CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CEO
Samantha Santiago-Paez, J.D.
Samantha "Sam" Santiago-Paez, J.D. is the Chief Executive Officer of AiFs Market, appointed effective July 13, 2026. She brings 14 years of experience building, scaling, and governing regulated financial services organizations—a career that spans founding an independent compliance consulting firm, serving as CEO of a fintech's broker-dealer and registered investment adviser entities, and leading compliance functions at global institutions including UBS and EFG.
Sam brings a rare combination to regulated businesses: direct P&L and team-building experience — hiring, training, and leading cross-functional teams across banking, RIA, and broker-dealer lines — paired with deep regulatory fluency as a former examiner and multi-firm Chief Compliance Officer. That combination reduces the regulatory and reputational friction that typically slows growth in financial services.
Prior to joining AiFs Market, Sam founded Bastt Consulting LLC, a boutique firm providing fractional and interim Chief Compliance Officer services to SEC-registered investment advisers, FINRA broker-dealers, and state-registered firms—leading end-to-end registration and regulatory filings, AML program design, and remediation work for clients across the industry. Earlier in her career, she served as CEO and CCO of Neon Money Club's broker-dealer and RIA entities, CCO at EFG and Creand (formerly Beta Capital), and Director of Business Risk at UBS International, where she built the firm's KYC Manager function across its U.S. offices.
Sam has built organizational, operational, and governance infrastructure from the ground up for three entities and served as primary liaison to the SEC, FINRA, and state regulators throughout her career. She holds a J.D. from Vermont Law School, a B.A. in Political Science from Stony Brook University, and nine FINRA licenses (SIE, 6, 7, 9, 10, 23, 24, 63, 66).
EDUCATION
2008 – Juris Doctorate (JD) in Law. Vermont Law School, South Royalton, Vermont.
2005 – Bachelor of Arts, Major - Political Science, Minor - Psychology, Stony Brook
University, Stony Brook, New York.
FINRA Licenses (SIE, Series: 6, 7, 9, 10, 23, 24, 63, 66).
VICE PRESIDENT OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS
John Hudock
John is the VP Corporate Affairs at AiFs Market. His roles and responsibilities involves managing stakeholders' relationship with investors as an authorized spokesperson on behalf of the company, corporate communication and corporate relations. Building and maintaining public relationship and engagement with external organization as an authorized representative of AiFs Market. Coordinating with AiFs Market executives and external executives from other organization, negotiating and representing our company's best interest, ensuring regulatory compliance, involvement in strategic planning and growth of AiFs Market.
John is an entrepreneur and aspiring industrialist. John has over 20 years of experience in manufacturing and supply chain. He started out as a general laborer but overtime he received promotions to Team Leader, Senior Supply Chain Analyst, and Assistant Plant Manager. He attended both Ave Maria University and Harvard University where he obtained degrees in Economics, Political Science, and Finance respectively. In his spare time, he is an avid gamer and an enthusiastic outdoorsman.
EDUCATION
2021 – Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) degree in Finance, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
2010 – Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Political Science, Ave Maria University, Southwest, Florida.
Adan Beltrones Orozco
Adan is results-driven finance professional with a strong educational foundation from Harvard University and Purdue University. Proven track record of success in credit risk assessment, financial analysis, and process improvement. Skilled in automation tools, client relationship management, and project management.
Currently, he serves as Assistant Vice President, Credit Officer at Axos Bank, where he manage a $945MM portfolio of non-banking financial institutions, ensuring optimal credit risk assessment and portfolio performance. Previously, he held roles at PIMCO as a Senior Financial Analyst, FP&A, overseeing global Assets Under Management (AUM) reporting, and at LPL Financial as a Financial Analyst, Finance – Private Credit, leading underwriting for business and acquisition loans. His experience also includes consulting roles and serving as an Investment Officer, where he streamlined the servicing pipeline for government-financed small business loans and analyzed fiscal policy to optimize investment incentives.
EDUCATION
2019 – Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) degree in Management with professional Finance and Strategic Management certificates, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
2017 – Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree in Political Science with concentration in International Relations and certificate in Public Policy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.
Carmine Gibaldi
Dr. Gibaldi is a Professor of Management, Organizational Behavior and Entrepreneurship at both Harvard University, and St. John’s University (tenured Full Professor), as well as an adjunct Full Professor at Columbia University where he teaches a graduate course in Social Entrepreneurship. He more recently has become part of the faculty at the Bologna Business School (Global MBA program), where he teaches a course in People Management.
He has served as Co-Chair of Strategic Planning at St. John’s University, and an Organizational Consultant, Executive Coach, and two-time Fulbright Scholar. He has over 30 years of experience in the education and corporate consulting sectors. During his career to date he has published in the areas of Human Resource Management, Career Planning and Development, Strategic Planning, Organizational Development and Change, Higher Education, Issues Related to the Changing face of Retirement, Benefits of Working with an Executive Coach and Fear in the Workplace.
His present research and writing are in the areas of “The Changing Nature of Workplaces and Word”; “The Nature of Virtual Work” (a published chapter in an Academy of Management publication); “Fear/s Connected to COVID 19 and Returning to the Workplace”, “Leading Virtual Teams”; “The Power of Intrapreneurship”; and “Neuroscience and Management”. His most recent book published in 2019 is entitled; “Organizational Behavior in a Global Context”, and he is presently writing a book addressing; “Social Entrepreneurship”. He has written and delivered over 60 professional papers at international conferences and served as a Fulbright Senior Specialist Scholar at the University of Bologna (Italy) in 2015 and will be in Porto Portugal on a second Fulbright Award in 2025. His educational background is in Psychology, Management, Organizational Behavior, Understanding the Adult Learner in the Workplace, Curriculum and Faculty Development, and Management Development. Dr. Gibaldi has many personal interests including serving on two nonprofit boards. He presently serves as the Board Chair of the Sansone Foundation, in Brooklyn, N.Y.
EDUCATION
1994 – MDP, Management Development, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1988 – Doctor of Education (EdD) degree in Higher Education Admin & Working with the Adult Learner, Columbia University, New York.
1985 – Master of Education (MEd) degree in Higher Education Admin, Columbia University, New York.
1983 – Master of Arts (MA) in Industrial / Organization Psychology, Columbia University, New York.
1979 – Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Organizational Behavior & Management, St. John's University, New York.