Presenter’s Bios
Bratin Saha, Amazon (AWS), Keynote Presenter
Dr. Bratin Saha is the Vice President of Machine Learning and AI services at AWS where he leads all the ML and AI services and helped build one of the fastest growing businesses in AWS history. In 2022 Harvard Business School wrote three case studies on how he built the machine learning business at AWS. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School (General Management Program), Yale University (PhD Computer Science), and Indian Institute of Technology (BS Computer Science). He has more than 70 patents granted (with another 50+ pending) and more than 30 papers in conferences/journals. Prior to Amazon he worked at Nvidia and Intel leading different product groups spanning imaging, analytics, media processing, high performance computing, machine learning, and software infrastructure.
Brad Barber, UC Davis
Brad Barber is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Finance at the Graduate School of Management, UC Davis.
Professor Barber has been recognized as one of the most widely cited financial economists in the world (ranking 38th in one citation survey). In 2019, he was selected as a Fellow of the Financial Management Association (FMA), which “…recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the profession.” He was also elected as FMA President and served in 2018. He currently serves on the Academic Female Finance Finance Committee (AFFECT) and the Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI) Academic Advisory Board. He was a Principal Investigator for the CalPERS Sustainable Research Initiative (SIRI, 2012-2016) and the finance department editor for Management Science (2009-2012). He is the founder of the Napa Finance Conference.
Professor Barber’s research focuses on asset pricing, behavioral finance, and private equity. He has written numerous scholarly articles, which have appeared in top academic publications including the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, American Sociological Review, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and the Financial Analyst Journal. His research has been covered extensively in the financial press, including Business Week, Time, The Wall Street Journal, ABC News, NBC Nightly News, CNN, CNNfn, and CNBC.
Professor Barber received his Ph.D. in finance from the University of Chicago in 1991. He received an MBA from the University of Chicago and a B.S. in Economics from the University of Illinois.
Sanjiv Das, Santa Clara University
Sanjiv Das is the William and Janice Terry Professor of Finance at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business.
He previously held faculty appointments as Associate Professor at Harvard Business School and UC Berkeley. He holds post-graduate degrees in Finance (M.Phil and Ph.D. from New York University), Computer Science (M.S. from UC Berkeley), an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, B.Com in Accounting and Economics (University of Bombay, Sydenham College), and is also a qualified Cost and Works Accountant. He is a senior editor of The Journal of Investment Management, co-editor of The Journal of Derivatives, and Associate Editor of other academic journals.
Prior to being an academic, he worked in the derivatives business in the Asia-Pacific region as a Vice-President at Citibank. His current research interests include: the modeling of default risk, machine learning, social networks, derivatives pricing models, portfolio theory, and venture capital. He has published over eighty articles in academic journals, and has won numerous awards for research and teaching. His recent book “Derivatives: Principles and Practice” was published in May 2010. He currently also serves as a Senior Fellow at the FDIC Center for Financial Research.
John M. Mulvey, Princeton University
John M. Mulvey is a Professor at Princeton University, Operations Research and Financial Engineering Department. He is a founding member of Princeton’s Bendheim Center for Finance and the Center for Statistics and Machine Learning. His specialty is financial optimization and dynamic investment strategies. For over 40 years, he has designed and implemented asset-liability management systems for numerous organizations, including PIMCO, Towers Perrin/Tillinghast, AXA, American Express, Siemens, Munich Re-Insurance, Renaissance Re-Insurance, Ant Group/Alibaba, RBC Capital Markets, and numerous multi-strategy hedge funds, among others. His current projects address regime identification and factor approaches for long-term investors, including family offices and pension plans, with an emphasis on optimizing performance by means of goal-based investing. He has published over 180 articles and edited 5 books, including the first implementation of a fully integrated advisor system for individual investors in 1998.
Terrance Odean, University of California, Berkeley
Terrance Odean is the Rudd Family Foundation Professor of Finance at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. He is an advisory editor of the Financial Planning Review, a member of the Journal of Investment Consulting editorial advisory board and of the Russell Sage Behavioral Economics Roundtable, and is a Wall Street Journal Expert Panelist. In 2016, he received the James R. Vertin Award from the CFA Institute for research notable for its relevance and enduring value to investment professionals. He has been an editor and an associate editor of the Review of Financial Studies, an associate editor of the Journal of Finance, a co-editor of a special issue of Management Science, an associate editor at the Journal of Behavioral Finance, a director of UC Berkeley’s Experimental Social Science Laboratory, a member of the Russell Investments Academic Advisory Board, a member of the WU Gutmann Center Academic Advisory Board at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, a visiting professor at the University of Stavanger, Norway, chair of the Haas Finance Group, and the Willis H. Booth Professor of Finance and Banking. As an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, Odean studied judgment and decision making with the 2002 Nobel Laureate in Economics, Daniel Kahneman.
Christine A. Parlour, University of California, Berkeley
Christine A. Parlour is the Sylvan C. Coleman Chair of Finance and Accounting at Berkeley Haas. Most of her work is in institutionally complex areas, such as market microstructure and banking. Her current work focuses on changes in the payments system and the effects on bank balance sheets. She has written for major finance and economics journals. She has been on the Nasdaq Economic Advisory Board and is currently on the steering committee for the New Special Study of Securities Markets.
EDUCATION
PhD, Economics, Queen’s University at Kingston, MA, Economics, Queen’s University at Kingston and BSocSci, University of Ottawa
Meir Statman, Santa Clara University
Meir Statman is the Glenn Klimek Professor of Finance at Santa Clara University. His research focuses on behavioral finance. He attempts to understand how investors and managers make financial decisions and how these decisions are reflected in financial markets. His most recent book is “Behavioral Finance: The Second Generation,” published by the CFA Institute Research Foundation.
The questions he addresses in his research include: What are investors’ wants and how can we help investors balance them? What are investors’ cognitive and emotional shortcuts and how can we help them overcome cognitive and emotional errors? How are wants, shortcuts and errors reflected in choices of saving, spending, and portfolio construction? How are they reflected in asset pricing and market efficiency?
Meir’s research has been published in the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, the Financial Analysts Journal, the Journal of Portfolio Management, and many other journals. The research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the CFA Institute Research Foundation, and the Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA).
Meir is a member of the Advisory Board of the Journal of Portfolio Management, the Journal of Wealth Management, the Journal of Retirement, the Journal of Investment Consulting, and the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, an Associate Editor of the Journal of Behavioral Finance, and the Journal of Investment Management and a recipient of a Batterymarch Fellowship, a William F. Sharpe Best Paper Award, two Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy awards, a Davis Ethics Award, a Moskowitz Prize for best paper on socially responsible investing, a Matthew R. McArthur Industry Pioneer Award, three Baker IMCA Journal Awards, and three Graham and Dodd Awards. Meir was named as one of the 25 most influential people by Investment Advisor. He consults with many investment companies and presents his work to academics and professionals in many forums in the U.S. and abroad.
Meir received his Ph.D. from Columbia University and his B.A. and M.B.A. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Discussants
Vineer Bhansali, Longtail Alpha
Vineer Bhansali is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of LongTail Alpha. His 30-year investment career started at Citibank, where he founded and managed the Exotic and Hybrid Options Trading Desk. He later joined Salomon Brothers in its Fixed Income Arbitrage Group, followed by the CSFB Proprietary Trading Group. Dr. Bhansali was at PIMCO for 16 years, serving the last eight years as MD and Head of the Quantitative Portfolios Team, which he founded in 2008. Dr. Bhansali also managed all of PIMCO’s analytics from 2000 to 2010. Among other responsibilities, he was the lead PM for the PIMCO TRENDS Managed Futures Strategy Fund, the PIMCO Tail Risk Hedging Funds, PIMCO RealRetirement and RealPath Funds, and PIMCO’s indexed ETFS. He was also co-PM of the PIMCO Global Multi-Asset Fund, PIMCO Global Relative Value Fund and PIMCO Distressed Senior Credit Opportunities Fund. He has written five books on finance: “Pricing and Managing Exotic and Hybrid Options”; “Fixed Income Finance: A Quantitative Approach”; “Bond Portfolio Investing and Risk Management”, “Tail Risk Hedging”, and his most recent: “The Incredible Upside-Down Fixed-Income Market: Negative Interest Rates and Their Implications” and authored over 30 refereed papers on topics as varied as option pricing, fixed income, tail hedging, asset allocation and economics in leading Journals that include the Journal of Finance, Financial Analysts’ Journal, Journal of Portfolio Management, and Journal of Risk. He has received numerous awards, including the Graham and Dodd Scroll Award and TIME magazine’s college achievement award. Under his leadership, PIMCO received the Risk Manager of the Year Award in the asset-management category in 2002 from Risk Magazine. In its announcement of the award, PIMCO cited “a proprietary system developed in-house by PIMCO’s Vineer Bhansali, Ph.D. and his team.” Dr. Bhansali received his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Harvard University in 1992 and M.S. and B.S. degrees in Physics from Caltech in 1987. Vineer is an ultra-marathon runner and has finished the Western States Endurance Run numerous times, including earning the silver buckle in 2014, and also the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, Angeles Crest 100 and Leadville 100. He has over 4000 hours of flight time in all types of aircraft, including jets and helicopters, and holds the Airline Transport Pilot Rating. He has served on the Investment Committee of the American Physical Society, and currently serves on the Investment Committee of the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies and on the Boards of the Q Group and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute.
Bernard R. Horn Jr., Polaris Capital Management, LLC
Bernard R. Horn Jr. is President and Portfolio Manager of Polaris Capital Management, LLC, a leading Boston-based global and international value equity firm. Mr. Horn founded Polaris in April 1995 to expand his existing client base dating to the early 1980s. Mr. Horn’s pure global value philosophy combines investment technology with traditional fundamental research. His 30+ year track record exceeds most current competitors in length and has produced admirable risk-adjusted returns since inception.
Known as forerunner in global and international investing, Mr. Horn has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Financial Times, Forbes, Fortune, The New York Times, SmartMoney, Investor’s Business Daily, Washington Post and many other national publications. He has appeared on PBS’ Nightly Business Report, PBS’ Consuelo Mack WealthTrack, CNBC, CNN and Bloomberg TV to discuss global market trends. In addition, Mr. Horn has served as a guest lecturer at various investor events including the American Association of Individual Investors Conference, Value Investing Congress, Bloomberg Portfolio Manager Mash-Up, Fund Forum USA and the Morningstar Investor Conference.
Mr. Horn’s written works include: “International Diversification: Why it Still Makes Sense” published in the American Association of Individual Investors Journal (2010); “Should The Falling Dollar Matter?” published in Boomer Market Advisor (2005); “Global Goodies – It’s Riskier Not To Invest Overseas,” Financial Planning (2005); “Economic Power To Shift From U.S.” published in Portfolio International (2004); “Portfolios Need International Infusions” and “Review Appealing International Valuations” both published in Physician’s Money Digest (2003); and “International Investing Strategies,” published in the American Association of Individual Investors Journal (1983).
Prior to founding Polaris Capital Management, Mr. Horn worked as a vice president and portfolio manager for Freedom Capital Management Corporation from 1990 to 1992. This position led to the firm’s sub-advisory relationship with the Freedom International Fund, commencing in 1998, which Polaris still manages under the name of RBC GAM International Fund. Prior to Freedom, Mr. Horn worked at MDT Advisers, Inc.
From 1980 to 1990, Mr. Horn was the principal and founder of Horn & Company, an investment counseling firm that specialized in global portfolio management for individuals, trusts, and tax qualified accounts. In July 1989, he formed the Global Value Limited Partnership (predecessor to Polaris Global Value Fund – PGVFX) for the purpose of serving existing and new clients. The Thrift Investors Limited Partnership was formed in 1986. Mr. Horn was responsible for the formation, fund raising, administration, marketing, and management of both funds.
Mr. Horn is a graduate of Northeastern University (1978) with a B.S. in business administration and holds a master’s of science degree in management (M.S.) from the Alfred P. Sloan School of Management at M.I.T (1980). Thesis title: “The Pricing of Commodity Options”, Faculty Advisors: Professors Fischer Black, Robert C. Merton.
In addition to his responsibilities at Polaris, Mr. Horn is actively involved in many volunteer activities and charitable organizations, including the Reading Library Endowment Committee. He serves on various M.I.T. boards, including the Advisory Board of the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship, the Sloan Finance Group Advisory Board, the Center for Finance & Policy Advisory Board, and the M.I.T Sloan Executive Board for the North American region.
Seoyoung Kim, Santa Clara University
Seoyoung Kim is the Department Chair and Associate Professor of Finance and Business Analytics at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business, where she teaches Financial Management, Financial Engineering, and Financial Technology (i.e., FinTech). She is also a Senior Editor for the Journal of Investment Management (JOIM).
Professor Kim’s academic work focuses on the microstructure of financial markets and on innovative financial instruments, with a specialized focus in structured finance. Along this regard, she has provided consulting expertise and litigation support in relation to the structuring, management, and liquidation of various special purpose vehicles issuing collateralized debt obligations and asset backed securities. She has also consulted on and written extensively about cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”), blockchain technology, and the broader decentralized finance (“DeFi”) space, including her recent books: DeFi For Dummies and NFTs For Dummies, and she regularly gives workshops and seminars on cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology and analytics, DeFi applications and protocols, and smart contract design.
Prior to joining SCU, Professor Kim held a faculty appointment at Purdue University. She holds a B.A. in Mathematics from Rice University and Ph.D. in Finance from Emory University.
Eric Penanhoat, SAS Institute Inc.
Eric has over 30 years of experience in Quantitative Analysis in Finance. He joined SAS Institute after its acquisition of Kamakura in 2022 where he has been a subject matter expert in
Quantitative Management. He has also held senior positions at Fidelity Investments for over 20 years, ranging from Counterparty Research & Analytics, Risk Management, Portfolio
Construction, Asset Allocation Strategies, Advice and Guidance retail products and methodologies. He previously worked at Barra as a Product Manager responsible for mainframe
equity analytics and the redesign of Barra’s Equity Performance Attribution system.
He received an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics. Eric is also President of Cohasset Maritime Institute, a non-profit ocean rowing club on the south shore of Massachusetts.