Adhesion Leadership

Executive Team

Michael Stier
President & Chief Executive Officer

Michael has been with Adhesion since 2000, bringing over 25 years of financial services experience. He was formerly Senior Vice President at Bank of America where he provided leadership for the Asset Management Group in applying technology to their Private Banking, Trust, Investment Management (private and institutional), Brokerage, and Mutual Fund businesses. While there, Michael developed the strategy, technology infrastructure and organization to support a growth in business from $60 billion to $200 billion in managed assets, and managed the integration of four acquired banks. Prior to that, Michael helmed the technology group for Goldman Sachs' worldwide Capital Markets Group supporting the growth of the business across three continents. Michael started his career at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) in New York where, as a senior consulting manager in their Advanced Systems Group, he brought advanced technology solutions to Wall Street clients.

Trey Reinhard
Chief Operating Officer

Trey is responsible for the technical architecture, development and delivery of the Adhesion platform. In addition to running day to day operations, he is leading the evolution of technology and operations organization. Before founding Adhesion in 1999, Trey led strategic vision, staffing, vendor selection, and systems development programs across many industries. As a senior consultant for EDS U.S. Banking, Trey delivered technology solutions to large financial institutions including implementations of financial applications, data mining/warehousing and call center platforms

Barrett Ayers
Executive Vice President, Product Management
Managing Director, Overlay Portfolio Management

Barrett joined Adhesion in 2004. As head of product management, Barrett oversees product direction for the Adhesion platform and also serves as the firm's managing director for the overlay portfolio management division. Barrett brings 18 years of hands-on securities expertise to Adhesion, with a background ranging from investment management and trading to managing multi-business line product portfolios. Prior to joining Adhesion, Barrett was Vice President of Product Management at Wachovia Securities, overseeing product design and strategic direction for their asset management products. Barrett has also held management-level posts with Fidelity Investments and Broadridge.

Rich Conley
Executive Vice President, Senior Sales Executive

With Adhesion since 2004, Rich brings over 20 years of financial services sales experience with former senior posts at SunGard, Mobius, and Fidelity Investments. As an awarded business developer, Rich has an extensive background in the investment advisory practices for independent firms as well as large global banking institutions and trust companies. Rich's solution selling experience crosses many disciplines in financial services including portfolio management, securities operations and client administration. Rich began his career at Crestar Bank (now Suntrust Bank) in Richmond,VA as a financial systems analyst in trust securities operations.

Jhonathan Torres
Director, Client Operations and Information Technology

Jhonathan is responsible for design, implementation and operation of the technology infrastructure. Jhonathan brings to Adhesion over 10 years of I.T. experience, almost exclusively in financial services. Formerly at Espirito Santo Bank, he led the technology team supporting the bank's international systems. While there he helped define the bank's internal security policies and systems operations. Jhonathan has also held senior technology positions with PineBank and Coutts (now RBS Coutts).

Robert Melancon
Director, Development

Robert brings to Adhesion over 15 years of advanced software development experience. As Director of Development, Robert leads the engineering team. An experienced entrepreneur, Robert previously founded, and later sold, a custom software development firm focused on technology solutions for a wide range of industries, from banking to oil refining.

Directors

Michael Stier -

President & Chief Executive Officer

See profile above.

John P. Rigas

Chairman & CEO, Sciens Capital Management

Mr. Rigas is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sciens Capital Management, a diversified alternative asset management firm headquartered in New York. Mr. Rigas has broad experience in the management of alternative assets including private equity, venture capital, structured finance and hedge funds over a period of 17 years. Mr. Rigas received a Bachelor’s degree from Colorado College. As the managing partner of Sciens’ private equity activities Mr. Rigas is responsible for investment selection and execution, portfolio construction and monitoring, manager selection and development, audit and reporting, and realization of portfolio company investments. Sciens and its predecessor firms were founded in 1988 and commenced their alternative asset management activities in 1994. Sciens initially invested in private equity where it took control positions. In 1995 Sciens began to invest in venture capital transactions in technology companies. Mr. Rigas has directed the Sciens Capital private equity team in completing over fifty investments in portfolio companies with aggregate value in excess of $2 billion. In addition to private equity and venture capital, Sciens initiated investing in structured finance transactions in 2001. Assets invested in such transactions exceed $300 million and involve credit and finance driven privately negotiated transactions.

Daniel J. Standen

Partner, Sciens Capital Management

Mr. Standen joined Sciens in 1999 and is involved in all facets of the group’s private equity investments, including investment identification and execution and portfolio management, and serves on the Boards of a number of portfolio companies. Prior to joining Sciens, Mr. Standen was a senior member of the Mergers & Acquisitions/Capital Markets group of Clifford Chance Rogers & Wells, LLP where he represented Sciens on a number of private equity transactions and through that association became an integral part of Sciens’ investment team. Mr. Standen received a joint J.D./L.L.M. degree from the Duke University School of Law and a B.A. from New York University.

Gordon Buchanan

Partner, Sciens Capital Management

Mr. Buchanan joined Sciens Capital Partners in 2001 from marchFIRST where he was the founder and global leader of the Corporate Partnerships Practice. In this capacity, Mr. Buchanan created over ten new businesses in partnership with Global 1000 companies, all of which were spun-off via private capital investment or strategic partner investment. In 1995, Mr. Buchanan was one of the founding partners of Mitchell Madison Group. At MMG, he was the global leader of the Internet Strategy Practice. During this tenure, Mr. Buchanan helped create Egg (the world's most successful Internet bank) in Partnership with Prudential UK, and Adhesion (now a Sciens portfolio company) in partnership with First Union Bank. In his capacities at MMG and marchFIRST, Mr. Buchanan worked with many Sciens portfolio companies on business strategy issues and worked extensively with the Sciens principals on due diligence. Before co-founding MMG, Mr. Buchanan spent 9 years with McKinsey & Co. He earned an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from the same institution.

Adhesion's management team comprises a group of seasoned professionals with years of experience working with Fortune 100 companies and entrepreneurial ventures in technology and finance. The Executive Team and Directors are listed below.