Karen Berlin
Senior Director
Talent Acquisition North America – Financial Services Strategic Business Unit at Capgemini, NYC
Karen Berlin was formerly the president and managing director of Pursuit Path LLC (which offered customized career plans for the finance sector) and The PeliKan Group Inc. (which provided) solutions for companies looking to attract top talent.
Prior to opening her own businesses, Berlin was the VP of Professional Development at BMO Capital Markets and was responsible for the Continuous Professional Development program for all investment banking professionals, as well as coaching and mentoring junior professionals through the challenging first years of a banking career.
Before joining BMO, Berlin worked on contract at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and for nearly two decades worked in New York as a senior recruiter, manager, and strategic program designer at various investment banking firms including Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, and Lehman Brothers. She has a BA from Lakehead University, studied at the University of Waterloo, and pursued a professional dance career.
Tiff Macklem
Governor
Bank of Canada
Tiff Macklem, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, was born in Montréal, Quebec, and graduated from Queen’s University in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in economics and completed a master’s degree and a PhD in economics from the University of Western Ontario. n expert in monetary and financial systems, Tiff Macklem has contributed numerous articles to academic journals, as well as to books and conference volumes.
He first joined the Bank of Canada in 1984 and returned in 1989 following the completion of his PhD. Mr. Macklem occupied increasingly senior positions in the Research Department (now Canadian Economic Analysis) until his appointment as Chief in January 2000. He was appointed Advisor to the Governor in August 2003 and made a Deputy Governor in December 2004.
During the Global Financial Crisis, Mr. Macklem was Associate Deputy Minister at the Department of Finance, and served as Canada’s representative at the G7, G20 and Financial Stability Board. In July 2010, Mr. Macklem returned to the Bank and was appointed Senior Deputy Governor.
Prior to his appointment as Governor, Mr. Macklem was the Dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, a role he assumed in July 2014. During his time at Rotman, he was a frequent speaker on the topics of the global financial system, risk management and public policy. He also served as a director of Scotiabank and chair of its board risk committee and was a member of Ontario’s Internal Audit Committee, the Asian Business Leaders Advisory Board and the Advisory Board of Georgian Partners. He has previously chaired the Global Risk Institute and the Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance.
Mr. Macklem is married with three children.
Paul Mastrodicasa, MFE
Managing Director, International Equity Trading
RBC Capital Markets
Since 2006 Paul Mastrodicasa has worked as a liability trader at RBC Capital Markets in the Institutional Equity Department, focusing mainly on energy-related equities.
Subsequent to earning a BA in economics he became dissatisfied with the available career opportunities and remedied that by pursuing the Master of Financial Economics program at U of T, taking full advantage of the opportunity to develop his professional skills.
Danilo Simonelli, MFE
Chief of Staff to the CIO
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
Danilo Simonelli manages the team that is responsible for the OTTP hedge funds program. He joined OTTP in 2005 as part of the Emerging Markets Fixed Income team, and has previously been director of Fixed Income & Currencies as well as of Alternative Investments. Simonelli also serves on the Counterparty Credit Committee, a cross-department group that reports to the Fund’s Investment Committee on decisions related to bilateral agreements with banks and dealers.
A former board member of Cordiant Capital, he has worked at JPMorgan in its London office as a member of the debt capital markets origination group, covering European financial institutions and the Italian Republic.
Simonelli holds an honours BA in Finance and Economics from Milan’s Bocconi University and a Master in Financial Economics from the University of Toronto. He is a CFA charterholder and holds ICD.D certification from the Institute of Corporate Directors.