Speaker Biographies

T. Neil Bathon founded Financial Research Corporation (FRC) in 1987 in order to enhance the decision-making of investment managers by improving their competitive intelligence, product and sales trend analyses, and overall marketplace awareness. FRC's focus on the marketing and distribution of investment products has enabled the firm to grow to serve more than 200 clients a year. These clients represent over 95 percent of the assets under management in packaged investment products. Today, Mr. Bathon oversees the activities of a Boston-based staff of twenty-five professionals, who support a broad array of clients, including traditional mutual fund groups, banks, insurance companies, brokerage firms, accounting firms, law firms, and institutional money managers. Under his guidance, FRC has been an innovative leader in developing new research services and analytical methods while expanding beyond mutual funds to cover ETF's, VAs, SMAs, retirement, hedge funds, and 529 plans.

Todd J. Broms, cofounder and a managing member of Managed ETFs, LLC, has over thirty years of experience in senior level management, corporate finance, merchant banking, and advisory services, with an emphasis on financial services and emerging growth businesses. Mr. Broms has both advised and served as senior executive officer of both public and privately held companies, providing value-added services to institutional and private shareholders and senior management teams. His expertise is in financial engineering, having successfully originated and structured debt and equity financings in excess of $1.2 billion. His operating experience includes management of corporate governance in regulated environments.

Gary L. Gastineau, cofounder and a managing member of Managed ETFs, LLC, is a recognized expert on open-end exchange traded funds. He is managing director of ETF Consultants LLC, a firm that provides consulting services to the fund and index industries. Prior to May 2002, he was managing director for ETF Product Development at Nuveen Investments. Preceding his tenure at Nuveen, he directed product development at the American Stock Exchange (AMEX)for approximately five years. As senior vice president in new product development, Mr. Gastineau was instrumental in the introduction of many indexed ETFs. Previously, he held senior positions in research, product development, and portfolio management at major investment banking firms.

Sander Gerber has been involved in professional investment management for over fifteen years. In 1991, he became a member of the American Stock Exchange, acting as a market-maker and providing efficient markets in options contracts of various heavily traded equity securities. In 1997, Mr. Gerber formed Gerber Asset Management, a proprietary investment vehicle. The Gerber Capital Management Group grew to a staff of fourteen, and in January 2006 was converted to a hedge fund structure, taking the name Hudson Bay Capital LP. Mr. Gerber is also the founder of XTF Market Making LLC, an AMEX broker/dealer that operates as a specialized market-making operation on the floor of the American Stock Exchange with an expertise in ETFs. In 2005, XTF Capital (an NASD broker/dealer) and XTF Advisors (a Registered Investment Advisor) were created to form the XTF Group, a collective of companies dedicated to bringing the benefits of investing in ETFs to both the advisor market and individual investors. In June 2005, President George W. Bush invited Mr. Gerber to represent the United States at the June 2005 Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Conference on Anti-Semitism and Other Intolerances, held in Córdoba, Spain. In February 2006, the president appointed Mr. Gerber to be a member of the board of trustees of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, where he sits on the investment management committee.

Robert E. Litan is co-director of the AEI-Brookings Joint Center on Regulatory Studies. He is also the vice president for research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City and a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. Mr. Litan was formerly vice president and director of economic studies at the Brookings Institution (1996–2003). An economist and attorney who has practiced law and taught banking law at Yale Law School, Mr. Litan is the author or coauthor of numerous books and articles on financial institutions, international trade, and regulatory issues. He has consulted for numerous public and private organizations and has testified as an expert witness in a variety of legal and regulatory proceedings. He was formerly associate director of the Office of Management and Budget, deputy assistant attorney general in the antitrust division of the Department of Justice, and a regulatory specialist for the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Peter J. Wallison joined AEI in January 1999 as a resident fellow and as co-director of AEI’s program on financial market deregulation. He previously practiced banking, corporate, and financial law at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Washington, D.C., and New York. From June 1981 to January 1985, Mr. Wallison was general counsel of the United States Treasury Department, where he had a significant role in the development of the Reagan administration's proposals for deregulation in the financial services industry. He also served as general counsel to the Depository Institutions Deregulation Committee and participated in the Treasury Department's efforts to deal with the debt held by less developed countries. During 1986 and 1987, Mr. Wallison was White House counsel to President Ronald Reagan. Between 1972 and 1976, Mr. Wallison served first as special assistant to Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller and, subsequently, as counsel to Mr. Rockefeller when he was vice president of the United States.

Steven M. H. Wallman is chief executive officer of FOLIOfn, Inc., a web-based brokerage and managed-accounts platform firm. Mr. Wallman is also the founder of FOLIOfn’s wholly owned subsidiary, PROXY Governance, Inc. PROXY Governance is a proxy research and voting agency firm providing services to mutual funds, pension funds, money managers, custodians, and other fiduciaries. Prior to founding FOLIOfn, Mr. Wallman served as commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 1994 to 1997. At the SEC, Mr. Wallman played a leading role in formulating policies that brought the Internet and other advanced technologies into broad use within the securities industry. He has been widely recognized as an investor advocate leading, among other things, the drive to convert U.S. trading markets from fractions to decimals—a move which has saved investors billions of dollars by reducing trading spreads. Prior to joining the SEC, Mr. Wallman was a partner at the Washington, D.C., law firm of Covington & Burling. He is a frequent conference speaker, published author, and spokesman on a variety of subjects involving the investment industry and the effects of technology and regulation on financial services. He also was a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution from 1997 to 2005.

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