Thomas F. Connolly Managing Director & Head of Asset Management, Middle East & Africa The Bank of New York Mellon Thomas Connolly is Head of Asset Management for the Bank of New York Mellon, with responsibility for the bank's Middle East and Africa asset management businesses. Thomas is based in the bank's Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) offices. BNY Mellon Asset Management is a well respected thought leader which operates on a multi-boutique model. Its specialist asset managers together manage investments spanning the asset class spectrum. The company ranks as one of the largest global asset managers with more than $1.1 trillion in assets under management and is the world’s leading asset servicer with more than $23 trillion in assets under custody and administration. Thomas joined BNY Mellon Asset Management in 2008 after seven years at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), based in Abu Dhabi. While at ADIA, Thomas was a Senior Portfolio Manager responsible for management of both Equity and Fixed Income portfolios. Prior to managing money at ADIA, Thomas held the role of Senior Analyst in Bear Stearns’s Equity Research department in New York for 2 years. Whilst there, Thomas' research team assisted in winning numerous investment banking mandates and was twice ranked #2 by Institutional Investor's annual survey of Investment Analysts. Prior to joining Bear Stearns, Thomas was an Institutional Equity Salesperson for D.A. Davidson and Company and Vice President at AIM/Invesco. Thomas holds a Masters of Business Administration (Hons) from the University of Ottawa in 1998, where he also led a team that won the National MBA Case competition. Thomas also earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary in 1989. Thomas is a CFA Charter holder.