At the Forefront Podcast

Hosted by Forefront Communications

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May 2026

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About the show

Launched in 2020, At the Forefront: Fintech Conversations is meant to help you stay informed as we highlight key industry developments and delve into the people, companies and thought processes that keep the capital markets and fintech industries humming.

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60 recent

May 28, 202619 min

Episode 94: The Case for Active Management

In this episode, Forefront Head of Content Sam Belden sits down with David Choate, Chief Operating Officer at CAPIS, to discuss the long-term implications of passive investing on public markets, capital formation and price discovery. Building on several recent op-eds published in Institutional Investor and Traders Magazine, Dave shares his perspective on how passive investing, tax policy and market structure changes are reshaping the role of active management across the financial ecosystem.

May 21, 202624 min

Episode 93: The New Shape of Financial Media

In this episode, Forefront Managing Partner Mark Dowd sits down with Ben Wood of InfoPro Digital (publisher of Risk.net, WatersTechnology and Chartis Research) to explore how the financial publishing and events landscape is evolving alongside broader changes across capital markets.

May 14, 2026

Episode 92: Modernizing Private Market Infrastructure ft. Corastone

In this episode, Forefront Head of Content Sam Belden sits down with Rashad Kurbanov, CEO of Corastone. Together, they explore the operational and infrastructure challenges surrounding the rapid growth of private markets, with a focus on scalability, investor access, distributed ledger technology and the future of private market infrastructure.

April 30, 202621 min

Episode 91: The Evolution of Trading Infrastructure ft. Pico

In this episode, Forefront Head of Content Sam Belden sits down with Ian McIntyre, Managing Director and Global Head of Market Data at Pico. Together, they explore how evolving market structure and shifting client demands are reshaping trading infrastructure, with a focus on low latency technology, cross-asset expansion and the role of Pico’s Redline platform.

April 23, 202623 min

Episode 90: An Introduction to Open Finance ft. FDATA

In this episode, Forefront Head of Content Sam Belden sits down with Steve Boms, Executive Director of FDATA, the Financial Data and Technology Association. FDATA is a trade organization advocating for consumer-permissioned access to financial data. Together, they unpack the evolving landscape of open finance, consumer-permissioned data access and the policy frameworks shaping the future of financial services.

April 16, 202618 min

Episode 89: From Raw Data to Actionable Insights – Data Differentiation in ECM ft. CMG

In this episode, Forefront Head of Content Sam Belden sits down with William Wilson, Senior Securities Analyst at CMG, to explore what truly differentiated data looks like in equity capital markets and how firms can move from raw information to decision-ready intelligence.

December 10, 202518 min

Episode 88: Preparing For the Next Era of Oversight: Unifying Trade Surveillance and Best Execution Analytics ft. Trillium Surveyor & Tickrs Clearing

In this episode, Forefront Head of Content Sam Belden sits down with Melissa Watras, Director of Product at Trillium Surveyor, and Ann Cendejas, Chief Compliance Officer at Tickrs Clearing, to discuss how firms are preparing for the next stage of market oversight as surveillance and best execution analytics come under increasing regulatory and operational scrutiny. The conversation explores what is driving this shift, how expectations have evolved, and why many firms are rethinking long-standing assumptions about their oversight workflows.

November 13, 202537 min

Episode 87: The Front Ends That Power Finance featuring Sebastian Good, Expero

In this episode, Forefront Head of Content Sam Belden sits down with Sebastian Good, CEO and Co-Founder of Expero, to discuss how the firm is helping financial institutions transform complex workflows into intuitive, decision-driven experiences. The conversation covers Expero’s recent pivot to focus exclusively on finance, its collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to product design and the growing role of predictive UX and generative AI in shaping the next generation of financial interfaces.

November 7, 202524 min

Episode 86: Turning Access into Impact with Andrew Kaufmann, Time to Give

In this episode, Forefront Head of Content Sam Belden sits down with Andrew Kaufman, Founder and CEO of Time to Give Network, to explore how his not-for-profit platform is reshaping professional access by connecting financial services leaders and innovators in ways that generate real social good.

October 16, 202527 min

Episode 85: Smarter Finance Through Agentic AI

In this episode, Forefront Managing Partner Eric Soderberg sits down with Bin Ren, Founder and CEO of SigTech, to discuss how artificial intelligence and human expertise are coming together to transform capital markets. SigTech’s mission is to help financial institutions harness AI responsibly – using specialized, goal-driven agents to accelerate complex workflows while keeping people at the center of the process.