Lecturer Bios
Dave Kelley
Dave Kelley is the Surveillance Director based out of their Kansas City District office, and has been with FINRA for more than five years. Mr. Kelley also leads FINRA’s Regulatory Specialist team for Cyber Security, IT Controls and Privacy. Prior to joining FINRA, he worked for more than 19 years at American Century Investments in various positions, including Chief Privacy Officer, Director of IT Audit and Director of Electronic Commerce Controls. He led the development of website controls, including customer application security, ethical hacking programs and application controls. Mr. Kelley is a CPA and Certified Internal Auditor, and previously held the Series 7 and 24 licenses.
Paige W. Pierce
Paige W. Pierce brings over 25 years of senior level investment industry experience with small firms and major corporate entities in the North American capital markets to RW Smith. Ms. Pierce has extensive trading and sales, compliance, operational, business and product development, as well as strategic partner development experience both domestically and internationally. In her current position she oversees the growth and strategy of the firm, works closely with industry regulators, and continues to focus on ensuring small firms and their customers have access to information flow, extended distribution networks, price transparency and the wholesale market. Ms. Pierce has been elected by the Small Firm sector of the investment industry, currently over 3600 firms, to represent our sector on FINRA’s National Adjudicatory Council (2013-15), Small Firm Advisory Board (2016-18), the District 3 Committee (2008-10 *Chair 2010-11, 2016-18) and currently serves on the FINRA Fixed Income Committee. She actively serves as a member of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Small Firms Advisory Committee, Municipal Executive Steering Committee (Elected 2008-11, 2015-18), Municipal Broker’s Broker Committee (Chair 2008-11 and 2015-18), Municipal Operations Committee, and the Emergency Markets & Calendar Committee. She serves as hearing panelist for cases brought by or through FINRA and is a frequent speaker at industry events. In 2008, Ms. Pierce was appointed by the United States Air Force 388th Fighter Wing as Honorary Commander at Hill Air Force Base in Utah and serves to this day with pride. She is also currently on the Board of Directors for RW Smith, the Municipal Bond Information Services (MBIS) and the National Association of Broker Dealers (NABD).
Joe Romano
Joe Romano is President of Romano Brothers & Co., a dually registered RIA/BD founded by his father Richard Romano in 1962, which now manages $1 billion in client assets. In addition to administering the firm, Mr. Romano heads its Investment Committee and acts as a portfolio manager, creating customized portfolios for private clients using individual stocks and bonds. He began his career in 1995 earning his Series 7 General Securities and Series 55 Equity Trading licenses. He later obtained the Series 24 General Securities Principal and Series 4 Registered Options Principal licenses. He served for several years until 2007 as the firm’s Chief Compliance Officer (CCO). Mr. Romano is a past President of the Illinois Securities Industry Association and a former member of the FINRA District 8 (Midwest) Committee from 2009-2012. He then became a member of the FINRA Small Firm Advisory Board and served as its Chair in 2015. Most recently in August of 2015 he was elected by his constituency to serve a three year term as a Small Firm representative on the FINRA Board of Governors. Mr. Romano graduated with honors in economics from Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, in 1992.
Hardeep Walia
Hardeep Walia is founder and CEO of Motif, a next-generation online broker whose mission is to simplify complex investment products and make them universally accessible. The company’s flagship product allows individual investors to act intuitively on their insights by turning them into a “motif” of stocks. Mr. Walia also serves as CEO of Motif Capital, an institutional investment advisor that develops thematic models for clients such as Goldman Sachs, Global Atlantic, and US Bank’s UHNW arm Ascent Private Capital Management. Prior to Motif, Mr. Walia spent more than six years at Microsoft, where he was General Manager of the company's enterprise services business. He also served as Director of Corporate Development and Strategy, helping to oversee Microsoft's investments and acquisitions. He started his career at The Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Walia holds a BS in Economics and Engineering from Yale University and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. He holds Series 7, 24 and 63 licenses in the securities industry. He serves on FINRA's Technology Advisory Committee and is on the Advisory Boards of Ascent Private Capital and real-estate startup PeerStreet. He is a featured contributor for LinkedIn, and a frequent guest on CNBC.