Heather Claus, Co-Founder and CEO. She has over 25 years of experience in large scale software deployment and consulting in the asset management industry starting with her tenure at Barclays Global Investors. Heather has led numerous projects focusing on software implementation across various asset management portfolios, including fixed income and equity strategies. She has provided consulting services to government and institutional investors, including RIA’s, on capital market dynamics, systems research, and software deployment strategies.

As CEO of Flex Axion Heather is instrumental in shaping Flex Axion’s long-term strategic goals, building the firms’ culture of innovation and client service, as well as meeting interim key targets, removing impediments to success, and managing resources.

Heather holds a Master of Science in Applied Economics and Finance from the University of California Santa Cruz where she studied applied mathematics and Econometrics and specialized in real options logic applied to capital investment. Additionally, she has passed the Series 7 and 66 FINRA exams.

James Claus, PhD, Co-Founder and CTO has spent his career pushing the bounds of computing possibilities for research and trading in the global capital markets. He was recruited to Columbia University to pursue his doctorate degree and upon completion he was recruited to innovate and transform the legacy systems at Barclay’s Global Investors (now Blackrock Scientific).

At Flex Axion James has continued to innovate and further refine his ideas and technology from academic and industry settings where he has combined advances in machine learning, optimization, and computing architecture that produces results that are hundreds of times faster and more cost-effective than generic cloud and traditional software solutions. The Flex Axion technology platform is the result of over 25 years of research and experimentation at the most extreme edges of computing and asset management.

James is published in the Journal of Finance, has received numerous academic and industry awards. He completed his PhD at Columbia University Business School in Financial Engineering and Accounting. James has taught at Columbia University, UC Berkeley, and the University of Utah where he created the Computational Finance Lab.

Hal Tolley is Co-Founder and Head of Engineering and has worked with James previously in both business and academia. He has been the lead engineer on numerous large scale computing projects for both the government and private businesses including Vhayu, a trading platform startup sold to Thomson Reuters, as well as Fusion IO. Throughout his career he has substantially contributed to the libraries of numerous software languages and open-source initiatives

Hal is a full stack engineer as well as a hardware/software expert who is the authority on solving I/O bottlenecks and improving performance of Flex Axion’s software and hardware integrations as well as refining the optimization engine and software OSI compliance. Hal built the original hardware prototypes and is the engineer of the proprietary computing architecture that underpins Flex Axion’s powerful software performance. Hal also oversees all aspects of development from hardware to interface design.

Hal received his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University and has served an Executive in Residence at the University of Utah.

Sean Bird, PhD is a technology professional in the Pacific Northwest out of Redmond, Washington. His thirty-year career in the technology industry includes founding and successfully exiting three technology businesses, consulting to Fortune 100 organizations on technology strategy, products, and services, advising numerous technology startups, and has previously held leadership roles at Microsoft and Ernst & Young/Cap Gemini.

Sean has successfully engineered and delivered internal and external business intelligence programs lifting employee and client satisfaction, managed the development and delivery of solutions that include Cloud, Machine Learning, IoT, Business Intelligence & Analytics development, Robotic Process Automation, and Data Platform & Modernization for clients including Microsoft, Expedia, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-Benz USA, Amazon, Facebook, Thomson Reuters, Pearson, and MSEI/Biotronik.

Sean has a doctorate in Quantitative Systems specializing in artificial intelligence and industrial engineering from Rawls College of Business, Texas Tech University.

Since inception in 2013, Russell has guided rpmAUM, a consultancy to the investment advisory industry, to assemble a talented team of former C-suite professionals that now service an ever-increasing swath of project work across corporate assignments impacting from $200 Million to over $2 Trillion in assets under management. Russell has helped some of the biggest names in financial services build market presence, grow distribution, and drive profitable results such as Citibank, Nuveen (now subsidiary of TIAA), Janus (now Janus Henderson), and Natixis among others.

Since 2015, Russell has been instrumental to RetireOne, a FinTech company where he serves as Vice Chairman of the Board. Russell previously co-founded a Citibank funded database marketing firm and leveraged efficient and effective target marketing and building brand equity techniques with many of the largest global franchises.

Russell completed post-graduate programs at both Kellogg and Wharton Schools of Management. He holds Series 7, 26, and 63 licenses as well as the CIMA® designation.

Emil Polito has been working in investment management for over four decades and has a diverse background in operations and technology at some of Wall Street’s largest firms such as PaineWebber, UBS and Citi. He has held senior management roles in the back and middle office areas, as well as holding the titles COO and CTO at prominent asset management companies and has an extensive background in the application of technology solutions in asset management.

His leadership roles in Product & Business Development and Client Relationships have led to a natural progression in taking on a more consultative role on Advisory and Corporate boards. Emil aids CEOs with strategic and tactical plans, using his industry knowledge and network contacts to assist boards in achieving their firm’s strategic growth opportunities. Emil’s experience also allows him to provide a critical eye with respect to risk management and best practices in both asset management and for Fintech and Wealth Tech firms.

Emil has worked with boards of large corporations, such as Mitch Hutchins Institutional Investors on the board of PaineWebber’s mutual funds; non-executive chairman at Edan LeadGen LLC, as well as COR Financial Solutions and Archer Investment Management Solutions. Committees include ICI-Operations, SIA-Operations, NICSA-Distribution Channel. Emil is also a frequent speaker at industry conferences and received his MBA from The Wharton School.

Frank’s experience includes Relationship Manager at MSCI providing investment solutions using MSCI Barra’s fundamental models and portfolio construction tools; partner in a start-up asset management firm; and over a decade at UBS Global Asset Management in various quantitative portfolio management equity roles.

Frank received a B.S. in Finance from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. with a concentration in Finance from Rutgers University.