We share a passion for bringing gold to the digital world

Ashraf Rizvi

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

As Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ashraf is responsible for the strategic direction and day to day running of Gilded. He has over 20 years of executive experience as Founder, Managing Partner and Global Business Head. Prior to founding Gilded, Ashraf was the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of SummerHaven Investment Management, a commodities management firm overseeing nearly $2 billion in assets for retail and institutional clients including endowments, foundations, and family offices. For over 13 years, Ashraf was a senior leader at UBS holding a variety of roles in New York and London including Global Head of Commodities Trading, Global Head of Metals, Global Head of Emerging Markets FX and Global Head of Credit Repo. Previously, he was Head of FX Options Trading in New York for Credit Suisse. And prior to this, he was a Senior Trader at Susquehanna Investment Group. Ashraf earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School. He also served for more than 15 years on the Undergraduate Board and the Europe, Middle East and Africa Board at The Wharton School.

Michael Bolin

Chief Administrative Officer and Chief of Staff

Mike is Chief Administrative Officer, Chief of Staff and a Partner at Gilded. He brings over 35 years of experience from senior executive roles at UBS, worked abroad for over 10 years and played a key role in five major business acquisitions. Mike has extensive leadership experience including strategic planning, financial and risk management, organizational transformation, talent development and change management. As a member of the Investment Bank Executive Committee and UBS Group Managing Board, Mike held a series of strategic roles including Global Fixed Income COO, Investment Bank COO, Chief of Staff to the CEO and Chief Administrative Officer, where he led the Human Resources, Communications & Marketing and Regional COO functions. At the Group level, he created the Chief Data Officer function and was Head of Organizational Change for the Group CFO. In 2018, Mike founded the Management Consulting and Executive Coaching firm GrowthVisors, Inc. He earned an MBA from Pace University’s Lubin Graduate School of Business and an Executive Coaching Certification from New York’s Columbia University.

Joseph J. Schultz

Chief Operating Officer

Joe is the Chief Operating Officer and a Partner at Gilded. He has over 20 years of experience as a senior leader in Operations, Finance, Compliance and Regulatory matters at large investment management firms. Prior to Gilded, Joe was a Partner and the COO and Chief Compliance Officer at SummerHaven Investment Management. Previously, he was the COO and a Managing Partner at Basso Capital Management, L.P. and was responsible for the oversight of the firm’s day-to-day operations. Prior to this, Joe was a Vice President at AIG Trading Group where he designed systems, procedural protocol and managed the daily operations for the fixed income and foreign currency options department. Previously, Joe was an Assistant Vice President and Operations Manager for AIG International Asset Management where he was responsible for the design and management of the operations for several funds across multiple asset classes. He received a B.B.A in Finance from Baruch College.

Saira Rizvi

Chief Marketing Officer

As Chief Marketing Officer and Partner at Gilded, Saira has extensive experience in Industrial Engineering, Investment Banking and Digital Marketing. Saira received her B.S and M.S. Degrees in Industrial Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington. Her graduate studies specialized in Ergonomics and the design/implementation of man machine interfaces. She applied these skills at a division of Eastman Kodak for 5 years focusing on spearheading the productivity and efficiency improvements for the company’s largest U.S. manufacturing facilities. Saira obtained her MBA in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from Imperial College, University of London. She joined UBS as an equity analyst, focusing on market analysis and writing research in the Aerospace and Defense sector before moving to Credit and Market Risk, where she served as a Director. Saira has spent the last 3 years as founder and CEO of a digital marketing firm specializing in content creation and digital advertising. At Gilded, Saira combines her analytical skills with out of-the-box creativity to tell Gilded’s story globally.

Edward Pla

Chief Commercial Officer

Edward is Chief Commercial Officer and a Partner at Gilded. He brings over 20 years of business building, optimization, and leadership experience. Edward began his career at O’Connor & Associates as a currency option trader on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. At UBS he held a variety of global leadership positions in New York and Zurich including Head of FX Business Development, Head of FX Prime Services and Co-Head of Execution and Clearing. He was a member of the Board of Directors of LCH Clearnet from 2010-2014, a member of the Board of Directors of the Futures Industry Association (FIA) from 2014-2018, most recently as Chairman, and served on the CFTC’s Market Risk Advisory Committee from 2015-2018. Edward holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Philosophy from Boston College, where he was a member of the Carroll School of Management Honors Program, and an MBA from the University of Chicago – Booth School of Business.

Firas Mallah

Chief Executive Officer - EMEA

Firas is the Chief Executive Officer of the Middle East and North Africa region at Gilded. Based in The United Arab Emirates, Firas has over 22 years of experience working as an executive in the Financial Services space most recently as the founder and managing partner of MMK Capital, a Dubai DIFC based multifamily office. Prior to this, he was the Senior Representative Officer and the General Manager of Bank of Montreal’s regional office Abu Dhabi, where he expanded and managed BMO’s footprint across the MENA region, personally handling some of BMO’s largest accounts such as FAB (First Abu Dhabi Bank), ADCB (Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank) and the two largest sovereign wealth funds in the region. Prior to this, he served as Managing Director for Bank of Montreal’s Global Asset Management, where he developed the business from scratch and built a multi-billion USD portfolio of Asset Management clients. He earned his MBA from INSEAD, a Master of Engineering in Engineering management from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from The American University of Beirut.

James Edwards

Chief Operating Officer - EMEA

James is the Chief Operating Officer EMEA at Gilded. He has over 25 years of experience working as a Chief Operating Officer (COO)/Business Manager for several major firms, including UBS, Accenture, BNY Mellon, and CLS Group. Based in the U.K., James has consistently demonstrated strong skills in building, reorganizing, streamlining, and strengthening businesses across multiple asset classes, functions, and regions. He served over 15 years at UBS, primarily as the COO across Fixed Income and FX Emerging Markets, Commodities Sales and Trading, and Collateral Trading and Sales. Most recently, James served in a dual capacity as Business Manager for the Product division at CLS and Product Manager for a post-trade reporting product. James has a proven track record in several focus areas, including strategic planning and execution, financial and performance management, team building, talent development, resource planning, and regulatory, governance and control framework. He earned his Bachelor of Commerce, Economics, Marketing, and Business Administration from The University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Andy Carra

Chief Technology Officer

Andy Carra is the Chief Technology Officer at Gilded. Based in San Francisco, Andy has over 15 years of experience working as a Chief Technology Officer & co-founder in the fintech space, most notably co-founding Social Finance (SoFi), but also more recently co-founding, LionX, a privacy, identity, and secure data-sharing start-up, where he helped build a new way to manage, protect and safely use consumer information. Prior to this, he served as Chief Technology Officer for Sindeo, where he created technology that helped make mortgages simple and more obtainable for consumers. He’s also served as CTO for True Link Financial, as well as co-founding a financial services consulting firm that helps organizations build quality software solutions. Andy earned his Bachelor of Arts at Kalamazoo College and his master’s degree at the University of Michigan’s Computer Science Engineering department.

Ray Pullaro

Chief Communication Officer

Ray is Chief Communication Officer with responsibility for Education and Research at Gilded. He was most recently Dean of the School of Business, Public Administration and Information Sciences at LIU Brooklyn and Dean of the College of Management at LIU Post. Prior to this, Ray was managing director for Blackstone’s Alternative Asset Management division (BAAM), which was responsible for over $32 billion in assets. As a portfolio manager for the BAAM investment offerings, Ray served on BAAM’s Executive and Investment Committees. Additionally, he was responsible for top-down strategy research and was involved in all aspects of hedge fund manager evaluation, selection, and monitoring. Before working in asset management, Ray worked as a consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers, specializing in financial risk. He began his career in finance as an options trader with O’Connor & Associates, working in foreign exchange, short-term interest rates and emerging markets. Ray received a B.A. from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Stephanie Miller

Global Head of Operations

Stephanie Miller is the Global Head of Operations at Gilded. She has over 30 years of experience in the financial space, working for several highly reputable firms. Stephanie has a proven track record of spearheading transformational journeys, modernizing global target operating models, and driving profitable, sustainable growth. She spent nearly a decade as the Managing Director and Management Team Member at Citco Fund Services. Stephanie also spent over four years at J.P. Morgan working as the Managing Director and Head of Global Fund Services. More recently, she served for three years as CEO for Intertrust Group. Stephanie is an innovator with a passion for technology. Her life’s work is to continuously improve upon creating proprietary, internal, and client-facing technology platforms from the ground up to drive efficiencies and support the myriad operational and regulatory challenges clients face daily. She received a BS in Accounting and Computer Science from The City University of New York, Queens College.

Gerald Tamburro

Head of Financing and Collateral Solutions

Gerry is Head of Financing and Collateral Solutions at Gilded. He has over 30 years of experience building and leading businesses in the global markets for several highly prestigious firms such as BNY Mellon/Pershing, UBS, and Lehman Brothers. Gerry possesses extensive knowledge in Equities, Fixed Income, Derivatives, International Markets, and Trading. Prior to joining Gilded, Gerry was part of the BNY Mellon Operating Committee and the Pershing Executive Committee. He held the title of Managing Director at UBS and Lehman Brothers previously. His industry experience has honed his leadership, Management, Team Building, and employee engagement skills. He received his BS in Economics/Finance from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Gerry is a former board member of the Securities Industry and Financial Market Association (SIFMA).

Mark Ritter

Chief Risk Officer

Mark is the Chief Risk Officer at Gilded. He has over 35 years of experience working domestically and abroad in Japan, Australia, and the U.K. for some of the most recognizable names in financial services. For more than 30 years, Mark has worked in the education, finance, and technology industries, applying his skills in people management, strategic planning, and attention to detail. He specializes in positioning organizations for profitable growth, positive employee morale, and productive internal and external business partnerships. During his nearly 20-year tenure at UBS, Mark retained several roles, including Global Head of Credit Exposure Management and Global Head of Commodities. He also spent the better half of a decade working as an Independent Board Member of Morgan Stanley Derivative Products He earned his Doctorate in Business Administration in Finance from Sacred Heart University and served as a Fellow and currently is a member of the Fellowships Advisory Council of the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University.

Dulce Ponceleon  

Principal Scientist

Dulce is the Principal Scientist at Gilded. She brings over 30 years of experience as a researcher, consultant, and inventor for Apple, IBM, and InventorLens. Dulce has extensive experience in multiple areas of development such as Software Engineering, Cloud Computing, Project Management, and Computer Science. During her tenure at Apple, she served as both a Numerical Analysis Researcher and a Data Compression Researcher, where she worked on video and audio compression, I.e., design, analysis, and implementation of audio codecs and low bit rate codecs. While employed by IBM, Dulce worked as a Principal Research Staff Member and Master Inventor, focusing on Natural Language Processing Research, Semantic Role Labeling, and Blockchain Innovation. Dulce also worked as a Consultant for InventorLens before joining the Gilded team. She received an MS in Computer Science as well as a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University.   

John Timm

Principal Scientist

John is a Principal Scientist at Gilded. He has over 20 years of experience under his belt working in Information Technology and the Services Industry. He has held several positions for multiple technology firms including, IBM, Hemisphere GPS, and Impact Media Labs. During his nearly 15-year tenure at IBM, John worked as a Senior Technical Staff Member and Development Manager and served as a Senior Software Engineer before that. John also served over five years as an Embedded Software Engineer and Software Team Leader at Hemisphere GPS. He possesses a wide range of expertise in Computer Science Research, Model-Driven Architecture, and Large-Scale Data Integration. He is also well-versed in Object-Oriented Analysis and Design, Healthcare Information Technology, and Agile Development Methodologies. John earned his M.C.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Arizona State University.

Robert Elliott

Chief Operating Officer - Middle East

Robert is the Chief Operating Officer – Middle East at Gilded. Based in The United Arab Emirates, Robert has over 20 years of experience working as an executive in the Financial Services space, including Frontier and Emerging Markets across the UAE, U.K., U.S., and Africa. Over the past two decades, he has worked diligently to implement strategic initiatives, embedding relevant risk and governance frameworks with a thorough knowledge of regulatory requirements. For over ten years, Robert served as the Chief Operating Officer Dubai and Global Head of Operations at Tellimer. He has also honed his skills at several other international firms, including GMG Dubai, StoneX Group, UBS AG, Citi, and HSBC. Robert is a highly experienced COO with a passion for leveraging human potential and technology to develop and execute solutions to significant scale problems while minimizing associated risks. Robert has proven his ability as an executive globally, delivering change management projects, offering cost reductions, and demonstrating excellence in raising the bar on execution.

Keith Fishe  

Head of Structured Products

Keith is Head of Structured Products at Gilded. He has over 20 years of experience working in finance and technology, holding several executive-level positions. Keith specializes in helping client segments by providing new and innovative financial products. Keith has worked with several prestigious financial firms such as UBS, Swiss Bank Corp, Mellon Bank, DRW, and several hedge funds. He has a wide range of industry knowledge and skills and served on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s sub-committee on Automated and High-Frequency Trading for several years. Keith has also chaired standards committees for development practices in financial services. He earned his MBA from Carnegie Mellon University – Tepper School of Business and his undergraduate degree in Computer Science from the University of Miami.