Mila Getmansky Sherman Named Director of Isenberg’s Center for International Securities and Derivatives Markets
Isenberg Finance Professor Leads CISDM Into New Chapter Focused on Alternative, Private Investments; Institutional Portfolios, Emerging Risks, Student Opportunities
Mila Getmansky Sherman, PhD, the Fuller and Meehan Endowed Professor of Finance at UMass Amherst’s Isenberg School of Management, has been named director of Isenberg’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 areas including 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,” said Getmansky Sherman. “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 (CAIA) Association. It is supported by an advisory board of investment and finance professionals who bring industry expertise and perspective to the center’s 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
2026 CISDM Research Conference
One of the first major events under Getmansky Sherman’s leadership will be the 2026 CISDM Research Conference—“Markets in Transition: Geopolitical Risk, AI, Elections, and Portfolio Strategy”—on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, at the UMass Amherst Charles River Campus in Newton. This full-day gathering of leading academics and practitioners will feature a keynote address from MIT Sloan School of Management Professor Andrew W. Lo, faculty research talks, an industry panel, and a 2026 U.S. mid-term election outlook.
Read more about the conference.
About the CISDM at the Isenberg School of Management
The Center for International Securities and Derivatives Markets at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst supports research, education, and industry engagement in alternative investments, derivatives, institutional portfolios, risk management, and emerging issues in financial markets. Founded in 1994, the center has built distinctive expertise and data resources connecting academic research with the investment community. CISDM places the Isenberg School of Management at the forefront of academic institutions that conduct this financial research. It is home to the CISDM-Morningstar Hedge Fund Database—the world’s oldest hedge fund database—and it co-founded the CAIA (Chartered Alternative Investment Analysts) Association in 2002.
