financial services and insurance industry experience.  Ken oversaw the build out of the administration program at Spearhead Capital Advisors (our predecessor company). As head of the program, he personally managed each relationship with our insurance carriers and sub-advisor partners. He was also responsible for managing the marketing/sales program across the entire firm.

Prior to joining Spearhead, he served as the Senior Vice President of Agency Distribution at Lombard International. There he oversaw all agent distribution in the U.S. and managed the Alpha Alliance, the exclusive membership program at Lombard reserved for professionals and firms with a proven tradition of service to the high-net-worth client community.

Nick Friedmann is a Senior Client Strategist for BNY Wealth. In this role, he works directly with ultra high-net-worth families, non-profit organizations, and family offices to
address their investment and wealth management needs. He also works with clients and their tax and legal counsel on bespoke solutions for philanthropy, insurance, trust, and
estate planning.

He has more than 19 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining BNY in 2021, he served as a senior vice president ultra high-net-worth banker for
Citi Private Bank. In his past roles at Citi and Wells Fargo, he has focused on managed investments, banking, custom credit, trust, and wealth advisory.

He currently serves as a member of the Mary’s Center Board of Directors and development committee. Additionally, he serves on the development committee for The
Lab School of Washington, D.C. and The Vigilant Torch Foundation. He also is a founding member of the Mentor Program at the University of Georgia and has established a permanent scholarship endowment in the Terry College of Business.

Nick received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia, Terry College of Business. He was named to the UGA Alumni Association 40 Under 40 Class of 2017 in
recognition of his work in philanthropic fundraising and volunteering. 

Riccardo works with clients and their trusted advisors to develop asset protection, pre-immigration, investment enhancement, wealth preservation and succession solutions using Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI). His background includes previous executive roles at global financial institutions, a Master of Laws with Distinction, a professional postgraduate diploma in Private Wealth Advising, and a STEP TEP.
 

Additionally, Riccardo is the Co-Founder of TrustedGovernance.com, a family-founded organization dedicated to supporting the smooth transition of family legacies to the next generation in close collaboration with all family members and relevant third parties.

Brian Gartner is a Principal of Winged Keel Group, responsible for the ongoing development and operations of Winged Keel's California presence.  He specializes in the structuring, implementation, and servicing of life insurance and annuity portfolios designed to help meet the unique needs of ultra-affluent families.  After joining Winged Keel Group as an Associate in 2011, Brian advanced into the role of Director before relocating across the country to open the firm's San Francisco office in 2016.  He was promoted to Managing Director in 2019 and became a Principal in 2020.

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Brian has co-authored articles on topics such as the use of term insurance as a liquidity hedge, Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) fundamentals, and charitable planning for the online journal of Trusts & Estates magazine and Bloomberg Tax’s Tax Management Memorandum.  He frequently speaks at industry conferences on the utilization of PPLI and other life insurance solutions.  Brian is also a member of Finseca and part of its Ambassador program, which focuses on legislative advocacy for the financial security profession.  

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Brian holds FINRA Series 6 and 63 securities registrations.

Bruce is a partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He has extensive experience advising fund sponsors and investors (both offshore and domestic). Bruce concentrates his practice on the organization and structuring of real estate, infrastructure, and other alternative-asset investment funds. He also has significant experience representing offshore investors in the U.S. property and infrastructure markets and maintains a broad tax planning practice representing REITs and other investors in real estate.

Stuart is the Head of Strategy for ADAR1 Capital Management, a $1.2B biotech-focused hedge fund based in Austin, TX.

Prior to ADAR1, Stuart worked as an Engagement Manager for McKinsey in the Life Sciences practices focused on R&D and clinical development strategy for biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Prior to McKinsey, he worked for ARCH Venture Partners focused on therapeutics and life science tools as well as Shimadzu Scientific Instruments.

He received his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Masters in Chemistry from Furman University. 

Kurt Heinen is a Regional Vice President for Prudential’s Individual Life Insurance Division. Based in Minneapolis, MN, he collaborates with firms nationally where he specializes in the business development, design, and
implementation and execution of private placement life insurance solutions.

He is highly experienced and knowledgeable in using private placement life insurance to help benefit clients. Through a collaborative and consultative approach, Kurt's primary focus is aimed to drive profitable sales through third-party and independent producer distribution channels. This is accomplished by delivering Prudential’s unique value proposition–We help our business partners thrive
by offering dynamic underwriting, enduring value, and customized life insurance solutions.
 

Kurt has been in the insurance industry since 2011 and joined Prudential in 2012.
 

Kurt lives in Elk River, MN with his wife and their children, Reese, Elsa and Asher. In his spare time, Kurt enjoys following his children's sports and exploring MN.

Greg Jacobs is a founding partner and Chief Operating Officer of the firm. He has over 25 years of fixed income experience managing High Yield, Core, Core Plus and Absolute Return.

Before co-founding Bay Point, Greg was Managing Director, Head of Absolute Return Strategies at TCP Global Investment Management. Previously, Greg was Head of Research and Strategy, Corporate Credit and High Yield at Seminole Financial serving as lead member of research and strategy development.

Prior to Seminole, Greg was Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager at ING Investment Management, where as a member of the corporate credit team, he managed all credit exposure and assisted in developing unique investment strategies. Prior to joining the credit team, Greg was the lead portfolio manager for ING’s High Yield team, managing $4 billion in dedicated high yield for domestic and international institutional and insurance clients. Previously, Greg worked as an investment analyst at Protective Asset Management Company and Equitable Investment Services.

Chad is an Associate Partner, Regional Director of Wealth Planning in our New York, NY office. For over a decade, Chad has been helping clients by synthesizing information and numbers into clear, organized formats through financial planning and modeling tools. His work at Corient involves assisting clients with balance sheet analysis and cash flow modeling across their financial lives. He also provides guidance on wealth structuring and asset protection techniques, working to balance estate and income tax considerations. With extensive experience in estate planning strategies, Chad contributes valuable insights to the financial plans Corient develops for its clients.

An avid athlete throughout his life, Chad enjoys both supporting his hometown Philadelphia sports teams and his alma mater, Indiana University, as well as participating in various sports (football, basketball, and baseball). He is currently working on refining his baseball swing to improve his golf game. On the weekends, Chad can be found spending time with his wife, Morgan, daughter, Sydney, and son, Drew, in Westchester, New York.

Alyson has 20+ years of legal and compliance experience within the financial services industry. She was the Chief Compliance Officer and Deputy General Counsel at Spearhead Capital Advisors (our predecessor company) and its affiliate broker dealer, Spearhead Capital. During her time there, she was responsible for implementing and enforcing the compliance program for both entities. While in that role, she successfully implemented several enhancements to the firm's compliance program.

​Prior to Spearhead, Alyson was the Chief Compliance Officer and Counsel for WBI Investments, Inc. and its affiliates Millington Securities, Inc. and Hartshorne Group, Inc. In this role, she was responsible for the investment advisory and broker dealer compliance programs across the entities.  Prior to WBI, Alyson held a variety of compliance and risk roles at Macquarie Group, Morgan Stanley and Catlin Insurance.​  Alyson began her legal and compliance career as Associate General Counsel at Royal Alliance, where she focused on litigation.​​

Alyson holds a JD from Seton Hall Law School and a BA in Communications from Marist University. She also holds Series 7, 24, 66 and 99 registrations and is licensed to practice law in the State of New Jersey.

Brian leads the tax and estate planning practice at BGA as well as the firm’s PPLI program.  He advises high net worth clients on tax, estate, and financial planning strategies. He utilizes his extensive experience in public accounting to help clients minimize their income, gift and estate taxes, and enjoys working closely with clients to help them work through complex tax matters.

Brian is a licensed CPA and spent over twelve years at PwC as a Tax Director in the Personal Financial Services (PFS) practice. He worked with a number of high net worth families, trusts, private foundations, and family limited partnerships. Brian earned his BA and MS in accounting from Boston College.

Perry Lerner is the co-founder of Crown Global and is focused on the company’s strategic planning, product development and institutional relationships.

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Prior to founding Crown Global, Mr. Lerner was a managing director of CPW Capital, LLC and Crown Capital Group, LLC, private equity investment firms. Mr. Lerner was a tax partner at O’Melveny & Myers LP in New York, London and Los Angeles. He has many years of experience advising high net worth families and businesses on international tax planning matters. Mr. Lerner also worked as attorney advisor in the Office of International Tax Counsel of the U.S. Treasury Department.

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Mr. Lerner is a member of the Board of Visitors and Governors of St. Johns College (Annapolis and Santa Fe); Board of Trustees Claremont McKenna College, and Board of Trustees at The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. Mr. Lerner received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Claremont McKenna College and his JD from Harvard Law School.

Mr. Lerner is a member of the New York State Bar, the American Bar Association and STEP.

Michael graduated from Princeton University.  He began his professional career with the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand, where he became a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).  He earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from New York University and is a member of the New York State Society of CPAs, the Estate Planning Council of New York City, The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), and the Yale Insurance Study Group.  Michael has four adult children, and he is committed to a fitness routine that includes golf, yoga, rowing, and cycling.

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Michael is a founder of four independent operating businesses, all of which have a deep infrastructure:

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• Golconda Partners / Mandorlo International

• SALI Fund Services

• Covala Group

• Winged Keel Group

Richard works with Cresset’s clients to develop holistic wealth plans that help them achieve their tax, estate planning, and philanthropic objectives. Richard focuses on developing and implementing creative and comprehensive wealth transfer strategies that align with clients’ wishes. He reviews clients’ tax and estate planning documents to ensure that each plan accurately and holistically reflects the client’s philosophy and needs while maximizing tax efficiency.

Prior to joining Cresset, Richard was a Director and Wealth Strategist with UBS Private Wealth. Prior to UBS, Richard worked at the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), where he served as a senior tax attorney in the Estate and Gift Tax Program. Before entering federal service, Richard held several other private and public sector positions.

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Richard earned an LL.M (Master of Laws) degree in Taxation from Northwestern University with a certificate in Wealth Transfer and Legacy Planning. He received his Juris Doctor degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Webster University. He is a member of the Illinois, 

Sam is Chief Insurance Officer at Arta Finance Inc., a series A fintech based in Mountain View, CA and funded by Ribbit Capital, Coatue and Sequoia. She also serves on the Board of One Degree, a licensed general insurer based in Hong Kong.
 

Prior to her current role, Sam was based in Hong Kong and Bangalore and spearheaded insurance partnerships with super-apps like Alibaba, Tencent, GRAB, Flipkart and PayTM. Previously she managed the multi-billion dollar Accident & Health portfolio for MetLife Asia across nine markets and was Chief Distribution Officer and Interim CEO for MetLife’s $1B+ AUM Hong Kong business.
 

Prior to moving to Asia, she led strategy for MetLife’s global employee benefits business across 30+ markets and led operations at Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield’s retail business in Richmond, Virginia.

Tommy has broad expertise as an investor, an executive and an advisor. He has advised many successful multigenerational families, and the advisors that serve them, in the areas of investments, governance, risk management, family office structure and succession. Tommy has also had success in evolving a single-family office into a modern wealth management organization and has advised numerous family offices over the years and in the structuring and formation of single-family offices and private family trust companies. Tommy is active in the family office community as well, sharing knowledge and experience with FORGE, Institutional Investor Family Wealth vertical, The 50 / Roundtable of Investors, and others.

Most recently, Tommy served as a Managing Director and senior advisor to SunGate Capital, LLC, a single-
family investment office with interests in real estate, technology, medical imaging, real estate, banking, and

insurance. In conjunction with his role with SunGate, he is the past President and a current member of the Board
of Investors Preferred Life Insurance Company, a specialized private placement life insurance carrier with over
$2.5 billion in assets.

With over 25 years of industry experience Dennis informs M’s corporate strategy and initiatives by providing insights into life insurance companies, products, and distribution. He played a central role with the development of M Financial Group’s exclusive private placement life insurance products since their inception in 2000 by providing marketing and product design support to M Financial’s Member Firms. His efforts have helped M’s private placement insurance suite to achieve over $8 billion in assets under administration.

Dennis also provides thought leadership on life insurance carriers and products by authoring knowledge and insight pieces for M Financial’s members and industry publications. Prior to joining M Financial Group in 1998, he was an agent for BMA Assurance Company and a Registered Representative for Mutual of New York.

Mr. Melamed is the Founder of Eli Circle Capital. Prior to founding Eli Circle in 2023, he was a co-founder of Glendon Capital, a Los Angeles-based distressed credit fund with ~$4bn of AUM as of 2020. At Glendon, Mr. Melamed was a General Partner, a Portfolio Manager, and a voting member of the investment committee (2013-2020).

Before spinning out to start Glendon, Mr. Melamed was a Managing Director at Barclays Asset Management ($2bn AUM), where he co-led the investment team (2007-2013). Mr. Melamed started his career in Goldman Sachs' trading and distressed debt proprietary investing groups as an Associate and Vice President (2002-2006). Mr. Melamed graduated number one in his class from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton undergraduate program and with honors from Wharton’s MBA program.

David O’Leary is a Managing Director and the Head of Insurance Solutions at Rockefeller Capital Management. In this capacity he manages the insurance, annuity, private placement, long term care businesses, as well as the property and casualty and commercial insurance partnerships.

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Prior to joining Rockefeller, David was Vice President, Wealth Strategies Group, at Goldman Sachs Ayco, responsible for the annuity business, private placement insurance, and led a nationwide team responsible for various insurance businesses.

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Prior to joining Ayco in 2009, he served as a Regional Vice President at the Equitable Life Ins. Co. responsible for distribution in the state of Maryland and as an Advanced Markets Attorney.

David served as a trustee at Make-A-Wish Northeast New York from 2015 – 2024.

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He is a Cross and Crown, magna cum laude graduate from Boston College’s Honor’s Program, received his J.D. from Boston College Law School, and MBA from the Boston College Carroll School.  He is also a Certified Financial Planner.

With more than 23 years of insurance accounting and operations experience, Nikki is responsible for the overall financial leadership of Investors Preferred. She enforces strong financial management accountability, provides timely and reliable financial reporting, and oversees strict internal controls within the firm.

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She brought a robust background in financial oversight to Investors Preferred when she joined the firm in 2016. Within the insurance industry, she has extensive experience in leadership, management, and advisory positions. She also spent four years in public accounting, where she primarily audited insurance entities.

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Nikki is a Past-President of the IASA Desert States Chapter, an insurance accounting professional association. She continues to serve as a board member. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Clayton State University and a Master of Business Administration from Webster University.

As a Partner with WealthPoint, Ben brings more than 20 years of experience and background in business, finance and insurance. Ben began his career in Boulder, Colorado in a single-family office and has continued to serve that same family office with multiple insurance solutions since his
departure in 2001.

After getting started in the insurance industry in 2001, the entrepreneurial bug bit and he left in 2004 to launch a new life insurance enterprise with a partner. Together they successfully originated more than $1 Billion in life insurance in just four years. Parting ways in 2009, Ben founded another boutique firm with a focus on sophisticated life insurance solutions designed to meet the demanding
needs of the ultra-high-net-worth families and the advisors that serve them. After running the company for 11 years he merged with WealthPoint at the end of 2019 where he currently leads their efforts in Private Placement Life Insurance.

Dave has 15+ years of financial services experience spanning from capital raising, new IDF and SMA formation and structuring, as well as the implementation and structuring of PPLI and PPVA solutions for ultra-high net worth and family office clients.  He previously served as Director of Business Development at Spearhead, where he originated and serviced new client relationships across the firm’s wealth management, administrative services, and asset management divisions. 

Dave has co-authored several articles and developed and presented Continuing Education programs related to PPLI/PPVA structuring and related investment solutions to various Financial Planning Association (FPA), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), and estate planning council chapters across the US.

Danilo (“Dani”) Santucci is a partner at Nutter, McClennen & Fish LLP. 

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Dani counsels high net worth families, trustees, and advisers on achieving succession and investment goals through a range of tax-efficient techniques.  On the domestic side, he has extensive experience advising clients on sophisticated gifting techniques, insurance planning, and planning with family investment entities. Dani’s cross-border practice includes pre-immigration planning and advising cross-border families on tax and trust law issues related to their U.S. connections.  Dani also advises insurance companies, fund sponsors and policyholders on the tax aspects of structuring and planning with private placement insurance and annuity products.

Dani teaches international estate planning at Boston University School of Law and has presented and published extensively on foreign trusts and other topics related to cross-border estate and tax planning.

As chief investment officer and a founding partner of Running Point Capital Advisors, a multifamily office, Michael Ashley Schulman is responsible for the firm’s global macro
outlook, research, investment strategies, PPLI & PPVA management, and asset allocation across public and private investments. He has built quantitative and fundamental equity programs, modelled collateralized debt obligations, and managed a fixed-income arbitrage hedge fund and a multi-strategy fund-of-funds. Michael has an MBA from MIT Sloan, a CFA designation, and a BA in Economics from UC Berkeley. He is often quoted in the press and in his spare time enjoys art and adventure travel.

Anthony draws on more than 15 years of experience in financial services, including insurance, to support advisors with designing advanced, customized life insurance solutions that address the planning challenges faced by ultra-high-net-worth clients. He has robust knowledge

in estate planning, wealth transfer, and business planning in addition to extensive experience working with high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients and their
families. His passion for client service and desire to address individual’s financial needs head-on with creative financial solutions was born during his early career days as an insurance and wealth planning specialist at Merrill Lynch and UBS.

Prior to joining Investors Preferred in 2022, Anthony served in leadership roles at Lincoln Financial Group and AIG. He was Sales Vice President at Lincoln Financial Group, covering the West Coat producer group distribution, and Regional Vice President at AIG.

Jim Totten is Executive Vice President & U.S. Head of Distribution at Axcelus Financial. In his role, he is responsible for driving client engagement and managing distribution across independent advisors, financial intermediaries, and institutional investors.

Mr. Totten has more than 30 years of experience in business development, with a focus on investment and insurance strategies designed to meet the complex needs of high-net-worth clients. His background spans public and private markets, and he has worked extensively with advisors and asset managers to deliver customized, tax-efficient solutions.

Prior to joining Axcelus, he held senior roles at Invesco, Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, MetLife Investors, and AIG. He earned a BA in Economics from Denison University and an MBA from The Goizueta Business School at Emory University. He is also a Certified Investment Management Analyst® professional.

Anna Vella is a Managing Director on the marketing team at Verition.  She is responsible for  building and developing new and current investor relationships.  

Prior to joining Verition in 2023, Anna spent over 13 years at Millennium.  There, she was one of the first members of Millennium’s Capital Development and Investor Relations team, which had helped grow the firm’s assets from around $7B to over $50B. Anna  joined Millennium in 2010 to oversee client services and investor relations. Her role there evolved over the years to include the capital development strategy for the launch of WorldQuant Millennium Advisors, a joint venture between Millennium and WorldQuant.

Prior to Millennium, Vella was a Director on the Hedge Fund Research team at Union Bancaire Privée; before that she was Vice President of Investor Relations at Galleon Group. She began her career at Watson Wyatt Worldwide (now Towers Watson) as a strategy consultant. Anna graduated with a degree in Business Administration from Boston University.