Hedge Fund Forum 2024

Mike Bloomberg is an entrepreneur and three-term mayor of New York City whose innovations in business, government, and philanthropy have made him a pioneering leader on critical issues facing America and the world. He has launched major coalitions to save and improve lives, including America’s largest campaigns to prevent gun violence and fight the climate crisis, and he has championed efforts to fix our immigration system.

Elected mayor just weeks after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Bloomberg led New York City’s resurgence. He spearheaded the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan, fought poverty with new programs that became national models, and turned around a failing school system. Bloomberg reduced carbon emissions by 13 percent, increased New Yorkers’ life expectancy by three years, and cut crime by a third while reducing incarceration by nearly 40 percent. Despite the national recession, he led the city to record job growth.

As mayor, Bloomberg launched a pandemic influenza plan for New York City, and led the city through outbreaks of the swine flu and West Nile virus. An international leader on public health issues, Bloomberg recently launched a series of efforts to help fight the coronavirus pandemic through his foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies. He’s supporting a fund for New York City-based non-profits impacted by the crisis, convening mayors to share information and strategies, committing $40 million to help low- and middle-income countries slow and prevent the spread of the disease, and more.

After his third term in City Hall, he resumed leadership of Bloomberg LP, the financial technology and media company he founded in 1981. Bloomberg LP now employs some 20,000 people. Bloomberg Philanthropies applies a unique, data-driven approach to drive progress in five focus areas – public health, government innovation, education, the environment, and the arts. He has given away $9.5 billion.

Bloomberg grew up in a middle-class home in Medford, Massachusetts. He took out government loans and worked his way through school, graduating from Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Business School. He is the father of two daughters, Emma and Georgina, and has two grandchildren.

Vincent M. Aita, Ph.D. is the Founder, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Cutter Capital Management, LP (“Cutter). Cutter manages a market and factor neutral long/short strategy in US and European healthcare equities. Dr. Aita, launched Cutter as the culmination of his experience of over 6 years as an academic scientist with a Ph.D. in molecular genetics, and over 20 years of investing in healthcare stocks, the last 5 of which were spent managing a portfolio and team for Citadel’s Surveyor Capital.

Prior to Citadel, from 2011 – 2014, Vincent was an analyst covering healthcare for Millennium Partners. Prior to that, he spent two and a half years as an analyst with discretion to run a biotechnology subsector portfolio for HealthCor Management.

Vincent holds a Ph.D. in molecular genetics from Columbia University where he participated in the mapping of the human genome.

Sonali covers the financial industry for Bloomberg TV, radio and Bloomberg News, specializing in investment banking, private equity and asset management. She frequently contributes to Businessweek magazine.

Sonali received her BA from Bucknell University, a master’s in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School and is finishing up her MBA at NYU’s Stern School of Business.

David Ben-Ur is a Senior Managing Director in Blackstone Multi-Asset Investing (BXMA), where he serves as Chief Investment Officer of the Absolute Return platform.

Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Ben-Ur served as Chief Investment Officer of The Kovner Foundation and of CAM Capital, which manages the private assets of the Kovner family. From 2004 to 2012, Mr. Ben-Ur was a Partner and Co-Chief Investment Officer at Corbin Capital Partners, a private investment company based in New York. Prior to joining Corbin Capital Partners, Mr. Ben-Ur worked at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where he was Vice President from 2000 to 2004, and at Fidelity Management & Research Company, where he was a Senior Analyst from 1995 to 2000.

Mr. Ben-Ur graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society. He received his MPP from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and is a CFA® charterholder.

Michael Colman is a Sales Manager for Hedge funds across the Americas looking after the Bloomberg enterprise business. Prior to this Michael led teams in our Electronic Trading business. Before joining Bloomberg in 2011, he worked for five years at hedge funds as a Head Trader and five years as a trader at Goldman Sachs.

Brian is the Founder and CIO of ClearAlpha^TM Technologies. Brian is responsible for setting the firm’s strategic direction and leading our portfolio management and trading teams. Before founding ClearAlpha^TM Technologies, Brian was a day one employee and was the first non-Founding Partner at AQR Capital Management. During his 21 years at AQR, Brian served as a portfolio manager, researcher, and head of trading for the firm. Brian was instrumental in designing and building AQR’s trading platform and, as senior portfolio manager, was responsible for more than $15BN in hedge fund assets.

Brian was a recipient of the Alternative Fund Manager of the Year award by Morningstar in 2013. During his tenure, Brian served on or led various management, operating, and investment committees, including the Strategic Planning Committee, the Operating Committee and the Risk Committee.

C. C. Melvin Ike (“Mel”) is the Founder and Managing Partner of The Visualize Group, an investment firm that makes high-conviction and long-duration investments in generationally enduring businesses as a control or lead, non-control investor.

Prior to founding Visualize, Mel was a Managing Director in the Tactical Opportunities Group at Blackstone, where he focused primarily on private equity, growth equity and public equities across a variety of industries. Before joining Blackstone, Mel was an investor across public and private markets at Third Point and TPG Capital, respectively. He started his career as an investment banker in the Restructuring Group at Lazard.

Justin Lubell joined Citadel in 2020 as a senior managing director at Surveyor Capital. Months later, he was appointed as Head of Citadel Global Equities. He serves on Citadel’s Portfolio Committee.

Prior to joining the firm, Justin spent more than a decade at Point72 Asset Management, where he led through a variety of market environments and established himself as a widely respected investor and business builder. He served as a portfolio manager specializing in Media, Internet, Telecom and Services sectors and was a member of the firm’s Portfolio Risk Committee. He started his career at Bear Stearns & Co. Justin is a Trustee and member of the Endowment Committee at Trinity School in Manhattan. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a dual bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science and is a CFA charter holder.

Hema Parmar is an investing reporter with Bloomberg News, where she focuses on hedge funds. Her stories can be found on the Bloomberg Terminal and Bloomberg.com. Hema also appears on Bloomberg TV and radio. She previously covered hedge funds, bankruptcies and emerging markets for the Bloomberg Brief newsletter. Prior to this, she produced Bloomberg TV’s European markets show ‘The Pulse’ which airs across Europe, Asia and the U.S.. Before joining Bloomberg, she spent more than two years covering the energy sector in Alberta, Canada and energy legislation in Washington, DC. Hema has a Master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. You can follow her on twitter at @parmarhema

Barry L. Ritholtz is the host of Bloomberg Radio’s Masters in Business. He is also the founder and chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management. Launched in 2013, RWM is a financial planning and asset management firm, with $2.8 billion in assets. The firm offers a variety of services to the investing public.

In 2008-09, Ritholtz wrote the book Bailout Nation, published by Wiley in 2009. Bailout Nation was named “Investment Book of the Year” by Stock Trader’s Almanac, and won a First Amendment Award for Outstanding Journalism: Best Book. Numerous media including USA Today, Miami Herald, Marketplace Radio and more named it as one of the best finance/business books of 2009.

Mr. Ritholtz has a graduate degree from Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York, where he focused on Economics, Anti-Trust and Corporate Law. He was a member of the Law Review, and graduated Cum Laude. His undergraduate work was at Stony Brook University, where on a Regents Scholarship, he focused on Mathematics and Physics, graduating with an Bachelor Arts & Sciences degree in Political Science.

Joseph (Joe) Sciortino is the Head of Credit & Americas Investments for UBS Hedge Fund Solutions (HFS) and is a member of the HFS Management and Senior Investment Forums. He is primarily responsible for leading the team that conducts market research and manager due diligence across corporate credit, structured products, specialty lending, real estate debt and Insurance strategies.

The group invests across the liquidity spectrum in private credit funds. Joe is the primary portfolio manager for all credit products and customized mandates within the multi-manager business and is a member of the private credit investment committee.

Prior to joining UBS in 2006, Joe was a Senior Investment Analyst at Lake Partners, Inc., a multi-billion dollar consultant specializing in alternative investments, where he was responsible for manager research, portfolio management and directing the junior research analysts.