The NYSE Presents: ETFs as a Share Class
Please join the NYSE for an in-depth conversation with Ben Slavin, BNY Melon, Morrison Warren, Chapman and Cutler, and Robert Kenyon, Perpetual, to learn about the ETF multi share class structure, how those ETFs compare and contrast to a single share class structure, and the process for regulatory relief.
Speakers
Douglas Yones is currently the Head of Exchange Traded Products at the New York Stock Exchange, where he oversees the listings and operations teams responsible for the ETP, Closed End Funds and SPAC businesses. His department is responsible for the delivery of customized, full service end-to-end capabilities for exchange traded product issuers. From the moment an asset manager begins developing their mandate, the team at the NYSE can help to drive product and index development, regulatory guidance and legal support, an unparalleled listing day experience, and long-term enhancement of product growth and distribution alongside superior market quality and liquidity.
Prior to joining the NYSE, Douglas spent 17 years at The Vanguard Group, most recently as the Head of Domestic Equity Indexing/ETF Product Management. From 2007 through 2015, Douglas worked on the development, launch, and distribution of numerous ETFs in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. He also spent a number of years in Hong Kong, responsible for the development and launch of the regional ETF business for Vanguard in Asia.
Douglas holds the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) designation with the American College, an M.B.A from Villanova University, his undergraduate degree from the Pennsylvania State University, and is a registered Options and General Securities Principal with FINRA.
Ben Slavin joined BNY Mellon in 2020, as the Global Head of Exchange Traded Funds. ETF Business provides servicing for more than $1.6billion in ETF assets across more than 1,500 ETFs worldwide. Ben joined the bank with over 25 years of experience in asset management, focused on ETFs. After graduating from Columbia University, Ben began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers which included an extended role with Barclays Global Investors, assisting the firm with the initial development of the iShares business.
Subsequently, he joined SEI Investments where he was responsible for the development of the Company’s ETF distribution platform designed for the iShares business. He subsequently joined ProShares as a start-up focused on building the firm’s leveraged/inverse ETF business. Ben returned to New York with Morgan Stanley Investment Management, responsible for product management for the firm’s open and closed-end mutual fund business.
In 2007, Ben returned to ETFs joining WisdomTree as a start-up serving as the Global Head of Product & Business Development playing a key role in building the firm into a Top 10 global ETF platform. He focused on a wide range of responsibilities, which including leading global product for U.S., Canada, Europe, and Japan. He also worked to develop distribution relationships in Latin America, Asia, and Australia, and managed all key global firm-wide relationships including asset servicing. Ben served as a member of the WisdomTree Global Risk committee, Europe Operating Executive Committee, various corporate boards, and chairman of the ESG committee. Ben also established his own ETF consulting and advisory business, servicing large asset manager and start-ups on ETFs and digital assets. Ben in an active member of various non-profits, and lives with his family outside New York City.
Morrison Warren is a partner and the co-chair of Chapman’s Investment Management Practice Group. Morrison focuses his law practice in the corporate and securities area with an emphasis on investment companies, including open-end funds, closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds, unit investment trusts, and private investment companies. He also represents broker-dealers, investment advisers, and municipal securities dealers, as well as publicly held companies with respect to their compliance with stock exchange requirements and federal securities laws.
Morrison is one of the leading legal ETF practitioners and now serves as fund counsel to over 350 ETFs. Through his representation of these clients, he has helped bring to market some of the most notable products in recent years, including the first 1940 Act commodity ETF, the first blockchain ETF, the first "defined outcome" ETFs, the first levered and inverse single-stock ETFs, and one of the first bitcoin futures ETFs.
Morrison has also been at the vanguard of the emerging blockchain and digital asset industry. He represents clients seeking to offer physically-backed bitcoin ETFs, ETFs principally investing in bitcoin futures contracts, and other issues relating to funds which invest in cryptocurrency in securities offerings. He also represents privately equity funds and private trusts that offer exposure to various cryptocurrencies.
Morrison regularly advises closed-end funds and their advisers on initial public offerings and follow-on rights offerings and oversaw one of the first instances of an interval fund publicly listing its shares on a national securities exchange. He is also part of a Chapman team that regularly serves as fund counsel for the initial offering of approximately 200 unit investment trusts annually.
Rob joined Perpetual Limited in late 2020 and is COO Perpetual US Services with responsibility for leading the US Retail business. Rob partners with Trillium and Barrow Hanley, Perpetual affiliates, to increase retail platform exposure and deliver access to a broader array of strategies and investment vehicles. He is focused on building out an internal infrastructure to grow and manage as well as measure the US business efforts. Over his 25+ year career, Rob has been responsible for delivering 75+ new products to market along with several billion dollars in AUM.
He joins Perpetual from Allianz Global Investors, where he served as Director and Head of US Retail Business Management, including LatAm. In that role, he led efforts in managing the overall business and focused on delivering a comprehensive sales, marketing, and data & analytics strategy as well as identifying and developing key product needs for the retail channels. Prior to his three years at Allianz Global Investors, Rob held executive level positions with other multi-affiliate platforms, both Virtus and Nuveen, where he had responsibilities for managing the firms’ strategic partnerships, product strategy & development efforts as well as broader strategic growth initiatives.