Rostin Behnam is the Acting Chairman of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. He was nominated and approved by the prior administration in 2017 to serve as one of five Commissioners of the CFTC and in January, accepted the role as Acting Chairman. The CFTC has a mission to promote the integrity, resilience, and vibrancy of the U.S. derivatives markets, working towards effective price discovery and risk management in fair and transparent markets. As a part of his role, Russ sponsors the CFTC’s Market Risk Advisory Committee. Our conversation covers the history, function and process of the CFTC and the Acting Chair’s path to the seat. We then discuss his perspective on crypto assets and dive into an exhaustive policy piece published last fall by his Market Risk Advisory Committee entitled “Managing Climate Risk in the Financial System.” The document is positioned to become the leading regulatory policy manual on financial climate risk for the new administration. Our conversation took place shortly before Russ rose to Acting Chairman and before the wild market volatility in recent weeks. We touched base about his perspective, but the situation is too fluid for a public response. Acting Chairman Behnam released brief statement about the silver markets that said, “The CFTC is closely monitoring recent activity in the silver markets. The Commission is communicating with fellow regulators, the exchanges, and stakeholders to address any potential threats to the integrity of the derivatives markets for silver, and remains vigilant in surveilling these markets for fraud and manipulation.” Stay tuned, as the subject may well be fodder for another conversation down the road. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google   Follow Ted on twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe Monthly Mailing List  Read the Transcript 

Jennifer Prosek is the founder and CEO of Prosek Partners, a leading international public relations and financial communications consultancy with offices in New York, London, Los Angeles and Connecticut. Prosek Partners ranks among the top 10 independent public relations firms in the U.S., and among the top financial communications consultancies.  The firm has been listed as an Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Company for nine years running.  Jen is also a two-time author.  Our conversation covers the foibles of professional marketing in asset management, building a brand, measuring a successful branding effort, managing the story of weak performance, and describing the differences in hedge fund and private equity branding.  We then turn to some of Jen’s fascinating observations learned from her experience, including raising entrepreneurial children, working with millennials and Gen Z staffers, and implementing the principals of ‘Just Ask’, behave with humanity, and not thinking in black and white. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google   Follow Ted on twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe Monthly Mailing List  Read the Transcript