Castine Conversations

In 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 the last two decades, Bob had been leading commission management programs at two of the largest CSA brokers in the US. Bob received his B.S. in Finance from St. John’s University and currently consults in the areas of client strategy, commission management, operations, and independent research.

Many parts of the concepts that Bob and Robin discuss are in an article that Bob published in Integrity Research. If you'd like a copy, please write to Robin at [email protected] or visit integrity-research.com. If you'd like to connect with Bob, please connect with him at [email protected].

For more information on Castine LLC, including our commission management, compensation, and compliance solutions for investment managers and retail and institutional brokers, please visit CastineLLC.com

In 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 exactly where the "re-bundling" effort sits inside of the FCA's Payment Optionality initiative, what firms should be considering to do now, and how can they rollout a strong plan with their brokers. For brokers, a similar discussion is underway, but of course brokers need to be ahead of their client's needs, so time is clearly of the essence.

For the benefit of all who are interested, John has created an excellent presentation outlining the evolution of commission management and research payment options in the UK, tracing its progression from the "Big Bang" in 1986 to the most recent policy statements. If you'd like a copy, please write to Robin at [email protected]. If you'd like to connect with John regarding any commission management questions, please connect with him at [email protected].

For more information on Castine LLC, including our commission management, compensation, and compliance solutions for investment managers and retail and institutional brokers, please visit CastineLLC.com

In 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 portal, now totally over 200 brokers and research providers.

Castine's asset manager and brokers solutions are industry leaders in the way they help manage budgets, research payments, due diligence, and the entire continuum of commission management / CSA processing around the globe.

The combined company can now offer research discovery and due diligence, research management, budgeting, and payments from end-to-end, helping existing CSA users and those returning to CSAs in the UK and the EU, to benefit from a one-stop approach for solutions. 

For more information on ResearchPool, please visit ResearchPool.com. For more information on Castine LLC, including our commission management, compensation, and compliance solutions for investment managers and retail and institutional brokers, please visit CastineLLC.com

In 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 very hot topic for many firms on both the provision and consumption sides of the fence. Aaron’s insights on likely future trends are invaluable and will be of interest to anyone in this space. This conversation is with Robin Hodgkins, President of Castine.

For more information on Janus Henderson, please visit JanusHenderson.com.

For more information on Castine LLC, including our commission management, compensation, and compliance solutions for investment managers and retail and institutional brokers, please visit CastineLLC.com

In 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 expert in the field. Jack has spent a lot of time in discussions with the SEC, the FCA, and other groups to advocate for the best treatment for his clients and their asset owners. 

With the recent release of the final PS24/7 report from the FCA, there's a lot to consider, whether one is a UK-based asset manager, a global one, or a broker supporting clients as they learn about how to get into, or back into, CSAs in the UK. This conversation is with Robin Hodgkins, Castine's President.  

For more information on Virtu, please visit Virtu.com.

For more information on Castine LLC, including our commission management, compensation, and compliance solutions for investment managers and retail and institutional brokers, please visit CastineLLC.com

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 supporting "rebundling," our conversation with Steve on commission management is very timely. 

This conversation covers Steve's career, how commission management has wound up where it is today on a global basis, and where things might shake-out in the next 3-18 months. 

For more information on Morgan Lewis, please visit MorganLewis.com. 
For more information on Castine and its commission management and other solutions, please visit CastineLLC.com

In 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 and customer management. More recently, Indy and his team have expanded the Analec platform from focusing on research sales and trading vertical to addressing customer engagement across several other industries, including investment banking, M&A deal flow, asset management, and others. 

My conversation with Indy covers how Analec came to be and where the commission management space is evolving given new regulatory possibilities in the UK as well as changes in the EU and the end of the "No Action" letter in the USA.

For more information on Analec, please visit Analec.com.

For more information on Castine LLC, including our commission management, compensation, and compliance solutions for investment managers and retail and institutional brokers, please visit CastineLLC.com

In 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 clients navigate existing rules around unbundling as well as helping them understand how proposed changes in the UK and Europe - along with the sunsetting of the SEC No Action Letter - will impact and benefit them. My conversation with Neil is on those changes and where things may play out over then next year or two. 

This conversation is with Robin Hodgkins, Castine's President and covers the potential changes in the UK around commission management as being led by Jeremy Hunt and Rachel Kent.

For more information on Frost Consulting, please visit FrostConsulting.co.uk.

For more information on Castine LLC, including our commission management, compensation, and compliance solutions for investment managers and retail and institutional brokers, please visit CastineLLC.com

In 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 business and also launched and managed its internal independent research marketing firm, Merrill Open Minds.  

Bob received his B.S. in Finance from St. John’s University and currently consults in the areas of client strategy, commission management, operations, and independent research.

This conversation is hosted by Tom Smith, Castine's EVP of Sales.

For more information on Castine LLC, including our commission management, compensation, and compliance solutions for investment managers and retail and institutional brokers, please visit CastineLLC.com

In 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.  

Stuart talks about moving from studying history to working with some of the key issues facing firms around research, MiFID II, remote vs in-person work, and how the different regulatory pressures from the USA, England, and the EU make this a particularly interesting and productive time for all issues around research.  This conversation is with Robin Hodgkins, Castine's President.  

For more information on Invesco, please visit Invesco.com.

For more information on Castine LLC, including our commission management, compensation, and compliance solutions for investment managers and retail and institutional brokers, please visit CastineLLC.com