Host Committee

Erik Buischi is the Co-CIO and Managing Partner of Daemon Systematic Strategies. He started his career at Goldman Sachs & Co, where he was a credit-default swap index options trader. After 4 years at Goldman Sachs, Erik moved to Stone Ridge Asset Management, where he started as an options trader and eventually was promoted to Head of the Volatility Funds, managing over $1.5bn in volatility-based strategies over his almost 5 year career with the firm. Erik was also a Portfolio Manager at Millennium Management and Gauss Capital, always focused on volatility strategies across macro markets. Erik graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, with a Bachelor of Sciences in Finance, Cum Laude. In his spare time, Erik enjoys Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Bouchra Darwazah is a General Partner at Asymmetric, a multi-strategy investment fund focused on venture and liquid investments in cryptocurrency and Web3. Asymmetric is backed by Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, the founders of Solana, Circle Inc. among other reputable institutional asset managers. Bouchra has over 13 years of experience as an institutional trader, entrepreneur, and early-stage investor. Moroccan-born, Bouchra grew up between Casablanca and Paris before relocating to the US to attend Princeton University. She moved to New York in 2010 to join Goldman Sachs as a derivatives trader where she traded and managed the US rates options, flow exotics, hybrid, and mortgage options books. Most recently she was the co-CEO at Aurate New York, a venture-backed leading DTC business she co-founded in 2017. Bouchra is an angel investor focused on fintech and Web3 early-stage companies and is also a Limited Partner in technology-focused venture capital funds. She is a founding member of the Moroccan Children Parliament, an initiative started by UNESCO in 1999, and a member of the Visionary Committee of Friends of Hudson River Park in New York. Bouchra earned a MSc in Finance from Princeton University and a BSc and MSc in Applied Mathematics and Statistics from the French Grande Ecole- ENSAE Paris Tech. At Princeton, she was the recipient of the Gerhard R. Andlinger Honorary Graduate Fellowship in Finance. She is currently based in Washington, D.C. with her husband and two children.

Michael A. Hanin, partner at Kasowitz Benson Torres, focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation in state and federal courts and in proceedings involving the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice.  His practice includes advising investment funds on potential litigation and other issues relating to their investments, particularly with respect to complex financial products, securitizations, financing, securities, real estate and accounting.  He represents multiple leading investment funds – including Waterfall Asset Management, Serengeti Asset Management, One William Street Capital, Angelo Gordon, Davidson Kempner Capital Management and Deer Park Road Corporation – in ongoing public litigation involving commercial and residential mortgage-backed securities, CDOs, CLOs, and other structured products. Mike has been recognized as a leading litigator by Legal 500 and Benchmark Litigation.  He has also been named a 2020 MVP of the Year for Structured Finance by Law360, a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation and included on Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in America 2020 list.

Guy Haselmann is Head of Thought Leadership at MetLife Investment Management (MIM). He is responsible for developing, coordinating and setting standards for MIM’s thought leadership content. Mr. Haselmann is widely known for his insightful and thought-provoking speeches and market commentary and was a frequent guest on radio and TV. Prior to joining MIM, Mr. Haselmann was Managing Principal of FETI Group where he provided a full range of alternative investment advisory services. Formerly he was Head of Macro Strategy for Scotia, Co-CIO of Capra Asset management as well as Principal of a Fund of Hedge Fund and Managing Director of a FinTech company. Mr. Haselmann served on the NJ State Investment Council which oversee the state’s $90 billion public pension and was President and board member of the Money Marketeers of NYU. Mr. Haselmann earned his MBA with a specialization in finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Delaware. He is a CAIA charter holder.

Barry C. Knapp is the founder and managing partner of Ironsides Macroeconomics. Before founding Ironsides Macroeconomics, Barry was most recently a Senior Managing Director and Head of Macro & Public Policy Strategy at Guggenheim Securities. Previous roles included Managing Director and Head of Thematic Strategies for BlackRock Fundamental Fixed Income, Managing Director and Chief US Equity Strategist at Barclays Capital, and Managing Director in principal trading and equity derivatives at Lehman Brothers.

Kathy Peralta is the executive assistant and office manager at Macro Risk Advisors. In this role, Kathy provides high-level administrative support to the MRA team while overseeing the daily administrative functions and assisting with the implementation of policies and procedures within the firm. Kathy also oversees the planning, coordination, and execution of key client events.  Kathy’s most recent accomplishment is her successful collaboration with the MacroMinds Foundation, utilizing her expertise in corporate event planning in the fundraising sector. Kathy graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Media from Miriam College in Manila, where she is originally from.

Ali Samadi graduated from Duke University with a B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering and received a J.D. from Georgetown University. After a stint as an intellectual property attorney, Ali switched careers and currently runs Equity Flow Derivative Sales as a Managing Director for Nomura in New York City. Literacy and education related philanthropic efforts have been a passion of Ali’s for nearly two decades. As a co-founder of Project A.B.L.E. (Aid on Behalf of Literacy and Education) and during nearly a subsequent dozen trips to the developing world with a more recent focus on the East African nations of Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda, Ali has also witnessed first-hand the remarkable impact that education projects have had on the local communities. Ali also serves as Chariman of the board of Komera, a non-profit dedicated to building self-confident young Rwandan women through education, community, and sport. In 2013, Ali was awarded the inaugural Kiongozi Award by The Foundation for Tomorrow for demonstrating exemplary commitment to the advancement of philanthropy.

Stephen Warren is a Managing Director and Head of Quantitative Analysis and Risk Management for PGIM Fixed Income. He is responsible for overseeing the development of proprietary yield curve, credit and risk models, as well as all aspects of portfolio risk management including risk budgeting, tracking and analysis for portfolios, and for performance analysis, attribution, data integrity and pricing. Prior to joining the Firm in 2016, Mr. Warren was the Global Head of Portfolio Construction and Risk Management for the Fixed Income and Liquidity Management teams at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM). At GSAM, he was also a member of the Cross-Sector team, responsible for asset allocation within fixed income portfolios, and a member of the Fixed Income Strategy Group (FISG). Earlier in his career at GSAM, Mr. Warren worked as a portfolio manager on several strategy teams, including the government, asset-backed security, mortgage and corporate trading desks. Mr. Warren received a B.S.E., magna cum laude, in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Master’s degree in finance, with distinction, from London Business School.