David Baeckelandt

Senior Vice President, Head of Client Relations at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management Americas, Inc

Speaker

Focus and Experience Dave Baeckelandt is a Senior Vice President and the Head of Client Relations at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management Americas, Inc.

Based in SuMi Trust AM’s New York City office, he is responsible for promoting the proprietary funds managed by Tokyo-based colleagues to U.S. pensions, non-profits, and family offices. Immediately prior to joining SuMi Trust AM in early 2022, Dave spent nearly six years at Cambridge Associates (“C|A”) in Boston. In that role, Dave sold C|A’s services and tools to LPs in North America, Japan, and Benelux.

Dave began his career (after working as an interpreter and translator) at the predecessor banks of Mitsubuishi UFJ in 1988. As an Investment Specialist, Dave sold funds to Japanese transplants in the U.S. After six years in New York, Dave joined William Blair & Co., where over the next eight years he set up and ran the first dual licensed, foreign investment advisory firm in Japan.

Following his return to the U.S., Dave worked in private equity for three years before leading Mercer Investment Consulting’s Analytics and Research Group. Outside the office Dave has played an active leadership role in several non-profit organizations. These include the Japan America Society of Chicago (Board of Directors, 2000- 2012 ), Belgian Publishing Inc. (President and Chairman of the Board 2012-2014), and the Nederlandse Taalunie (on the US Advisory Board of the Belgian-Dutch non-profit since 2013). Periodically Dave has served as a speaker on the nexus between finance and history and alsoas a moderator on professional panels. Select past speaking engagements have included talks on “Chicago’s Financial Firsts” and “Japanese Financial Art”.

Dave splits his time between New York City and Glenview, IL (with his wife and children). Education and Professional Credentials MA, University of Illinois (Urbana)  BA, University of Illinois (Urbana)  Japanese language, Konan University (Kobe,Japan)  Passed FINRA Series 3 (NFA), 7, 63, 65, 9, 10, 24, 79