Our team is comprised of specialists with deep investment management industry knowledge, experience in the niche, and a history of diverse problem solving. We pride ourselves on our ability to deliver on our promises, and to make sure you're prepared for tomorrow's challenges.
Cindy Castellano is the CEO of Cutter Associates and has over 30 years of experience in the investment management industry. She formerly led Cutter Associates’ Client-Facing and Wealth practices, advising asset and wealth management firms on their sales and distribution, marketing, product development, consultant relations, client service, and client reporting. Cindy has conducted system searches for CRM, marketing automation, portals, pitchbooks/client presentation, content management, client reporting, client onboarding, and RFP systems. Prior to joining Cutter, Cindy served as Vice President and Head of Operations for a division of Guggenheim Investments, where she led mutual fund accounting and administration; institutional accounting, billing, and client reporting; SMA operations, performance reporting (GIPS); and fixed income performance, attribution, and risk reporting. As Vice President and Head of Equities, Cindy led the firm’s investment team and supervised equity trading activities.
Cindy also spent 10 years as a Senior Portfolio Manager and Research Analyst, managing over USD 500 million in AUM for mutual funds and VITs using social awareness (ESG), large cap growth, and mid-cap growth investment strategies. She developed the investment process, directed research analysts’ day-to-day efforts, and created the firm’s social criteria and proxy voting guidelines. Cindy, a Chartered Financial Analyst, holds a bachelor’s of business administration from Washburn University.
Michiko “Mischa” Matsubara, Chief Financial Officer of Cutter Associates, has 20 years of experience in business development and project management in financial IT and operations outsourcing. Mischa joined Cutter in 2021 from Nomura Research Institute (NRI), Cutter’s parent company, where she held several high-profile roles in project management, group management, sales, and business management for NRI’s asset management and investment banking clients. At Cutter, she is responsible for all aspects of corporate financial and planning, and also leads the effort to improve the firm’s operational efficiency. Prior to NRI, Mischa worked at another IT company in Tokyo in various roles, including ERP Project Manager and System Consultant Leader.
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.
Arnie Wachs, Head of Consulting at Cutter Associates, brings extensive business and technical knowledge to the role, with over 30 years of investment management industry experience. Arnie advises clients on their strategic technology direction, data governance practices, trading platforms and practices, portfolio management tools, and operational organization, as well as data management architecture, tools, and practices. He has extensive experience working for investment management firms, financial software vendors, and consulting firms, in roles that included business analyst, developer, system architect, development management, project management, product management, sales, and executive positions. He has a deep understanding of investment management system use and design. He also leads the firm’s Technology and Architecture practice.
Prior to joining Cutter, Arnie worked for ITG, where he led the product management efforts for the development of the next-generation OEMS platform. Prior roles include Head of Equity Systems at BlackRock Solutions, Senior Product Manager at Charles River Development, and Vice President at Fidelity Investments, where he designed and developed the firm’s global trading platforms. Arnie also led efforts at State Street Global Advisors to create an enterprise-wide, cross-asset class security and benchmark master. He holds a Bachelor of Science in physics from Clarkson University.
Chanelle Crabtree has extensive experience consulting for the asset management industry in Australia for the past 20 years. Chanelle has considerable knowledge and expertise in investment management, outsourcing, and the development of operational models that support the investment management lifecycle. Chanelle leads Cutter Associates’ Investment Operations and Outsourcing practice, and oversees Cutter’s Australia office. She has decades of experience working for investment management firms, custodians, and consulting firms, in roles that included middle-/back-office operational, business analyst, project management, consulting, and senior management. She has a deep understanding of investment management, covering the operational, governance, and system requirements to support all types of clients, products, and asset classes.
A former Director at Deloitte, Chanelle led key engagements, particularly for complex clients with diverse asset classes, covering target operating model design, sourcing, and implementation. Prior to Deloitte, Chanelle was a Lead Consultant at Morse Consulting Pty Limited, where she led various engagements that covered target operating model design, sourcing of custodians/systems, and implementations with investment managers and superannuation clients.
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.
Lisa Masten has more than 20 years of experience in the investment management industry, leading projects and designing solutions in the areas of performance and attribution, data management, market data administration, portfolio analytics, and investment accounting. Lisa leads Cutter Associates’ Data and Performance practice, where she advises and designs operating models, selects systems, and implements business and technology solutions. She also organizes the Implementation practice for Cutter, including leading development of its adaptable delivery framework and project toolkit.
Prior to joining Cutter, Lisa was a Senior Manager at Invesco, where she managed a global team responsible for designing and implementing data, performance, and accounting solutions. She has held roles implementing and supporting processes and technology across the front, middle and back office at multiple asset management firms. Lisa holds a Bachelor of Arts in finance and computer science from North Central College in Illinois.
Tom Phipps has more than 25 years of experience in the investment management industry, with a background in the automation of the investment process, including portfolio management, risk analytics, trading, compliance, performance, operations, investment accounting, data management, and systems integration. He leads Cutter Associates’ Front Office practice, providing deep expertise in front-office vendors and operating models. His consulting experience includes strategic advisory, systems selection, and change management execution engagements for some of the world’s most prominent investment management firms. He also leads the development of Cutter’s Strategy and Search methodologies.
Tom gained his expertise in technology and operations at software vendors and asset management firms, where he held leadership roles in technology management. His prior experience includes Senior Manager at Deloitte Consulting, Chief Technology Officer at PanAgora Asset Management, Chief Technology Officer at Atlas Venture, Vice President of Operations at DSTi North America, and various management roles in technology and professional services at NCS Financial Systems (now SunGard AMS). Tom holds a bachelor’s degree in operations management and management information systems from Florida State University.
Shankar Subramanian has over 25 years of industry experience in investment management and technology solutions. Shankar has a deep understanding of investment data management, portfolio management, risk management, investment accounting, and alternative investments. At Cutter Associates, he heads the Risk and Compliance practice, helping client with investment risk management, and asset allocation, as well as providing support for compliance with consulting on trading forensics, communication surveillance, regulatory reporting, and guideline compliance. He advises on, and designs, operating models, selects systems, and implements business and technology solutions. He also leads development of Cutter’s alternative investments practices and the firm’s efforts to provide thought leadership and strategic and tactical advice to asset owner clients.
Prior to joining Cutter, Shankar held senior roles at IBM Global Services and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), advising clients and leading global delivery teams in large engagements. Shankar holds a Bachelor of Science in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and an MBA in finance and information systems from the Indian Institute of Management.
Rein van Rooyen is a results-driven finance and investment industry leader with international experience spearheading teams and achieving outcomes within highly competitive environments. Rein is well versed in leading change agendas, including building capabilities, integrating functions, culture journeys, structure realignment, and operational transformations. Rein comfortably navigates ambiguity, drives forward change, and develops innovative commercial solutions with a sustained commitment for stakeholder centricity and broader organizational impacts. A global thought leader and champion of innovation and transformation, he has extensive experience across superannuation, investment management, banking, risk, and insurance. He has a deep understanding of investment management system use and design.
Prior to Cutter, Rein spent five years at QSuper, where he led the middle and back office for the AUD 100 billion fund, including overseeing investment data, investment performance & analytics, investment risk & compliance, trade support, cash & treasury, collateral management & optimization, valuations & alternatives, investment implementation and deal team, as well as fund operations. He also worked for PwC in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, where he led a variety of client engagements.
David Joyce leads Cutter Associates’ Client Experience, ensuring client satisfaction across all engagement points as the voice of the client within Cutter. A senior technology and operations leader, David brings over 25 years of experience in leading operations, risk, and technology teams to help them devise and implement agile solutions, mitigate risk, increase scale, and build a culture of operational excellence.
Most recently, he served as an independent consultant to asset management, insurance, and fintech firms, providing expertise and guidance in the areas of derivatives, portfolio integration, customer success, project management, regulatory and control environments, and software development and implementation. Prior to consulting, David spent 20 years at American International Group (AIG) in a variety of increasingly senior roles. At AIG, he implemented innovative tactical and strategic solutions for the firm’s global businesses and led over 40 employees in multidisciplinary teams that performed investment and insurance operations, regulatory and control supervision, IT support, and workforce and facilities management.
Dasha Weidus joined Cutter Associates in March 2024 and leads the firm’s membership services efforts. She is a direct point of contact for Cutter Research members.
With a passion for customer excellence and exceptional attention to detail, Dasha ensures that clients receive the highest quality of service support. Her knowledge of the financial industry helps her to better understand our members’ unique needs, inquiries, and most important issues.
Dasha has gained extensive experience in the financial services industry. She previously worked for Morgan Stanley and Rockefeller Capital Management, supporting financial advisors within the regulatory reporting and subscription management groups for private equity and alternative investments, brokerage operations, and donor-advised funds.
Dasha is fluent in English, Russian, and Polish.
Michael Conn manages Cutter Associates’ relationships with the vendor community and brings extensive financial services experience to the role. He manages the firm’s advisory and sponsor relationships, ensuring that vendors gain visibility, as appropriate, to Cutter’s analysts and member firms. He joined the firm in 2013, and as well as vendors is responsible for client relationships in the Tri-state areas, where typically some of Cutter’s largest client reside. Prior to joining Cutter, Michael was a Sales Specialist at Thomson Reuters specializing in selling the Corporate Intelligence software to a corporate client base. There he built relationships with leading C-Suite executives across Fortune 500 companies. Michael has also held business development roles at State Street Global Markets and First Albany Capital. From 2006-2008 he was an Implementation Manager at Charles River Development. Michael began his career as a Pricing Analyst at Fidelity before moving to MFS Investment Management where he worked on the Fixed Income trading floor. Michael holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of New Hampshire.
James Davis leads Cutter’s business development and client engagement in the Asia-Pacific region, working closely with our consulting clients and research members to make sure they are connected with the right resources, insights, and industry experts. James joined Cutter in July 2023 with 20-plus years of financial services industry experience across sales, business management, solution design, and operations management. He most recently served as Vice President of Securities Services at J.P. Morgan in Sydney, where he was responsible for senior relationship management and sales for custody and fund services clients, including superannuation funds, asset managers, insurance firms, and family offices. He previously worked at BNP Paribas in Sydney, also in securities services.
John McDonough is responsible for client management and business development in Canada, New England, and the southeastern region of the United States for Cutter Associates. John has spent 22 years in the financial services industry primarily in a sales capacity. Prior to joining Cutter Associates in 2011, John managed and developed client relationships for State Street, Standard & Poor’s, and Thomson Reuters while selling risk management, research, and fixed income analytics services to asset management clients. John began his professional career as a mutual fund accountant at Brown Brothers Harriman. John holds a B.S. in Marketing from Westfield State University and M.B.A. from Suffolk University.
Tom Nichols has spent 26 years in the financial services industry, holding positions in sales, marketing, client and product management, and banking. Tom joined Cutter Associates in 2002 and is responsible for client management and business development. Prior to joining Cutter Associates, Tom worked in a sales, client management and product management role for an internet start-up that provided analytics to the CMBS market. He also held several positions at Thomson Financial and J.P. Morgan. Tom holds a B.A. in Economics from Bowdoin College.
Tom Sitter brings more than 15 years of experience managing and developing client relationships in the investment management industry. Tom joined Cutter Associates in 2014 and is based in Cutter’s London office, where he is responsible for clients in EMEA and Asia-Pacific. Tom began his career in the Silicon Valley working at a "dot com" company before relocating to London with his family in 2004. Prior to Cutter Associates, Tom worked in business development for Viteos Fund Services, Digiterre, and Serena Software. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication from Northwestern University.
