Castine Conversations

Castine LLC
  • 5.0 (2)
  • ARTS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

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.

  1. NOV 14

    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 from our UK, EU, and USA groups and provide their insights on where the CSA market is headed in the United Kingdom as well as other points brought up in the conference.  The opinions made are solely those of the Castine members and do not represent any specific participant at the conference.  For more information on Castine, including our commission management, research management, compensation, and research evaluation and payment  solutions, please visit CastineLLC.com

    30 min

  2. OCT 19

    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 to asset managers and their clients.  Caroline's background includes many years in the commission management space working with both brokers and asset managers before becoming an entrepreneur in the real estate development world and, more recently, re-focusing on providing expertise to the buy- and sell-sides in front office operations, client strategy, and of course commission management. Chris's background also covers the buy- and sell-side, with senior roles at Henderson Global, Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, and Citi. Most of those roles covered research and commission management, giving Chris visibility on how the field has developed and, with Caroline, how firms can best use them. Our conversation covers their backgrounds and where asset managers stand in regards to considering returning to using CSAs or, if they've never used them, how to get started with them.  You can connect with Chris and Caroline on LinkedIn at FGA Consulting Ltd: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fga-consulting-limited For more information on Castine, including our commission management, research management, compensation, and research evaluation and payment  solutions, please visit CastineLLC.com

    53 min

  3. SEP 3

    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, Jefferies, and Peel Hunt establish her as a true leader in her field and one to pay attention to.  Hester's experience covers everything from sales to corporate access and from managing CSA teams all the way to sitting on management committees. She brings a depth of expertise to the brokerage community that colleagues, clients, and even vendors can benefit from.   Our conversation covers Hester's background as her career unfolded and her thoughts on the latest developments in the UK and the EU around commission management. You can connect with Hester on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hester-white-7694a3b/ For more information on Castine LLC, including our commission management, compensation, and research solutions for investment managers and retail and institutional brokers, please visit CastineLLC.com

    40 min

  4. JUL 30

    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 well as the leading CSA blog. We recommend everyone signs up for his premium blog, which is often described by leading asset managers as a "must read".  Mike's background on the research side led to the creation of Integrity Research in 2000. Mike is also a partner at Alpha Tech Partners, which runs a strategic investment fund in the solutions space for professional wealth and asset management firms.  The conversation covers Mike's background in research and the early days of soft dollars before jumping into the latest developments there and with his new venture. For more information on Integrity Research, and to sign-up for Mike's wonderful blog, please visit www.integrity-research.com. For more information on Castine LLC, including our commission management and research solutions for investment managers and retail and institutional brokers, please visit CastineLLC.com

    35 min

  5. JUN 26

    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 just treating them as an accommodation. Bob has over three decades of experience and is one of the rare individuals on the Street who has deep experience in building operations, middle offices, and trading desks for the buy and sell side, both in fixed income and equities, including his own hedge fund.    For the last two decades, Bob had been leading commission management programs at two of the largest CSA brokers in the US. Bob received his B.S. in Finance from St. John’s University and currently consults in the areas of client strategy, commission management, operations, and independent research. Many parts of the concepts that Bob and Robin discuss are in an article that Bob published in Integrity Research. If you'd like a copy, please write to Robin at rh@CastineLLC.com or visit integrity-research.com. If you'd like to connect with Bob, please connect with him at ran@wbglobalconsultants.com. For more information on Castine LLC, including our commission management, compensation, and compliance solutions for investment managers and retail and institutional brokers, please visit CastineLLC.com

    40 min

  6. MAY 29

    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 significantly expand their soft dollar / CSA businesses domestically and globally. John is currently consulting at Castine as our head of business development. With the recent release of PS25/4 and last year's PS24/9, many asset managers in the UK are wondering if now is the right time to start planning to use client commissions for research. We discuss exactly where the "re-bundling" effort sits inside of the FCA's Payment Optionality initiative, what firms should be considering to do now, and how can they rollout a strong plan with their brokers. For brokers, a similar discussion is underway, but of course brokers need to be ahead of their client's needs, so time is clearly of the essence. For the benefit of all who are interested, John has created an excellent presentation outlining the evolution of commission management and research payment options in the UK, tracing its progression from the "Big Bang" in 1986 to the most recent policy statements. If you'd like a copy, please write to Robin at rh@CastineLLC.com. If you'd like to connect with John regarding any commission management questions, please connect with him at john@CastineLLC.com. For more information on Castine LLC, including our commission management, compensation, and compliance solutions for investment managers and retail and institutional brokers, please visit CastineLLC.com

    28 min

  7. 12/18/2024

    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 President discuss how the two companies came together, each of their business models, and how the combined solution will benefit the global market for research management, budgeting, and payment services using commission management / CSAs.  ResearchPool's Research Management System's power comes from its ability to manage both internally originated research as well as research available on the ResearchPool broker research portal, now totally over 200 brokers and research providers. Castine's asset manager and brokers solutions are industry leaders in the way they help manage budgets, research payments, due diligence, and the entire continuum of commission management / CSA processing around the globe. The combined company can now offer research discovery and due diligence, research management, budgeting, and payments from end-to-end, helping existing CSA users and those returning to CSAs in the UK and the EU, to benefit from a one-stop approach for solutions.  For more information on ResearchPool, please visit ResearchPool.com. For more information on Castine LLC, including our commission management, compensation, and compliance solutions for investment managers and retail and institutional brokers, please visit CastineLLC.com

    34 min

  8. 09/25/2024

    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 regulatory landscape across the US, the UK, and globally. Our discussion delves into Aaron’s career at Janus Henderson and how regulatory shifts in commission management have influenced his perspective on research and the industry’s response.  The recent release of the final PS24/9 report from the FCA, and the new option to return to CSAs in the UK, is a very hot topic for many firms on both the provision and consumption sides of the fence. Aaron’s insights on likely future trends are invaluable and will be of interest to anyone in this space. This conversation is with Robin Hodgkins, President of Castine. For more information on Janus Henderson, please visit JanusHenderson.com. For more information on Castine LLC, including our commission management, compensation, and compliance solutions for investment managers and retail and institutional brokers, please visit CastineLLC.com

    36 min
See All (21)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Castine LLC
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    21
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Castine Conversations
  • Show Website
    Castine Conversations