Claude Perron is President and Founder of FIAM and President Emeritus of Gestion Cristallin, a company specializing in arbitrage strategies for fixed-income securities, convertible bonds and market events, mainly mergers and acquisitions.

His professional career has been concentrated in three sectors – academic: head of the administration department/faculty at Université du Québec à Montréal, co-founder of CIREM (now CIREM-HEC), corporate: CN Express (CEO) Dominion Textile (Sr. VP Development) and capital markets: Co-Head of Institutional Sales at Marleau Lemire Securities (Dundee), Senior VP. Investment Banking at Midland / Merrill Lynch and for 25 years at Gestion Cristallin. A well-known figure in the Quebec asset management community, he is actively involved in Cristallin’s business development and strategic initiatives.

The creation of FIAM is a natural extension of Claude’s legacy, encompassing over 15 years of orchestrating noteworthy events. His impact has been keenly felt as the Vice-Chairman of AIMA Canada, where he led the organization of its flagship event fondly known as the Méchoui. Additionally, Claude’s commitment reverberates in FIAM’s mission at the crossroads of data science, AI/ML technology, and finance, particularly in the dynamic realm of asset management.

Jean-François holds a PhD and Master’s degree in computer science from University of Montreal (2008 and 2004), as well as a Master’s and Bachelor’s in Economics from University of Montreal (2000 and 1999). In addition to his experience at Hexavest and Desjardins International Asset Management, Jean-François served as Quantitative Analyst at CDPQ from 2007 to 2009 and was a Research Professional at CIRANO from 2000 to 2003.

Jean-François has over 16 years of professional experience in digital technology and quantitative investment. He held various leadership roles at Hexavest and Desjardins International Asset Management before joining CDPQ in January 2022.

As Vice-President, Quantitative Strategies and Data Science, Jean-François is responsible for developing and managing systematic and quantitative investment strategies. He is also responsible for pre- and post-investment analytics on liquid and illiquid CDPQ’s portfolios. Lastly, he has the mandate to accelerate and expand the integration of data science into the organization’s investment processes.

David Ouellet is Senior Vice President and Chief Technology, Data and Operations Officer at the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments). In this role, David focuses on sustaining PSP Investments’ growth with effective tools and technologies that meet and exceed the future of technological trends, including digital, cloud and artificial intelligence solutions. He also oversees Business Information Security, Business Governance, Data Management and Digital Innovation.

Prior to his appointment in 2023, David was Senior Vice president and Chief Technology and Data Officer. He also served as Vice President and Head of Technology and Digital Strategy from 2019 to 2020. Between 2016 and 2019, he was Vice President and Head of Strategic and Business Planning. David led PSP Investments’ five-year strategic planning, including the monitoring of strategic initiatives and key performance indicators and metrics. He also participated in the development of the annual strategic review processes for PSP Investments’ management team and Board of Directors.

Prior to joining PSP in 2012, David worked in Technology and Risk Consulting at KPMG for over 10 years. He spent two years of his mandate in China, where he managed the information technology aspect of the liquidation of Lehman Brothers Hong Kong entities, a project where IT played a significant role.

David holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA).

Shawn Edwards is Bloomberg’s Chief Technology Officer. Based in New York, he oversees the development of Bloomberg’s global technology strategy, including enhancements to the company’s core business, the Bloomberg Professional service.

Shawn and his team, in partnership with Bloomberg’s global Engineering team, are instrumental in the ongoing development of Bloomberg’s leading market data, analytics, news and community products. The team researches existing and emerging technologies, architects solutions in strategic areas and sets the technology direction for the company.

In his role, Shawn advances the company’s engagement with academia, including research fellowships, grants and sponsorships, and also leads engagement with the open source community and the broader developer community in general.
In 2017, Shawn was named to the top ten of the Institutional Investor Tech 40 – an annual ranking of financial industry technology leaders. He was previously included in the top ten of the Institutional Investor Tech 50 in both 2015 and 2016.
Previously, Shawn ran Bloomberg’s global Engineering group where he helped streamline the product development process, bolster the Bloomberg network’s technical infrastructure and create a user-experience design team, which now influences product development company-wide.

Prior to joining Bloomberg in 2003, Shawn worked for Bear Stearns & Co. where he was a managing director in the company’s fixed income trading group. He has also held positions at Mentor Graphics and IBM.
Shawn is Vice Chairman of Latino U College Access (LUCA), a nonprofit that helps Latino youth enroll and succeed in college.
Shawn received a Bachelor’s of Science and a Master’s degree from the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University.

Hossein Kazemi, Ph.D., CFA, is the Senior Adviser to the CAIA Association and its financial data science program, the FDP Charter. He is one of the CAIA Association’s founders and has played various roles in the Association since its inception. Hossein is Michael and Cheryl Philipp Distinguished Professor of Finance at the Isenberg School of Management, the University of Massachusetts – Amherst, and directs the Center for International Securities & Derivatives Markets, a nonprofit organization, the home to CISDM Hedge Fund/CTA Database and the Journal of Alternative Investments. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Financial Data Science. Hossein has over 25 years of experience in the financial industry and has worked as a consultant to major financial institutions. He has a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Michigan.

Russ Goyenko is an Associate Professor of Finance at McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management. He also held faculty appointments at the University of Toronto, Notre Dame University, and most recently a visiting position at the Yale School of Management. His industry experience includes consultant appointments with KPMG’s risk management group, private asset management companies, and equity options market making firms. Russ has more than 20 years of quantitative research experience in financial markets and his research has been published in the most prestigious finance peer-reviewed journals. He is also a founder of AI in Finance initiative: Financial Innovations and Risk Management Labs – FIRM Labs – a research tank bridging the gap between financial economics and computer science. Its objective is to develop fundamental and practical applications of ML/AI in Asset Management and finance in general.

Dr. Ranjan Bhaduri is the Founder and CEO of Bodhi Research Group, an advisory firm in alternative investments that has served clients in five of the seven continents. Dr. Bhaduri has over twenty years of experience in manager research, due diligence, portfolio construction, and structuring. Dr. Bhaduri was formerly the lead investment analyst for Global Macro, Convertible Arbitrage, Statistical Arbitrage, Volatility Arbitrage, Equity Market-Neutral and Managed Futures strategies within Morgan Stanley’s Graystone Research Group. Moreover, Dr. Bhaduri was also part of the portfolio construction team that designed customized portfolios of alternatives and a member of the Investment Committee. Dr. Bhaduri has held an advisory role at the East-West Center, a leading think tank on the Asia-Pacific region. He has taught finance and mathematics at several universities and lectured on Derivatives for the Montreal Exchange. Dr. Bhaduri has published papers on and been invited to speak worldwide regarding advanced portfolio management techniques. Dr. Bhaduri holds a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Hawaii and a M.Math in Combinatorics & Optimization from the University of Waterloo. Dr. Bhaduri is both a CFA and CAIA charterholder.