Kim Cataudella — Chief Compliance Officer
After graduating from St. Johns University with a BS in finance, I started my career in 1992 at New York Life Insurance Company. At New York Life, I became a team leader in mutual funds operations and a senior compliance consultant in the customer complaint review department. I am the kind of person who likes to get to the heart of any given issue, so the investigative aspect of the job suited me well, and I liked working for a big firm. But after seven years, I was ready for a change. In 1999, after five years of night classes to receive my MBA from St. John’s University, I relocated to Boston and joined the Dot Com sweepstakes. I joined Asset Sciences, Inc. (ASI), a start-up broker-dealer and online provider of financial advice, as a compliance analyst. At ASI, I established the compliance infrastructure of both the advisor and broker-dealer business. After a Belgian firm acquired ASI, I returned to New York in 2002, taking a position at A&S Field Services, a firm that specialized in market research and merchandising.
In May 2004, my career path led me to Daruma Asset Management, whose strong work ethic, professionalism and diversity appealed to me, as did the opportunity to work in a growing firm. I joined Daruma as the Chief Compliance Officer, responsible for overall compliance and administration. It’s a multifaceted job that enables me to deploy my compliance background and hands-on knowledge of small business operations.
I work on issues relating to business continuity, privacy, codes of ethics and recordkeeping. I also manage IT projects, review all client, insurance and vendor contracts and manage some aspects of human resources. No day is like the day before, and I’m always able to research and get to the bottom of an issue, which gives me a great sense of accomplishment.