Adam Sorab, FSTA, CFTe, President
Adam is Head of Technical Research and Head of Investor Relations at CQS, a hedge fund management company in London. He is also a Member of the Investment Committee of the BUPA Pension Fund in London. Prior to this he was Director of Absolute Return Strategies at Deutsche Asset Management and Director of Leveraged Funds Management at Credit Suisse First Boston in London. Before this, Adam worked as a currency and interest rate derivatives trader for Schroders in London.
Adam holds a BSc (Hons) in Economics from the London School of Economics. He also holds FSTA and CFTe qualifications in technical analysis. Adam is a Fellow of the Society of Technical Analysts (STA) and is currently a Director of the STA; having served as its Chairman from 1999 to 2009.
Mohamed Ashraf Mahfouz, CFTe, CETA, Vice President Middle East & Africa
Mohamed Ashraf is head of the Technical Analysis desk for Dynamic Securities Trading Company in Cairo, Egypt. As a member of the Egyptian Society of Technical Analysts (ESTA), he serves as head of the Internal Communication Committee, and also serves on the Education and Ethics Committees.
He is a distinguished instructor in the Certified ESTA Technical Analyst (CETA) professional program, and teaches at the Egyptian Investment Management Association (EIMA), Misr for Clearing, Settlement & Central Depository (MCSD), the Egyptian Banking Institute (EBI), and the Arab Union of Stock Exchanges. He also teaches Technical Analysis at Cairo, El Asr El Einy and Assiut Universities.
Mohamed graduated from the faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University. He holds CETA and CFTe qualifications in Technical Analysis.
Tim Bradley, CMT, Vice President Americas
Tim is CEO and Portfolio Manager for Dynamic Trading Management, a hedge fund management company based in White Plains, NY. He is also a Managing Member of Managed Funds Solutions, a specialist software company serving the commodity trading industry. Prior to this Tim was a Senior Portfolio Manager at Citibank in New York and a Client Representative at CPC Securities in Hartsdale.
Tim holds a BSc in Organic Chemistry and a BS Bus in Economics from the State University of New York, Oneonta. He also holds CMT qualification in technical analysis and is a member of the American Association of Professional Technical Analysts (AAPTA).
Taichi Otaki, Vice President Asia
Taichi is Chairman of the Nippon Technical Analysts Association (NTAA), and has served on its Board of Directors since 2003. Prior to this, he was Executive Managing Director of Asahi Life Insurance, and Senior Director of Investment, responsible for overseeing the firm’s investment management. He also serves on the Board of The National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan (NFUAJ).
Taichi graduated from Waseda University with a degree in Commerce. He is a Certified Public Tax Accountant.
Robert Grigg, Conference Director
Robert is a Director and Investment Manager at Crystal Blue (Aust) Pty Ltd where he manages family based investment funds. He is also a Director of consulting firm CQL Pty Ltd; current consulting is now limited to the design, construction and optimisation of algorithmic trading systems. He commenced serious trading in 1994 and gradually converted hid focus from fundamental and discretionary trading to quantitative systems.
His earlier career was in the Oil Industry with the Shell Group and then in Corporate Consulting with KPMG and others. Over the years he worked in Information Technology as a technical programmer, analyst, senior manager and strategic consultant. At other times he was a Management Accountant. He has worked both in Australia and Overseas.
Robert is a graduate of Swinburne University and is a Certified Practicing Accountant. He is a Director and National President of the Australian Technical Analysts Association.
Michael Steele, Treasurer
Michael is the Managing Partner of Steele Investment Counsel Ltd, an Ohio based investment advisory firm specialising in the use of technical research for managing money. Prior to this Mike was the CIO of Bank One Trust Company in Columbus Ohio. Before joining Banc One, he worked in a number of senior positions in the investment management industry including: Vice President & Senior Portfolio Manager at Bernstein-Macaulay in NY, Vice President & Division Head of Trust Investments at the First National Exchange Bank of Virginia and Portfolio Manager at Virginia Investment Counselors. Mike began his career in finance in 1967 as a Trust Investment Officer at the First National Exchange Bank of Virginia.
Mike holds a BS in Business Administration (Finance) from Virginia Tech and an MBA (Finance) from Old Dominion University, Virginia. Mike is a member and past Board member of the American Association of Professional Technical Analysts (AAPTA). He is also a member of the CFA Institute.
Saleh Nasser, CMT, Secretary
Saleh is Chief Technical Strategist at Pharos Holding Securities in Cairo. He also teaches Technical Analysis at Cairo University, the Egyptian Banking Institute and the Arab Union of Stock Exchanges. Prior to this he was Chief Technical Strategist at Commercial International Brokerage in Cairo.
Saleh holds a CMT qualification in technical analysis. He is the current President of the Egyptian Society of Technical Analysts (ESTA); having previously served as ESTA’s Head of Education and Treasurer.
Dan Valcu, CFTe, Membership Director
Dan is an independent trader and founder of the first company specialized in technical analysis education and training in Romania. He also authored three books about technical analysis and strategies. He is and has been a contributor to various technical analysis magazines (TASC, Traders’ Magazine) and is credited with bringing Heikin-ashi charting to the western world in 2003-2004. Before joining the technical analysis field, Dan has been working all over the world as an IT consultant in Banking & Insurance.
Dan holds a Master’s degree in Computer Sciences from the Polytechnic Institute in Bucharest. He holds a CFTe qualification in technical analysis. He is also the President and one of the founders of the Romanian Association for Technical Analysis (AATROM).
Rolf Wetzer, Ph.D., Syllabus & Journal Director
Rolf heads two departments at Bank Sarasin’s institutional asset management in Basel, Switzerland: Bonds and Rule Controlled Investments. He is also a Lecturer in Quantitative Trading Strategies at Technical University of Berlin and Toulouse Business School. Prior to this, he was a Senior Fund Manager for foreign exchange and interest rate funds at Munich Re Asset Management in Munich/Germany. Before this Rolf worked at Dresdner Asset Management as a Portfolio Manager for both balanced and fixed income portfolios.
Rolf holds a PhD in econometrics from Technical University of Berlin and graduate degrees in Business Administration from both Technical University of Berlin/Germany and the Toulouse Business School/France. He was awarded by the VTAD (German IFTA society) as best German Technical Analyst in 2006 and was runner up in 2007. Rolf is a member of the Swiss Association of Market Technicians (SAMT) and the German Statistical Society.
Gregor Bauer, Ph.D., CFTe, Examination Management Director
Gregor is an independent Portfolio Manager working for a range of private and institutional investors in Germany. He is also a Lecturer in Technical Analysis and Portfolio Management at the University of Liechtenstein, Frankfurt School of Management and the Bavarian Sparkassenakademie. He has also authored a book on trading financial markets, Praxisratgeber Trading, published in 2005.
Gregor holds degrees in both Chemistry and Economics from the University of Mainz. He also holds a CFTe qualification in technical analysis. Gregor is a member and Chairman of the Vereinigung Technischer Analysten Deutschlands (VTAD).
Roberto Vargas, MSTA, CFTe, Exam Accreditation Director
Roberto is a Private Banker for BBVA Compass in Houston, Texas. Prior to this he was a Commercial Banker at Bank of America in Houston, and a Foreign Exchange Manager at Banco Nacional de Mexico in New York after having worked as International Treasury Manager in the bank’s London branch. Before this, he spent 11 years working for a variety of international banks in London as a Proprietary Trader in foreign exchange markets.
Roberto holds an MA in Latin American Studies and International Law from the University of London. He also holds MSTA and CFTe qualifications in technical analysis. He is a member of the Society of Technical Analysts (STA).
Regina Meani, MSTA, CFTe, Director
Regina is a freelance consultant providing technical research and market analysis for institutional and private investors and to the media. Prior to this she was Associate Director and Technical Analyst at Deutsche Bank’s Australian Equities Division. Before this, Regina was Chief Chartist at Bain Securities for 16 years. Regina’s book, Charting – An Australian Investor’s Guide, was first published in 1990 and is now in its third edition. She lectures for the Financial Services Institute of Australia (FINSA), the Australian Stock Exchange and Fairfax Media.
Regina holds MSTA and CFTe qualifications in technical analysis. She is a Director of the Australian Technical Analysts Association (ATAA) and a member of the Society of Technical Analysts (STA).
David Furcajg, CFTe, MFTA, Director
David is a professional technical strategist. He started his career as a market economist prior to working as a technical analyst within different companies in Paris and London. He then founded 3rd Wave Consult, a financial training and advisory company, in 2008. David is also a lecturer in Technical Analysis at the University of Paris Dauphine and Sciences-Po Paris.
David holds a Msc in Economics, the CFTe and MFTA qualifications in Technical Analysis. He is also the French Association of Technical Analyst (AFATE) Vice Chairman.
Akira Homma, CFA, CIIA, CMA, CFTe, CMT, FRM, Director
Akira’s career in investment includes involvement in fund management at Lombard Odier International Portfolio Management and Gesindex, where he was engaged in managing Asian and Global funds, on the buy side and service as Equity Analyst and as Quantitative Analyst at Kokusai Securities (present Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities) on the sell side. At Dow Jones Japan, he served as Senior Quantitative Analyst providing quantitative and technical analysis for institutional investors. Currently, he is responsible for hedge fund sourcing and due diligence, fund and equity product marketing, global financial market research and quantitative modeling at Aizawa Securities.
Akira received his MBA from IESE Business School. He holds qualifications of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Certified International Investment Analyst (CIIA), Chartered Member of the Securities Analysts Association of Japan (CMA), Certified Financial Technician (CFTe), Chartered Market Technician (CMT), and GARP-certified Financial Risk Manager (FRM). He is a Council member of NTAA.
William Chin, MBA
William is the Portfolio Manager and the Chair of the Investment Committee at e3m Investments, a money manager in Toronto, Canada. He has 30 years of experience in managing portfolios and managing risks for large international banks like (BNP) Paribas, Bank of Nova Scotia and ABN AMRO and investment houses like Burns Fry (Now BMO NesbittBurns). William was born and raised in Hong Kong and spent the first eight years of his professional career there.
William is an experienced market technician. His work on Candlesticks Charting and Group Behaviour is a frequently requested presentation. Using a multi-market approach, he combines fundamental and technical analyses to arrive at key investment decisions like asset allocation, sector weighting and securities selection within an investment portfolio. He has also given multiple presentations on “The Role of Technical Analysis in Portfolio Management”.
William communicates his research conclusions and investment strategies with clients through his monthly newsletter, the “Asset Allocation Architect”, which has been in publication for 12 years.
William has been serving on the Board of the Canadian Society of Technical Analysts (CSTA) for 10 years and is currently its Vice President and serves on the Finance and Technology Committees.