Shows
Castine ConversationsCastine's Team Discusses the Unbundling Uncovered CSA Conference in London - Key TakeawaysIn this conversation, several members of the Castine team discuss the key takeaways from the November 5, 2025 Unbundling Uncovered conference in London. Clive Riddle, Pedro Fernandes, Tom Smith, and Robin Hodgkins represent teams from our UK, EU, and USA groups and provide their insights on where the CSA market is headed in the United Kingdom as well as other points brought up in the conference. The opinions made are solely those of the Castine members and do not represent any specific participant at the conference. For more information on Castine, including our commission management, res...
2025-11-1430 minCastine ConversationsCaroline Bayman and Chris Newson - Where Asset Managers Stand With CSAsIn this conversation, Robin Hodgkins speaks with Caroline Bayman and Chris Newson of FGA Consulting Ltd, a UK-based consultancy that is working with brokers and their clients to help educate them on CSAs and to demostrate the benefits of CSAs to asset managers and their clients. Caroline's background includes many years in the commission management space working with both brokers and asset managers before becoming an entrepreneur in the real estate development world and, more recently, re-focusing on providing expertise to the buy- and sell-sides in front office operations, client strategy, and of course commission management.
2025-10-1952 minCastine ConversationsHester White - CSAs and Client Relationship Management as a Growth OpportunityIn this conversation, Robin Hodgkins speaks with Hester White, an expert in building client relationship teams and focusing broker attention on using CSAs and commission management to fuel growth. Her background at firms such as Nomura, Jefferies, and Peel Hunt establish her as a true leader in her field and one to pay attention to. Hester's experience covers everything from sales to corporate access and from managing CSA teams all the way to sitting on management committees. She brings a depth of expertise to the brokerage community that colleagues, clients, and even vendors can benefit from. ...
2025-09-0340 minCastine ConversationsMike Mayhew - Founder and CEO of Integrity Research AssociatesIn this conversation, Michael Mayhew joins Robin to discuss recent the current status of CSA re-adoption in the UK. Mike is the founder and chairman of Integrity Research Associates, the premier source of information about research firms as well as the leading CSA blog. We recommend everyone signs up for his premium blog, which is often described by leading asset managers as a "must read". Mike's background on the research side led to the creation of Integrity Research in 2000. Mike is also a partner at Alpha Tech Partners, which runs a strategic investment fund in the solutions s...
2025-07-3034 minCastine ConversationsBob Nowicki - The Lost Art of Commission ManagementIn this conversation, Bob Nowicki returns to talk about the CSA business from the point of view of CSA brokers. The focus is on how they can easily increase their business and order flow by focusing more on selling CSAs rather than just treating them as an accommodation.Bob has over three decades of experience and is one of the rare individuals on the Street who has deep experience in building operations, middle offices, and trading desks for the buy and sell side, both in fixed income and equities, including his own hedge fund. For th...
2025-06-2639 minCastine ConversationsJohn McGough - The Latest UK News Regarding the Return of Commission ManagementIn this conversation, we meet John McGough, one of the leaders in commission management spanning the past 20 years. John's expertise started at a SPSI, a brokerage unit of S&P and has expanded to several other brokers, always helping them significantly expand their soft dollar / CSA businesses domestically and globally. John is currently consulting at Castine as our head of business development.With the recent release of PS25/4 and last year's PS24/9, many asset managers in the UK are wondering if now is the right time to start planning to use client commissions for research. We discuss...
2025-05-2928 minCastine ConversationsCastine's Acquisition of ResearchPool - A Conversation with the Decision MakersIn this conversation, the decision makers on the ResearchPool and Castine teams talk about how this acquisition came to be. Pedro Fernandes, the CEO of ResearchPool, Tom Smith, Castine's EVP of Sales, and Robin Hodgkins, Castine's President discuss how the two companies came together, each of their business models, and how the combined solution will benefit the global market for research management, budgeting, and payment services using commission management / CSAs. ResearchPool's Research Management System's power comes from its ability to manage both internally originated research as well as research available on the ResearchPool broker research po...
2024-12-1834 minCastine ConversationsAaron Walter - Head of Research Management for Janus Henderson on UK Changes for CSAsIn this conversation, we meet Aaron Walter, the Head of Research Management at Janus Henderson, a global investment manager. With 30 years of experience in research and Commission Management, Aaron has witnessed significant changes in the regulatory landscape across the US, the UK, and globally.Our discussion delves into Aaron’s career at Janus Henderson and how regulatory shifts in commission management have influenced his perspective on research and the industry’s response. The recent release of the final PS24/9 report from the FCA, and the new option to return to CSAs in the UK, is a ver...
2024-09-2536 minCastine ConversationsJack Pollina - Head of Commission Management for Virtu on FCA's final report on rebundling/CSAsIn this conversation we meet Jack Pollina, the Head of Commission Management, Client Relationship Management, and Sales for Virtu Financial. Jack has been involved in commission management since his fortuitous job at Hoenig & Co. Working in CSAs has been the hallmark of Jack's career - other than running a bagel store - and he leverages that knowledge with his team and clients to help them navigate the complexities of 28(e) and similar regulations worldwide. Our conversation covers Jack's experience at Hoenig, Shearson Lehman, ITG, and now at Virtu; all leading to his being a true exp...
2024-08-2145 minCastine ConversationsSteve Stone - Where Are We with CSA Changes in the UK?In this conversation we meet Steve Stone, the head of the financial institutions law practice at Morgan Lewis. Steve is a recognized expert in commission management in the US, England, and Europe and represents clients before the SEC and FINRA. Commission Management is a major front-of-mind issue in the USA with the end of the SEC "No Action" letter last year and it's a front-of-mind issue in the UK due to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's and Rachel Hunt's calls for what could be the return of CSAs. With the FCA's release of a report on April 10th...
2024-04-1047 minCastine ConversationsIndy Sarker - Analec's Founder on Where Commission Management Stands TodayIn this conversation we meet Indy Sarker, Founder of Analec.Indy is a recognized global leader in commission management and brings to it his years of experience in research analysis, publication workflow and CRM systems. Indy has been involved with commission management for over a decade and has been an active sponsor and speaker in numerous commission management events and conferences. Indy started out on the research analyst side of the industry after reading Economics at Cambridge and founded Analec in 2003 to bring deep domain knowledge to the creation of innovative tools for publication management a...
2023-11-0140 minCastine ConversationsNeil Scarth - Commission Rebundling in the UKIn this conversation we meet Neil Scarth, Founder and Principal of Frost Consulting.Neil Scarth has held a wide range of roles in asset management and investment banking in Europe and North America over the last 25 years, ranging from running equity businesses at global banks to launching and managing various asset management products. Neil has comprehensive knowledge of the strategic and competitive framework that governs the inter-relationships between plan sponsors, asset managers and investment banks.Frost Consulting, which was formed in 2007, focuses on commission management and unbundling. Frost's depth and breadth of experience helps their...
2023-09-1331 minCastine ConversationsBob Nowicki - Commission Management and the "No Action" LetterIn this conversation we meet Bob Nowicki, a luminary in the commission management space. Bob has over three decades of experience and is one of the rare individuals on the Street who has deep experience in building operations, middle offices, and trading desks for the buy and sell side, both in fixed income and equities, including his own hedge fund. For the last two decades, Bob had been leading commission management programs at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Evercore ISI. While at Merrill Lynch, Bob took part in building out an internal research survey busi...
2023-03-2329 minCastine ConversationsStuart Howard - Global Head of Research Relationships at Invesco LtdIn this conversation we meet Stuart Howard, the Global Head of Research Relationships at Invesco Ltd. Stuart is responsible for managing the research relationships that Invesco uses to add value to the investment decisions that the firm and its team members make. As such, Stuart has a unique view of the research space, how it has evolved during covid, and where it is headed in 2023 and beyond. His background in auditing, analysis, client reporting and operations has led to where he is now, as has several of the key mentors that have helped direct and guide him.
2023-01-1847 minCastine ConversationsSarah Ahmed - Director of Corporate Access at Artisan PartnersIn this conversation we meet Sarah Ahmed, the Director of Corporate Access at Artisan Partners. Sarah Ahmed is a true leader in Corporate Access, learning at the side of wonderful mentors at Deutsche Bank and AB Bernstein, and now running Corporate Access for Artisan. Sarah's experiences in getting into the field of Corporate Access with a broker's perspective and then transitioning to the asset manager side are fascinating, as are her observations on how Corporate Access survived and changed during the Covid years. Sarah talks about what it takes to get into the business (on ei...
2022-09-2752 minCastine ConversationsSuzanne Mick Stafford - Expert Services Associate at Mirador on Compensation Management 201 for Wealth ManagersIn this podcast we meet Suzanne Mick Stafford, Expert Services Associate at Mirador, LLC. Mirador was founded in 2015 and has grown to be a leader in providing outsourced CTO services and third-party solutions to brokers, high net worth individuals, wealth management firms, endowments, and foundations. This episode is an extension on an earlier conversation with Joe Larizza, Mirador's CEO on Compensation Management 101 for Wealth Managers. In this "201" conversation, Tom Smith, Castine's Executive Vice President and Suzanne Mick Stafford get into more of the details of how a wealth manager can address complex issues using Castine's Co...
2022-08-0528 minCastine ConversationsJoe Larizza - CEO of Mirador on Compensation Management 101 for Wealth ManagersIn this podcast we meet Joe Larizza, the Founder and CEO of Mirador, LLC. Mirador was founded in 2015 and has grown to be a leader in providing outsourced CTO services and third-party solutions to brokers, high net worth individuals, wealth management firms, endowments, and foundations. Building on a foundation of client support honed from his experience on Wall Street, Joe has built a team of over 160 people and has expanded Mirador to other locations around the country. One of the areas of expertise that Mirador provides is a series of solutions to wealth managers. In th...
2022-07-2713 minCastine ConversationsJason Glazer - Head of Product Management at Piper SandlerIn this podcast we meet Jason Glazer. Jason is the Head of Product Management at Piper Sandler, which acquired Cornerstone Macro, where he was the Chief Operating Officer. Jason's travels through sales and finance have included many situations where he was mentored by wonderful teachers. In his new role, Jason is continuing the mentiorship focus but where he mentors others. The opportunities for growth that the acquistion by Piper Sandler brings, and Jason's involvement throughout the research process lead to a very interersting conversation. For more information on Piper Sandler, please visit PiperSandler.com.
2022-07-0837 minCastine ConversationsPedro Fernandes - Founder and CEO of ResearchPoolIn this podcast we meet Pedro Fernandes. Pedro is the founder and CEO of ResearchPool, which provides workflow management tools, research discovery, and ESG meeting and interaction management to asset managers worldwide. ResearchPool's products are also used by the sell-side to monetize research, monitor consumption, expand distribution, and help with compliance issues around MiFID II. We discuss how ResearchPool was formed and some of the interesting opportunities that have come their way as they have grown since 2015. For more information on ResearchPool, please visit ResearchPool.com.For more information on Castine LLC, including ou...
2022-07-0129 minCastine ConversationsSteve Dimitriou - Founder of Mayflower AdvisorsIn this podcast we meet Steve Dimitriou. Steve is the founder and managing partner of Mayflower Advisors, which has operated since 2002 and now manages over $1.7B in assets. Mayflower launched an RIA firm in 2020 and we cover what led to that decision and the steps they've taken on the rollout. Steve has lots of words of wisdom for those who are thinking of setting up RIA's in this informative interview.For more information on Mayflower Advisors, including their private wealth management and institutional advisory services as well as their retirement plan consultancy, please visit MayflowerAdvisors.com.
2022-06-2433 minCastine ConversationsMike Carrodus - Founder of Substantive ResearchIn this podcast we meet Mike Carrodus, who is the founder and CEO of UK-based Substantive Research. We cover Mike's background in this episode and will meet up again in a future episode to discuss more about the creation of Substantive Research. Substantive was formed in 2015 and provides research discovery and research spend analytics, both of which provide immense value-add to any manager. The firm also runs what is considered to be the "go to" conference for information about commission management, which is held twice a year in London and in New York. Mike's travels from publishing t...
2022-06-1728 min