Hedge Funds: An Institutional Fund of Funds Perspective

Mathew Strube - Senior Vice President Mesirow Advanced Strategies

Previously, Strube was a director for the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, where he was responsible for the management of hedge fund strategy, due diligence, and portfolio construction. Prior to that, he held management positions in the derivatives arena, and was a proprietary options market maker for SMC Option Management.

Strube received his bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona and his master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago, Booth Graduate School of Business.

Neil Collins, Head of Client Solutions Group for Alternatives Investment Group and a member of the Review Committee at UBS

Prior to joining UBS in 2010, Neil was a Managing Director of BlackRock, heading the Seattle- based business development team for BlackRock Alternative Advisors. He was also a Principal of the Quellos Group, serving in a similar capacity prior to acquisition by BlackRock.  Before joining Quellos in early 1999, Neil was a senior proprietary derivatives trader for 11 years: Banque Paribas, London, traded Japanese Warrants and Southeast Asian convertible bonds; SG Warburg, London, built out Japanese Warrant trading desk; Swiss Bank Corp/ O’Connor & Associates (now UBS), London, traded Japanese Warrants, Asian and Swedish equity derivatives. 

Prior to his time in London, Neil began his career in New York in 1987 representing O’Connor & Associates on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and the Commodities Exchange (COMEX) trading crude oil and gold options, respectively.  Neil also serves on the board of the Ashesi University Foundation which supports a liberal arts college in Ghana, Africa.

Kevin Edwards, Vice President of Finance & CIO The University of Connecticut Foundation, Inc.

Kevin, who joined the Foundation in 1997, manages the investment of assets, cash, debt compliance and deferred gift administration. He is a member of the steering committee for the Student-Managed Fund, which gives UConn business students the opportunity to manage the portfolio of a $2-million endowment from the Foundation.

Kevin is a CFA charter holder and a member of the CFA Institute and the Hartford Society of Financial Analysts. Additionally, he sits on the boards of directors for the Connecticut Hedge Fund Association and the Granby Education Foundation. Previously, Kevin worked for eight years at George Weiss Associates managing accounting and reporting for domestic and international hedge fund partnerships.

For four years prior, he worked in public accounting at Blum Shapiro & Co. PC, focusing on the audit of investment firms and non-profit organizations. Kevin graduated cum laude with a B.S. in accounting from the University of Connecticut.