Portfolio Management
Girish Reddy, CFA, Founding Partner / Investment Committee Member
Mr. Reddy is a retired partner of Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he was a co-head of equity derivatives. Prior, he was the CIO of LOR Associates, a hedging and strategy advising firm based in Los Angeles, developing strategic alliances with other established asset managers like Wells Fargo and Aetna Insurance. Earlier in his career, he was a senior vice president of portfolio construction and asset allocation, at Travelers Investment Management Company, where he specialized in various overlay strategies for the firm using listed futures and options. Mr. Reddy is an elected member of and serves on the executive board of the Indian School of Business and also a recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award form the Indian Institute of Technology. He is a former board member of Barra Inc. Mr. Reddy received a B. Tech degree from I.I.T., Madras, a Masters in Engineering and an M.B.A. from Cornell University.
William S. Cook, CFA, Senior Portfolio Manager / Investment Committee Member
Mr. Cook joined Prisma from AEGON at inception in 2004. Prior to joining Prisma, he was the head of the capital market strategies group at AEGON USA Investment Management LLC. He was focusing on alternative investments, SBA loans, and special opportunities. Also at AEGON USA, Mr. Cook was the head of the derivatives group which was spun out of the public fixed income group. Prior, and also at AEGON USA, Mr. Cook was the head of public fixed income group where he led teams of six portfolio managers and a group of 15 employees. Previously, he was a partner at Cleveland Management, where he was a generalist with a specialty in fixed income for the high net worth oriented asset management firm. Earlier in his career, Mr. Cook was the director of fixed income at United Capital Management. Mr. Cook received a BA degree from the University of Denver, and an M.B.A. from DePaul University.
Donna L. Heitzman, CFA, CPA, Portfolio Manager
Ms. Heitzman joined Prisma from AEGON at inception in 2004. Prior to joining Prisma, she was a portfolio manager at AEGON USA Investment Management LLC; facilitating the portfolio’s significant growth and broad diversification across all hedge fund strategies with a specialty in researching and implementing new strategies. She was also the director of private placements at AEGON USA Investment Management LLC. Prior, also at AEGON USA, she was the director of the financial division, where she was responsible for investment portfolio analysis. Previously, she was an audit supervisor at Coopers and Lybrand, specializing in the manufacturing and financial institution sectors of both publicly held and privately owned clients. Ms. Heitzman received a BS degree from the University of Louisville.
Daniel Lawee, CFA, Portfolio Manager
Mr. Lawee joined Prisma as a portfolio manager in 2008. Prior to joining Prisma, Mr. Lawee was a portfolio manager at Northwater Capital Management Inc., responsible for fixed income, structured credit, volatility, and reinsurance hedge fund strategies. Previously he was a vice president, Corporate Foreign Exchange Desk at TD Canada Trust, responsible for coverage of corporate and institutional accounts and options marketing for the corporate and commercial FX sales teams. Earlier, he was an account executive in the Mortgage Department at Republic National Bank of New York, responsible for wholesale mortgage origination channel in Manhattan territory. Mr. Lawee earned a BA in Political Science with a minor in Business Studies from Concordia University, and an M.B.A. from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.
Michael J. Rudzik, Portfolio Manager
Mr. Rudzik joined Prisma from AEGON at inception in 2004. Prior to joining Prisma, Mr. Rudzik was a Portfolio Manager at AEGON USA Investment Management LLC, where he was responsible for hedge fund manager due diligence, selection, and monitoring with primary strategy focus on long/short equity, event-driven, multi-strategy arbitrage and private equity. Previously, he was the chief operating officer at Aeon Capital Management LLC, where he collaborated in the formation of a $50 million emerging markets hedge fund start-up for a European investment group. Earlier, he was a general partner at Tiedemann Investment Group, where he served as the head of the trading desk and in a portfolio management capacity. Earlier in his career, Mr. Rudzik was a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Rudzik earned a BA from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Eric Wolfe, CFA, Senior Portfolio Manager / Investment Committee Member
Mr. Wolfe joined Prisma in 2004. Prior to Prisma, Mr. Wolfe was a vice president and leading portfolio manager of the hedge fund of funds group at Safra National Bank of New York. He managed the accounts group, and headed the research process to source hedge fund investments for fund-of-funds. Previously, he was the chief financial officer for Buyroad.com, where he co-managed a 20 employee web design team from pre-launch to a revenue producing entity serving the small/medium business market. Earlier, Mr. Wolfe was a vice president and global balanced portfolio manager at J.P. Morgan Investment Management, serving as portfolio manager of over $16 billion in global balanced assets. Also at J.P. Morgan, he was an analyst in the structured derivatives group of the asset management company. Mr. Wolfe received a BS in Economics from Lehigh University, magna cum laude.
Peter Zakowich, Portfolio Manager
Mr. Zakowich joined Prisma in 2006. Prior to Prisma, Mr. Zakowich was an associate portfolio manager at J.P. Morgan Alternative Investments, where he was responsible for investment selection, position sizing, and exposure monitoring. Previously, he was a equity analyst at Edge Capital, a long/short equity hedge fund focusing on the technology and media sectors. Earlier, Mr. Zakowich was an investment associate in global equity research at Putnam Investments where he focused on companies in the media, advertising, and automotive industries. Mr. Zakowich received a BA from Harvard University and an M.B.A. from New York University, Stern School of Business.
James Welch, III, Managing Director
Mr. Welch joined Prisma in 2010. Prior to Prisma, Mr. Welch was a managing member of Kettle Cove Investors, LLC, a fund of hedge funds vehicle established for members of Mr. Welch’s immediate family. Previously, he was CEO and Executive Director of Kisco Management Corporation, a financial services firm that was exclusively dedicated to serving a prominent U.S. high net worth family. Earlier, Mr. Welch was a Managing Director and the Co-Head of Research and Portfolio Management at J.P. Morgan Alternative Asset Management, Inc., which is J.P. Morgan’s fund of hedge funds investment firm. Mr. Welch has held various positions of increasing responsibility within J.P. Morgan, primarily in the capital markets area, including roles in derivatives origination, structuring, and training. Mr. Welch received a BA from Harvard College.
Risk Management
Emanuel Derman, Head of Risk Management
Professor Derman is the director of the MS program in financial engineering at Columbia University. He joined Prisma in 2004 and was previously a managing director of firm-wide risk at Goldman, Sachs & Co. He is known for his joint work on the Black-Derman-Toy model with Fischer Black and for the development of local volatility models. He is an associate editor of The Journal of Derivatives and the Journal of Risk. He was appointed the ‘Global Finance Magazine Derivatives Superstar’ in 1995 and 1996, and was profiled in the Global Finance December 1995 issue titled, “Portrait of a Rocket Scientist”. He was the IAFE/Sungard Financial Engineer of the Year 2000, and included in the Risk Magazine hall of fame 2002. Professor Derman holds a BS degree from the University of Cape Town, a MA from Columbia University as well as a PhD in Particle Physics from Columbia University.
Shankar (Nag) Nagarajan, Director of Risk Management
Mr. Nagarajan joined Prisma in 2005. Prior to Prisma, Mr. Nagarajan was the managing partner of Risk Capital, LLC, where he was responsible for advising major companies on strategic and tactical risk management issues. He was formerly an adjunct professor of economics and finance of Columbia University. Previously, he was the senior manager & head of the valuation group at Deloitte & Touche. Earlier, he was a vice president of Bankers Trust Company where he advised clients on strategic and tactical risk management. Formerly, he was an associate professor of finance at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Mr. Nagarajan was a consultant to the Federal Reserve and various other central banks. He was named Euromoney’s Best Risk Advisor 2004. Mr. Nagarajan holds a B. Tech degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, an MS and a PhD from Northwestern University.
Client Management
Paul Roberts, Managing Director
Mr. Roberts joined Prisma in 2008. Prior to joining Prisma, Mr. Roberts was a managing director and co-head of European Shares at Goldman Sachs & Co. Previously; he worked in the equity derivatives group of Goldman Sachs & Co. advising institutions on portfolio restructuring and hedging strategies. Earlier in his career, he worked in the structured product area of SBC Warburg and was the head of derivative sales at SG Warburg, responsible for the distribution of all listed and OTC products. Mr. Roberts received a MA in Economics from Cambridge University.
Helenmarie Rodgers, Managing Director
Ms. Rodgers joined Prisma in 2004. Prior to joining Prisma, she was a managing director of institutional client management, at J.P. Morgan Alternative Asset Management, a $6 billion hedge fund of funds manager. Previously, she was the managing director and head of worldwide marketing and product development for Chase Alternative Asset Management, the predecessor firm to JPMAAM. Earlier, she was a portfolio specialist for several hedge funds of funds and feeder funds at Union Bancaire Privee, a large Swiss investor in hedge funds. Ms. Rodgers was also a senior vice president for the World Gold Council in Geneva, Switzerland. Ms. Rodgers holds a BA degree from Tulane University and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
John Stimpson, Managing Director
Mr. Stimpson joined Prisma in 2009. Previous to Prisma, he was an Executive Director at UBP Asset Management, a fund of hedge funds, where he did marketing to public sector pension plans and other institutions in the U.S. Prior to UBP he was a senior salesperson in the Absolute Return Strategies Group at Deutsche Bank marketing fund of funds and single manager hedge funds to various institutional investors and consultants. Previously he was Vice President of Sales and Client Service for The Torrey Funds, a long/short equity fund of hedge funds.
Additionally, Mr. Stimpson has more than 10 years of experience working in state government and advising governments on finance and investment issues. From 2002 to 2004, he was in the Public Finance Group of UBS Financial Services where he provided investment banking services to state, city and municipal governments in the U.S. During 1994 – 99, he served as a senior aide to Massachusetts Governors William Weld and Paul Cellucci. He began his career as a Research Analyst covering state budget issues in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Mr. Stimpson has a BA from Villanova University and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.
James Walsh, Managing Director
Mr. Walsh joined Prisma in 2009 after serving as a marketing consultant for the firm, principally in Asia, since 2004. Previously, Jim co-founded Walsh Advisors, LLC, an advisory firm marketing alternative investment solutions to international institutions, advising on private equity investments and providing strategic financial advice to a number of companies in leading technology spaces. Over the years he has held senior positions building businesses at Zurich Financial Services, Société Générale Securities Corporation/SG Cowen Inc., Prudential Securities Incorporated and The First Boston Corporation/CSFB Ltd. He spent eleven years in Tokyo for First Boston and Prudential Securities where he had senior management responsibilities in capital markets, private client business and investment management throughout the Asia Pacific Region. Jim is a former director and advisor to several investment funds including a listed (NYSE) private equity fund. He began his career at The Bank of New York and has been an Associated Member of the New York Stock Exchange.
He has an M.B.A. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and a BS and MS in physics from Stevens Institute of Technology where he currently is a member of the Board of Trustees, co-chairman of the Finance & Investment Committee. Jim is a member of the Board of Governors of the Foreign Policy Association, a member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (1984 – present) and a past member of its Board of Governors.
Operations/Operational Due Diligence
Francis J. Conroy, CPA, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer / Investment Committee Member
Mr. Conroy joined Prisma in 2004. Prior to joining Prisma, Mr. Conroy was the chief financial officer at Mezzacappa Management, LLC, where he was responsible for all financial, accounting, compliance, personnel, and operational activities of a Registered Investment Adviser managing nine funds of hedge funds. Previously, he was a director and senior vice-president at Lazard Frères & Co. LLC, responsible for tax planning and compliance for their international investment bank with affiliates in 16 countries. Earlier, Mr. Conroy was the director of taxes at McKinsey & Company, Inc., responsible for global tax planning and compliance for the multinational consulting company with offices in 23 countries, and chief operating officer at Catalyst Energy Corporation, managing operations of two resource recovery facilities. He began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co., providing tax planning advice and overseeing tax compliance for broad range of high net worth individual, partnership, and corporate clients. Mr. Conroy holds a BS degree from Fordham University, summa cum laude, and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.
John Brennan, Director of Operations
Mr. Brennan joined Prisma in 2007. Prior to joining Prisma, Mr. Brennan was a senior vice president of Fixed Income Institutional Sales at FTN Securities Corp. (a wholly owned subsidiary of First Horizon Bank N.A.) where he had oversight for eight offices in the United States. He was previously a Limited Partner at Spear Leeds & Kellogg (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Goldman Sachs & Co. from 2000 - 2005), where he specialized in Fixed Income E-Commerce and sales administration.Prior, he was a vice president and the global head of futures operations at Goldman Sachs & Co., where he spent 4 years in Tokyo and 3 ½ years in London. Earlier in his career, Mr. Brennan was a managing director at First Options/Continental Bank of Chicago in Singapore and London. He spent a total of 11 years working in and running international operations. Mr. Brennan holds a BS degree in Finance from Southern Illinois University.
Mark DeGaetano, Head of Operational Due Diligence
Mr. DeGaetano joined Prisma in 2006. Prior to joining Prisma, Mr. DeGaetano was a head of operations for the single manager and fund of funds platforms at Deutsche Bank in absolute return strategies, where he had global responsibility for operational due diligence. Previously, he was a vice president at Cross Mar a technology subsidiary of Citicorp, responsible for the building and successful implementation of a new B2B Trade Finance Solution. Prior, he was a vice president at Citibank Capital Markets LLC, providing management within a structured finance operations environment. Earlier in his career, Mr. DeGaetano was the head of business support in trading and capital markets at Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, where he was responsible for middle office and trade support functions that processed the entire spectrum of financial products. Mr. DeGaetano holds a BS degree from Wagner College.
Kenneth Eagle, Controller
Mr. Eagle joined Prisma in 2005. Prior to joining Prisma, Mr. Eagle was a manager at Rothstein, Kass & Company, providing audit and tax services to a variety of clients within the private investment industry, with responsibilities including valuation testing of portfolios, tax planning and preparation. Mr. Eagle holds a BS degree in Accounting from the University of Delaware
General Counsel
Anne Wynne, General Counsel
Ms. Wynne joined Prisma in 2010. Prior to Prisma, Ms. Wynne served as Senior Counsel & Vice President of Ivy Asset Management LLC, a registered investment advisor to funds of hedge funds and customized accounts. Previously she was an associate at Seward & Kissel LLP, providing advice to clients including registered and unregistered investment advisors on a variety of issues related to general corporate and securities matters. Earlier, Ms. Wynne was an associate at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, providing advice to clients on general corporate and securities matters. Ms. Wynne received a BA from Loyola University Maryland, magna cum laude and a JD from Duke University School of Law.