Castine Conversations

In this conversation, several members of the Castine team discuss the key takeaways from the June 11, 2026 Unbundling Uncovered conference in New York.  John McGough, Moe Ahmed, Tom Smith, and Robin Hodgkins represent teams from our Business Development, Implementation, and Sales teams and provide their insights on where the CSA market is headed globally, but with a special focus on where they&apo...

In this conversation, Aaron Walter and Steve Stone discuss the status of CSAs from a global perspective with Robin Hodgkins, president of Castine. Topics include the current state of CSAs in the USA but focus more on how CSAs and "payment optionality" are being re-introduced to the United Kingdom. Where brokers and asset managers stand on rolling out CSAs, what actual and perceived hurdl...

In this conversation we meet with Brijesh Malkan, the CEO of Singletrack. Brij has been an integral part of Singletrack for several years, both as a product manager and heading strategy before becoming the CEO of the firm. His experience with markets, CSAs, CRMs, and where AI can bring value to capital markets and beyond makes for a conversation that dives deep into many different arenas, winding...

In this conversation we meet with Bomsi Billimoria, Founder and President at EvoXvantage. Bomsi is a Global Transformation Executive that has spent the last 25 years at large global firms driving operational discipline and cost transformation at scale.  He founded EvoXvantage focusing on cost transformation, process optimization, AI enabled operations and technology modernization to quickly delive...

In this conversation we meet Doug Leo, the Head of Commission Management at Raymond James.    Doug's leadership at Raymond James has helped them grow to be a major player in commission management. At the same time, Doug is very involved in the invoicing for the research that Raymond James creates. Hundreds of clients require invoices for the research they consume, and Doug has expanded his re...

In 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. ...

In 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 m...

In 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 corpora...

In 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&quot...

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 op...

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 devel...

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 researc...

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 ma...

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...

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-m...

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 sta...

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 competi...

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 lea...

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. H...

In 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...

In 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 o...

In 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 o...

In 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...

In 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 di...

In 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 infor...