Catherine Yoshimoto
Director, Product Management
FTSE Russell
Catherine joined FTSE Russell in 2010 and is responsible for product management of market cap weighted equity indexes, including the FTSE Global Equity Index Series (FTSE GEIS), Russell US Indexes and Russell/Nomura Japan Equity Indexes. Catherine also covers equity index products such as Style, Stability, and FTSE EPRA Nareit and FTSE Nareit real estate index series. Catherine has 18 years of financial services industry experience. Prior to joining FTSE Russell, Catherine spent six years in product management and development roles at Franklin Templeton Investments, covering equity and fixed income fund products distributed globally. Catherine earned three university degrees: (1) M.A. Organizational Leadership, Gonzaga University, (2) M.S. Management, Notre Dame de Namur University, and (3) B.A. Political Science, University of California, Berkeley.
Steve Sears
President and Chief Operating Officer
Options Solutions
Steven M. Sears is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Options Solutions, a specialized asset-management firm that helps high-net worth investors use options to curate their stock portfolios. He has helped democratize strategies that have long been used by sophisticated investors to better navigate the financial market. He has dedicated himself to improving investor education and narrowing the information gap that divides institutional and individual investors. Mr. Sears pioneered coverage of the options market and securities trading for some of the world’s most important financial publications. He initiated coverage of the options market for Dow Jones Newswires, The Wall Street Journal, and the online version of Barron’s. His work has made the analysis of options investment strategies and securities trading a permanent part of the market narrative and research community. His investigative reporting led to dramatic changes to the options industry’s market structure and regulation. He also was involved in efforts to modernize the options market. He still regularly writes investment columns that are relied upon by investors to help them navigate the stock and options market and to make investment decisions. He is a frequent speaker at conferences sponsored by brokerage firms, banks, and exchanges about critical issues facing investors and markets. Mr. Sears is the author of The Indomitable Investor: Why a Few Succeed in the Stock Market When Everyone Else Fails. He wrote the book to narrow the information gap between skilled institutional investors and everyone else. He has navigated and analyzed major modern financial events, including the Asian Contagion, the bursting of the Internet Bubble, the Credit Crisis, and Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. Mr. Sears was part of exchange executive teams that modernized the U.S. options market and introduced electronic trading. He was part of a team that led the first securities exchange IPO, a deal that helped create the modern exchange industry. He was credited for contributing to the development and growth of the global volatility market. He is a member of the Economic Club of New York, co-Managing Partner of a commercial real estate firm, chairman emeritus of the University of Georgia’s Red & Black Publishing Co., and a former trustee of his college. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia.
Matt Moran
Head of Index Insights
Cboe Global Markets
Matt Moran is Head of Index Insights at Cboe Global Markets. In this role, Moran is focused on the exchange's educational efforts for pension funds, Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), mutual funds, and other institutional investors. He has traveled to more than 100 cities worldwide to educate investors and deliver financial presentations. Prior to joining Cboe, Moran served as Trust Counsel at Harris Bank and Vice President at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. He is an associate editor of The Journal of Beta Investment Strategies and has written articles for several financial publications, including The Journal of Trading and The Journal of Alternative Investments. Moran holds MBA and JD degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.