Mante ZB: Quantitative Research Executive Director, JPMorganChase

I am a quantitative researcher at JPMorganChase, specializing in counterparty credit exposure models for valuation, risk management, and capital allocation. Since joining the firm in 2014, I have held various finance roles within the commodities and rates businesses, gaining extensive experience in counterparty credit risk management.

In 2021, I transitioned to the Quantitative Research team after earning an MSc in Data Science from University College London. I am currently pursuing a PhD in Bayesian Statistical Modelling with a focus on financial applications. In 2023, I relocated to New York to further my career in quantitative research.

As an active member of the QR Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council, I am dedicated to promoting inclusive recruitment practices and talent retention initiatives.

Kathryn Zhao: Global Head of Electronic Trading, Cantor Fitzgerald

Kathryn Zhao is the Global Head of Electronic Trading at Cantor Fitzgerald. She has successfully rolled out the algorithmic trading suite (the Precision Algo Platform) cross asset classes, including equity, foreign exchange and fixed income. Now it is expanding into cryptocurrencies.

Kathryn joined Cantor Fitzgerald from JPMorgan where she was the Global Head of Algorithmic Quantitative Research. She started at JPMorgan as the Head of Linear Quantitative Research in Asia where she spent about five years before relocating to New York to take on the role as Global Head of Algorithmic Quantitative Research. She was leading quantitative research efforts for Electronic Trading, Delta-One, ETF Market Making, Automated Market Making, Cash, Central Risk Book, as well as Block Trading.

Prior to JPMorgan, Kathryn worked at Deutsche Bank, based in Hong Kong, where she started as a portfolio trader before she took over the Electronic Trading team for APAC. Her portfolio trading experience, deep knowledge in Asian markets microstructure as well as her strong quantitative background builds a unique and strong foundation for her electronic trading career.

Strong research professional graduated from Cornell University, Kathryn is an experienced quant with a demonstrated history in the financial services industry, skilled in Electronic Trading across Asset Classes, Market Microstructure, Data Analysis and Portfolio Management.

Kathryn graduated from Cornell University and Purdue University with double degrees in Statistics and Finance.

Christina Qi: CEO, Databento

Christina Qi is the CEO of Databento, an institutional market data provider. She formerly founded Domeyard LP, a hedge fund focused on high frequency trading (HFT) that traded up to $7.1 billion USD per day. Failing to earn a job offer after a Wall Street internship, Christina started Domeyard from her dorm room with $1000 in savings, in 2012. Her fund was a tiny minnow amongst the tigers of the hedge fund world, but after Michael Lewis’s Flash Boys came out in 2014 and HFT firms hid from the spotlight, Domeyard accidentally found itself in the center of the ring. Over the next decade, her company’s story was featured on the front page of Forbes and Nikkei, and quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNN, NBC, and the Financial Times as a result of the controversy and fascination with HFT. By a series of accidents, Christina became a voice in her industry, contributing to the World Economic Forum’s research on AI in finance, guest lecturing at dozens of universities, and teaching Domeyard’s case study at Harvard Business School. She is grateful to be able to open up about her mistakes, and to help people turn failures into opportunities. After a decade, Domeyard winded down gracefully after facing increased headwinds to its strategies, scalability, and operational resources.

No amount of therapy has quashed Christina’s impostor syndrome, but she will always be proud of her non-profit volunteer work. Christina is a member of the MIT Corporation Development Committee, a standing committee of the MIT Corporation (the board of trustees), charged with raising critical financial resources to uphold the Institute’s academic rigor, promote student life, and advance global initiatives. From 2018 to 2023, she co-chaired the Development Committee and eventually became Co-Chair of the Board of Invest in Girls, bringing financial literacy education to underserved populations across the US. Christina also sits on the Board of Directors of The Financial Executives Alliance (FEA) Hedge Fund Group, drove entrepreneurship efforts at the MIT Sloan Boston Alumni Association (MIT SBAA), and served on the U.S. Non-Profit Boards Committee of 100 Women in Finance. Although “X Under X” lists are a gimmick, she’ll admit that Forbes 30 Under 30 made a positive impact on her life by giving her a community – friends who dragged her out of bed during the lowest days of her life. Christina holds a Bachelor of Science in Management Science from MIT and is a CAIA Charterholder.

Ioana Boier: Senior Principal Solutions Architect, NVIDIA

I have a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Purdue University. In addition, I have completed graduate coursework in Financial Mathematics at NYU and Big Data at Harvard University. Prior to joining Citadel, I was a Director in the Global Markets Division at BNP Paribas where I managed the Interest Rate Options & Inflation quantitative research team. Before transitioning into Finance, I was a research staff member at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.