2022 Year In Review & Thoughts for 2023
In this piece, Shubin Jha, Head of Asset Management, provides an overview of the events that transpired in 2022 and what we expect heading into 2023.
THE BRIDGE TO DIGITAL ASSETS
Our Namesake
Menai shares its moniker with an iconic suspension bridge completed in 1826. Forged from wrought-iron and stone in Wales, the Menai Suspension Bridge has carried explorers and new-world architects for more than 200 years.
At Menai, we connect worlds. We enable our clients to participate in the emerging digital assets space via products and services that are more sophisticated, reliable and scalable than existing offerings – underpinned by the same world-class operational practices, risk and compliance mechanisms, security measures and infrastructure they have come to expect from today’s leading investment banks.
Our Values
Excellence
We are deeply committed to driving the industry toward excellence by playing a leading role in unlocking the full potential of digital assets as an asset class
Expertise
We use our team’s decades of diverse experience in well-regulated institutions, as well as significant experience in the emerging digital finance industry, to achieve our goals
Integrity
We are dedicated to doing business and driving innovation in a data-driven, honest manner, deepening trust in the industry and doing right by our clients, partners and the digital finance community
Impact
By building more reliable infrastructure and driving more investment in the digital assets space, Menai hopes to help accelerate the democratization of finance and create a financial system that is more accessible to all
Innovation
We have an unwavering focus on building the future of finance through institutional-grade products, services and infrastructure
Connection
We will bridge emerging digital markets with established markets, and cultivate partnerships with leading entities in both established and digital finance
Reliability
We are committed to always being there when our clients need us, and helping make digital assets more credible, accessible and efficient
Menai Asset Management
Institutional-Grade Investment Products
Through its investment products – which currently span a diversified index fund and an actively managed opportunities fund – Menai seeks to enable its clients to access the significant upside of digital assets while reducing their exposure to the operational, economic risks, and lack of portfolio diversity currently associated with investing in the space.
By investing in a broad mix of assets that span a wide range of potential use cases and regularly rebalancing its funds, Menai enables its clients to buy into a more objective, holistic, and adaptive vision for the digital asset space – with the goal of creating an enduring portfolio with greater upside.
Menai Markets
Institutional-Grade Market Making Across all Digital Assets
With respect to market-making, we believe Menai’s differentiated experience in the financial markets enables us to provide liquidity with a level of reliability, speed, professionalism, and security that is typically only found in more traditional markets, at a scale that others simply can’t match—with the ability to process flows on the magnitude of hundreds of millions of dollars. Menai seeks to provide the same standard of liquidity during challenging markets as during periods of market strength, thanks to its extensive experience across global markets and its deep knowledge of how money moves, how much money is available at any given time, and how it can be accessed.
Menai Asset Management (UK) Ltd is a private limited company formed in England on the 19 January 2021 with company number 13145196. Menai Asset Management (UK) Ltd is part of the Menai Financial Group LLC.
Menai Asset Management (UK) Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) in the United Kingdom with FRN: 955107 to provide investment advisory services to its clients on institutional-grade investment products that allow investors to invest in Crypto assets.
Menai Markets (UK) Ltd. is a private limited company formed in England on the 20 January 2021 with the company number 13146344. Menai Markets (UK) Ltd engages in proprietary trading and liquidity arrangements entered with certain cryptocurrency issuers. Menai Markets (UK) Ltd is not authorised or regulated by the FCA.
Menai-MVIS Diversified Digital Asset Index
The Menai-MVIS Diversified Digital Asset Index provides an opportunity to optimize risk-adjusted returns for global investors and alternative asset portfolios.
The Index is built on the belief that investors in the space should be diversifying investment among the distinct use cases of digital assets.
Digital assets, together with blockchain technology, are transforming financial services globally by decentralizing the three core pillars of financial services: the storage, transfer and processing of value. Each of these use cases represents a tremendous disruption opportunity and each major cryptocurrency is designed to optimize for that use case.
The three use cases form a strong basis of diversification to construct a resilient portfolio of digital assets. Menai has created a customized index based on the principles of diversification through these use cases. Investing in digital assets on the basis of this index provides a holistic exposure to the transformation, while mitigating the idiosyncratic risks of individual digital assets.
Storage
Transfer
Processing
The Menai Leadership Team
Zoe Cruz
Founder & CEO
Zoe Cruz is the Founder and CEO of Menai Financial Group, and a highly accomplished executive who spent decades at the forefront of the financial services industry, working in trading and capital markets. Zoe had a 25-year tenure at Morgan Stanley, where she was Co-President from 2005 to 2007; in this role, she ran major revenue-generating businesses, including the company’s securities, risk management and information technology organizations. Prior to that, Zoe was the Global Head of Fixed Income, Commodities and Foreign Exchange from 2001 until 2005. She joined Morgan Stanley in 1982 and was the third founding member of the company’s foreign exchange trading group.
Zoe is also a former Senior Advisor at Promontory Financial Group, LLC, and the founder of an investment management firm, Voras Capital Management. In addition to her leadership position at Menai, Zoe serves as Founder and CEO of EOZ Global, a single-family office. She also sits on the boards of the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Business and Government Advisory Council. Zoe previously sat on the boards of Ripple, Old Mutual PLC, Morgan Stanley, Harvard Dean’s Council, MAN Group and Bowdoin College Investment Committee.
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Shubin Jha
Head of Menai Asset Management
Shubin Jha is the Head of Research & Portfolio Manager for Menai Asset Management. Shubin has led research efforts across various markets, industries and securities during his 17 years of experience in investing at three hedge funds. Most recently, he spent seven years at Southpaw Asset Management as Managing Director of Research. He has significant experience in studying macro variables, product and market analyses, as well as valuations driven by both fundamental and technical factors.
Prior to Southpaw, Shubin worked with Zoe Cruz at Voras Capital Management, where he conducted macroeconomic and fixed income investment research. Shubin began his career in International Finance in India. He has an undergraduate degree in Economics from Delhi University and a Master of Business Administration degree from New York University.
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Ian Howard
Senior Vice President of Engineering & Head of International Operations
Ian Howard is the Senior Vice President of Engineering for Menai Financial Group and has over 20 years of experience in Financial Services. Ian spent ten of the last twelve years at Citadel, where he held several leadership positions in the technology organization - including Co-Head of Technology for Global Fixed Income and Head of Technology for the Global Quantitative Strategies group. Between his roles at Citadel, Ian led the technology function for BlueCove, a start-up asset manager specializing in systematic credit strategies. At BlueCove he designed and built the engineering function, which went on to deliver an institutional platform for research, trading and portfolio management based on modern Cloud technology. This platform was commended by institutional investors for both its innovation and quality. Ian started writing software aged seven, and while his primary focus today is on technical management and talent development, he still writes code and retains an active interest in technical topics.
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Laya Khadjavi
Global Head of Business Development & Client RelationsLaya Khadjavi is the Global Head of Business Development & Client Relations for Menai Financial Group. Laya is a seasoned finance executive with more than 30 years of sell side and buy side experience, with a focus on solution-driven and innovative capital markets and investment products. Before joining Menai, Laya was an independent consultant, providing advisory services to institutions including FinTech companies. Prior to that, Laya was the COO, Head of Strategy and Business Development at ICE Canyon, a global investment management firm specializing in Emerging Markets. Before ICE Canyon, Laya was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley where, during her 23-year tenure, she held a succession of senior management positions, including the Global Head of Markets in Global Wealth Management and the Global Head of various structured products platforms within the Fixed Income Division in Institutional Securities. Laya began her career as a Financial Analyst at Salomon Brothers.
Laya is a non-executive board member of GoldenTree ABS Management LLC. She also serves on a number of non-profit boards, councils and visiting committees, including the Institute of International Education, Brown University and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Laya holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics-Economics from Brown University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia University.
Adam Schuman
General CounselAdam Schuman is the General Counsel of Menai Financial Group. Adam previously was a Partner in the white collar and investigations practice of Perkins Coie, where he led the litigation department in New York. Adam earlier served as Special Counsel for Public Integrity in the New York State Governor’s Office and as General Counsel for New York State’s Homes and Community Renewal. Prior to that, Adam spent 12 years at The McGraw-Hill Companies/Standard & Poor’s becoming Executive Managing Director and Chief Legal Officer for S&P Ratings. Adam also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn and received the Director’s Award for Superior Performance, and earlier in his career was a law clerk to Hon. Loretta A. Preska in the United States District Court in Manhattan.
Adam holds a B.A. from Swarthmore College and a J.D. from the New York University School of Law.
Karen Jamesley
Chief People Officer
Karen Jamesely is Chief People Officer for Menai Financial Group with 30 years of experience in Financial Services. She has deep expertise in the areas of Strategic Planning, Talent Development/Executive Recruitment, Executive Compensation, M&A Integration and Succession Planning.
Karen spent the majority of her career at Morgan Stanley in the Human Resources Division where she ultimately became the Firm’s Global CHRO. She was the HR Lead on transformational events such as the Dean Witter merger, Discover Card spin off and Smith Barney acquisition. After leaving Morgan Stanley, Karen joined Korn Ferry as a Senior Client Partner in the Financial Service Practice focusing on identifying and delivering consultancy services across the entire talent spectrum. Key initiatives included digital transformation, early leader development and succession planning.
Karen holds a B.A. in Psychology with a concentration in Marketing from Pace University.
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Member Bio
Independent Board of Directors
Danuta Gray
Independent Director
Danuta Gray, an Independent Director for Menai Financial Group, is an award-winning businesswoman who has more than 25 years of experience in the telecommunication sector.
Most recently, Danuta was the Chairman of Telefonica O2 in Ireland after serving as the Chief Executive Officer from 2001 to 2010. During her time at Telefonica O2, Danuta helped lead the IPO demerger from BT of O2 plc through the £18bn sale to Telefonica. Danuta previously held several senior positions within BT Group, with a focus on expanding shareholder relationships. Danuta began her career in IT program management.
Danuta Gray is a non-executive director for the luxury fashion group, Burberry. Danuta also serves as the chair of Direct Line Insurance Group and Senior Advisor for Pollen Street Capital. She is a former chair of St Modwen Property. Danuta has previously served on the boards of Aldermore Bank, Old Mutual, Page Group, Paddy Power and Aer Lingus.
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Most recently, Danuta was the Chairman of Telefonica O2 in Ireland after serving as the Chief Executive Officer from 2001 to 2010. During her time at Telefonica O2, Danuta helped lead the IPO demerger from BT of O2 plc through the £18bn sale to Telefonica. Danuta previously held several senior positions within BT Group, with a focus on expanding shareholder relationships. Danuta began her career in IT program management.
Danuta Gray is a non-executive director for the luxury fashion group, Burberry. Danuta also serves as the chair of Direct Line Insurance Group and Senior Advisor for Pollen Street Capital. She is a former chair of St Modwen Property. Danuta has previously served on the boards of Aldermore Bank, Old Mutual, Page Group, Paddy Power and Aer Lingus.
Gary Rich
Independent Director
Gary Rich is an Independent Director for Menai Financial Group. As founder and president of Rich Leadership since 2007, Gary provides counsel to CEO’s and their Boards on issues of leadership development and organization performance management.
From 2002 to 2007, Gary served as President of QSP, a division of The Readers Digest Association, and from 1996 to 2002 Gary held Chief Human Resources Officer positions at The Readers Digest Association and ACNielson. Gary started his career at American Express Company where he held various executive positions in the US, France and England. Gary holds a Master degree from Columbia University in Organizational Psychology.
Gary is a member of the Board of Directors of Franchise Group Inc (FRG-NASDAQ), Stingray Digital (RAY.A TSE) and the Mercon Coffee Group. He serves as the head of the Compensation Committees of both Stingray and Mercon.
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From 2002 to 2007, Gary served as President of QSP, a division of The Readers Digest Association, and from 1996 to 2002 Gary held Chief Human Resources Officer positions at The Readers Digest Association and ACNielson. Gary started his career at American Express Company where he held various executive positions in the US, France and England. Gary holds a Master degree from Columbia University in Organizational Psychology.
Gary is a member of the Board of Directors of Franchise Group Inc (FRG-NASDAQ), Stingray Digital (RAY.A TSE) and the Mercon Coffee Group. He serves as the head of the Compensation Committees of both Stingray and Mercon.
Sir Simon Robey
Independent Director
Sir Simon Robey is an Independent Director for Menai Financial Group. Sir Simon has decades of distinguished experience in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and advisory. Sir Simon currently serves as the co-founder of Robey Warshaw LLP where they advise many of the biggest companies in the UK, and select non-UK companies, on a wide variety of matters.
Prior to founding Robey Warshaw LLP in 2014, Sir Simon had a 25-year career at Morgan Stanley. While at Morgan Stanley, Sir Simon was the lead adviser on over US$1trillion of transactions, including mergers, defenses, acquisitions, restructurings and general financial matters. He held a variety of senior management positions, including Co-Head of Global Mergers and Acquisitions, Global Head of Financial Institutions and, latterly, Head of Morgan Stanley in the UK. Sir Simon began his career as a corporate finance adviser in 1983 at Lazard Brothers in London.
Sir Simon is Chairman of Britten Pears Arts and a trustee of YCAT (Young Classical Artists Trust). He is Honorary Vice President of the Royal Opera House, having been a trustee from 2006 until July 2016 and its Chairman from 2008 to 2016 and again from May 2021 to July 2022. He was a trustee of the Royal Academy of Music from 2004 to June 2014. Sir Simon was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June 2016 for services to music.
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Prior to founding Robey Warshaw LLP in 2014, Sir Simon had a 25-year career at Morgan Stanley. While at Morgan Stanley, Sir Simon was the lead adviser on over US$1trillion of transactions, including mergers, defenses, acquisitions, restructurings and general financial matters. He held a variety of senior management positions, including Co-Head of Global Mergers and Acquisitions, Global Head of Financial Institutions and, latterly, Head of Morgan Stanley in the UK. Sir Simon began his career as a corporate finance adviser in 1983 at Lazard Brothers in London.
Sir Simon is Chairman of Britten Pears Arts and a trustee of YCAT (Young Classical Artists Trust). He is Honorary Vice President of the Royal Opera House, having been a trustee from 2006 until July 2016 and its Chairman from 2008 to 2016 and again from May 2021 to July 2022. He was a trustee of the Royal Academy of Music from 2004 to June 2014. Sir Simon was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June 2016 for services to music.
Troy Paredes
Independent Director
Troy Paredes, an Independent Director for Menai Financial Group, has extensive experience in government, regulations, enforcement, and compliance. Troy is the founder of Paredes Strategies LLC, which advises on financial regulation, compliance, risk management, corporate governance, and regulatory strategy.
From 2008-2013, Troy was an SEC Commissioner, appointed by President George W. Bush. Prior to that, Troy was a professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. He also has been a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at NYU School of Law, and a Distinguished Policy Fellow and Lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Paredes is the author of numerous academic articles on financial regulation, corporate governance, innovation, behavioral economics, and administrative agencies, and he is a co-author (beginning with the 4th edition) of a multi-volume securities regulation treatise with Louis Loss and Joel Seligman entitled Securities Regulation. Additionally, Paredes co-hosts a podcast on fintech called “Appetite for Disruption.”
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From 2008-2013, Troy was an SEC Commissioner, appointed by President George W. Bush. Prior to that, Troy was a professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. He also has been a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at NYU School of Law, and a Distinguished Policy Fellow and Lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Paredes is the author of numerous academic articles on financial regulation, corporate governance, innovation, behavioral economics, and administrative agencies, and he is a co-author (beginning with the 4th edition) of a multi-volume securities regulation treatise with Louis Loss and Joel Seligman entitled Securities Regulation. Additionally, Paredes co-hosts a podcast on fintech called “Appetite for Disruption.”
Bruce Hemphill
Independent Director
Bruce Hemphill, an Advisor for Menai Financial Group, is a United Kingdom qualified lawyer with 28 years of C-suite experience in the financial services industry. Bruce currently serves as an operating partner at Apollo Investment Consulting Europe Ltd.
From 2015 to 2019, Bruce was Group Chief Executive of Old Mutual Plc., where he was Chairman of Old Mutual Wealth and Old Mutual Emerging Markets, and sat on the boards of Old Mutual Plc. and Nedbank. Prior to that, Bruce held executive positions, including Co-Head of Investment Banking at Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank, Deputy Chief Executive at Standard Commercial Bank, Chief Executive at Stanlib Asset Management, Chief Executive at Liberty Holdings Ltd. and Chief Executive at Standard Bank Group Wealth, Insurance and Non-Bank Financial Services.
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Member Bio
Advisory Board
Phil Duff
Advisor
Philip Duff, an Advisor for Menai Financial Group, is an accomplished executive with decades of experience in the financial services industry. Philip was the Founder and CEO at Massif Partners, an institutional investment company focused on the solvency of funding long-term liabilities. Prior to founding Massif Partners, Philip was one of the founding partners of FrontPoint Partners LLC, an investment management firm, and served as its Chairman and CEO from November 2000 to December 2006. In December 2006, FrontPoint Partners was sold to Morgan Stanley. Prior to starting FrontPoint Partners in 2000, Philip was the COO and Senior Managing Director of Tiger Management from 1998 to 2000.
Before joining Tiger, Philip spent much of his career at Morgan Stanley and served as the CFO of Morgan Stanley from 1994 to 1997. From 1997 to 1998, he served as President and CEO of Van Kampen Investments, a mutual fund acquired by Morgan Stanley. Philip started his career at Morgan Stanley in 1984 in investment banking, where he became head of the Financial Institutions Group.
Philip received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from Harvard University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Stefan Thomas
AdvisorStefan Thomas is an Advisor for Menai Financial Group. Stefan has more than 15 years of experience as an open-source developer, a distributed systems advocate and an active angel investor. He is the co-inventor of Interledger Protocol, an open payments technology designed for payments between different stores of value, such as banks, mobile money schemes and blockchains. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Coil, a content platform powered by open-source web monetization technology that can stream micropayments. Prior to Coil, Stefan was the Chief Technology Officer of Ripple and one of the architects behind Codius, a universal smart contracts platform. Before that, he developed vast experience in digital currencies as both the founder of WeUseCoins.com, the largest website for novice Bitcoin users, and as the creator of BitcoinJS, a software package used by a wide range of Bitcoin businesses all over the world. Stefan was one of the earliest developers in the Bitcoin ecosystem and played a big part in introducing Bitcoin to the masses in 2011 when he created an animated video “What is Bitcoin?”
Stefan is a Board Member of Imgur, an image sharing platform. He previously served on the boards of Omni, an on-demand storage and delivery solution, and OpenJS Foundation, an entity to help the development and adoption of JavaScript technology.
Member Bio
News & Insights
Read More
MSCI Launches First Suite of Digital Assets Indexes, November 2022
Indexes developed in collaboration with Menai Financial Group and Compass Financial Technologies.
Quarterly Research Brief, July 2022 – Crypto’s Dead, Long Live Crypto: The Path Forward in the Digital Transformation
In this Menai Quarterly Research Brief, we aim to put perspective around recent turmoil in the digital ecosystem by shifting focus back on use cases of crypto-blockchain technology and the fundamental thesis for long-term investors in this “Liquid VC” asset class.
MSCI Announces Strategic Alliance with Menai Financial Group
Menai to provide advice to MSCI in connection with its development of digital asset solutions for institutional investors.
Menai Appoints Adam H. Schuman as General Counsel
Menai Financial Group (“Menai”), as leading provider of institutional grade digital asset investment and trading services, today announced that Adam H. Schuman is joining the Company to serve as General Counsel.
Contact
Build bridges, break bounds.
Menai Financial Group
520 Madison Avenue, 21st Floor
New York, NY 10022
Menai UK
100 Liverpool St., Storey Club
Broadgate, London EC2M 2AU
Menai Tokyo
Toranomon Hills Business Tower 15F
1-17-1 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-6415
Careers
Join our team by sending your CV and cover letter to careers@menai.io.
General Inquiries:
info@menai.io
Media Inquiries:
press@menai.io