Castine Conversations
We come across hundreds of interesting people and firms in the different projects that we undertake in the commission management and research management space. We thought others would be as fascinated as we are with them.
This podcast introduces us to business leaders, entrepreneurs, and businesses around the globe who have special interest in commission management (aka CSAs and soft dollars), broker/producer compensation, research services (including full RMS, research discovery, compliance, budgeting, and payments thereof). Each person is unique in their background and offers their advice on getting started and how their business operates and grows. We hope you enjoy it!
Castine works with over 50 brokers, 500+ asset managers, and 2000+ research providers with its solution suites. We have clients globally and support them with teams in London, Lisbon, Paris, New Jersey (USA), and Buenos Aires. Our solutions are cloud-based and are used by institutional and retail brokers, investment managers, research providers, and hedge funds worldwide.
Episodes
24 episodes
Castine Conversation - March 11, 2026 - Brijesh Malkan of Singletrack on Markets and CSAs
In this conversation we meet with Brijesh Malkan, the CEO of Singletrack.Brij has been an integral part of Singletrack for several years, both as a product manager and heading strategy before becoming the CEO of the firm. His experience ...
Bomsi Billimoria - On Supercharging Change
In this conversation we meet with Bomsi Billimoria, Founder and President at EvoXvantage.Bomsi is a Global Transformation Executive that has spent the last 25 years at large global firms driving operational discipline and cost transforma...
Doug Leo - Research Invoicing and CSAs at Raymond James
In this conversation we meet Doug Leo, the Head of Commission Management at Raymond James. Doug's leadership at Raymond James has helped them grow to be a major player in commission management. At the same time, Doug is very...
Castine's Team Discusses the Unbundling Uncovered CSA Conference in London - Key Takeaways
In this conversation, several members of the Castine team discuss the key takeaways from the November 5, 2025 Unbundling Uncovered conference in London. Clive Riddle, Pedro Fernandes, Tom Smith, and Robin Hodgkins represent teams fr...
Caroline Bayman and Chris Newson - Where Asset Managers Stand With CSAs
In this conversation, Robin Hodgkins speaks with Caroline Bayman and Chris Newson of FGA Consulting Ltd, a UK-based consultancy that is working with brokers and their clients to help educate them on CSAs and to demostrate the benefits of CSAs t...
Hester White - CSAs and Client Relationship Management as a Growth Opportunity
In this conversation, Robin Hodgkins speaks with Hester White, an expert in building client relationship teams and focusing broker attention on using CSAs and commission management to fuel growth. Her background at firms such as Nomura, Jefferi...
Mike Mayhew - Founder and CEO of Integrity Research Associates
In this conversation, Michael Mayhew joins Robin to discuss recent the current status of CSA re-adoption in the UK. Mike is the founder and chairman of Integrity Research Associates, the premier source of information about research firms as wel...
Bob Nowicki - The Lost Art of Commission Management
In this conversation, Bob Nowicki returns to talk about the CSA business from the point of view of CSA brokers. The focus is on how they can easily increase their business and order flow by focusing more on selling CSAs rather than jus...
John McGough - The Latest UK News Regarding the Return of Commission Management
In this conversation, we meet John McGough, one of the leaders in commission management spanning the past 20 years. John's expertise started at a SPSI, a brokerage unit of S&P and has expanded to several other brokers, always helping them s...
Castine's Acquisition of ResearchPool - A Conversation with the Decision Makers
In this conversation, the decision makers on the ResearchPool and Castine teams talk about how this acquisition came to be. Pedro Fernandes, the CEO of ResearchPool, Tom Smith, Castine's EVP of Sales, and Robin Hodgkins, Castine's ...
Aaron Walter - Head of Research Management for Janus Henderson on UK Changes for CSAs
In this conversation, we meet Aaron Walter, the Head of Research Management at Janus Henderson, a global investment manager. With 30 years of experience in research and Commission Management, Aaron has witnessed significant changes in the regul...
Jack Pollina - Head of Commission Management for Virtu on FCA's final report on rebundling/CSAs
In this conversation we meet Jack Pollina, the Head of Commission Management, Client Relationship Management, and Sales for Virtu Financial. Jack has been involved in commission management since his fortuitous job at Hoenig ...
Steve Stone - Where Are We with CSA Changes in the UK?
In this conversation we meet Steve Stone, the head of the financial institutions law practice at Morgan Lewis. Steve is a recognized expert in commission management in the US, England, and Europe and represents clients before the SEC and FINRA....
Indy Sarker - Analec's Founder on Where Commission Management Stands Today
In this conversation we meet Indy Sarker, Founder of Analec.Indy is a recognized global leader in commission management and brings to it his years of experience in research analysis, publication workflow and CRM systems. Indy has been i...
Neil Scarth - Commission Rebundling in the UK
In this conversation we meet Neil Scarth, Founder and Principal of Frost Consulting.Neil Scarth has held a wide range of roles in asset management and investment banking in Europe and North America over the last 25 years, ranging from r...
Bob Nowicki - Commission Management and the "No Action" Letter
In this conversation we meet Bob Nowicki, a luminary in the commission management space. Bob has over three decades of experience and is one of the rare individuals on the Street who has deep experience in building operations, mid...
Stuart Howard - Global Head of Research Relationships at Invesco Ltd
In this conversation we meet Stuart Howard, the Global Head of Research Relationships at Invesco Ltd. Stuart is responsible for managing the research relationships that Invesco uses to add value to the investment decisions that th...
Sarah Ahmed - Director of Corporate Access at Artisan Partners
In this conversation we meet Sarah Ahmed, the Director of Corporate Access at Artisan Partners. Sarah Ahmed is a true leader in Corporate Access, learning at the side of wonderful mentors at Deutsche Bank and AB Bernstein, and now...
Suzanne Mick Stafford - Expert Services Associate at Mirador on Compensation Management 201 for Wealth Managers
In this podcast we meet Suzanne Mick Stafford, Expert Services Associate at Mirador, LLC. Mirador was founded in 2015 and has grown to be a leader in providing outsourced CTO services and third-party solutions to brokers, high net ...
Joe Larizza - CEO of Mirador on Compensation Management 101 for Wealth Managers
In this podcast we meet Joe Larizza, the Founder and CEO of Mirador, LLC. Mirador was founded in 2015 and has grown to be a leader in providing outsourced CTO services and third-party solutions to brokers, high net worth individual...
Jason Glazer - Head of Product Management at Piper Sandler
In this podcast we meet Jason Glazer. Jason is the Head of Product Management at Piper Sandler, which acquired Cornerstone Macro, where he was the Chief Operating Officer. Jason's travels through sales and finance have included man...
Pedro Fernandes - Founder and CEO of ResearchPool
In this podcast we meet Pedro Fernandes. Pedro is the founder and CEO of ResearchPool, which provides workflow management tools, research discovery, and ESG meeting and interaction management to asset managers worldwide. ResearchPool's products...
Steve Dimitriou - Founder of Mayflower Advisors
In this podcast we meet Steve Dimitriou. Steve is the founder and managing partner of Mayflower Advisors, which has operated since 2002 and now manages over $1.7B in assets. Mayflower launched an RIA firm in 2020 and we cover what led to that d...
Mike Carrodus - Founder of Substantive Research
In this podcast we meet Mike Carrodus, who is the founder and CEO of UK-based Substantive Research. We cover Mike's background in this episode and will meet up again in a future episode to discuss more about the creation of Substantive Research...