2025 Investment Management Trends, Challenges, and Outlook

Angela Centeno joined Cutter Associates in 2015, bringing more than 20 years of experience in financial services. Prior to Cutter, Angela worked for The Northern Trust Company in multiple roles managing enterprise market data, investment operations outsourcing, vendor relationships, and custodian relationships. She previously held senior positions in operations management, project management, data management, and solutions implementation.

Angela earned a bachelor of science in accounting and a bachelor of science in business administration from the University of Kansas, as well as an MBA in finance from DePaul University. She is a registered CPA.

Recent research assignments and publications include the following:

• Asset Management Trends: 2022 and Beyond
• Market Data Administration
• An Introduction to Vendor Management
• Best Practices for Developing a Vendor Management Program
• Vendor Management: Trends ─ And the Tools that Can Help
• Data Cataloging Tools
• Rethinking Research Management
• Alternative Investments
• Managing Benchmark and Index Data
  

Jon Chandler brings more than ten years of experience in the financial services industry to his Director's role at Cutter Associates. Prior to joining Cutter, Jon was a senior business analyst for State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), where he was involved in a number of projects for the front and middle office, including UAT design and execution for an order management system (Fidessa IMS), the implementation of a web-based due diligence platform (FundInsight), and an enterprise solution to support blended benchmarks. Prior to his project roles, Jon was a principal in fixed income trade operations at SSGA. He has extensive experience with post-trade operations and applications, such as OASYS/CTM, PORTIA, MBSExpert, and Failstation. Jon earned a bachelor of arts in history from the University of Florida and an MBA from Northeastern University.

Recent research assignments and publications include the following:

• Alternative Investment Systems
• Collateral Management
• Investment Accounting Solutions
• Order Management Systems
• Performance Measurement and Attribution Systems
• Reconciliation Solutions
• Risk Management Systems

Stacia Graham has more than 20 years of experience in investment management, bringing a deep understanding of end-to-end asset management processing and project management to her role as Managing Director at Cutter Research. Prior to Cutter, Stacia worked at Wellington Management Company LLP in Boston in various roles within compliance and operational risk, including leading and managing the global Investment Guideline Compliance team for eight years. She earned a bachelor of science in business administration from Bryant University and an MBA from Bentley University.

Recent research assignments and publications include the following:

• All-In-One or Standalone Solutions? Finding the Right Technology Strategy
• Asset Allocation Solutions
• Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) Systems
• Performance Measurement and Attribution Systems
• Rethinking Research Management
• Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
• The Future of Work in Investment Management

Laura Jesson has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry as a project manager, business analyst, and consultant. She joined Cutter Associates in 2013. Prior to joining Cutter, Laura spent eight years at Wells Capital Management and Evergreen Investments, where she managed investment operations projects. She previously worked at Omgeo as a member of the Central Trade Manager (CTM) product design team. Laura started her career at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) as a process consultant supporting a variety of projects for clients in the financial services industry.

Laura earned her bachelor of arts in economics and psychology from Amherst College. She holds the Project Manager Professional (PMP) certification.

Recent research assignments and publications include the following:

• Client Reporting
• Corporate Actions
• Cyber Security
• Front Office Data
• Managing Operating Costs
• Managing Vendors and Service Providers
• Opportunities for External Sourcing

Gina McCafferty has 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. She served at Cutter from 1999 to 2011 as Principal and Managing Director of CutterResearch, and she was instrumental in growing that business. Gina returned to Cutter in 2017, and established and ran the company’s Wealth Management research division. In 2019, she was appointed to Head of Research, responsible for Asset Management and Wealth Management product development and delivery to over 200 member firms around the globe. Gina was previously at Investit Ltd., where she served for six years as head of the company’s research service. Prior to that, she held senior positions at DST International with product responsibility for their global accounting and performance measurement systems, and at SunGard as Vice President of Client Services for their securities trading products.

Kathy McDermott has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. She joined Cutter Associates in 2011 and has authored a number of Cutter Research reports on a wide range of topics. She spent ten years as a consultant for a variety of asset management firms, with a focus on business analysis for front and middle office projects. Kathy was previously the senior business analyst, equity trading systems, at Wellington Management, specializing in the firm’s proprietary electronic and basket trading applications. Earlier in her career, Kathy worked for Thomson Financial Services (now Thomson Reuters), supporting FirstCall and PORTIA clients in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and Thailand, and later went on to manage PORTIA implementations. She also worked at LongView (now Linedata) as an account manager and then product manager of electronic trading. Kathy earned her bachelor of arts in mathematics from Hamilton College.

Recent research assignments and publications include the following:

• Alternative Data and the Expanding Universe of Investment Information
• Behavioral Analysis in Investment Management
• Client Reporting Systems and Practices
• Data Access for Business Users
• Managed Data Services
• Market Data Administration
• Mastering Client, Account, and Product Data
• Order Management Systems
• Outsourced Trading: Has the Time Come?
• Reference Data Management Solutions

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. ​