The Wall Street Lab

Patrick Lowry is the CEO and Managing Partner of Iconic Holding. Iconic Holding is a global crypto asset management group that started in 2017 with Iconic Lab, a global crypto VC and accelerator. Iconic also launched a series of crypto asset index vehicles under the Iconic Funds brand. Patrick is also the CEO of Cryptology Asset Group. Cryptology is a Malta based investment company investing in crypto assets and companies around the world with portfolio companies including Block.one, nextmarkets and Iconic. Cryptology is the largest publicly traded holding company for blockchain companies and crypto assets.

Previously, Patrick was an auditor at PwC and worked many years in private equity and in venture capital, most notably for the German stock exchange, Deutsche Börse. He holds an MBA degree, a BS in Finance and Accounting and a CPA license.

In this episode we revisit the crypto space. Patrick walks us through his first experiences in crypto, his view of the crypto winter and how it was to start a crypto company. We speak about institutional adoption of crypto assets, the future thereof, and how some instruments like BTC ETPs are structured. We then go into the widely discussed topic of bitcoin and sustainability of its mining, Elon Musk and his impact, and last but not least, Patrick explains NFTs and their use cases.

Bashar Al-Natoor is Fitch Rating's Global Head Islamic Finance. Bashar is responsible for coordinating all Islamic Finance activities across Fitch's Sovereign, Financial Institutions, Corporate, Structured Finance, Infrastructure and Insurance teams. Bashar has more than 16 years' experience in the Islamic Finance market. Prior to joining Fitch, Bashar spent seven years at the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in key roles. Bashar graduated with an MSc in banking and financial studies from the Arab Academy for Finance and Banking Science and a BS in finance and banking from Amman University. Bashar is also a Certified Bank Auditor (CBA), a Certified Risk Professional (CRP), a Chartered Market Analyst (FAD-CMA), and a Certified Risk Analyst (CRA).

In this episode, we dig into an entirely new topic that we never covered before with Fitch Ratings' global head of Islamic finance, Bashar Al-Natoor. We are given an introduction to the Islamic Finance industry, a topic that hasn't received much attention in the western world. We learn about key Islamic finance terms like sukuk and takaful, as well as learning about the rules that govern Islamic finance and Islamic banking. We talk about the biggest Islamic finance markets, like Dubai, Kuwait and Malaysia. After learning about the basics, we dive into challenges, and opportunities in the market, as well as the future of Islamic finance, including fintech.

Radboud Vlaar is a Managing Partner at Finch Capital, a VC investor based out of Amsterdam. Prior to launching Finch Capital and its first fund in 2013, Radboud was a Partner at McKinsey & Company, focused on Financial Services, PE, and M&A. Prior to McKinsey, Radboud worked at TPG, co-founded 3 companies. Radboud holds four Master's Degrees from the University in Groningen. Radboud leads the firms' investments in ZOPA, Fixico, BUX, Safened, Salviol, DIG (incl. KNIP and Komparu), Trussle, Supply Finance among others. This episode is dedicated to VC investments into Fintech startups. We have a look into investing in AI companies with a focus on the financial sector. Radboud speaks about how Finch Capital uses Machine Learning for their own deal sourcing and how a VC investor adds value to startups beyond the money when competing for the best investments. We have a section on raising and investing money over the lifetime of a VC investor. We get into how things change from a first fund to a third fund and get some great lessons learned when it comes to VC investing.

Brett King is a futurist, an Amazon bestselling author, an award-winning speaker, host the globally recognized radio show Breaking Banks, is the Founder and Executive Chairman of neo-bank Moven. He advised the Obama administration on the Future of Banking. Brett has spoken at TED conferences, given opening keynotes for Wired, Techsauce, Singularity University, Web Summit, The Economist, IBM's World of Watson, CES, SIBOS, and many more. He has appeared as a commentator on CNN, CNBC, BBC, ABC, Fox, and Bloomberg. He previously advised the Obama administration on Fintech policy and advises regulators and bank boards around the world on technology transformation.

This episode is every Fintech enthusiast's dream. We talk about the current state of banking, what is possible, and where banking is headed. And most importantly, Brett gives some advice on how to be part of the future of banking. We talk about different technologies like AI, blockchain, but also soft skills needed to succeed, like having the right mindset. We go over lessons in technology from all around the world, like China

Stephen Stonberg is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Bittrex Global, one of the leading crypto trading platforms. Before joining Bittrex Global, Stephen held Managing Director positions with Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan, Credit Suisse, the Winton Group, and Goldman Sachs. He was Partner and CEO U.S. of the hedge fund Brevan Howard.

In this episode, we talk about all things crypto. We talk about the newest trends, the latest news, what's going on with regulation in the crypto space, and where Stephen sees regulation going. We talk about Ripple and their quarrel with the SEC. We talk about tokenized equity and leverage tokens. And of course, how to learn to get into the crypto space and why it's an exciting place to be.

Elizabeth Crain is the Chief Operating Officer and a Founding Partner at Moelis & Company where she leads the Firm's global strategy, infrastructure, and business management functions. Elizabeth has been in the investment banking and private equity industries for over 25 years as a banker, principal, and operations executive. Moelis is a global independent investment bank that has advised on more than $3.5 trillion on transactions, with deal sizes ranging from $100 million to $160billion. Prior to Moelis & Company, Elizabeth was a Managing Director in the UBS Investment Bank where she was the Manager of the Investment Bank Client Committee and a member of the Investment Bank Board. In addition, she was both the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Administrative Officer of the UBS Investment Banking Department Americas franchise. Before joining UBS, Ms. Crain was in the private equity industry from 1997 to 2001. She began her career in investment banking in 1988 at Merrill Lynch. Elizabeth was named one of the "25 Most Powerful Women in Finance by American Banker magazine in 2011 and 2012. Elizabeth holds a B.S. in Economics from Arizona State University and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She serves on the Board of Directors of Exscientia Ltd., the Graduate Executive Board of The Wharton School, and the Board of Trustees of The Windward School. In this episode we cover a lot of ground, we talk about the M&A and Investment Banking industry, the changes it went through in recent years, especially because of covid. We talk about the impact of technology, especially AI, on the business. We get into Corporate Social Responsibility, the increase in recent M&A activities, other industry trends like SPACs and PIPEs and finish with an intro into neurodiversity, career advice, and tips for personal and professional development.

Chris co-founded Class VI in 2005 with a mission to Enable the Entrepreneurial Spirit. Prior to Class VI, Chris spent more than 20 years gaining experience in executive management, marketing, sales, law, and mergers and acquisitions. Chris was a co-founder and President of Expanets, the nation's largest provider of converged communications solutions. During his tenure with Expanets, Chris led the acquisition and integration of 27 companies, ranging in size from $2 million to over $1 billion in annual revenues, ultimately leading to its acquisition by Avaya in late 2003. Prior to Expanets, Chris was an associate with the law firm of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosati, and clerked for the Honorable Jesse Eschbach of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. Chris is a graduate of Miami University and Harvard Law School and has also studied at The London School of Economics. In this episode we talk about buying and selling entire business of several perspectives as Chris has experience in both. We explore the process of selling a business, where to find buyers, getting the timing right, and; most importantly, getting the business itself ready for sale. We talk about different mistakes entrepreneurs make, how to avoid them, and then get the best possible price for the business. We also dive into the effects of covid on the M&A market, differences between boutique investment banks vs. large Wall Street Banks, and Chris offers some career advice.

Martin is President of FIS Capital Market Solutions business. You might have heard of FIS because of their 43 billion Dollar acquisition of worldpay in 2019, which was the largest acquisition in the Fintech industry to date. FIS is the world's largest Fintech with over 10 billion USD in revenue and over 55,000 employees globally.

In this role, Martin is responsible for developing and delivering the technology and services that facilitate the movement, management and growth of money and global securities. He joined FIS in 2015 with the acquisition of SunGard, where he began his leadership journey in 1998. Over his 20 years with FIS and its predecessor companies, Martin has held a variety of global operational and strategic leadership positions with increasing responsibility in treasury management, asset management, international distribution and the institutional and wholesale business.Before joining FIS, Martin was a senior manager with the Royal Bank of Scotland, a management consultant at KPMG, and started his career at IBM. He has a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Birmingham.

In this episode we focus on the Fintech industry. We explore the impacts of covid on the adoption of new technologies and what tech trends Martin observes and expects for 2021. We speak broadly about technologies like AI, Cloud, mobile, and blockchain. Other topics are the ever more dominating role of technology in a companies operations, innovating at the scale and size of FIS, and creating a culture fit for a rapid changing world.

Weijian Shan is chairman and CEO of PAG, a leading Asia-focused private equity firm. Prior to PAG, he was a partner of TPG, and co-managing partner of TPG Asia (formerly known as Newbridge Capital). Over two decades, Weijian Shan has led a number of landmark transactions. Previously, Shan was a managing director of JP Morgan, and an assistant professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.B.A. from the University of San Francisco. Shan is the author of Out of the Gobi: My Story of China and America (2019) and Money Games: The Inside Story of How American Dealmakers Saved Korea's Most Iconic Bank (2020). His articles and commentary have been published in the Financial Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs and many other publications. In this episode we speak about Private Equity. Shan walks us through the entire process of a Private Equity deal, from sourcing deals, the ins and outs buying a company, restructuring or turning around said company, and then exiting the deal successfully. We deep into some of the deals Shan lead during his more than 20 year career, most prominently into the acquisition of Korea First bank. We talk about his book Money Games and Shan leaves us with some fantastic career advice.

Stephan Feilhauer is a Managing Director at Macquarie Capital, the corporate advisory, capital markets and principal investment arm of Macquarie Group. Stephan leads Macquarie Capital's growth equity investment, or investments on the firm's own balance sheet, in the Infratech sector. Before Macquarie Capital, Stephan was a VP at Deutsche Bank, a Graduate Researcher at MIT, a Financial Economist at The World Bank, and a Financial Analyst at Goldman Sachs. Stephan holds a Bachelors of Engineering in Business Finance from University College London and the London School of Economics and a Masters in Engineering and Economics from MIT.

In this episode we speak about principle investing and the differences between investing on a firm's balance sheet compared to other forms of VC funds. We get into investing in infrastructure and energy technology startups, the process, the decision criteria, the investment instruments and much more. Stephan also shares big trends he's seeing across the infrastructure tech industry, like responsible investing and growth opportunities in emerging markets.