Dante DeAntonio Senior Economist Moody's Analytics

Dante DeAntonio is a senior director at Moody’s Analytics. He manages and regularly contributes to Economic View. Dante specializes in U.S. macroeconomics, with a focus on the labor market and regional economics. Dante regularly presents to clients and conferences, and has been featured in a number of media outlets. Before joining Moody’s Analytics, he worked as an economist in the Current Employment Statistics program at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Dante is also an adjunct professor in the Economics and Finance Department at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Previously, he was an adjunct in the Economics Department at Lehigh University. He holds a master’s degree and PhD in economics from Lehigh University and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Pennsylvania State University.

Bill Kitsch Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer Ephrata National Bank

Bill Kitsch is Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer at Ephrata National Bank.  Bill is the senior leader responsible to promote the bank’s organic growth and meet its strategic goals and initiatives. In his current position, Bill leads the commercial, small business, consumer, and agricultural lending groups of a $2B asset bank in central PA. Bill also leads the bank’s wealth management division which consists of a trust company with $1B in assets under management.  

As a project executive with Temple’s Fox MC, Bill coaches MBA students through practical research and strategic development projects. These projects have been completed on behalf of non-profits, CDFIs, economic development corporations, urban farms, and notably the PA Department of Agriculture.

Bill holds a B.S. in Agricultural Business from Delaware Valley University and a Master’s in Business Administration from Millersville University.  Bill is 2012 graduate of the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking.  

Jeff Graham Director-Portfolio Advisory Services Moody's

Jeff Graham is a Director in the Americas Advisory services team and leads the Portfolio Management Advisory Practice. His client and internal work are focused on bespoke portfolio risk management analysis for banks and insurance companies, including economic capital analysis, regulatory capital analysis, and stress testing. Prior to joining Moody’s Jeff was a Manager with KPMG where he led credit risk model development and model validation projects for commercial banks and credit unions. Jeff holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California Davis.

Alex Cannon Director - Senior Strategist Moody's

Alex Cannon is a Director in the Banking Group, based in New York, focusing on developing research and analysis on market trends, customer behaviors, and competitive positioning to help drive product and business strategy aligned with the Moody's mission, and our customer's priorities. Before joining Moody's, Mr. Cannon led many key Corporate Finance roles in community banks, focusing primarily on risk modeling, financial reporting, financial planning and analysis, allowance for credit loss quantification, and corporate development. 

Mr. Cannon is an active CPA in Georgia, has BBAs in Finance and Real Estate, as well as a Masters in Accounting from Georgia State University.

Andy Follmer Senior Director - Product Management Moody's

Andrew M. Follmer is a Senior Director of Solutions Structuring at Moody’s Analytics, where he leads a team of origination and balance sheet experts focused on market outreach and product strategy. Andrew has contributed on a number of different initiatives at MA, including driving strategic initiatives for Production Agriculture and Commercial Real Estate origination. Before joining MA, Andrew was a banker, running a team of underwriters focused on Ag, C&I, CRE, and Small Business origination. Andrew holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Avinash Arun Senior Director - Product Strategy Moody's

Avinash is a Senior Director and Product Owner of Moody’s Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Lending Solution, CreditLens CRE. In his current role, he leads the product strategy and execution of CreditLens CRE. He has been with Moody’s Analytics for over 9 years and has served in various senior product roles during his time. Prior to Moody’s Analytics, Avinash worked for several years in management consulting at Ernst & Young and AMI Partners, a boutique advisory firm. In these roles, he worked with many commercial banks providing market strategy, process improvement and risk management advice

Karim Berichi Senior Director – Predictive Analytics Moody's

Karim Berichi is a Senior Director and a member of the Product Management and Strategy leadership team within Moody’s Analytics’ Predictive Analytics division.  Mr. Berichi is also Head of Customer Success (Americas) for Credit Analytics within Predictive Analytics.

Prior to Joining Moody’s in 2018, Mr. Berichi had a diversified career, holding leadership roles in banking, investment management, and risk analytics.  Mr. Berichi holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in Finance from Columbia University, and an MS in Mathematics, Statistics, and Operations Research from New York University.

Leo Gardner Director – Predictive Analytics Moody's

Leo Gardner is a Director and Manager of Predictive Analytics Customer Success team in the Americas. The central objective of his team is to develop strong relationship of advocacy and trust with customers as they navigate the ownership journey by acting as the bridge between customer expectations and the experience they ultimately receive.  Leo has been with Moody’s Analytics for over 20 years and has worked with an extensive cross section of client types. He has strong knowledge of fixed income, capital markets and single obligor credit risk.  He believes that we are successful when our customers accrue continued value from our solutions and services. Leo holds an MBA with Distinction from Keller School of Management in Business Administration, Accounting and Finance and a Political Science Bachelor of Art degree from Stonybrook University.

Libor Pospisil Senior Director Manager - Analytics and Modeling Moody's

Libor Pospisil heads the Correlation Research Team within the Portfolio Research Group of Moody’s Analytics. The team is responsible for research, modeling, and data analysis in the area of credit correlations. This includes correlation models for portfolio credit risk assessment as well as models for stress testing of a credit portfolio and integrating credit risk with other types of risk. Libor holds a Ph.D. degree in statistics from Columbia University in New York. Before joining Moody’s Analytics, he was a faculty member at the Department of Statistics at Columbia University. In addition to teaching graduate level courses ranging from Time Series Analysis to Stochastic Methods in Finance, he conducted research in the field of mathematical finance. His research on pricing derivatives, risk measures,  in corporate bond prices was published in Journal of computational Finance and Journal of Fixed Income. He joined Moody’s Analytics in 2010 and since then he has worked on credit correlation research for risk management products as well as on projects which involve direct cooperation with clients, using their data and designing customized models.

Scott Dietz Director, Industry Practice Lead Moody's

Scott is a Director in the Regulatory and Accounting Solutions team responsible for providing accounting expertise across solutions, products, and services offered by Moody’s Analytics in the US. He has over 15 years of experience leading auditing, consulting, and accounting policy initiatives for financial institutions.

Scott is a licensed CPA in Massachusetts and a member of the AICPA, with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Lehigh University.

Laurent Birade Senior Director - Industry Practice Lead, Risk and Finance Integration Moody's

Laurent is a Senior Director responsible for providing Risk and Finance integration expertise across solutions, products, and services offered by Moody's Analytics in the US and Canada. As a domain expert in financial services since 2005, Laurent has accumulated a wealth of knowledge on the effective integration of risk and finance processes. He has participated in a variety of implementation projects in the US and Canada and has advised financial institutions on key regulatory issues such as CCAR, DFAST, and now IFRS9 and CECL credit loss reserving. 

Laurent holds a Bachelor of Accounting/MIS from H.E.C. and an Executive MBA from St. Mary's of California. He is also a member of PRMIA and acting steering committee member for San Francisco and Vancouver.

Laurence Stock Co-Founder Numerated

Veteran technologist and entrepreneur Laurence Stock co-founded Numerated, a provider of digital solutions that streamline and expedite business lending. Laurence leads Numerated's new product initiatives. Founded in 2017, Numerated was incubated within Eastern Bank, where Laurence served as SVP of Emerging Technologies.

Karim Berichi Senior Director – Predictive Analytics Moody's

Karim Berichi is a Senior Director and a member of the Product Management and Strategy leadership team within Moody’s Analytics’ Predictive Analytics division.  Mr. Berichi is also Head of Customer Success (Americas) for Credit Analytics within Predictive Analytics.

Prior to Joining Moody’s in 2018, Mr. Berichi had a diversified career, holding leadership roles in banking, investment management, and risk analytics.  Mr. Berichi holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in Finance from Columbia University, and an MS in Mathematics, Statistics, and Operations Research from New York University.

Zhong Zhuang Senior Director Manager-Analytics & Modeling Moody's

Zhong is a quantitative researcher and Senior Director in Analytics & Modeling at Moody’s Predictive Analytics unit, where he leads a team specializing in public firm credit risk modeling, early warning analytics, and the valuation of fixed-income securities. Dr. Zhuang holds a Ph.D. in Finance from University of Wisconsin-Madison, an M.S. in Statistics, and an M.S. in Economics from Georgia Institute of Technology.

David Darmon Director Manager-Data Science Moody's

David is a Director of Data Science in Moody's Predictive Analytics unit, where he oversees modeling projects utilizing both traditional and alternative data sources for credit risk assessments of private and public firms. He also leads a ResearchOps team inside Research & Analytics responsible for productionalizing credit risk models. David holds a Ph.D. in Scientific Computing from the University of Maryland College Park.

Alex Cannon Director - Senior Strategist Moody's

Alex Cannon is a Director in the Banking Group, based in New York, focusing on developing research and analysis on market trends, customer behaviors, and competitive positioning to help drive product and business strategy aligned with the Moody's mission, and our customer's priorities. Before joining Moody's, Mr. Cannon led many key Corporate Finance roles in community banks, focusing primarily on risk modeling, financial reporting, financial planning and analysis, allowance for credit loss quantification, and corporate development. 

Mr. Cannon is an active CPA in Georgia, has BBAs in Finance and Real Estate, as well as a Masters in Accounting from Georgia State University.

Sara Gouthro Asst Dir-Sr Product Consultant Moody's

Sara Gouthro, Assistant Director, Senior Product Consultant, Moody’s Analytics

Sara is an experienced financial professional focusing on implementation and training on asset liability management. She previously served as Implementations Specialist at ZM Financial Systems (now part of Moody’s Analytics) and as Associate Vice President, Asset Liability Management, for EasCorp. Sara holds a B.A. of Economics from College of the Holy Cross as well as an MBS from University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Chris Jones Director - Product Management Moody's

Christopher Jones is Director, Product Management for Moody’s Analytics. Jones is responsible for the design, integration, and development of new ALM-related products as well as the enhancement of existing products relating to areas such as FTP, Capital Planning, and Liquidity. Previously, Jones served as the Asset Liability Manager for Silicon Valley Bank and has worked for over 25 years as an ALM practitioner. Jones joined the Moody's team in April 2022. 

Jones holds a B.A. in Finance from Weber State University with a minor in German, as well as an M.B.A. from Utah State University.

Avinash Arun Senior Director - Product Strategy Moody's

Avinash is a Senior Director and Product Owner of Moody’s Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Lending Solution, CreditLens CRE. In his current role, he leads the product strategy and execution of CreditLens CRE. He has been with Moody’s Analytics for over 9 years and has served in various senior product roles during his time. Prior to Moody’s Analytics, Avinash worked for several years in management consulting at Ernst & Young and AMI Partners, a boutique advisory firm. In these roles, he worked with many commercial banks providing market strategy, process improvement and risk management advice

Mark Medina SVP Credit Risk Management Zions Bancorporation

Mark joined Zions Bancorporation in 2014, to lead the wholesale Risk Grade Group.  In this role, he manages all aspects of the Risk Grade Framework designed to monitor and manage risk within the commercial portfolio.  As the owner of PD, LGD and EAD models, he leads all aspects of Model Development, Model Risk Oversight, Model Implementation, Risk Grade Policy and Training.  His team has successfully developed and implemented a new PD, LGD and EAD model suite that provides improved performance capabilities and meets conceptual soundness standards.

In 2016, Mark assumed responsibility for the Enterprise Spreading Governance group.  In this role, his team supports Enterprise objectives by maintaining Corporate Spreading Standards, providing subject matter expertise on spreading systems and policies.  In addition, this unit maintains the spread quality review framework and related statement spreading performance monitor reporting.

Prior to joining Zions Bancorporation, he was Director of Enterprise Risk & Portfolio Management for BMO Financial Group in Chicago.  In this role, he supported the development and oversight of Basel compliant wholesale risk grade models.  Prior roles within the BMO organization included Commercial Lending Officer, Credit Administration Manager, Chief Credit Officer, and Senior Credit Concurrence Manager.  

Collectively, Mark has 36 years of experience in the financial services industry.  He received his Bachelor’s degree from Ferris State University in Finance and Real Estate.  He has served on the FSU Advisory Board College of Business (Business Data Analytics Program) and has served on the Board of Juan Diego Catholic High School in Draper Utah.  Mark enjoys various forms of outdoor activities, has summited Mt. Kilimanjaro and is an Ironman triathlete.

Karim Berichi Senior Director – Predictive Analytics Moody's

Karim Berichi is a Senior Director and a member of the Product Management and Strategy leadership team within Moody’s Analytics’ Predictive Analytics division.  Mr. Berichi is also Head of Customer Success (Americas) for Credit Analytics within Predictive Analytics.

Prior to Joining Moody’s in 2018, Mr. Berichi had a diversified career, holding leadership roles in banking, investment management, and risk analytics.  Mr. Berichi holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in Finance from Columbia University, and an MS in Mathematics, Statistics, and Operations Research from New York University.

Dan Simpson Chief Operating Officer WEX Bank

Dan Simpson is a seasoned Senior Director with a wealth of experience in the commercial credit industry. As the Chief Operations Officer at WEX Bank, Dan plays a pivotal role in driving operational excellence and strategic initiatives to support the bank's growth and success. With over three decades of experience in banking and operations management, Dan brings a unique blend of leadership, expertise, and innovation to his role. He is known for his hands-on approach, and commitment to delivering exceptional results. In his current role, Dan oversees a wide range of operational functions, including new account origination, portfolio risk management, compliance, customer service, and process improvement. He is responsible for developing and implementing operational strategies that align with the bank's objectives and regulatory requirements, while also driving efficiency, productivity, and customer satisfaction. Dan holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration Management and is actively involved in industry associations and professional networks. Outside of work, Dan enjoys spending time with his family, golfing, outdoor activities, and giving back to the community through volunteer work and charitable endeavors.

Jeff Graham Director-Portfolio Advisory Services Moody's

Jeff Graham is a Director in the Americas Advisory services team and leads the Portfolio Management Advisory Practice. His client and internal work are focused on bespoke portfolio risk management analysis for banks and insurance companies, including economic capital analysis, regulatory capital analysis, and stress testing. Prior to joining Moody’s Jeff was a Manager with KPMG where he led credit risk model development and model validation projects for commercial banks and credit unions. Jeff holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California Davis.

Enes Ajroud Director, Economic Capital – Credit BECU

Enes Ajroud is Director - Credit Risk modelling in in BECU. Currently he heads the Credit Economic Capital team where he developed a customized approach for BECU. Previously he has been a Risk Consulting Senior Manager in KPMG Canada for several years. His clients included Tier I Banks, Credit unions, Government agencies and Pension Funds. His specialties include AIRB & Underwriting models, Stress testing, Economic capital, Risk oversight, Loss prediction, CECL.

Kort Brown EVP - Treasurer BankUnited

Kort Brown is Executive Vice President and Treasurer at BankUnited, NA located in Miami, Florida.  Kort has held the position of Treasurer since 2011 and is primarily responsible for managing the Company’s Interest Rate Risk, Liquidity, and loan and deposit pricing.  Additionally, Kort is a voting member of the Company’s Asset and Liability and Deposit Pricing Committees and plays a senior role in the management of the Company’s Investment Securities, Wholesale Funding, and Derivatives portfolios.  Prior to becoming Treasurer, Kort held the roles of Assistant Treasurer, Investment Portfolio & Wholesale Funding Manager, and Asset and Liability Manager.  Before coming to BankUnited, Kort was a Product Specialist for IPS-Sendero in Atlanta, GA and a Fixed Income Analyst for Morgan Keegan in Memphis, TN.  Kort graduated with a B.S. in Managerial Economics from Hampden-Sydney College in Hampden-Sydney, VA and holds a M.S. in Finance from Florida International University located in Miami, FL.

Brandon Kathol Director – Solution Specialist Manager Moody's (402)-344-5270

Brandon is a Moody’s loan origination solution specialist and subject matter expert with over 15 years of experience in the financial industry. Brandon’s passion is to help clients with their credit and risk assessment needs that allow him to utilize his years of experience in sitting in the shoes of a commercial credit underwriter.

Bill Kitsch Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer Ephrata National Bank

Bill Kitsch is Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer at Ephrata National Bank.  Bill is the senior leader responsible to promote the bank’s organic growth and meet its strategic goals and initiatives. In his current position, Bill leads the commercial, small business, consumer, and agricultural lending groups of a $2B asset bank in central PA. Bill also leads the bank’s wealth management division which consists of a trust company with $1B in assets under management.  

As a project executive with Temple’s Fox MC, Bill coaches MBA students through practical research and strategic development projects. These projects have been completed on behalf of non-profits, CDFIs, economic development corporations, urban farms, and notably the PA Department of Agriculture.

Bill holds a B.S. in Agricultural Business from Delaware Valley University and a Master’s in Business Administration from Millersville University.  Bill is 2012 graduate of the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking.  

Karim Berichi Senior Director – Predictive Analytics Moody's

Karim Berichi is a Senior Director and a member of the Product Management and Strategy leadership team within Moody’s Analytics’ Predictive Analytics division.  Mr. Berichi is also Head of Customer Success (Americas) for Credit Analytics within Predictive Analytics.

Prior to Joining Moody’s in 2018, Mr. Berichi had a diversified career, holding leadership roles in banking, investment management, and risk analytics.  Mr. Berichi holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in Finance from Columbia University, and an MS in Mathematics, Statistics, and Operations Research from New York University.

Leo Gardner Director – Predictive Analytics Moody's

Leo Gardner is a Director and Manager of Predictive Analytics Customer Success team in the Americas. The central objective of his team is to develop strong relationship of advocacy and trust with customers as they navigate the ownership journey by acting as the bridge between customer expectations and the experience they ultimately receive.  Leo has been with Moody’s Analytics for over 20 years and has worked with an extensive cross section of client types. He has strong knowledge of fixed income, capital markets and single obligor credit risk.  He believes that we are successful when our customers accrue continued value from our solutions and services. Leo holds an MBA with Distinction from Keller School of Management in Business Administration, Accounting and Finance and a Political Science Bachelor of Art degree from Stonybrook University.

Kamal Abburi Data & AI Cloud Solutions Microsoft

Kamal Abburi is a Microsoft Data & AI Cloud Solutions leader with deep domain knowledge and experience in guiding customers across data estate modernization, and transformation with AI on Azure to extract value and insights. In his current role, he is responsible for Data & AI solutions and technical strategy for Banking Customers in Microsoft's Customer Success Unit in Financial Services. Kamal also leads the AI Strategy, GTM, and Execution for the US Financial Services business. He manages the delivery of cutting-edge AI solutions for some of the largest and most strategic customers. His current focus is working with customers to build their copilots using Generative AI and helping customers achieve their own digital transformation leveraging the power of the Microsoft Cloud.

Brian Shields Director - Advisory Services Moody's

Since 2004, Brian has managed commercial loan origination platforms for a $2T bank in the Small Business, Business Banking, Middle Market Banking, and Commercial Wealth customer segments. Joining Moody’s in 2021, Brian’s focus has been advising commercial lending clients how to integrate business processes, controls and compliance into CreditLens.

Andy Follmer Senior Director - Product Management Moody's

Andrew M. Follmer is a Senior Director of Solutions Structuring at Moody’s Analytics, where he leads a team of origination and balance sheet experts focused on market outreach and product strategy. Andrew has contributed on a number of different initiatives at MA, including driving strategic initiatives for Production Agriculture and Commercial Real Estate origination. Before joining MA, Andrew was a banker, running a team of underwriters focused on Ag, C&I, CRE, and Small Business origination. Andrew holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Avinash Arun Senior Director - Product Strategy Moody's

Avinash is a Senior Director and Product Owner of Moody’s Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Lending Solution, CreditLens CRE. In his current role, he leads the product strategy and execution of CreditLens CRE. He has been with Moody’s Analytics for over 9 years and has served in various senior product roles during his time. Prior to Moody’s Analytics, Avinash worked for several years in management consulting at Ernst & Young and AMI Partners, a boutique advisory firm. In these roles, he worked with many commercial banks providing market strategy, process improvement and risk management advice

Jake Carr Director of Research Moody's

Jake joined Moody’s Analytics in 2017 and has been engaged in quantitative spatial research applied to the commercial real estate (CRE) sector. He currently leads efforts focused on understanding the impact of climate change and environmental events on CRE performance. He previously conducted urban and regional economic research while serving as an Economic Analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Jake holds a B.A. in Economics from SUNY Oswego and jointly earned an M.A. in Mathematics and M.S. in Financial Economics from SUNY Buffalo. He also concurrently completed a Master’s in Applied Statistics while obtaining his Ph.D. in Geography from The Ohio State University.

Director of Implementations since 2015

Prior to joining ZM/Moodys, Michael managed two outsourced service bureaus using ZMdesk/OALM and FiServ AL Manager

Worked in community and regional banks using a variety of ALM models.

Alec Hollis, CFA Managing Director, ALM Strategy Group ALM First

Alec Hollis joined ALM First Financial Advisors in 2012 and became a managing director for ALM First in November of 2019. As a Managing Director for the ALM Strategy Group, Alec is responsible for balance sheet strategy and analytics, with a specialization in interest rate risk hedging. He regularly assists clients in maintaining and enhancing their margins, proactively managing interest rate risk, and effectively meeting market demands.

His current role includes derivative hedging and advisory, mortgage pipeline hedging, and directing the analytics team charged with investment analytics and profitability modeling. Alec partners with clients to implement strategies that allow them to retain core, longer-duration assets by managing the interest rate risk that accompanies them.

Throughout Alec’s tenure at the firm, he’s served in various roles, gaining more than a decade of direct experience in balance sheet strategy and risk management, and always acting in our clients’ best interests. Alec spent several years as an analyst focused on ALM modeling before bridging the gap between modeling and delivery as a client service associate.

In 2015, he moved to the ALM Strategy Group, which has evolved over the years to support multiple solutions including derivatives and balance sheet hedging, mortgage pipeline hedging, mortgage servicing rights (MSR) hedging, financial asset and loan trading analytics, profitability modeling, and any other support necessary to benefit clients.

Alec graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in finance and received the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2016. He assists in content development, including writing and presenting, and actively follows the credit union and bank industries.

Chris Jones Director - Product Management Moody's

Christopher Jones is Director, Product Management for Moody’s Analytics. Jones is responsible for the design, integration, and development of new ALM-related products as well as the enhancement of existing products relating to areas such as FTP, Capital Planning, and Liquidity. Previously, Jones served as the Asset Liability Manager for Silicon Valley Bank and has worked for over 25 years as an ALM practitioner. Jones joined the Moody's team in April 2022. 

Jones holds a B.A. in Finance from Weber State University with a minor in German, as well as an M.B.A. from Utah State University.

Michael Guglielmo Managing Director Darling Consulting Group

With over 35 years of experience in strategic risk management, Mike Guglielmo provides technical and strategic consulting to a diverse group of financial institutions. Mike is also a frequent author and top-rated speaker on a variety of balance sheet, model risk management, and strategic performance topics. He is the Past Chairman of the Financial Managers Society and is a faculty member for the FMS Institute and ABA’s Advanced Risk Management School.

During his tenure at DCG, Mike has served in various capacities, including director of financial analytics. In addition, he is a technical resource for the ongoing development of many of DCG's quantitative and strategic risk management products and services. Prior to joining DCG, Mike managed the ALCO and strategic planning processes for a regional bank in the northeast. Mike is a graduate of Fairfield University with a degree in economics.

Robert Paolino Training Consultant

Robert is an accomplished financial services leader with over 26 years of experience in Risk Management, Banking, Fintech, and Portfolio Management. He has worked for some of the largest global organizations in the world.  His vast experience and knowledge allow him to tailor training for audiences which combine real-world and practical considerations with leading approaches.

Most recently, Robert, was the Chief Risk Officer for the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Canada / Group Head for Enterprise Risk Management and previous to this role he was Head of Risk for Bank of China (Canada).  In these roles, he directly oversaw all risk verticals including risk apetite setting, policy development, governance and regulatory liaison functions.  While overseeing Multi-Billion dollar lending, investment and trading portfolios he also led the implementation of key strategic and regulatory initiatives which include Basel III, Operational Risk, Credit Review / Scoring, Capital allocation, advanced stress testing and loan provisioning methodologies in accordance with global GAAP and local accounting board standards. Market measurements and liquidity management.  He also oversaw the development of risk  and data capture programs which included the coordination of both risk professionals and 1B frontline functions.

Robert roles with the Royal Bank of Canada and CIBC /CIBC World Markets included roles in Loan Syndications, Corporate & Investment Banking, Commercial Banking and Risk Management.  He has worked both in frontline relationship and portfolio management roles, providing complex credit and trading solutions.  In his Risk management role he contributed to the advancement of risk assessment, operational, financial and reporting governance to meet risk objectives.  

In 2017 Robert was selected to lead the Risk Canada Conference by Risk.Net overseeing an important an agenda which included distinguished panelists in forward looking risk topics.  He also participated as  a member of Risk Canada Advisory Committee for Risk.Net.  

Robert has led numerous training programs, seminars, and conferences globally geared toward professionals and multi-disciplinary organizations seeking to advance risk and financial assessment capabilities.  Robert also taught Financial Accounting covering GAAP and Accrual principals at Georgian College.  

Robert volunteers his time as a board member for the Southlake Academic FHT and serves as a committee member on the Risk Management and Finance Committees for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), National Board.

 Robert completed his MBA from the University of Western Ontario and his BA from York University.

Sara Gouthro Asst Dir-Sr Product Consultant Moody's

Sara Gouthro, Assistant Director, Senior Product Consultant, Moody’s Analytics

Sara is an experienced financial professional focusing on implementation and training on asset liability management. She previously served as Implementations Specialist at ZM Financial Systems (now part of Moody’s Analytics) and as Associate Vice President, Asset Liability Management, for EasCorp. Sara holds a B.A. of Economics from College of the Holy Cross as well as an MBS from University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Thomas Caragher Director-Product Management Moody's

Thomas (Tom) Caragher is Director, Product Management for Moody’s Analytics. He is responsible for the overall direction and strategy for the company’s Behavior Analysis and Mining solution. Previously, Tom served as Director, Product Manager for ZM Financial Systems (ZMFS). Before joining ZMFS he spent 12 years as the Sr. Product Manager for the risk products at a financial software company.

Prior to that position, Tom spent five years as an interest rate risk consultant, as well as several years at the Chicago Board of Trade in back-office operations and as a credit analyst for GreenTree Financial.  Tom has an MBA for Arizona State University and over 25 years of experience in Risk.

Jennifer Hurford, CPA Senior Vice President, Treasurer Lake City Bank

Jennifer Hurford serves as Senior Vice President and Treasurer for Lake City Bank, a $6.6 billion community bank with 53 branch offices across Central and Northern Indiana. She manages day-to-day balance sheet oversight and has primary responsibility over interest rate risk, liquidity and funding. She also oversees the consolidated bank investment portfolio and commercial loan interest rate swap program. She leads the bank’s Asset Liability Management Committee (ALCO) and is co-chair of the Deposit Strategy Committee. She has been with Lake City Bank for 17 years. Prior to her promotion to Treasurer in 2014, she served as the bank’s Vice President of Asset and Liability Management and Director of Internal Audit.

Hurford has her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Purdue University and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). She is a member of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and the Indiana CPA Society.

Robert Paolino Training Consultant

Robert is an accomplished financial services leader with over 26 years of experience in Risk Management, Banking, Fintech, and Portfolio Management. He has worked for some of the largest global organizations in the world.  His vast experience and knowledge allow him to tailor training for audiences which combine real-world and practical considerations with leading approaches.

Most recently, Robert, was the Chief Risk Officer for the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Canada / Group Head for Enterprise Risk Management and previous to this role he was Head of Risk for Bank of China (Canada).  In these roles, he directly oversaw all risk verticals including risk apetite setting, policy development, governance and regulatory liaison functions.  While overseeing Multi-Billion dollar lending, investment and trading portfolios he also led the implementation of key strategic and regulatory initiatives which include Basel III, Operational Risk, Credit Review / Scoring, Capital allocation, advanced stress testing and loan provisioning methodologies in accordance with global GAAP and local accounting board standards. Market measurements and liquidity management.  He also oversaw the development of risk  and data capture programs which included the coordination of both risk professionals and 1B frontline functions.

Robert roles with the Royal Bank of Canada and CIBC /CIBC World Markets included roles in Loan Syndications, Corporate & Investment Banking, Commercial Banking and Risk Management.  He has worked both in frontline relationship and portfolio management roles, providing complex credit and trading solutions.  In his Risk management role he contributed to the advancement of risk assessment, operational, financial and reporting governance to meet risk objectives.  

In 2017 Robert was selected to lead the Risk Canada Conference by Risk.Net overseeing an important an agenda which included distinguished panelists in forward looking risk topics.  He also participated as  a member of Risk Canada Advisory Committee for Risk.Net.  

Robert has led numerous training programs, seminars, and conferences globally geared toward professionals and multi-disciplinary organizations seeking to advance risk and financial assessment capabilities.  Robert also taught Financial Accounting covering GAAP and Accrual principals at Georgian College.  

Robert volunteers his time as a board member for the Southlake Academic FHT and serves as a committee member on the Risk Management and Finance Committees for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), National Board.

 Robert completed his MBA from the University of Western Ontario and his BA from York University.

Director of Implementations since 2015

Prior to joining ZM/Moodys, Michael managed two outsourced service bureaus using ZMdesk/OALM and FiServ AL Manager

Worked in community and regional banks using a variety of ALM models.

Robert Paolino Training Consultant

Robert is an accomplished financial services leader with over 26 years of experience in Risk Management, Banking, Fintech, and Portfolio Management. He has worked for some of the largest global organizations in the world.  His vast experience and knowledge allow him to tailor training for audiences which combine real-world and practical considerations with leading approaches.

Most recently, Robert, was the Chief Risk Officer for the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Canada / Group Head for Enterprise Risk Management and previous to this role he was Head of Risk for Bank of China (Canada).  In these roles, he directly oversaw all risk verticals including risk apetite setting, policy development, governance and regulatory liaison functions.  While overseeing Multi-Billion dollar lending, investment and trading portfolios he also led the implementation of key strategic and regulatory initiatives which include Basel III, Operational Risk, Credit Review / Scoring, Capital allocation, advanced stress testing and loan provisioning methodologies in accordance with global GAAP and local accounting board standards. Market measurements and liquidity management.  He also oversaw the development of risk  and data capture programs which included the coordination of both risk professionals and 1B frontline functions.

Robert roles with the Royal Bank of Canada and CIBC /CIBC World Markets included roles in Loan Syndications, Corporate & Investment Banking, Commercial Banking and Risk Management.  He has worked both in frontline relationship and portfolio management roles, providing complex credit and trading solutions.  In his Risk management role he contributed to the advancement of risk assessment, operational, financial and reporting governance to meet risk objectives.  

In 2017 Robert was selected to lead the Risk Canada Conference by Risk.Net overseeing an important an agenda which included distinguished panelists in forward looking risk topics.  He also participated as  a member of Risk Canada Advisory Committee for Risk.Net.  

Robert has led numerous training programs, seminars, and conferences globally geared toward professionals and multi-disciplinary organizations seeking to advance risk and financial assessment capabilities.  Robert also taught Financial Accounting covering GAAP and Accrual principals at Georgian College.  

Robert volunteers his time as a board member for the Southlake Academic FHT and serves as a committee member on the Risk Management and Finance Committees for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), National Board.

 Robert completed his MBA from the University of Western Ontario and his BA from York University.