The Pisano Team
Our Executive
Our core team has been together for six years and comprises a wide range of backgrounds, skill sets and industry experience.
Shamsher Vellani, CEO
A former NCAA ice hockey player and graduate of the University of Waterloo where he studied mathematics, economics, and finance, Shamsher soon found himself developing front end office tools on Wall Street to bridge the gap between technology and finance for investment banks and hedge funds, including Barclays Capital and Goldman Sachs.
Shamsher is known for being a thought leader who enjoys solving complex problems in unconventional ways. His experiential education in the financial markets, combined with an unflagging entrepreneurial vision, soon led to the founding of The Pisano Group, where mathematically driven deep learning technology could be applied to the creation of proprietary algorithms to navigate financial markets.
Rupert Whiting, COO
As Chief Operations Officer of Pisano, Rupert Whiting brings to the team a background of deep experience in high-level situational analysis and team leadership, from managing encrypted officer communications for the British Army Royal Signals Corp, to regional Director of Relationship Management & Business Development for CIBC bank for all of western Canada. He currently resides in the Vancouver area with “one wife, one daughter and one dog.”
Gordon Phillips, CRO
Gordon Phillips is a veteran currency trader, technical market analyst, portfolio repair consultant and developer of FX trading strategies.
Gordon’s scientific approach to markets and strict attention to risk management emphasizes positive expectancy and is a core building block of Pisano’s technology.
He currently resides in New Hampshire in the USA with his three (nearly) perfect children.
Fareez Vellani, CTO
A technologist with a background in robotics and automation engineering, Fareez is responsible for the expansive hardware and software requirements for the execution of Pisano’s proprietary technology. His core expertise comprises automation, hardware, virtual servers and cybersecurity. Fareez’s past experience includes building networking infrastructure for a major Telcom player.
“Trading effectively is about assessing probabilities, not certainties.”
— YVAN BYEAJEE, PARADIGM SHIFT: HOW TO CULTIVATE EQUANIMITY IN THE FACE OF MARKET UNCERTAINTY
Our Advisory Board
We are especially proud of our stellar board of advisors who give much of their time to support us.
Michael Alexander
A seasoned alternative investment professional with a unique blend of investment management and 15 years of business operations experience, Mr. Alexander currently serves as Expert-in-Residence with CretiveCap Advisors, having previously taken Alpha Capital Research, a multi-family office, from $50M assets under management to over $1B within 5 years.
Alvin Hall
An internationally renowned financial educator, television / radio broadcaster, and prolific author, Alvin hosted the highly rated and award-winning series, Your Money or Your Life on the BBC, and is a regular contributor on personal finance and the economy on NPR’s Tell Me More with Michel Martin. Among Hall’s bestselling books are: You and Your Money: It’s More than Just the Numbers, Your Money or Your Life (winner of the WHSmith 2003 People’s Choice Award), What Not to Spend, Getting Started in Mutual Funds 2nd Edition, and Getting Started in Stocks 3rd Edition. His children’s book, Show Me the Money, has been published in over 20 foreign-language editions.
Tyra Jeffries
Founder & Chief Executive Officer with CreativeCap Advisors, a global business advisory firm for asset managers, and the world’s first global emerging manager incubator. Ms. Jeffries has written for, and been quoted in numerous leading industry publications such as HFMWeek, InvestHedge, PrivateEquityWire, Opalesque, Emerging Manager Monthly, Financial Times’ Fund Fire, HedgeWeek, AlphaWeek, CityWire USA, Silicon Valley Bank, AsiaHedge and HFM Compliance..
Ross McGowan
A Senior Partner and National Chair of Fraud Law Group at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Ross provides a broad range of compliance, risk management and litigation support, with a focus on assisting financial institutions in combating fraud and corruption. He advises clients in operations, payment systems, policy advice and regulatory compliance matters, and has represented Canadian banks and credit unions at trial and appellate courts across Canada on national and provincial class action defence matters.