Elison Cruz
Orlando,Florida
Summary
Senior financial services leader with broad experience in fund accounting, middle office operations, reconciliation, reporting, and trade settlements. Supports NAV reporting, billing, audit requirements, and client service while managing staff functions and improving workflows through automation and reduced manual processing.
Overview
31
31
years of professional experience
Work History
Vice President, Fund Accounting Services
BNY
Lake Mary, FL
02.2022 - Current
- Coordinated weekly client recon reports and facilitated bi-weekly meetings to ensure transparency and alignment with client expectations.
- Transitioned Hedge funds from outside services to BNY fund accounting services.
- Provided monthly NAV package reports and daily NAV reports.
- Reviewed monthly NAV reports and daily reconciliations using reconciliation software and manual excel recons.
- Evaluated monthly expenses and fees, including management and incentive fee calculations, to ensure accuracy and compliance for clients.
- Managed billing process for administrative services, generating and approving invoices to maintain cash flow and client satisfaction.
- Handled annual audit meetings and reporting requirements for clients.
Senior Associate, Middle Office, Corporate Investment Banking
J.P. Morgan Chase
Brooklyn, NY
04.2017 - 02.2022
- Managed domestic and global trade settlement inquiries for Chase Private Bank accounts across markets including Euroclear, Israel, Brazil, Venezuela, and Hong Kong.
- Addressed cash-related inquiries including wires, FXs, SPO charges, and claims across various markets, including segregated and restricted markets like Brazil.
- Dealt with Equites, Bonds, DWAC, DRS, Physical dematerializations, ADR conversion via settlements, restricted sanctioned markets such as China and Venezuela.
- Collaborated with client on automation processing to enhance STP rates, eliminate fax usage, and reduce query volume.
- Focused on minimizing manual intervention and processing by identifying bespoke processes and resolving through automation.
- Extensive contacts with various global agents and transfer agents.
Portfolio Accounting Systems Manager Portfolio Administration
Van Eck Global
New York, NY
11.2010 - 10.2014
- Managed a team of 12 individuals focusing on reconciliation, reporting and trade processing functions for the firms Retail funds (Domestic and Emerging Market), Hedge Funds, ETFs, SMA and proprietary funds.
- Managed the conversion of Van Eck's internal portfolio accounting systems to Portia. Over 85 funds with various foreign and domestic investments in equities, fixed income, commodities, swaps, forwards, futures and options.
- Oversee daily reconciliation functions for cash and holdings for all accounts using Staars (Electra) and excel.
- Reviewed daily performance and ensured data in Portia was accurate to reflect the correct return.
- Notified portfolio managers, traders, and marketing of performance and reconciliation issues in daily morning reports to facilitate timely resolution.
- Set up procedures for the daily use of Portia Perform, the firms performance measurement system and to ensure data integrity flow. Train employees in Portia, Portia Perform and Portia E-reports.
- Lead new account setup for various systems, Portia, Portia Perform, Bloomberg OMS, and Staars.
- Developed macro excel sheets with pivot tables and v-lookups, enabling the reconciliation team to efficiently manage complex holdings and transaction reconciliations.
- Conducted semi-annual and annual performance reviews for the team, trained new employees, and assigned accounts to portfolio administrators to enhance team capabilities.
Senior Vice President (2007-2008) Portfolio Administration
Robeco Investment Management (Formerly Weiss, Peck & Greer)
New York, NY
05.1995 - 08.2008
- Led team in seamless transition of municipal fixed income account assets to Neuberger Berman, transferring all transaction and asset reconciliations since account inception.
- Reviewed and signed off on monthly and quarterly client reports.
- Assessed and signed off on account cash remittances and monthly income remittances.
- Implemented Sox compliant procedures with the Staars reconciliation system. Managed urgent ad hoc assignments.
- Evaluated staff portfolio administrators daily reconciliation work. Resolved all discrepancies.
- Trained new hires and evaluated portfolio administrators' yearly performance to enhance team capabilities.
- Allocated new and existing accounts among portfolio administrators.
- Converted legal, correspondence, and reconciliation client files into digital PDF files, archiving over 20 years of data for improved accessibility.
- Closed municipal fixed income operations in portfolio administration.
Vice President (2004-2007) Portfolio Administration
Robeco Investment Management (Formerly Weiss, Peck & Greer)
New York, NY
05.1995 - 08.2008
- Managed staff of portfolio administrators focused on the municipal fixed income accounts.
- Oversaw the implementation of the Staars program and resolved issues during the period of the transition into Staars.
- Developed and implemented standard operating procedures to optimize utilization of the Staars program.
- Redesigned client fee structure for municipal fixed income accounts on RBS billing system, enhancing clarity and consistency.
- Coordinated the ACAT for over 250 internal accounts to Charles Schwab.
- Transitioned corporate treasurers' reports from Isis to web-based JCaps reporting system, enabling clients to access reports online.
- Arranged initialization of new accounts on portfolio systems, trading systems and billing systems.
- Configured new client accounts within the Portia system for portfolio management.
- Educated new administrators on standardized work procedures to ensure consistency.
Associate (2001-2003) Portfolio Administration
Robeco Investment Management (Formerly Weiss, Peck & Greer)
New York, NY
05.1995 - 08.2008
- Managed all institutional corporate accounts invested in municipal securities, including account reconciliation, cash transfers, billing, and client reports.
- Rectified portfolio discrepancies and addressed client requests to ensure accuracy and satisfaction.
- Resolved performance issues for all municipal fixed income accounts. Gross returns, tax equivalents, after tax returns, annualized and composite returns, as well as benchmarks.
- Produced monthly Corporate Treasurers' report, providing critical insights for corporate institutional clients.
- Constructed monthly tax cost bond amortizations reports for corporate institutional clients.
- Generated quarterly investment advisory invoices for all accounts invested in municipal securities.
- Led the portfolio billing system conversion from Isis to RBS.
- Executed client information conversion from Isis to IHDB, streamlining data management processes.
- Played a key role in the quarterly portfolio reporting system conversion from Isis to Polaris.
Lead Portfolio Administrator (1999-2001) Portfolio Administration
Robeco Investment Management (Formerly Weiss, Peck & Greer)
New York, NY
05.1995 - 08.2008
- Managed 200 high net worth portfolios invested in municipal securities, ensuring optimal investment strategies.
- Led the conversion project from Isis to the Portia accounting system.
- Executed ACAT transfers between financial institutions and coordinated federal wire transfer requests for timely transactions. Invested accounts into cash securities.
- Verified and challenged securities prices with vendors and banks to ensure accuracy in portfolio valuations.
- Reconciled daily online and monthly statements for accounts held in various custodians.
- Configured securities in the Portia accounting system for accurate tracking. Deliver in securities with cost basis information to Portia.
Portfolio Administrator (1997-1999) Portfolio Administration
Robeco Investment Management (Formerly Weiss, Peck & Greer)
New York, NY
05.1995 - 08.2008
- Managed over 200 accounts invested in fixed income and equity securities.
- Collaborated with Portfolio Managers to optimize investment of cash balances.
- Reconciled monthly and daily custodian assets and transactions statement to the Portia accounting system.
- Resolved all trade discrepancies / reviewed client performance.
- Processed Fed wires and check requests through the ADP system and distributed monthly income to clients.
- Managed client requests via phone, email, and letter while coordinating with marketing, margin, legal, accounting, and trading desk.
- Supported conversion project from Sun-Wips to Portia accounting system by assisting in transition activities.
Trade Settlement Administrator (1995-1997) Portfolio Administration
Robeco Investment Management (Formerly Weiss, Peck & Greer)
New York, NY
05.1995 - 08.2008
- Managed 200 plus portfolios trading in equity and fixed income securities.
- Ensured accurate trade settlement of stock equities and fixed income securities across multiple markets, minimizing risk of errors.
- Verified trade confirmations with broker dealers and resolved trade disputes between brokers and banks to maintain transaction integrity.
- Logged daily trades into WIPS portfolio system, communicated trade details to custodians via DTC confirmations and fax, finalized trade settlements with custodians.
- Revised portfolio delivery instructions in Alert system.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Finance
St. Johns University
Queens, NY01-1994
Skills
- Geneva Fund accounting, MS Co-Pilot, Titan Cosmic Mainframe, Tableau, CSW, Zoom, Portia, Portia Perform, Portia e-Reports, Staars (Electra), Data Warehouse, Bloomberg, Bloomberg OMS and various proprietary software applications such as RBS (billing) Windows XP, Mac OS X, MS Office (including Excel macros, v-look ups, pivot tables etc 10 years)
- Fund accounting
- NAV calculations
- Reconciliation software
- Net asset valuation
Timeline
Vice President, Fund Accounting Services
BNY
02.2022 - Current
Senior Associate, Middle Office, Corporate Investment Banking
J.P. Morgan Chase
04.2017 - 02.2022
Portfolio Accounting Systems Manager Portfolio Administration
Van Eck Global
11.2010 - 10.2014
Senior Vice President (2007-2008) Portfolio Administration
Robeco Investment Management (Formerly Weiss, Peck & Greer)
05.1995 - 08.2008
Vice President (2004-2007) Portfolio Administration
Robeco Investment Management (Formerly Weiss, Peck & Greer)
05.1995 - 08.2008
Associate (2001-2003) Portfolio Administration
Robeco Investment Management (Formerly Weiss, Peck & Greer)
05.1995 - 08.2008
Lead Portfolio Administrator (1999-2001) Portfolio Administration
Robeco Investment Management (Formerly Weiss, Peck & Greer)
05.1995 - 08.2008
Portfolio Administrator (1997-1999) Portfolio Administration
Robeco Investment Management (Formerly Weiss, Peck & Greer)
05.1995 - 08.2008
Trade Settlement Administrator (1995-1997) Portfolio Administration
Robeco Investment Management (Formerly Weiss, Peck & Greer)
05.1995 - 08.2008
Bachelor of Science - Finance
St. Johns University