What is your role at Siepe? How did you find out about Siepe? Can you tell us about your background?
As Vice President of Relationship Management at Siepe, I’m responsible for building and scaling our relationship management function. My role focuses on acting as a strategic partner to our clients, making sure we align with their evolving needs, deliver consistent value, and cultivate long-term relationships. Internally, I work closely with cross-functional teams to streamline communication and drive accountability.
I first connected with Michael Pusateri about seven or eight years ago at an industry conference. After relocating to Dallas a few years ago, I saw that Siepe was hiring for this role, so I reached out to Michael, and the timing worked out perfectly.
I’ve been in the alternatives space for nearly two decades. I started my career in the middle office at Citadel, then spent five years in Europe where I built out the relationship management team for Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services. More recently, I was based in New York, where I built and led the global relationship management team at Enfusion. Throughout my career, I’ve worked closely with hedge funds and asset managers to build trusted relationships and scalable teams.
What are some of the biggest challenges that the industry faces?
One of the biggest challenges I’ve observed across the asset management and hedge fund space is working across silos, both within firms and between vendors. Delivering a unified client experience requires alignment across multiple teams, and that’s something I’m excited to help strengthen here at Siepe. I’ve seen firsthand how important it is to break down barriers and create shared accountability when businesses scale their functions.
What opportunities do you think industry leaders are still overlooking, especially when it comes to enhancing customer experience?
I believe that creating a truly client-centric culture is an opportunity that many organizations still overlook. It’s not just about the technology or the product, it’s about understanding the client’s needs and objectives and proactively supporting them throughout their journey.
That starts with proactive engagement and clear accountability, both internally across teams and externally in partnership with clients. Having structured, consistent touchpoints like business reviews, measuring outcomes, and staying focused on results are all key ingredients.
CRM systems and emerging client success platforms can play an important role in enabling these relationships, and we’re exploring ways to leverage technology to enhance communication, responsiveness, and collaboration.
How do you work with clients to help them get the most out of their investment in technology? How does Siepe approach this differently?
It starts with setting clear expectations. We work to define what success looks like for each client, and then measure our performance against those expectations. This not only ensures internal accountability but also allows us to clearly demonstrate the value we’re delivering.
One thing I’ve noticed since joining Siepe is that technology is always at the forefront of decision-making. There’s a strong emphasis on using technology to create efficiencies and better outcomes for clients, and that’s something I’m proud to be part of.
We’re currently exploring tools to help streamline internal workflows, improve responsiveness, and enhance visibility into client health. While it’s still a work in progress, it reflects our commitment to leveraging technology to improve both client outcomes and cross-team collaboration.
Are there any exciting initiatives you’re currently working on, particularly around operational or cultural innovation, that you can share?
Helping to bring greater structure, transparency, and accountability to our client relationships. There’s a huge opportunity to drive operational excellence and deepen trust with our clients by embedding these principles into how we work every day, and I’m excited to lead this effort.
Finally, can you share a fun fact about yourself?
I’m a proud girl dad! I have two young daughters, Vera and Zoya, along with two girl dogs at home, so I’m definitely outnumbered!
I’ve also lived and worked in three countries: the U.S., the U.K., and Ireland, and I’ve had the chance to travel to over 40 countries.
