Biographies

Ronald G. Layard-Liesching, Founder of PARETO and Chairman of MOUNTAIN PACIFIC GROUP.. Ron has over 30 years experience in currency management. He was one of the early pioneers of currency management, starting Corporate hedging in the mid-seventies and institutional currency hedging in 1986. He has written and lectured extensively on currency and commodity investment.
He is chairman of Mountain Pacific group and was a cofounder of Pareto Partners, managing $55 Bn in currency mandates for 61 institutions globally. Before this he was Director of Quantitative Products for County NatWest Investment Management Ltd. in London. Prior to this, he spent a decade in the United States with Chase Manhattan Bank where he was responsible for managing the bank's own currency and foreign interest rate exposure. He was a founding member of the AIG commodity index committee and is the coinventor of commodity swaps. Ron has authored many articles on commodity, currency and risk management. He holds a BA in Mathematics and Economics (Hon) from Lancaster University.

STEPHEN A.C. BEST
Stephen Best is Senior Managing Director of State Street Global Markets (SSGM), the investment research and trading arm of State Street Corporation. He is responsible for electronic trading and distribution within the company’s Foreign Exchange group and oversees a team responsible for SSGM’s FX eCommerce strategy, algorithmic trading and risk management initiatives.

Stephen rejoined State Street from JPMorgan where he was Global Head of eCommerce Strategy for the Global Currencies and Commodities Group. During his 21 year career in financial markets, he has held various FX and interest rate derivatives sales, trading and eCommerce positions with Royal Bank of Canada, Deutsche Bank, UBS and JPMorgan.

He received his M.B.A. (Finance) from the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto and his B.A. (Economics & Politics) from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.

Stephen resides in New Jersey with his wife and three children.

Mehmet Yanilmaz is managing partner of Myra Trading, a proprietary algorithmic trading firm based in Chicago, is president of Navus, a boutique business and technology consultancy, and is managing partner of Tria-C, a financial strategy firm based in Istanbul. Mehmet is an associate of The Institute for Financial Markets (www.theifm.org), where he developed and teaches courses on algorithmic trading to hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, banks and exchanges worldwide. Mehmet has delivered business, engineering, IT, manufacturing solutions to a wide spectrum of clients with very diverse business cultures, and ranging from Fortune 100 to those with revenues less than $50 million. Since 2003, he has devised unique intellectual property in finance and trading systems by leveraging the algorithms that he has custom designed to solve numerous engineering problems over the last 25 years, and by integrating them with new mathematical constructs to deliver high performance solutions for the finance sector. The focus of these solutions is dynamic portfolio optimization, with an emphasis on electronic trading, algorithmic trading, as well as over the counter trading strategies for fixed income derivatives, compactions, swaps and collateralized obligations. Since 1990, Mehmet's clients have included Baxter Healthcare, Motorola, Intel, AT&T, International Truck & Engine (Navistar), Caterpillar, Ford Motor Company, Klein Tools, General Electric, Encore Computer, Kodak and Xerox, among others. Mehmet worked for Unilever France, RIT Research Corporation and Chipware Tools. His solutions have been implemented in diverse geographies, including the USA and Puerto Rico, Mexico, Brazil, Israel, The United Kingdom, Japan, China, Singapore, Germany, France and Turkey. Mehmet served as faculty of engineering, computer science and management at Northwestern University. He taught computer science at the University of Chicago and financial engineering at Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey. He delivered professional training at IBM, General Electric, Singer, U.S. Air Force, and at numerous other organizations. Mehmet Yanilmaz received his B.S in Electrical Engineering from Bogazici University, and M.S. in Computer Engineering and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, both from Syracuse University.

Josh Levy is the Managing Director of Tactical Asset Management LLC and has over 18 years of FX-specific trading and technology experience. Mr. Levy served as an institutional foreign-exchange trader at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) in New York & Tokyo, as Managing Director of the FX Trading division of the SunGard STN Transaction Network (NYSE: SDS) and as a co-founder of the seminal FX ECN MatchbookFX (A division of GlobalNet Financial - NASDAQ: GLBN). Prior to founding Tactical Asset Management, Mr. Levy was the President of CMC Markets USA which is the world's largest internet dealer in FX and other derivatives. As a Forex veteran, pioneer in the field of FX e-Trading and well-regarded expert in the Financial markets, Mr. Levy has been featured in numerous publications and media outlets including the Washington Post, CNBC, Marketwatch.com, The International Herald Tribune and The Wall St Journal for his perspective on currency markets and e-FX trading. More info about Tactical Asset Management LLC can be found at www.Tactical-Group.com

Irene Aldridge is Managing Partner, ABLE Alpha Trading, LTD, a proprietary trading vehicle, specializing in high-frequency systematic trading strategies. Prior to ABLE Alpha, Ms. Aldridge worked for various institutions on Wall Street and in Toronto, including Goldman Sachs and CIBC, and taught Finance at the University of Toronto. Ms. Aldridge holds an MBA from INSEAD, MS in Financial Engineering from Columbia University, and a BE in Electrical Engineering from the Cooper Union in New York. Ms. Aldridge is a frequent contributor to academic and practitioner publications, and is completing a book on High-Frequency Trading with applications to foreign exchange, due out next year.

Jay R. Feuerstein is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of 2100 Xenon. He is responsible for managing the futures portfolios and directing futures research. He is also the general manager of 2100 Xenon. Prior to founding Xenon Capital Management in 2001, he was a Managing Director and Principal at Bear Stearns & Co. Inc. Prior to Bear Stearns, he served as Senior Vice President for Paine Webber Kidder Peabody and Director of Global Futures Sales and Marketing for Fixed Income, Kidder Peabody. Mr. Feuerstein has published works in The Journal of Futures Markets, Corporate Finance Review, The Family Office Exchange and the MFA Reporter. In addition, he is a frequent industry speaker at events sponsored by such institutions as The Chicago Board of Trade and The University of Chicago. Mr. Feuerstein earned his MBA in finance from the University of Chicago in 1980, and his B.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana in 1977. He has 28 years of industry experience.

Axel Merk is the President of Merk Investments and Portfolio Manager for the Funds.
Mr. Merk predicted the credit crisis early. As early as 2003, he outlined the looming battle of inflationary and deflationary forces. In 2005, Mr. Merk predicted Ben Bernanke would succeed Greenspan as Federal Reserve Chairman months before his nomination. In early 2007, Mr. Merk warned volatility would surge and cause a painful global credit contraction affecting all asset classes. In the fall of 2007, he was an early critic of inefficient government reaction to the credit crisis. In 2008, Mr. Merk was one of the first to urge the recapitalization of financial institutions. Throughout his career, Mr. Merk has put his money where his mouth is. Earlier in his career, he became a more global investor in the 1990s when diversification within the U.S. became less effective as the tech bubble was forming; as of 2000, he shifted towards a more macro-oriented investment approach with substantial cash and precious metals holdings.
Mr. Merk has published many articles describing complex economic phenomena in understandable terms and he is a sought after expert presenter and moderator at conferences. Mr. Merk is a regular guest on CNBC, and frequently quoted in Barron's, the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and other financial publications.
Mr. Merk holds a B.A. in Economics (magna cum laude) and an M.Sc. in Computer Science from Brown University, Rhode Island.
In addition to over 20 years of practical investment experience, Mr. Merk has a strong foundation in both economic analysis and computer modeling. His research in the early 1990s focused on the use of computer-aided models in financial decision making and he is a published author in the field.
Mr. Merk founded Merk Investments in Switzerland in 1994; in 2001 he relocated the business to the U.S. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and four children.

Paul Buckley is a Director at Credit Suisse responsible for the Advanced Execution Services Foreign Exchange (AES FX) sales, marketing and product management in North America. He has over 10 years in the Foreign Exchange markets and trading technology.

Prior to joining Credit Suisse Mr. Buckley served as Director, FX Prime Services for UBS Investment Bank in the USA, where he was responsible for eCommerce & Prime Brokerage sales. Prior to that, he worked at UBS AG in Zurich, Switzerland where he was responsible for project management of UBS's CLS clearing offering and later was part of UBS's CLS 3rd Party Sales.

Mr. Buckley received a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from Hobart College, and a Masters in Economics from Duke University.

Daniel Goldman is the Chief Executive Officer of Ketch Capital Management LLC and CIO of the Tack Fund LP. The Tack Fund is a discretionary FX only fund which uses a proprietary correlation ranker to drive investment decisions based upon asset price correlations. Prior to founding Ketch Capital in 2002 Mr. Goldman ran sales and marketing at Longview International. Before joining Longview Mr. Goldman worked as a senior proprietary trader focusing on FX for both Republic and Chemical bank. Mr. Goldman started his career in Foreign Exchange in 1990 at JP Morgan.

Marc Chandler joined Brown Brothers Harriman in October 2005 as the global head of currency strategy. Previously he was the chief currency strategist for HSBC Bank USA and Mellon Bank.

Marc is a prolific writer and speaker. In addition to being frequently called upon by the financial press to provide insight into the developments of the day, Chandler’s essays have been published in the Financial Times, Barron’s, Euromoney, Corporate Finance, and Foreign Affairs. He is also the contributing writer for Active Trader Magazine and a long time columnist for TheStreet.Com. Marc appears often on business television and is a regular guest on CNBC. He frequently presents to business groups and investors.

His current research projects include global imbalances, Islamic finance, and the relationship between savings, investment and growth. Marc’s book “Making Sense of the Dollar: Exposing Dangerous Myths about Trade and Foreign Exchange” will be published in August 2009by Bloomberg Press.

Marc has been analyzing, writing and talking about the foreign exchange market for more than 20 years. He holds a Master’s degree in American history (1982) from Northern Illinois University and a Master’s in International Political Economy from the University of Pittsburgh (1984). He has taught classes on International Political Economy at New York University since the early 1990s, where Marc is an associate professor and a member of the advisory board of the Center for Global Affairs.

Will Kinlaw, CFA, Vice President, Head of Advisory Research, State Street Associates, Cambridge

Will is Head of Advisory Research for State Street Associates’ Portfolio and Risk Management Group in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The advisory research team prepares customized, quantitative analyses for State Street Global Markets clients worldwide. Will’s specialties include risk measurement, asset allocation, quantitative investment strategy, and currency hedging. His article, “Optimal Currency Hedging In and Out of Sample” is forthcoming in the Journal of Asset Management. Will holds an M.Sc. in Finance from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College and a B.A. with honors in Economics from Tufts University. He has been awarded the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and is a frequent presenter at practitioner conferences in Europe and North America. Will joined State Street Associates in June, 2002.

Ian Toner is Head of Commission Management and Currency Implementation at Russell Investments in Tacoma, Washington. Previously he worked at UBS Investment Bank in London and as Global Head of Marketing of the Global Equity Index business at Salomon Smith Barney. He is a CFA Charterholder.

Derek Sammann is Managing Director, Foreign Exchange Products of CME Group. He is responsible for executing CME Group’s global FX growth strategy, which includes expanding the company’s global client base, enhancing CME Group’s FX futures and options products on CME Globex®, and developing FX products and services for the OTC market. Sammann joined CME as Managing Director, Foreign Exchange (FX) Products of CME in September 2006.

Before joining CME, Sammann acquired more than 16 years of experience in the global FX market, most recently as Managing Director, Global Head of FX Options and Structured FX Products at Calyon Corporate and Investment Bank in London, where he was responsible for expanding and diversifying product revenues by building and managing the product platform, technology, trading and structured products offering in the company’s global FX options business. In 2004, he was responsible for merging the FX Options activities of Crédit Agricole Indosuez and Crédit Lyonnais to create a top-tier player in the global FX options market.

Prior to becoming Global Head at Calyon, Sammann worked as Senior Vice-President and Chief Dealer, FX options for Crédit Agricole Indosuez in London, and as Vice-President and Senior Trader, FX options at Banque Indosuez in Paris. He began his career as Associate Vice-President and Head CME FX Options Floor Trader for Cooper, Neff & Associates in Chicago.

Sammann holds bachelor’s degrees in economics and political science from Northwestern University.

Kris Kumar, Associate Director, FX Structuring, Barclays Capital
Krishna Kumar is an Associate Director and Head of Product Development FX Structuring, Americas at Barclays Capital. Mr. Kumar joined Barclays Capital in 2008 from Citigroup where he spent five years most recently as an FX Structurer. Prior to that, Mr. Kumar was an Associate at GlobeOp Risk. Mr. Kumar holds a M.S. in Computational Finance and a B.S. (Hons) in Mathematics.

Christopher Gersch is Managing Partner at Chicago Global Capital, LLC, (www.chicagoglobalcapital.com) a Commodity Trading Advisor Firm specializing in managed currency products.
After graduating with High Honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign earning a BS specializing in both Aeronautical and Industrial Engineering, Christopher began his trading career at the CBOT in the Soy Bean Options pit with the Hanley Group in 2003. In the summer of 2004, Christopher joined Spike Trading at the CME where he became Head Trader of a group of 70 equity traders in six months. While at Spike Trading, Christopher spearheaded the addition of two divisions specializing in multifunctional algorithm design and correlation based asset trading. Through the success of these separate divisions Christopher secured the financing needed to partner in the creation of Centauris Group (www.centaurisgroup.com), an algorithmic trading consultant company based at the CBOE. Centauris Group’s success allowed Christopher to create a trading group on his own called Blox Capital, LLC. (www.bloxtrading.com), which currently trades spot forex at its Chicago loop trading floor.
By combining Christopher’s knowledge and consistent track record with proven systems developed by Centauris Group and experienced traders from Blox Trading, LLC., he and his business partners launched Chicago Global Capital, LLC, a managed currency trading program for investors seeking non-correlated portfolio diversification.
Chicago Global Capital, LLC. is a registered CTA with the CFTC and a registered member of the NFA.
Christopher Gersch holds a Series 3, 7, 24, 34, 55, 63 and 65. Christopher also received his multi-engine commercial pilot license from the Institute of Aviation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.