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Mila Getmansky Sherman, the Fuller and Meehan Endowed Professor of Finance in the Isenberg School of Management, has been named director of the school’s Center for International Securities and Derivatives Markets (CISDM).

Getmansky Sherman, who previously served as an associate director of CISDM, will build on the center’s strengths in researching alternative investments, derivatives, data and risk management while expanding its work in private investments, institutional portfolios, geopolitical and macroeconomic risk, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and other emerging issues affecting investors.

“Taking on the leadership of CISDM is particularly meaningful to me because I have been involved with the center for many years and have seen the important role it can play in connecting academic research with the investment community and students,” Getmansky Sherman says. “My priority is to build on that foundation rather than change what makes CISDM distinctive.”

Founded in 1994, CISDM has been a leader in alternative investment research and was involved in co-founding the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association. The center is supported by an advisory board of investment and finance professionals who bring industry expertise and perspective to its work. 

Joining Getmansky Sherman on the board are: 

• Gary Cameron, deputy chief investment officer, Garda
• Kristen Walters, chief risk officer and operating executive, formerly of BlackRock and Goldman Sachs
• Ajay Mehra, chief investment officer, Foresight Global Investors Inc.
• Jerry Hong, alternative investments executive; former head of portfolio management and trading, ZAIS Group
• Steven Novakovic, managing director, educational programs, CAIA Association
• Chuck McQuaid, private investor; co-founder and former chief investment officer, Columbia Wanger Asset Management
• Kathryn Kaminski, chief research strategist and portfolio manager, AlphaSimplex
• Neil Moriarty, co-head, global fixed income and senior portfolio manager, MacKay Shield
• Michael Philipp, managing partner, Ambata Capital Partners
• Joanne Hill, managing partner, Bear Creek Advisors

One of the first major events under Getmansky Sherman’s leadership will be the 2026 CISDM Research Conference, titled “Markets in Transition: Geopolitical Risk, AI, Elections, and Portfolio Strategy.”

The full-day conference is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 23, at the UMass Amherst Charles River Campus in Newton. It will explore issues at the intersection of financial markets, emerging technologies, geopolitical developments and portfolio strategy, reflecting the center’s expanding research priorities.

The conference will bring together leading academics and practitioners for a keynote address by Andrew W. Lo, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management; faculty research presentations; an industry panel; and an outlook on the 2026 midterm elections.

For more information, visit the CISDM Research Conference website.