Jennifer O'Connell
Partner, Chief Financial Officer & Compliance
I think one of the benefits of being a small firm is you see how everything goes, start to finish, not just your piece of it. So you see how the decisions in one area affect all areas. I came on board permanently in 1998 after getting to know the firm as an external accounting consultant. Since then, I have had essentially two main roles, heading up all financial operations of the firm as well as a strong participation in compliance.
On the business and financial side, my mandate is managing growth and planning for the future. I'm the information framer to Bob and Marina so we can make good business decisions from the standpoint of financial numbers as well as best practices. I also am constantly looking ahead, seeing the opportunities as well as the pitfalls and making sure we choose the right fork in the road. On a day-to-day basis, I work with outside auditors and counsel, conduct contract reviews, keep track of special provisional needs for our clients, and manage the financial needs of the firm.
What I bring to the compliance team is, first and foremost, an auditor's perspective in the design and implementation of controls. As a firm we believe compliance starts with the individual attitudes of our people. The base, the structure, is everyone's strong sense of wanting to do what's right and fulfilling their fiduciary responsibility. The strengths of GlobeFlex come down to highly skilled and focused individuals.
Gale Mitchell Castro
Senior Accounting Associate
"Everything we do at GlobeFlex to run the firm operationally, I pretty much have a hand in. I deal directly with the operations team on portfolio reconciliation for billing and also on the main portfolio accounting for our pooled funds.
Prior to coming to GlobeFlex, I was exposed to very distinctly different money management firms which gives me the perspective to contrast what we have here to more traditional firms. The distinction shows up in how the company is managed and also the philosophy of the role of employees. Here, team members are responsible for their bottom line, meaning they are going to have to come up with better ways of doing things. Whatever your job is, you need to be efficient and responsible for the "product" you are putting out. As a result, it's a much more friendly and open environment. Rather than everything being shot down to the employees, it goes straight up to management so you feel like you are heard, that you have an effect on what happens and how you are able to do your job. The net gain is lots of productivity and no stagnation.
When you are in a firm with layers, it takes six miles to move the huge ship as opposed to a little boat that you can turn around in no time. GlobeFlex works hard to preserve the feeling of flat management for that very purpose, to make sure that everybody really steps up and says, "I'm going to do the job that needs to be done here and I'm going to provide GlobeFlex with everything I can think of that will make life more efficient on a daily basis". So that flexibility is very evident, with technology being a big part of the efficiency. Everything is automated. We have very technically savvy people here, from the investment team to the tech team all the way over to us accountants."
Keith A. Morris
Accounting Associate
"My main focus at GlobeFlex is doing accounts payable and more of the accounting-based side of things. I like the position because I get to learn all the different aspects of the company. My goal is to focus on the task at hand while getting a handle on the whole spectrum of how the company works and know it as well as I can.
GlobeFlex has managed to build efficiency through good communication rather than falling into the micro-management trap. We have a very flat structure with lots of professional room to grow. I don't have someone looking over my shoulder; rather, I'm given a project and I figure out how I want to best do it and get it done right. My accounting background gives me the problem-solving skills but my strongest skill is that I'm a good communicator. I fit right in here. Issues are easily addressed in large part because there's good rapport between all the employees. I'm very patient and can sit down and talk to people and work out whatever has to be resolved."
Medy Papa
Partner and Co-Founder, Executive Advisor to Investment Operations
When our trade order management system became linked directly to the accounting system in 1999, we started saving 50 percent of the time it used to take us to input trades. We use that timesaving to increase the quality of the work, the accuracy. It also frees us to give more assistance to the trading desk. They use us to check on certain positions, verify the amount of shares, or print out reports they need to back up their decisions.
Now we've transitioned to a more advanced accounting system, something that's extremely accurate, stable and far-reaching and is integrated through all the different parts of the company. All departments were represented on the team that selected the new system.
We especially need accurate communication between operations and trading, and operations and client service. Andrew really emphasized that to me; if we need to communicate 30 times a day, then that's what we have to do. I agree completely. We have to be perfectionists and accuracy is everything. We press that point hard with everyone here.
Tammy L. Johnson
Head of Investment Operations
What we have at GlobeFlex is a flexible, focused group of intelligent people. And we get things done, rather than going from meeting to meeting, communication is continuous and specific. It's pretty simple, but people here really appreciate where they work.
I'm a technology nut and GlobeFlex is definitely on the forefront. If we don't know about a program or system that is out there, we investigate it. At this point, we are running one of our industry's most innovative order-management systems, we've just implemented a new recon system, and we're looking at the next generation of portfolio accounting. Systems can be frustrating with their bugs in the beginning, but once you've worked through them you run much more efficiently. Every group that gets together here first asks "is there a technology solution?"
Probably the biggest challenge with automation is how you can easily lose your sense of purpose. Here I lead the operations team and everybody has a different background and perspective which makes it so interesting. Every issue has multiple looks and with a team of our size and experience, we can quite quickly flush out the optimal solution.
Mila H. Bakardi
Senior Account Administrator, Investment Operations
Operating systems don't ever replace people. There are always human controls in place. If programming were always correct and perfect, we wouldn't need a person to look into it. But we all know we're human and even the best programmer makes mistakes. We need to be able to troubleshoot the output and get ahead of any problems.
Automated systems provide crucial speed and efficiency. Trade order management, for example, is a great system that gives us inter-day updates from brokers. It also monitors our cash to be sure we're not over-buying or over-selling, for example. As long as the systems and technology are always advancing, we can accommodate a growing number of accounts and new product areas.
Our trade order management system takes away all the post-trade repetitiveness and the human error that goes with it. It's close to being mistake-proof. Now the investment team has the time to focus on the things a computer can't do -- the conceptual areas, the analytics, and the what-ifs. Because your mind isn't bogged down with a hundred different details in all directions, you don't have to put thinking on hold.
Laima M. Tumas
Chief Compliance Officer, Operations Technology Specialist
My main focus at GlobeFlex is compliance, where I team closely with Jen O'Connell and Marina Marrelli on the inside, as well as Advisor Compliance Associates, our outside compliance consultants. We take a team-oriented approach to compliance to keep up with evolving requirements as well as fostering a firm-wide compliance culture. The process addresses everything from employee reporting, to disaster recovery, to GIPS performance verification, strictly adhering to our Compliance Manual and current regulatory guidance.
My original introduction to GlobeFlex was as an outside technology consultant implementing the revamp of their advanced straight-through-processing platform. I was there at the beginning of the design process and lived at the firm for the two-year period ending 2001 as we instituted this major upgrade.
I joined the firm full-time in 2004 to oversee the next generation of enhancements and to strengthen the technology bridge between operations and the investment team. In addition to compliance, I work as the firm's operations liaison to programming innovation, testing software and training. Our goal is the same old goal - speed and accuracy. What's remarkable is the firm-wide embrace. We think investing in efficiency will be a key to our success as we grow.
During my quarter-century in this business, I have never been at a firm as dedicated as this one to being one step ahead on the efficiency scale. Performance is our embraced team-wide goal. The part I play is to ensure our strict alignment with industry compliance standards, minimize operational distractions and customize our ability to meet the needs of our clients so that relationships grow and thrive. I couldn't have found a better "last stop" in our very demanding industry.