2014: A Year in Profiles

While most of subjects are CIOs ─ of the chief information officer variety, and not investment officer ─ this year we sprinkled in a few CTOs and COOs, and even a head of execution and a CISO.

Technology is complex and it's becoming increasingly important for IT and the business to work together. This is why we felt it was important to provide executives with different backgrounds so that they could give their unique perspectives as to the importance and complexities of building new trading systems, adhering to new regulatory requirements, protecting the firm from hackers, adapting to new reporting mandates and dealing with a rising sea of data.

Additionally, our group this year is made up of people from massive insurance firms, a huge pension fund, a growing broker and an increasingly-important exchange; large asset managers, hedge funds and investment banks. These executives are from the US, UK, continental Europe and Japan. We hope that together they provide you with a range of ideas while also giving some insight as to what makes the individual tick.

Here are our 12 cover profiles from 2014: 

January: Michal Sanak, chief information officer, RSJ

RSJ, tucked on the left bank of the Vltava River in the Czech capital of Prague, has quietly become one of the world's most active proprietary trading firms, despite its boutique size. As CIO and shareholder Michal Sanak tells Tim Bourgaize Murray, the shop's success ─ much like this city's history ─ is owed to a combination of luck and dedication. Its considerable influence on global listed derivatives suggests more of the latter.

February: Mary Kotch, chief technology officer, AIG

AIG CTO Mary Kotch sits down with Anthony Malakian to discuss her ascent up the technology ladder to her current position, and how she manages to find a work-life balance while helping the insurance giant to restore its brand post-2008.

March: Ed Brandman, chief information officer, KKR

Ed Brandman's friendly quirks don't conjure the conventional image of an IT chief, especially at KKR, one of the more white-shoe firms in a space famous for them. But don't let the CIO's charms fool you. He effectively redefined enterprise-grade technology for private equity, with backing from people who know ─ better than anyone in the world ─ what a good deal looks like. As he tells Tim Bourgaize Murray, it all started with a gambit westward.

April: Herve Morel-Derocle, chief information officer, Axa Investment Managers

During one of his frequent trips to London, AXA Investment Managers CIO Hervé Morel-Derocle spoke to Marina Daras about the bold moves he made when faced with the looming obsolescence of the firm's desktops.

May: Tim Wood, chief information officer, FBR

Arlington, Va.-based investment bank FBR found itself in freefall during and after the mortgage crisis. CIO Tim Wood's job description changed dramatically, from builder to cost-cutter. By putting his business skills to the test, he made dramatic but necessary reductions to IT that helped return the firm to profitability. By Jake Thomases.

June: Uche Abalogu, chief technology officer, Utimco

Like many of its endowment brethren, $32.6 billion University of Texas Investment Management Company (Utimco), one of the more unique institutional investors in the US, has seen its data requirements and the need for seasoned in-house technical expertise grow significantly in recent years. Overlooking the Colorado River in Austin, Tim Bourgaize Murray sits down with CTO Uche Abalogu for an upstream perspective on financial technology.

July: Yoshinori Suzuki, chief information officer, Japan Exchange Group

Yoshinori Suzuki, CIO of Japan Exchange Group, has overseen a massive technology overhaul during his tenure at the organization ─ but it's an overhaul that he never expected to be in charge of just a few years ago. By Anthony Malakian.

August: Jack Kline, chief information officer, Seer Capital

Seer Capital, founded only a few years ago in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, today invests in a broad array of securitized credit. That's possible because of the flexible architecture implemented by CIO Jack Kline, who knows that traders can't be trusted to stick to a blueprint. By Jake Thomases.

September: Dayna Corlito, chief operating officer, BTG Pactual 

Thousands of miles from Copacabana Beach, BTG Pactual is doing things a once-small banking partnership from an emerging market shouldn't be able to ─ managing a diverse group of admired hedge funds. Yes, the firm's successful foray into asset management was partly down to fortuitous timing, but high above Manhattan's streets, COO Dayna Corlito has helped it go global with something else: dogged technology precision. By Tim Bourgaize Murray.

October: Joseph Lodato, chief compliance officer, Guggenheim Securities

Anthony Malakian sits down with Joseph Lodato, chief compliance officer at Guggenheim Securities, to discuss the need for compliance and technology to work together in the current regulatory environment.

November: Bob Ganim, chief information security officer, Neuberger Berman

After surviving the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, Neuberger Berman installed Robert Ganim as its first-ever chief information security officer, and also tasked him with handling business continuity planning. Ganim sits down with Anthony Malakian to discuss the impressive scope of his position and the dangers that lurk in increasingly internet-dependent markets.

December: Thomas Biotteau, head of execution, Kepler Cheuvreux

Kepler Cheuvreux's head of execution, Thomas Biotteau, talks to Marina Daras about the merger between Kepler Capital Markets and CA Cheuvreux, and what makes up the strength of the newly formed European broker.