Ken Taubes is Executive Vice President, Chief Investment Officer, U.S. of Pioneer Investments. He is Portfolio Manager of Pioneer Strategic Income Fund, Pioneer Bond Fund and Pioneer Multi-Asset Real Return Fund. Ken joined Pioneer Investments in 1998.

Gareth Isaac, CFA serves as a Senior Portfolio Manager of Schroder Investment Management North America Limited as well as a Senior Fixed Income Portfolio Manager and Head of Global Multi Sector Team at Schroder Investment Management Limited. He joined Schroders in 2011. Prior to that he was aprt of the investment teams of GLG Partners UK Limited, Societe Generale, AXA, Newton Investment Management as well as Manulife Financial and Midland Security Services.

Rick Rieder, Managing Director, is BlackRock’s Chief Investment Officer and Co-Head of Global Fixed Income platform, a member of BlackRock’s Global Operating Committee and Chairman of the BlackRock firm-wide Investment Council.

Before joining BlackRock in 2009, Mr. Rieder was President and Chief Executive Officer of R3 Capital Partners. He served as Vice Chairman and member of the Borrowing Committee for the U.S. Treasury. Mr. Rieder is currently a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Investment Advisory Committee on Financial Markets, and was inducted into the Fixed Income Analysts Society Fixed Income Hall of Fame in 2013, and was nominated for Fixed Income Manager of the Year by Institutional Investor for 2014.

From 1987 to 2008, Mr. Rieder was with Lehman Brothers, most recently as head of the firm’s Global Principal Strategies team, a global proprietary investment platform. He was also global head of the firm’s credit businesses, Chairman of the Corporate Bond and Loan Capital Commitment Committee, and a member of the Board of Trustees for the corporate pension fund. Before joining Lehman Brothers, Mr. Rieder was a credit analyst at SunTrust Banks in Atlanta.

Mr. Rieder earned a BBA degree in Finance from Emory University in 1983 and an MBA degree from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1987. He is a member of the board of Emory University, Emory’s Business School, and the University’s Investment Committee and is the Vice Chairman of the Finance Committee. Mr. Rieder is founder and chairman of the business school’s BBA investment fund and community financial literacy program.

Mr. Rieder serves as Chairman of the Board of North Star Academy’s eleven Charter Schools in Newark, New Jersey and is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Graduation Generation Public School Collaboration in Atlanta. He is a Trustee for the US Olympic Committee, and on the board of advisors for the Hospital for Special Surgery. He serves on the National Leadership Council of the Communities in Schools Educational Foundation and on the board of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Newark and Essex County. Mr. Rieder was honored at the Choose Success Awards ceremony in Atlanta in 2015 for his dedication to public education in Atlanta through CIS and Graduation Generation.
 

Joseph V. Amato is President of Neuberger Berman Group LLC and Chief Investment Officer. He is also a member of the firm’s Board of Directors and its Audit Committee. Prior to this role, Joe served as Lehman Brothers’ Global Head of Asset Management and head of its Neuberger Berman subsidiary, a position he held from April 2006. From 1996 thru 2006, Joe held senior level positions within Lehman Brothers’ Capital Markets business serving as Global Head of Equity Research for the bulk of that time. During his tenure as head of research, Lehman Brothers’ ranking in the annual Institutional Investor’s “All-American Team” equity research survey rose from #12 in 1997 to #1 in 2003. Joe received his Bachelor of Science from Georgetown University.
 

Christopher Chu is Assistant Fund Manager – Asia at Union Bancaire Privée.

Ariel Bezalel manages the Jupiter Strategic Bond Fund (Unit Trust). He joined Jupiter in 1997 as a member of the Fixed Interest Team. Bezalel holds a degree in Economics from Middlesex University.
 

Nicolas Delrue is Head of Investment Specialists at UBP

Erik L. Knutzen, CFA, CAIA and Managing Director, joined the firm in May 2014 as Multi-Asset Class Chief Investment Officer. Erik will drive the asset allocation process on a firm-wide level, as well as engage with clients on strategic partnerships and multi-asset class solutions. Previously, Erik was with NEPC, LLC where he served as chief investment officer since 2008. He has 29 years of experience in the financial services industry, including nine years at Putnam Investments. Erik holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Williams College. He has been awarded the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, as well as the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designations. Erik sits on the Board of the Massachusetts Audubon Society and is a member of their Investment Committee.

Axel Merk is President & CIO of Merk Investments, Manager of the Merk Funds.
He is a recognized expert on the global economy, monetary policy and international investing.  An authority on currencies, including gold, he is a pioneer in the use of strategic currency investing to seek diversification and portable alpha. Merk has been named the “Currency Guru” by Morningstar.
Axel Merk is a regular guest on CNBC, FoxBusiness and Bloomberg. His thoughts and interviews frequently appear in the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Forbes and other financial media around the world.  Merk is a sought after speaker at industry conferences, universities, government organizations and think tanks on topics ranging from the economy, gold and currencies to sustainable wealth and personal finance.  
Mr. Merk, together with the Merk portfolio team, manages the Merk Hard and Absolute Return Currency Funds, as well as the Van Eck Merk Gold Trust.
Axel Merk holds a B.A. in Economics (magna cum laude) and a M.Sc. in Computer Science from Brown University.
 

Erasmo Rodriguez is an Equities Analyst at UBP, specialiced in Energy and Utilities sectors.