Tito Pombra is the founder and president of ACC. He has extensive experience in the global asset management industry, which includes 25 years in the investment company/investment adviser and international compliance areas. His areas of expertise include regulatory exams, outsourced CCO support, annual reviews, mock SEC exams, creating a strong culture of compliance, policies and procedures development, advertising and marketing reviews, NFA/CFTC compliance, and mentoring and training compliance professionals.
Before founding ACC, Tito was president of a compliance consulting firm, where he led the compliance consulting practice to identify and execute new business strategies that resulted in significant new client acquisitions and growth. In addition, he provided proactive compliance advice to clients on Rule 206(4)-7, Rule 38a-1 and private fund compliance programs. He also established policies and procedures, completed annual reviews, and provided mock SEC exams, risk assessments and compliance training for a variety of investment advisers.
From 2005 to 2018, Tito served as chief compliance officer of Matthews International Capital Management, LLC (Matthews Asia) and Matthews International Funds (DBA Matthews Asia Funds). As CCO for Matthews Asia and Matthews Asia Funds, he was responsible for creating and managing the compliance and anti-money laundering programs of the investment company, investment adviser and offshore funds, and assisted with the compliance programs of Matthews Global Investors’ Hong Kong and U.K. registered broker-dealers. In addition, he oversaw the Matthews Asia Funds service provider’s compliance program under Rule 38a-1. During his tenure, Tito was also the AML Officer for the Matthews Asia Funds and MLRO for the Matthews Asia Funds (Luxembourg).
Tito has held various senior compliance and accounting positions at Franklin Templeton Investments and Dreyfus Funds. He graduated from Queens College in 1987 with a bachelor’s in accounting and economics.
Over the past 25 years, Tito has become a thought leader on compliance best practices. He is co-chair of the San Francisco Bay Area CCO Committee and a former member of the board of directors of the National Society of Compliance Professionals (NSCP) and the Investment Company Institute’s (ICI) CCO committee.
In 2008, Tito was named as a Top 20 Rising Star for “Who’s Who” in Upcoming Compliance Professionals by Compliance Reporter magazine. He frequently speaks at industry conferences, including those hosted by NSCP, Investment Company Institute, Investment Adviser Association, IA Watch and Private Equity Institute.
Julie Walsh is ACC’s director of SEC and NFA Compliance and a CCO. She has more than 25 years of experience in the investment company/investment adviser and NFA/CFTC compliance areas.
Julie specializes in investment company and investment adviser regulatory compliance programs, as well as programs for commodity pool operators and commodity trading advisers. Her areas of expertise include regulatory exams, annual reviews, mock SEC exams, creating a strong culture of compliance, policies and procedures development, advertising and marketing reviews, and mentoring and training compliance professionals.
Her expertise benefits our clients as she develops compliance programs in an efficient and cost-effective manner. She often conducts gap analyses at the outset of relationships with new clients to capitalize on their existing regulatory/compliance programs (as relevant) and leverage any existing programs and infrastructure. She also engages these efforts in a cross-disciplinary manner — for various regulatory regimes when relevant. Julie is acutely aware that our clients’ core competence is investment management, and she works to judiciously administer programs that are robust and comprehensive and uninstrusive.
Prior to her work with ACC, Julie served as a managing director for more than nine years. During that tenure, she was designated as the outsourced fund CCO for four distinct investment company operations, including a closed-end private equity interval fund, and served as outsourced AMLCO for two open-end investment companies. In carrying out her fund officer delegations, Julie reported directly to each fund’s board of directors. During this time, she also founded the firm’s NFA/CFTC compliance program consultation offerings, and led efforts to train and supervise internal resources in this area.
Earlier in her career, Julie spent 15 years at a Boston-based institutional asset management firm where she served as global adviser CCO, headed the compliance team, and oversaw dozens of open-end investment companies, several hedge funds and private funds, and hundreds of separately managed, dedicated and asset allocation accounts in the institutional space, with assets under management totaling greater than $150 billion.
Julie has a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Education in Secondary Education from Boston College. She is also a member of NSCP, NEBDIAA, SIFMA, ACAMS and the Financial Women’s Association.
Giselle Casella is a senior compliance consultant and CCO at ACC. She has more than 20 years of SEC regulatory compliance experience with registered investment advisers.
Giselle provides outsourced CCO services to RIAs, as well as a full suite of compliance services, including annual compliance reviews, SEC mock audits, compliance testing, regulatory filings and disclosures, code of ethics administration, trade surveillance, policy drafting and updates, email and social media surveillance, compliance training, marketing material review and SEC examination support. She partners with compliance personnel, employees and third-party vendors to develop and oversee compliance programs tailored to each RIA’s unique business. She also currently serves as an adjunct professor at Utica College, where she teaches online graduate courses on compliance.
Giselle began her career in 1999 as an SEC investment adviser examiner. After the SEC, she spent nearly 10 years doing in-house compliance for various large, diversified financial institutions, including AIG, Prudential, UBS, Allianz and Deutsche Bank. During this time, she was responsible for the annual CCO review, oversight of global policies and procedures, preparing regulatory filings and disclosures, trade surveillance, subadvisor due diligence, anti-bribery oversight for gifts and entertainment, as well as political and charitable contributions, employee training and conflicts-of-interest oversight. She also spent nine years as a senior principal consultant for ACA Group, where she provided custom compliance solutions to RIAs.
Giselle has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Pace University, a Master of Business Administration in Business from Regis University and a Master of Science in Cybersecurity from Utica College. She is a current member of NSCP and former Series 7, 24, and 65 license holder.
Mark De Angelis is a senior compliance consultant and CCO at ACC. During his career, he has held senior compliance positions, including CCO and deputy CCO at Morgan Stanley and T. Rowe Price. He has 22 years of experience in the global asset management industry, most of which was spent as a regulator with FINRA or a compliance officer at an investment adviser or brokerage division of a major financial services organization. More recently, Mark served as an in-house consultant to Belpointe Services, where he used his expertise to assist startup and seasoned investment advisers.
Prior to joining ACC, Mark was a compliance director with a national compliance consulting firm, where he led teams administering compliance programs for investment advisers, registered investment companies and private funds, wealth management advisers, fintech companies and family offices. He also provided proactive compliance management for Rule 206(4)-7 reviews, Rule 38a-1 reviews, private fund compliance programs, as well as service provider monitoring. Mark has led numerous regulatory exams, completed annual reviews, risk assessments and compliance training for variety of investment advisers.
From 1999-2006, Mark served as an analyst and then investigator with FINRA in the advertising regulation and market regulation departments.
During his time as a consultant or in-house compliance officer, Mark has served as CCO for approximately 20 registered investment advisers, broker-dealers and commodity pool operators. As a CCO, he has shown versality in adapting to investment management of clients – whether they’re traditional wealth advisers, mutual funds/ETF sponsors or private fund advisers.
Mark has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Maryland-Towson. and
Kip is a licensed CPA, an Investment Adviser Certified Compliance Professional and an adjunct college accounting instructor. He has a CFA Institute Investment Foundations Certificate and passed the Securities Industry Essentials exam. He is an arbitrator with FINRA Dispute Resolution Services and the National Futures Association. Kip has a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from Thomas Jefferson University and a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from The College of New Jersey.
Kip is a member of the Business + Innovation Department Advisory Board at Bucks County Community College and serves as the finance officer for the Sons of the American Legion Post 798.
Robert Tull is a compliance and risk management expert with more than 24 years of experience with investment company, investment adviser and international compliance programs. His expertise covers all aspects of regulatory and corporate compliance programs, including creating and supporting a strong culture of compliance; developing policies and procedures; designing, monitoring and testing of control systems; operational risk management; governance frameworks; regulatory exams; mentoring and training compliance professionals; and public company and corporate compliance programs. Rob is known for his clear communication, creative solutions and sound, practical and commercial judgment.
Before joining ACC, Rob was an executive leader for compliance, regulatory and risk management programs for a global investment manager investing in listed, private and direct real estate and infrastructure assets for institutional clients, and private and registered global funds. From 2008 – 2022, Rob was the Chief Compliance and Risk Officer for CBRE Investment Management Listed Real Assets, and concurrently served as the Global Chief Compliance Officer for CBRE Global Investors LLC from 2017 – 2018. In these various roles, Rob led global compliance programs through periods of expansion and contraction, mergers and acquisitions, and integration into a public company. His responsibilities within the organization evolved over time to include over 1,000 employees and $100+ billion in client assets across more than 20 global offices. Rob designed and oversaw the implementation of compliance programs, including policies and procedures impacting day-to-day operations and all personnel across multiple entities and jurisdictions. Rob also designed and oversaw the administration of governance committees supporting effective compliance programs and culture. Rob has extensive experience interfacing directly with boards of trustees, institutional clients and prospects, consultants and regulators.
From 2019 – 2022, Rob was also the Chief Compliance Officer and Secretary the CBRE Global Real Estate Income Fund, NYSE-listed, closed-end investment company, managing and overseeing the compliance program, service providers, regulatory and exchange filings, annual shareholder meeting and related governance matters.
Prior to working in an in-house capacity, Rob was a senior consultant with SEC Compliance Consultants, helping investment managers, investment companies and private fund managers with regulatory compliance. Rob began his career in compliance in 1999 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an examiner and team leader for regulatory examinations of various types of investment management firms.
Rob is active in the compliance community as a mentor, teacher and advocate. He was elected to the board of directors and served as Chairperson for the National Society of Compliance Professionals. Rob is regarded as a subject matter expert and thought leader on compliance and risk management programs and is a frequent speaker at national conferences. Rob was a central advisor and leader for the Certified Securities Compliance Professional (CSCP) certification for investment adviser and broker-dealer compliance professionals, co-creating and teaching the certification course at University of St. Thomas School of Law. Rob authored numerous articles on compliance, risk management and professional development, and he is a featured expert in international best-selling books on personal development.
Rob earned a Bachelor of Science in Business from Villanova University and Master of Jurisprudence in Business Law and Compliance from Loyola University of Chicago School of Law. He holds multiple certifications in compliance, risk, fraud examination and auditing. As a certified coach, Rob helps compliance and legal professionals improve their effectiveness, careers and work-life balance.
Askari Foy is a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) senior executive officer with more than 25 years of experience in the public and private sectors. His areas of expertise include executive leadership, corporate governance, enterprise risk management, regulatory rules and compliance, internal audits, financial statement analysis and reporting, information security and investment products and operations.
Before joining ACC, Askari spent a considerable amount of his career at the SEC in various leadership roles, including the Head of the Atlanta SEC’s Division of Examination Program and Head of the Technology Controls Program.
After leaving his full-time role at the SEC, he served as a managing director at multiple regulatory compliance firms, including ACA Group. In this role, he advised on the development, implementation and maintenance of compliance programs for private fund managers, registered investment and wealth management advisers, and assisted CCOs and senior management with identifying and analyzing compliance risks.
Askari also previously served as a CCO at Silicon Valley Bank where he was responsible for the compliance programs of multiple affiliated registered investment advisers.
Askari earned a B.S. in accounting from Point Park University and an MBA from Emory University. He is the recipient of the SEC’s Chairman’s Leadership Award and Director’s and Special Act Award, as well as the Thought Leadership Award from SC Magazine’s Reboot Leadership Awards.
Askari has been a panelist for numerous industry conferences and events, including the Mutual Fund Directors Forum, Investment Adviser Association Conference, SEC Speaks Conference, National Society of Compliance Professionals Regional Conference, Financial Market Association Conference and Fiduciary and Investment Risk Management Association Conference.
He previously served as the board chair for Veteransville, Inc., an organization dedicated to connecting U.S. veterans with long-term, stable housing, as well as support for education, employment, and health services.
Kelly Van Deusen is a compliance associate at ACC. She began her career in 2015 at a compliance consulting firm in New York City where she helped with business development, compliance recruiting and general compliance work. She then transitioned her career to the technology industry, where she was a project manager for several years in start-up and large, legacy environments. Her focus and expertise was resource management at agile software development consulting firms, where she helped client teams successfully build and scale their products.
Kelly has a Bachelor of Science in Business Economics, and a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications from the State University of New York at Oneonta. She holds a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification, and has completed the Investment Adviser Core Compliance program. She is a current member of the National Society of Compliance Professionals.
