Hedge Directors

Kevin Ryan : Kevin is a highly experienced hedge fund investor, having researched and invested in hedge funds across all strategies since 1994. He was a founding employee of Financial Risk Management, helping establish a firm which eventually grew to become a $16 billion alternative investment business. He subsequently managed portfolios with Liberty Ermitage and ABN AMRO, where he was a Director and Head of Research. After several years as an independent consultant, Kevin launched HedgeDirector to address the need for improved governance standards within the hedge fund industry. He holds a BSc (Financial Studies) Business degree from City University and divides his time between Italy and Ireland.

Athanasios T. Ladopoulos : Athanasios is an experienced hedge Fund Manager and founder of the Directors Dealings Fund (DD Fund) and Swiss Investment Managers (SIM). He was previously the lead Portfolio Manager with the ACMH/ Xanthus Group and initiated the MBO of that firm. Before that, he was the lead Portfolio Manager of Kinetic Special Situations, a London-based event driven hedge fund. Previously, he was the Head of Research at Claridge Capital and a futures trader for First Continental Trading. Athanasios has also been Associate Director for Lazard Capital Markets, in TMT equity research, and spent the early part of his career as Senior Analyst at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). He holds an MSc in Intelligent Management Systems, a BSc(Hons) in Information Systems and is based in Switzerland

Robert Picard : Robert is a Senior Advisor to InfraHedge Ltd. and other industry related firms. He has 20 years’ experience building 3 multi-billion dollar hedge fund platforms at Carlyle Group/Rock Creek, Optima and RBC Capital Markets. Previously, he has been a leader at Lyxor Asset Management, Navigant Consulting and Boxtree Capital LLC (his own firm), as Managing Partner advising emerging hedge funds. Robert speaks English, French and German. He was Chairman of the 2007 GAIM FOF conference and has been a speaker at the Carlyle Groups Investor Conferences, the Optima Investor Conference in 2006 and a number of hedge fund industry events. He was recently a Guest Lecturer at NYU Stern School of Business in 2011.

R. Thomson Wight : Tom has 30 years experience in the financial markets. He has traded fixed-income for Kidder Peabody, Bank of America and S.G Warburg, run capital-protected funds for Credit Suisse Private Bank and traded futures and equities for a privately held hedge fund. He has sold fixed-income government, mortgage-backed and asset-backed products to institutional clients for Smith Barney, developed and marketed an equity online trading platform for Refco, and marketed a fixed-income hedge fund. He is a partner in a risk management platform as well as a film finance and production company. Tom has worked in New York, San Francisco, Tokyo and London. He resides in Malta and holds both American and Maltese citizenship. He is a graduate of Cornell University.

Keith Hazley : Keith is the founder of Lambay Capital, a hedge fund trading currency options. He is currently an independent director for a number of Funds including IKOS in Cyprus, Estlander & Partners in Finland and Mulvaney Capital Management in London. He began his career as a broker with MW Marshals and as options trader with Midland Montagu, before joining Gaiacorp, a CTA firm, as CIO and Managing Director. In 1994 he established K.P. Investment Management, which later became Lambay Capital. He is also an investor and non executive director in two technology companies and a brokerage business. Keith holds an MBA degree from City University, London, and a BBS degree from Trinity College, Dublin, the city in which he now resides.

John L. Pitts : John is a sophisticated market professional with direct investment experience in alternatives combined with a strong understanding of how to drive commercial opportunities; he is currently focused on business development projects in the alternatives space. Formerly an equity L/S portfolio manager at Cheyne Capital (2002-07) in London, he gained a deep, first-hand knowledge of the working dynamics of a fund that raised assets from <$2bil to >$12bil during his tenure. He was previously the Head of Trading, and a NASD-designated compliance principal, for W.R. Hambrecht & Co. In his early career, John was a Senior Equity Trader at Hambrecht & Quist in San Francisco. He is a holder of dual U.S. and Italian citizenships and is based in London.