Marketing & Distribution

Dru Holmquist has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. He has developed expertise across asset management distribution, investment management, and wealth management technology and operations. Dru is a successful senior leader with a deep track record of collaboration initiation, strategy design, team building, program management and process innovation. He has conducted strategy programs for CRM, client mastering, data architecture, client reporting, client onboarding, trading, research, and portfolio management capabilities. His knowledge spans the equities, fixed income, municipals, commodities, private debt, private equity, real estate, farmland, agri-business, and timber management sectors, as well as the following vehicle types: Mutual Funds, Closed-end Funds, ETFs, UCITs, UITs, Institutional Separate Accounts, SMAs (traditional, dual contract and models), LPs, 529 Plans and REITs.

Prior to joining Cutter Associates, Dru served as Managing Director of Technology for Nuveen Advisory Services, the business organization responsible for delivering the investment and asset management expertise of Nuveen. Dru was responsible for all business applications and technology that supported the Sales, Client Service, Marketing, Product and Fund Administration business teams. He oversaw the deployment of Salesforce as a CRM application, that unified multiple investment manager affiliates by redesigning the lead generation process, sales pipeline stages, sales reporting, distribution analytics, marketing analytics, and client engagement model. In addition, Dru implemented a product and account master, and initiated the business case to begin a client master effort. He was the technology leader that owned the business transformation efforts for the advisory services organization.

Philip (Phil) Orlando is a Consultant at Cutter Associates and brings over eleven years of consulting, organizational strategy, client service, operations, accounting, and IT experience to Cutter clients. Phil has been involved with multiple Front, Middle, and Back Office strategy engagements covering accounting systems, portfolio management and trading, pre and post-trade compliance, risk management, and data management and governance. Phil also has extensive experience with client and sales management (e.g. client reporting, CRM).

Prior to joining Cutter Associates, Phil was an Organizational Strategy Business Analyst at State Street Bank where he worked on several large-scale projects including the implementation of an enterprise workflow tool and a new inquiry management system. He also guided a program purposed to transition complex cash, reconciliation, and trade tasks from the business units to centers of excellence (COEs).

Previously, Phil was an ETF Client Operations Account Manager at State Street Bank. He launched new ETFs & on-boarded new clients, managed relationships with several ETF sponsors, and crafted specifications for IT resources to continuously improve the accuracy, reliability, and efficiency of ETF processes.

Phil holds a B.S. in Finance from Stonehill College and is also a CFA charterholder.

Neil Sheehan brings more than eight years of experience in the financial services industry prior to his research and consulting role at Cutter Associates. Neil has been involved in several system selection projects while at Cutter. His experience includes supporting the documentation of requirements, building and managing the RFP processes, and completing due diligence calls. Prior to joining Cutter in 2021, Neil was an analyst in the wealth management group at Celent, a division of Oliver Wyman. At Celent, he contributed to the wealth management team’s global research agenda, supporting advisory relationships with clients and completing and delivering on consulting engagements.

Prior to Celent, Neil was a business analyst in fintech product development at Brown Brothers Harriman, where he was responsible for business analysis and management of client-driven projects, research to support key business initiatives, and maintenance and​ implementation of products and solutions. Prior to that role, Neil served as a supervisor within the Investor Services Group at Brown Brothers Harriman.

Neil earned his bachelor’s degree in finance, with a minor in economics, from Providence College. ​

Onawa Promise Lacewell has a research focus on the impact of disruptive technologies on the financial services sector and on the client-facing technology that wealth managers use to support the digital experience of UHNW and HNW end clients. Specifically, she is interested in how wealth managers use digital portals and mobile apps to support the client experience of UHNW and HNW end clients. Onawa holds a PhD from the University of Missouri.

Recent research assignments and publications include the following:

• Behind the Login of Wealth Management Client Portals
• Benchmarking of Value-Added Services for UHNW clients
• The Rising Popularity of Family Offices
• AI Throughout the Wealth Management Lifecycle
• UHNW Benchmarking

Chris Stifel has over 20 years of experience in the investment management industry ─ with a particular focus on middle and back office operations.He has worked on numerous data management projects to support process changes in pricing, corporate actions, security setup, market data administration, and quality control. In addition, Chris has helped to implement many improvement initiatives, including developing target operating model data strategies, system searches to replace legacy platforms, strengthen integration, client onboarding, reduce market data spend, minimize risk, and maintain a high level of process effectiveness and efficiency. He has worked with organizations to raise awareness of data governance and build the framework to implement a sustainable firmwide program.

Prior to joining Cutter Associates, Chris served as an Operations Manager at Income Research & Management (IRM), overseeing performance and composite management, data management, and account onboarding. He holds a bachelor of science in finance from Bentley College, has the CIPM designation, and became a Certified Seismic Administrator in 2020.

Barbara Thomas is a consulting professional specializing in strategic analysis, process improvement, and implementation. She joined Cutter Associates in 2023 and brings more than 20 years of experience in buy-side financial services, with a focus on client reporting and data management. Barb has worked as a client, a vendor, and an independent consultant. Prior to Cutter, Barb worked in the Strategic Business Unit Operations team at FactSet Research Systems, where she oversaw the development of the Professional Services program. She also managed a team of implementation and project management specialists in EMEA. She worked on various large, medium, and small client reporting engagements. Barb also worked for Galliard Capital Management as a Business Process Manager/Business Analyst in the front and middle offices, where she was responsible for various process improvement efforts, specifically focusing on technology review, design, and implementation efforts. Barb holds a Masters in Strategic Consulting from the University of Minnesota and a B.A. in Economics and Business Management from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is also a Certified Public Accountant and a Project Management Professional.