Odette Gafner

Odette Gafner is the CCO at KraneShares. Odette has over 12 years of experience in compliance, specifically with 40 Act Funds. Odette began their career at BlackRock in January 2007 as a Vice President and Head of 40 Act Operational Compliance. In this role, they oversaw the compliance program for over 600 40 Act Funds totalling more than $1T of assets under management. Odette was also the SME of Investment Company Act / Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

In their current role as CCO, Odette is responsible for aligning operational policies with regulatory and business requirements, scrutinizing processes and developing controls to ensure compliance with portfolio strategy, diversification, leverage and liquidity requirements, and leading cross-functional efforts to implement regulatory reform initiatives and SEC exemptive relief.

Some of Odette's accomplishments include establishing a sustainable, reputable and auditable 40 Act Compliance Program by integrating policies, team tasks, controls and subject matter expertise onto an RSA Archer platform; eliminating manual, non-scaleable activities by automating processes such as approval of new fund launches, the review of SEC Comment letters, the monitoring of prospectus compliance and the reporting of material compliance matters; and building a risk management program through forensic testing that added value to the organization by allowing the business to focus on strategic initiatives and optimize performance.

Odette attended Townsend Harris High School before going on to study Psychology at Columbia University in the City of New York. Odette then went on to study Bible/Biblical Studies at The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS). After completing their undergraduate studies, they pursued a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Zicklin School of Business.

Odette Gafner works with James Maund - Head of Capital Markets, Leo Lo - CFO. Their manager is Jonathan Shelon, COO. Aakash Sharma - Compliance Associate, Ellen Orlando - Office Manager report to Odette Gafner.