2022 Programme

Gareth Nicholson joined Nomura in July 2021 as Chief Investment Officer and Head of Discretionary Portfolio Management for International Wealth Management. He is based in Singapore.

Gareth works closely with Nomura’s Global Markets and Investment Banking businesses to expand the firm’s product offerings and spearhead a streamlined, solutions-driven coverage effort for high-net-worth clients, external asset managers and family offices. With a strong institutional investment background, he creates and manages DPM strategies for fixed income, equity and multi-asset portfolios, while providing risk management support.

Gareth has over 16 years of experience in financial markets. Prior to Nomura, he was Head of Fixed Income DPM at Bank of Singapore, where he was also a member of its investment committee. Before that, he was with Aberdeen Standard Investments for almost 10 years as a fixed income trader and an Asian credit portfolio manager. He began working in finance in 2004 as a derivatives specialist with Deutsche Asset Management after an early career as a mathematics teacher.

Gareth holds a BSc in Financial Mathematics from the University of Johannesburg. He was born and raised in East London, South Africa.

Judy joined KX in 2021 in a regional role looking after our Multi-Asset Trading capabilities across Asia.

Prior to her current role,  Judy has held extensive e-FX roles over the last 17 years in Sales & Business Development and Strategic Planning at Deutsche Boerse Group 360T,  Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and OANDA in Singapore and Tokyo. She has a wealth of experience in e-FX trading across OTC & Listed venues and in delivering complex e-FX workflow solutions for an array of market participants across Asia.

Leo Tay is Managing Director and Head of FX, Rates and Derivatives Trading in ING, based in Singapore. He leads a team of traders across five locations, and is responsible for the electronification of the FX Rates trading business. He is also the digital asset champion for the bank, sponsoring the development of digital asset ecosystem in Asia.

Leo holds an M.Sc. in Financial Mathematics from the Technische Universität Kaiserslautern in Germany, and is a guest lecturer in Financial Economics in the Ateneo de Manila University.

A self-driven and highly motivated person, I'm driven by the need to add value to everything I do, I'm motivated by the ability to empower and develop the people I work with, and I strived to be a source of inspiration and encouragement to the community and society that I live in. I am a highly sought-after speaker at various regional and local conferences, as well as a regular contributor to news media on current affairs.

At the professional front, I have more than 22 years of international experience primarily in the areas of consultancy / advisory, asset / investment management and capital market. Currently, I serve as the Founding Partner of Kairos Capital Group, providing advisory and consultancy services focusing primarily in capital market and asset management industries covering the Asia Pacific region.

I am also the Founding CEO of Ericsenz Capital based in Singapore, a MAS-licensed fund management company focusing on Private Equity and Venture Capital, bridging between Silicon Valley and South East Asia. I am also a Committee Member on the Investment Advisory Committee of Ericsenz-K2 Unicorn Fund and Ericsenz-K2 Unicorn Fund 2.

Jordi Chiu is a Macro Portfolio Manager based in our Singapore office. He joined BAM in February 2020 from Graticule Asset Management where he was a Macro Portfolio Manager. Prior to his career with Graticule, Jordi was a trader at JP Morgan Hong Kong – trading Rates and FX, his other career roles include Soc Gen, and Standard Chartered. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Kevin focuses on valuation anomalies and believes in detailed research and analysis and works with a group of like minded professionals within his investment ecosystem that lead up to investment decisions. Kevin was a volunteer with CFAS - UIRC, an advisor to CFA Institute China-India strategy team and was a Board Member of CFA Singapore and Secretary. Kevin has spoken for CFAI across the region (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Singapore, Manila, Bangkok, HCMC, Hanoi) and has conducted lectures in Beijing Normal University, Zhongshan University-Lingnan College, National University of Singapore, HKUSpace and the Wealth Management Institute. Kevin is also a member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore - Commercial Affairs Department Panel of Experts on Securities Offenses and also serves as a senior advisor to GoDigitalediaGroup, a leading media company focused on intellectual property rights management. GDMG is transforming how music networks and brands.

Kevin brings with him more than 30 years of investment experience and was the Head of Greater China Property Research with Yuanta Securities (Hong Kong) with responsibilities ranging from research coverage and analysis, marketing, assisting in primary and secondary equity issues, PE and funds. Prior to Yuanta, Kevin was the SVP with Pacific Star Financial (a subsidiary of Pacific Star Group) and was engaged in fund creation, structuring, documentation, marketing, fund raising and investment. Kevin was also the Chief Operating Officer of CITIC Securities (formerly known as CITIC Frontier China Research), Managing Director of Matrix Venture Capital, Director of Matrix Venture Catalyst, Director of Kleinwort Benson Securities Asia, Head of Regional Property and Singapore Country research. Prior to his senior management appointments, Kevin was a regional special situations analyst with Barclays de Zoette Wedd, a quantitative analyst with BZW Australia (both part of Credit Suisse), Assistant Manager (FX) with Chase Manhattan Bank Singapore and a Japanese equity salesman with Nikko Merchant Bank Singapore.

Kevin graduated with an MBA from New York Stern School of Business/Australian Graduate School of Management in 1992 and a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil, Hon's) from the University of Melbourne in 1986. Kevin was awarded the Australian Post Graduate Scholarship Award and an AGSM scholarship and was conferred the Chartered Financial Analyst charter in 1992.

Nitin Jain , Working as Head of Treasury and Capital markets at Agrocorp International based in Singapore. Seasoned Global Leader with proven track record in financial services, corporate finance and banking across Asia Pacific. More than 15 Years of domain expertise in the field of Foreign Exchange and Treasury. Worked for Fortunes 500 corporates, International Banks and Hedge Fund across APAC region.

Jonathan is head of FX for Asia-Pacific capital markets at LSEG and responsible for FX trading and post-trade solutions for the interbank, asset management, corporate & broker markets. He joined Refinitiv (formerly the Financial & Risk business of Thomson Reuters) in September 2012, following Thomson Reuters’ acquisition of FXall where he was Head of Asia-Pacific.

Before joining FXall, Jonathan was involved in launching two new equity multilateral trading facilities, Chi-X and Equiduct, in business development functions. Prior to that, he held a variety of roles in Asian and European business development, product management and sales within Global Link, State Street's multi-asset class e-trading platform including FX Connect. Additionally, Jonathan worked for Bridge in Asia managing FX, equity, futures and commercial paper trading and information services.

Urvi Guglani is an Investment Researcher at Silverdale Capital, Singapore, where she works on the quant-fundamental research strategy and leads the AI-based ESG initiative.

Prior to joining Silverdale, she worked at PIMCO New York, in their Portfolio Management division for the Total Return, Municipal, and Dynamic Bond Fund strategies. Earlier, she worked at BlackRock San Francisco, in Quantitative Research for their Systematic Fixed Income hedge fund.

Urvi is a Computer Science and Quantitative Economics (Honors) graduate from the University of California, Berkeley.

Kevin focuses on valuation anomalies and believes in detailed research and analysis and works with a group of like minded professionals within his investment ecosystem that lead up to investment decisions. Kevin was a volunteer with CFAS - UIRC, an advisor to CFA Institute China-India strategy team and was a Board Member of CFA Singapore and Secretary. Kevin has spoken for CFAI across the region (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Singapore, Manila, Bangkok, HCMC, Hanoi) and has conducted lectures in Beijing Normal University, Zhongshan University-Lingnan College, National University of Singapore, HKUSpace and the Wealth Management Institute. Kevin is also a member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore - Commercial Affairs Department Panel of Experts on Securities Offenses and also serves as a senior advisor to GoDigitalediaGroup, a leading media company focused on intellectual property rights management. GDMG is transforming how music networks and brands.

Kevin brings with him more than 30 years of investment experience and was the Head of Greater China Property Research with Yuanta Securities (Hong Kong) with responsibilities ranging from research coverage and analysis, marketing, assisting in primary and secondary equity issues, PE and funds. Prior to Yuanta, Kevin was the SVP with Pacific Star Financial (a subsidiary of Pacific Star Group) and was engaged in fund creation, structuring, documentation, marketing, fund raising and investment. Kevin was also the Chief Operating Officer of CITIC Securities (formerly known as CITIC Frontier China Research), Managing Director of Matrix Venture Capital, Director of Matrix Venture Catalyst, Director of Kleinwort Benson Securities Asia, Head of Regional Property and Singapore Country research. Prior to his senior management appointments, Kevin was a regional special situations analyst with Barclays de Zoette Wedd, a quantitative analyst with BZW Australia (both part of Credit Suisse), Assistant Manager (FX) with Chase Manhattan Bank Singapore and a Japanese equity salesman with Nikko Merchant Bank Singapore.

Kevin graduated with an MBA from New York Stern School of Business/Australian Graduate School of Management in 1992 and a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil, Hon's) from the University of Melbourne in 1986. Kevin was awarded the Australian Post Graduate Scholarship Award and an AGSM scholarship and was conferred the Chartered Financial Analyst charter in 1992.

Prior to joining the crypto asset management industry, Cici had over 10 years of institutional banking career, specifically in Investment Banking, FI & FX trading across 4 continents.

Cici has been following blockchain technology since 2018 combined with her ESG knowledge from the recent assignment at BNP Paribas in 2021, she has a unique perspective on crypto assets as tools to enable UN Sustainable Development Goals.

She is also an ardent advocate for Blockchain applications in philanthropic management at the Association of Family Office in Asia.

Carney Mak currently manages the fintech investments for FXHB Asset Management and also holds a role as a Commercial Director in Mitrade where he is in charge of expanding the company's geographic reach and establishing them to be a leading trading platform. Under his leadership, Mitrade was awarded the Best Forex Fintech Broker Asia 2021 Award

Carney was also part of the Digital Currency Subcommittee at (ACCESS) Association of Crypto Currency Enterprise and Startups Singapore – which is the main representative body for cryptocurrency businesses in Singapore with the local government and served as a member for Singapore Fintech Association (SFA) and Blockchain Association of Singapore (BAS) where he use such platforms to educate the public on new digital currencies and payments.

He often volunteers to be guest lecturer to facilitate payment modules for Singapore FinTech Association (SFA), as well as speaking on topics related to Fintech, Payments and Blockchain at international events, polytechnics and universities - the most recent one at Nanyang Technology University (NTU). He is featured in several newswire for his remarks on the cryptocurrency markets and payments.

Carney currently serves a mentor for the local polytechnic and universities, an advisor and consultant for payments, fintech, blockchain and NFT related projects.

Markus has 17 years’ experience in Portfolio Management. Before joining IDEG, Markus was Head of Proprietary Macro Trading (including cryptocurrency trading) at KGI Asia. Prior, he founded and was the Chief Investment Officer at Jomon Investment Management. Previously, Markus was a Portfolio Manager at Millennium Capital Partners as well as at JP Morgan’s Investment Group. He started his career at Morgan Stanley.  

Markus has a degree from French Grande Ecole, ESCP in Paris and a Certificate in Sustainable Finance from the University of Cambridge.

Based out of Singapore, Mitul Kotecha is a TD Securities Senior Emerging Markets Strategist with a wealth of experience. His career as a strategist and economist extends over 25 years and across offices in London, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Prior to joining TD Securities, Mitul held the position of Head of FX and Rates Strategy for Asia-Pacific at Barclays, and prior to that, served as Head of Global FX Strategy and Head of Asia Research at Credit Agricole CIB.

Mitul has developed strong client relationships across the region focusing on Asian macro strategy and global emerging markets. His coverage of financial products spans bonds, interest rates, equities, and foreign exchange. Mitul has been highly ranked in various FX research and forecasting polls including FX Week, Bloomberg, Reuters, and Asiamoney.

He is a frequent speaker at various economic and financial global conferences, is regularly consulted by the media for views on markets and economies, has given a TEDX talk, and authored the book “Chronology Of A Crisis.” Mitul has appeared on business channels such as CNBC and Bloomberg TV and is regularly quoted in the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Associated Press, and Dow Jones.

Mitul holds a Masters of Science Degree in Economics and Finance from the University of Warwick and an Honours Degree in Economics.

Bernard Aw is the Economist for Asia Pacific region at Coface since December 2020. In this position, he leads macroeconomic and country risk analysis of the Asia Pacific region and manages the regional economic research team. He contributes to informing the Group’s risk decision makers of developments to help them make the correct decisions. Prior to joining Coface in Singapore, he was Principal Economist at IHS Markit. His other previous roles include Market Strategist for IG Asia and Regional Economist at 4CAST. Bernard has also conducted research on trade and economic issues at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. Bernard holds a M.Sc. in Economics from the Singapore Management University and a B.Sc. in Economics and Finance from the University of London.

Frances joined OCBC Global Treasury in January 2021, responsible for interest rates research. She has over 20 years of experience as an economist, rates and FX strategist. Prior to OCBC, she was Head of Asia
Macro Strategy with Westpac, Head of Rates Strategy Asia ex Japan with Societe Generale , and Head of Asian Rates Strategy with Credit Agricole.

Frances was named as No.1 of Best for Overall Interest Rate Research Analyst in Asiamoney Fixed Income Poll 2012, 2013 and 2014; No.1 as Best Local Currency Analyst in FinanceAsia Fixed Income Research Poll 2012 and 2013; No.3 of Best for Overall FX Research Analyst in Asiamoney FX Poll 2012 and 2014; and No.1 as Best Analyst in FinanceAsia Fixed Income
Research Poll 2011.

She received her Master of Philosophy (Economics) and Bachelor of Social Science (Economics) degrees from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is also a CFA charterholder .

Divya covers Asia FX strategy, based in Singapore. He provides views on the latest developments in FX markets, and recommends trade ideas and hedging strategies for institutional and corporate clients. He is quoted regularly in the media on financial-market developments. Divya has often been ranked among the most accurate forecasters for EM Asia FX by Bloomberg. Prior to his current role, he was a G10 FX strategist for the Bank. He joined Standard Chartered Bank in 2010. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in computer science from Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, and an MBA from Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. He is a CFA charterholder.

Sanjay Mathur joined ANZ as the Chief Economist for South East Asia and India in 2017. Prior to joining, Sanjay was the Head of Economics Research (Asia ex-Japan) where he led research teams across economics, foreign exchange, rates and credit. Prior to this he held senior economic roles at Barclays and UBS.

Sanjay has an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Delhi and a Masters in Economics and Finance from the University of Rochester, New York

In January 2014, Gopul joined Golden Agri-Resources Limited, Singapore to head the Global Treasury and Trade Finance business.  His aim is to align the business to international standards and practices with a focus on revenue generation and risk management, which he successfully accomplished at Cargill. Prior to joining Golden Agri, Gopul spent 10 years at Cargill’s proprietary structured funding, treasury, emerging markets trading, and risk management group. Prior to Cargill, Gopul worked in Thailand, Singapore and USA on corporate, project and trade financing, international commodities trading, mergers and acquisition, proprietary fixed income and money markets.

Gopul is passionate about international business, international finance, commodities, behavioral finance, entrepreneurship, understanding the power of finance, growth of human capital that is currently influencing and driving growth in emerging markets, and the importance of ethics and principles in conducting business in emerging markets.  He has been invited to speak and be a panelist at many external forums organized by international banks, Euro-finance, universities, and also internal forums held by Cargill India.

Gopul holds an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Mumbai, is a Chartered Accountant by training and Associate CPA Australia.