Steering Committee Sponsors

The Steering Committee of the Hedge Fund CFO Association is comprised of leading Chief Financial Officers of Hedge Funds. In addition, the Steering Committee is also composed of Industry Specialists whose experience in the field provides the Association with a valuable resource in planning events.

Founding Board Members
David H. Emmerich
Managing Director
First Republic Bank
David is a Managing Director of First Republic Bank's Boston Preferred Banking office and Founding Chairman of the Hedge Fund CFO Association's Steering Committee. David has developed a niche portfolio of alternative asset class firms including private equity, hedge funds and the individuals within these firms in Boston and New York City. Previously he was a Vice President of the Private Equity Banking Group at a major Northeast commercial bank where he created and was the founding Executive Director of the Private Equity CFO Association.

David has over 17 years of banking experience with primarily Boston based banks in varying roles such as retail sales and service, mortgage origination, small business and professional's banking. David is a graduate of Suffolk University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Management.

First Republic Bank is a private bank and wealth management firm. The Bank and specialize in providing personalized, relationship-based services, including private banking, private business banking, investment management, trust, brokerage and real estate lending. First Republic Bank provides access to its services online and through preferred banking or trust offices in ten major metropolitan areas: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Newport Beach, San Diego, Las Vegas, Portland, Seattle, Boston and New York City. More information is available on the Bank's website at www.firstrepublic.com.

 

Shirin Philipp

Ms. Philipp is a founding board member of the Hedge Fund CFO Association. An attorney at Foley Hoag, Shirin’s practice focuses in the investment management area. Ms. Philipp has significant experience representing registered and unregistered investment advisors and private investment funds, including cases dealing with formation, registrations and regulatory compliance.

Ms. Philipp serves on the Board of Directors and as a Member of the Executive Committee of Families First Parenting Programs, Inc. and as a member of the Board of Trustees of Boston Main Streets Foundation.

Shirin received her J.D., cum laude, from Boston University and her A.B., cum laude, from Dartmouth College

 

Board Members
David Shane
David Shane is a Partner with the Financial Services group of McGladrey & Pullen’s Great Lakes practice. He specializes in providing audit and consulting services to alternative investment companies, securities broker-dealers and futures commission merchants. The services that David provides include the following:

• Financial Statement Audits
• Operational Consulting
• Risk Management Consulting
• Regulatory Consulting

David has sixteen years of experience focused within the financial services industry. He has 13 years of public accounting experience, including three years as an audit partner in a national accounting firm. In addition to the above, David also has experience performing risk management engagements, primarily to leading Mexican banks related to the trading of derivatives. David’s prior experience includes holding chief financial officer positions with various companies in the financial services industry including a multi-strategy domestic and international hedge fund.

Additionally, David is one of three individuals within the firm recognized as an industry expert.

Professional Affiliations
David is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Illinois CPA Society. David previously served as Chairman of the Futures, Securities and Derivatives Special Interest Group of the Illinois CPA Society.

Community Involvement
David is currently a member of the Executive Committee and Treasurer of The Leukemia Research Foundation.

Education
David is a graduate of Indiana University-Bloomington with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance.

Contact Information
Phone: 312.462.6513
Fax: 312.782.0906
Email:

 

David Nissenbaum
David Nissenbaum is a partner in the Investment Management Practice Group at Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP. His practice focuses on corporate, bank regulation and securities matters. He represents institutional and entrepreneurial investment managers and private investment funds in all aspects of their business.

Representative engagements and transactions have included:

• Structure fund management businesses

• Counsel principals on terms of management company partnerships
• Structure and form hedge, private equity, structured finance and hybrid funds and funds of funds
• Structure and implement scalable platforms for fund sponsors
• Restructure proprietary trading desks into investment management businesses
•Structure and negotiate seed and strategic investments
•Counsel on identification and management of conflicts of interest
•Advise on lift-outs and acquisitions of investment management businesses
•Advise on financing structures for investment funds and related regulatory issues
•Advise on regulatory and compliance issues affecting alternative investment managers
•Advise on all aspects of US banking laws that affect fund managers and funds

David is a 1993 graduate of the Brooklyn Law School where he was a Edward G. Sparer Fellow. He is a 1990 graduate of the State University of New York at Albany and was a National Merit Scholar. He speaks frequently at industry events and before regulatory agencies.


Jay Sterling
Managing Director and Head of Accounting / Operations Practice

Jay Sterling is a Managing Director of Cromwell Partners. Mr. Sterling has twenty years of experience in executive search with a primary practice in the asset management and corporate financial management sectors. His recent search work in investment management has focused on recruiting Chief Operating Officers, Chief Financial Officers, Chief Compliance Officers, and senior sales professionals for startup and expanding asset management companies. His clients have included both alternative and traditional asset management firms. His corporate financial management work has included searches for senior financial executives for financial and non-financial services companies.

Mr. Sterling’s understanding and extensive network of buyers and sellers of financial services and third party providers such as accounting firms, law firms, consultants, and brokers, has allowed him to gain access and to attract a wide range of candidates throughout the United States. He began his career in executive search in 1987. Prior to 1987, Mr. Sterling worked at Dean Witter, where he managed a financial planning and analysis department and worked in securities sales and marketing. He started his career at Price Waterhouse where he was a manager on two of the firm's largest multinational clients.

Mr. Sterling is a Certified Public Accountant and an active member of a number of professional societies. He serves as treasurer and director of several non-profit organizations in the New York area, and is on the investment committee of a $110 million endowment fund. Mr. Sterling is a graduate of Denison University and received an MBA from Cornell University. He lives in Manhattan and Shelter Island, New York with his wife and two children.

Contact information:
Phone: (212) 953-3220
E-mail:

 

Kenneth S. Springer
President
Mr. Springer, a Certified Fraud Examiner, is President and founder of Corporate Resolutions Inc. A former special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mr. Springer has conducted business-related investigations and intelligence gathering for over twenty-five years. He is a recognized expert on state of the art data retrieval technology. Prior to founding CRI in 1991, he was President of Bishops Services, Inc., an investigative firm in New York City.

A 1975 graduate of Siena College with a B.S. in finance, Mr. Springer is an active member of the Society of Former

Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the Securities Industry Association-Compliance & Legal Division, the Association for Corporate Growth, the Association for Independent Private Sector Inspectors General (IPSIG), Turnaround Management Association, the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS), and the European Venture Capital Association. He is also a frequent speaker and lecturer on private equity, capital markets, due diligence issues and corporate investigations.

Contact Information
Email:

 

David Tom, CFA

David Tom joined VCFA in 2006 and primarily focuses on the sourcing of secondary purchase opportunities. Prior to joining VCFA, Mr. Tom was a consultant with Dynasty Capital Services, a financial advisory firm that focuses on Asian Markets.

Mr. Tom began his career as an Investment Banker in the Goldman Sachs High Technology Group, where he participated in M&A transactions and equity offerings from 1998 - 2000. He also served in the strategic planning group of Sphera Optical Networks, a venture-backed telecommunications start-up.

Mr. Tom graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University and received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. As an undergraduate, Mr. Tom was the founder and Editor-In-Chief of Around & About Providence: The Unofficial Guide to Brown and Beyond published in the Summer of 1998 and awarded five stars on Amazon.com. At Harvard, Mr. Tom was a runner-up in the HBS Business Plan Competition. Mr. Tom is also a CFA charterholder. Mr. Tom is also a contributor to PEHub.com.

Contact Information:
Phone: 212.838.5577
Email:


Kislay (Sal) Shah, CPA

Sal has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining
McGladrey, he was with a Big Four accounting firm for more than 14 years, working on key alternative
investment services engagements.

Typically, Sal’s clients manage up to $6 billion in assets. He has worked with Credit Suisse First Boston,
Goldman Sachs, Ziff, Merrill Lynch, Muzinich, C-Bass, Ramius Capital and Blackstone.

Services Provided: Sal has a strong understanding of reporting, compliance monitoring, management and

incentive fees, investor capital transactions, portfolio valuation, performance measurement, and trade reconciliations. Sal has deep knowledge of investment strategies and valuation methodologies derived from his extensive experience working with hedge funds, including due diligence, and performing general and operational evaluations.

Additionally, Sal has extensive background in financial instruments, including exotic derivatives. Sal also serves as editor-in-chief of McGladrey’s “Alternative Investment Watch,” a quarterly newsletter of developments in finance for alternative investment providers.

He is a frequent speaker on various topics including FAS 157, Small Business Investment Companies (SBIC), asset backed lending and is also a resource to many trade and industry publications.

Education: Sal received his bachelor’s degree from Calcutta University (India). Professional Affiliations: Sal is a member of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants as well as the American Institute of CPAs. He is also a Chartered Accountant in India.

Personal: Sal lives in Long Island, N.Y., with his wife and two children.

Contact Information
Phone: 212.372.1201
Email:


Scott Alintoff, COO

Scott Alintoff is the Chief Operating Officer of SunGard VPM, a company specializing in portfolio accounting solutions for the Alternative Investments community.  He works in multiple capacities including Client Services, Project Development and oversees all aspects of the firm’s services and software development.  Scott also works closely with VPM’s clients to develop new software for the rapidly changing world of complex trading instruments including swaps, bank debt, CDS and other security types.  He has extensive knowledge of hedge fund back office operations, systems, investment products and fund structures.  He recently assisted in the creation and rollout of FAS 157 reporting and is now focused on CDS product changes affecting the marketplace. 

Scott has over 15 years of experience in the Financial Services industry.  He began his career at Ernst & Young and participated in the audits of large financial firms and worked in the M&A and bankruptcy groups.  Furthermore, Scott has worked with numerous Financial Services companies in traditional asset management roles.  Prior to joining SunGard, he worked for one of the largest options market making firms on the American Stock Exchange and was the Head of Finance for a Commodity Pool Operator.

Scott holds his Series 3, 7, 63 and 65 licenses.  He is also a licensed American Stock Exchange Market Maker.  Scott holds a BBA in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin- Madison.  He lives in New Jersey with his wife and two children.

Contact Information
Phone: 631-962-8300
Email: