Matthew Bass is Head of Private Alternatives at AllianceBernstein where he is responsible for the leadership and strategic growth of the business. Mr. Bass is also a member of the Operating Committee at AllianceBernstein. Previously, Bass held various roles in the firm’s Alternatives business where he was responsible for business strategy, sourcing of new investment teams, product development and capital raising. Prior to joining the firm in 2010, Bass was a program director at the US Department of the Treasury, a vice president at The Blackstone Group’s GSO Capital Partners unit, and began his career in the Financial Institutions Investment Banking Group at UBS. He holds a BS in finance from Lehigh University.
Michael Ewald is a managing director, global head of the private credit group, and portfolio manager for the middle market credit and senior direct lending strategies at Bain Capital Credit, a global credit specialist with approximately $49 billion in assets under management. He also serves as CEO of Bain Capital Specialty Finance, Inc., a publicly traded business development company. Prior to joining Bain Capital Credit, Mr. Ewald was an associate consultant at Bain & Company where he focused on strategy consulting to the financial services, manufacturing and consumer products industries. Michael currently serves, and has served, on several corporate and philanthropic boards.
Eric Lloyd is president of Barings where he leads and manages cross-asset class investment teams, product and corporate strategy, business development, research analytics and quant, permanent capital, capital solutions, marketing and communications. Prior to his current role, Mr. Lloyd served as head of private assets. He is a member of Barings’ Senior Leadership Team and serves as chairman and CEO of Barings BDC. Prior to joining Barings in 2013, he served as Head of Market and Institutional Risk for Wells Fargo. Mr. Lloyd is the executive sponsor of the Out & Allies employee resource group.
Mr. Byrne is the President of Benefit Street Partners, a wholly owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE: BEN). He also serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Franklin BSP Lending Corporation, Franklin BSP Capital Corporation, Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FBRT), and Benefit Street Partners Multifamily Trust. Prior to joining Benefit Street Partners, Mr. Byrne was Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. He was also the Co-Head of Global Capital Markets at Deutsche Bank as well as a member of their Global Banking Executive Committee and Global Markets Executive Committee. Before joining Deutsche Bank, Mr. Byrne was Global Co-Head of the Leveraged Finance Group, and Global Head of Credit Research at Merrill Lynch & Co. He was also a perennially top-ranked credit analyst, principally in the Gaming, Lodging & Leisure sector. Mr. Byrne earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a BA from Binghamton University. Mr. Byrne is a member of the Board of Directors of Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ: WYNN), and New York Road Runners. He is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of KASAI Elite Grappling Championships.
Phil Tseng, Managing Director, is a member of BlackRock's Global Credit Platform and President and COO of BlackRock TCP Capital Corp (NASDAQ: TCPC). He is Co-Head of US Private Capital and is the Investment Committee Co-Chair for BlackRock's US Private Capital (USPC) business. He is responsible for co-leading the platform, originating and executing investment opportunities, and maintaining relationships with key deal sources and intermediaries across the US. He is also Co-Chair of the Management Operating Committee for US Private Capital and a member of the Private Credit Executive Committee for Global Credit. Prior to joining BlackRock, Mr. Tseng served on the Management Committee and was a Managing Partner at Tennenbaum Capital Partners (TCP). TCP managed more than $9 billion in committed capital and was acquired by BlackRock in 2018. In addition to managing the growth and build out of TCP, he was responsible for sourcing, evaluating, structuring and executing private debt and equity investments. Prior to TCP, he held roles in equity research and investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Banc Alex Brown. Mr. Tseng currently serves as a Director on the Board of Connexity Inc., and previously on First Advantage, ITC DeltaCom, and Anacomp, Inc. Mr. Tseng also serves on the Board of Trustees for the California Science Center Foundation and as a Director of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Southern California. Mr. Tseng received his A.B. with honors in Economics from Harvard College and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Steve Kuppenheimer is the global head of capital formation of Blackstone Credit and a senior managing director with Blackstone. He serves as a portfolio manager of the Blackstone Private Credit Fund (BCRED) and is the chief financial officer and a member of the Investment Committee for both BCRED and the Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (BXSL). Mr. Kuppenheimer focuses on Blackstone Credit’s Direct Lending efforts and is a member of the Private Credit investment committee. Before joining Blackstone Credit, he was a senior managing director at Stifel Financial where he served as head of principal investing and head of debt capital markets from 2010 to 2015.
Craig W. Packer is a Co-Founder and a Senior Managing Director of Blue Owl, a publicly-traded alternative asset manager. Craig is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors. Craig is also a Co-Founder of Owl Rock Capital Partners, a direct lending platform where he serves as Co-Chief Investment Officer, Chief Executive Officer of the Owl Rock BDCs and a member of the Investment Committees. Craig has a wide range of experience in leveraged finance and alternative investments, including leadership roles in investment banking, direct lending and private credit. Prior to founding Owl Rock, Craig was a Partner and Co-Head of Leveraged Finance in the Americas at Goldman Sachs & Co., where he served on the Firmwide Capital Committee. Craig joined Goldman Sachs & Co. as a Managing Director and Head of High Yield Capital Markets in 2006 and was named Partner in 2008. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs & Co., he was the Global Head of High Yield Capital Markets at Credit Suisse First Boston, and before that he worked at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Craig serves as Treasurer of the Board of Trustees of Greenwich Academy, and Co-Chair of the Honorary Board of Kids in Crisis, a nonprofit organization that serves children in Connecticut. Craig is on the Advisory Board for the McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Virginia Athletics Foundation. Craig earned a B.S. from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Sengal Selassie is the CEO and Founder of Brightwood. Mr. Selassie has been involved in all phases of the firm’s development since its founding in 2010. He is a member of the Executive Committee and serves on the Investment Committee of all Brightwood Managed Funds. Mr. Selassie currently participates on the boards of many of Brightwood’s portfolio companies and has managed capital for hundreds of limited partners, including prominent public, private and corporate pension plans, endowments, family offices and high net worth individuals. Prior to forming Brightwood, Mr. Selassie led Cowen Capital Partners, LLC, where he served as managing partner from 2006 through 2009.
Steve is chief executive officer of Cliffwater and also oversees all investment research as the firm’s chief investment officer. Prior to forming Cliffwater in 2004, Mr. Nesbitt was a senior managing director at Wilshire Associates, where he led its consulting division. Mr. Nesbitt also started and built the firm’s asset management business using a 'manager of managers' investment approach, including private equity and hedge fund-of-fund portfolios. Steve started his career at Wells Fargo Investment Advisors, an early pioneer in index funds, where he developed and managed index funds and oversaw asset allocation.
Jay R. Alicandri is one of the leaders of Dechert’s Permanent Capital practice and co-chair of our Global Finance Practice, representing asset managers, banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions in the private debt space. Chambers USA recognizes Mr. Alicandri as a leading lawyer for New York Banking & Finance. He is consistently recommended for Commercial Lending in The Legal 500 (U.S.) and as a "Notable Practitioner" for banking in the U.S. and New York by IFLR1000. Mr. Alicandri is a thought leader and regularly speaks on topics related to asset finance, private credit and middle market lending topics.
William Bielefeld advises registered funds (including open-end funds and closed-end funds) and BDCs, their investment advisers and boards of directors/trustees on the development and launch of new funds, fund reorganizations, acquisitions, mergers, regulatory and compliance matters relating to existing funds, fund governance issues and SEC examinations. Mr. Bielefeld works with investment managers on private markets investments to structure and design registered funds and BDCs to enable broader investor access to private markets strategies, and helps registered fund managers develop unique and innovative products encompassing private markets strategies. He has been recognized by The Legal 500 (U.S.) for financial services regulation.
Christopher P. Duerden, a partner in Dechert's global finance practice, focuses on securitization and capital markets transactions. As leader of Dechert’s distinguished Structured Credit and CLO team, Mr. Duerden has extensive experience with collateralized loan obligations, leveraged loan warehouse facilities and a variety of asset-backed securities transactions. His experience includes transactions involving the middle market sector and securitizations of trade receivables. Mr. Duerden represents various underwriters, collateral managers and borrower and lenders in respect of term and revolving warehouse facilities. Ranked as a leading securitization and CLOs lawyer by Chambers USA, he was named a Rising Star for structured finance by Law360.
Thomas J. Friedmann, managing partner of Dechert’s Boston office and co-chair of our Global Corporate Finance and Capital Markets Practice, represents domestic and non-U.S. issuers and investment banks in public and private securities transactions. Mr. Friedmann advises corporate clients on matters relating to securities law, corporate governance and general corporate matters. He is also the co-head of Dechert's Permanent Capital Practice and regularly advises alternative asset managers on accessing permanent capital through Business Development Companies (BDCs), closed-end funds and other vehicles. Mr. Friedmann is recommended by The Legal 500 (U.S.) and listed in The Best Lawyers in America.
Richard Horowitz has represented both registered investment companies, including open-end and closed-end funds, and private funds, such as hedge funds and private equity funds, for more than 20 years. As co-head of Dechert’s Permanent Capital Practice, Mr. Horowitz regularly advises alternative asset managers in their efforts to access permanent capital through Business Development Companies (BDCs) and closed-end funds, and has particular experience with alternative strategy mutual funds. Mr. Horowitz has been recognized by The Legal 500, which noted that “Richard Horowitz provides immediate advice and breeds confidence in his advice. He offers a very good combination of theory and practicality.”
James A. Lebovitz is a partner in Dechert’s corporate and securities group, representing clients in securities transactions, mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances and general corporate matters. He has extensive experience advising public and privately-held corporations in the life sciences, healthcare, financial and business services sectors, business development companies and other specialty finance companies, and investment banks in corporate transactions and financings. Chambers USA consistently recognizes Mr. Lebovitz as a leading lawyer for corporate/M&A and private equity. He has also been recognized as a leading lawyer in The Best Lawyers in America, LMG Life Sciences, IFLR1000 and The Legal 500 (U.S.).
Omoz Osayimwese focuses on matters the formation and operation of private equity funds, other closed-end investment funds and alternative asset management businesses. Mr. Osayimwese leads Dechert’s U.S. private investment funds practice and represents clients in the formation and operation of hedge funds and hybrid funds. He also advises private equity firms and hedge fund managers on minority stakes acquisitions, spin-outs, joint ventures, restructurings and secondaries transactions; investors in the negotiation of seed-capital transactions; and sponsors in the structuring of complex carry-sharing arrangements among principals and employees. He has written on investment and funds management for Law360, LexisNexis and Private Funds Management.
Harry S. Pangas represents business development companies (BDCs), registered closed-end funds (CEFs), private investment funds, blockchain and cryptocurrency companies, and other financial services firms on securities regulatory and transactional matters. He serves as independent counsel to the independent directors of the nation’s largest BDC and has been involved in many strategic transactions and proxy contests in the closed-end fund space. Mr. Pangas regularly advises public companies on compliance with ongoing SEC reporting obligations and other securities laws, and represents issuers and investment banking firms in connection with public and private offerings of equity and debt securities.
John M. Timperio, a partner in our global finance practice and member of the firm’s Policy Committee, has 25+ years of experience with some of the world's largest asset managers and investment banks on structured finance solutions. He leads Dechert's distinguished Structured Credit and CLO team and is involved in creating permanent capital solutions for many of the firm's 50+ asset manager clients. Recognized by Law360 as a 2020 MVP of the Year for Structured Finance, Mr. Timperio is ranked as a leading lawyer for securitization and CLOs by Chambers USA and recommended for Structured Finance by The Legal 500 (U.S.).
Lindsay Trapp is a dual American and Irish qualified lawyer who assists U.S. and European asset managers and sponsors in the formation of private funds and SPVs, including on the structuring and establishment of cross-border U.S., European and offshore structures as well as with post-establishment compliance and distribution. Ms. Trapp advises on structuring, setup and compliance of regulated and unregulated private funds/AIFs globally. She works with Dechert’s FRE Group in the formation securitization and risk retention vehicles on a standalone basis and as part of fund structures. Ms. Trapp is frequently quoted by industry press including Ignites Europe and Creditflux.
Kenneth E. Young, co-head of Dechert's private equity group, focuses on mergers and acquisitions, particularly private equity and public company M&A, securities offerings of equity and debt, and general corporate matters. Mr. Young has decades of experience advising on domestic and cross-border transactions for private equity firms, including advising alternative asset managers regarding efforts to diversify their businesses. He is listed as a recommended lawyer by The Legal 500 (U.S.) for his work in capital markets: equity offerings and private equity buyouts in the United States. In addition, Mr. Young was named a Rising Star for M&A in the IFLR1000.
Alex Chi is the Americas co-head of Private Credit within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Mr. Chi was named co-chief executive officer and co-president of Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc. in 2022. He is a member of the Asset Management Private Credit Investment Committee, Specialty Lending Group Investment Committee and BDC Investment Committee. Mr. Chi also serves on the Americas Inclusion and Diversity Committee, is the head of the Asian Network in the Americas and the firmwide recruiting captain for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He serves on the Board of Directors for the JED Foundation and the Korean American Community Foundation.
David Golub is the president of Golub Capital, a market-leading, award-winning direct lender and credit asset manager, with over $45 billion of capital under management. Golub Capital partners with institutional investors and family offices offering tailored solutions for investors’ credit asset strategies. Mr. Golub was previously managing director of Centre Partners, a leading private equity firm, and managing director of Corporate Partners, a $1.5 billion private equity fund affiliated with Lazard. He has served on the boards of numerous public and private companies including the Loan Syndications and Trading Associations, the Founder’s Council of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and Burton Snowboards.
Lesley Goldwasser is a Managing Partner of GreensLedge, a Boutique Investment Bank with offices in New York, London, Tokyo, Seoul and Hartford. Prior to GreensLedge, Lesley ran Global Hedge Fund Strategic Services at Credit Suisse. Prior to Credit Suisse, Lesley was co-head of Global Debt and Equity Capital Markets and Global Structured Products at Bear Stearns. Prior to that she ran risk for both the Asset Backed and Non-Agency Mortgage Trading Desks and co headed the ABS Finance group at Credit Suisse. Lesley serves on the boards of Tiptree Financial, Liquid Telecom, Maxex, the Miami Music Festival and Zara’s Center.
Scott is the chief executive officer and chief investment officer at Hercules Capital. He is responsible for the company’s lending policies and risk management practices related to its loan and investment portfolio. Scott joined Hercules as chief credit officer and has more than 22 years of financial services, direct investment and credit experience. Prior to joining Hercules, he served as founder and partner of Century Tree Capital Management, a fund established to make senior secured debt investments with warrants and equity co-investments in small and micro-cap public and private companies.
Ms. Parekh is a Managing Director at HPS Investment Partners, Portfolio Manager of HLEND, & Co-Head of North American Core Senior Lending. Prior to joining HPS in 2020, Ms. Parekh spent over twelve years as a Partner at The Carlyle Group where she was a founding member of the Direct Lending platform, served as Head of Origination for Illiquid Credit, and was a member of the Direct Lending Investment Committee. Prior to joining The Carlyle Group in 2007, Ms. Parekh was an Investment Banking Associate at JPMorgan. Ms. Parekh holds a BS in Finance and Information Systems from the NYU Stern School of Business.
Patrick Frisch is a Managing Director and Head of Fund Finance and Financial Sponsor Coverage in the Americas at ING Capital LLC in New York. He is responsible for overseeing transaction origination and relationship management in the investment management industry, including alternative asset management firms and financial sponsors, publicly traded investment funds, and a variety of private investment vehicles. Mr. Frisch’s transaction experience ranges from leveraged finance and corporate valuation to subscription facilities for private funds, and asset-backed portfolio leverage transactions for public and private investment vehicles, including business development corporations and other permanent capital vehicles.
Ms. Fu is a Managing Director of Americas Fund Finance at ING Capital LLC. She is responsible for transaction origination, execution, and relationship management. Ms. Fu’s clients include alternative asset management firms and financial sponsors, publicly traded investment funds, and a variety of private investment vehicles. Ms. Fu’s transaction experience encompasses leveraged finance, corporate restructuring, subscription facilities, and asset backed portfolio leverage transactions for investment vehicles, including business development corporations and other permanent capital vehicles. Prior to joining ING, Ms. Fu was an investment professional with North Castle Partners, a private equity firm focused on healthy, active and sustainable living sectors. Previously, she was in the Restructuring and Growth Capital Group of UBS’ Investment Banking Division, Ms. Fu started her career providing valuation services, fairness and solvency opinions at Murray, Devine & Co. Ms. Fu holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
A senior business executive with deep knowledge of financial services and the digital payments ecosystem, Leslie Wims Morris has worked with global Fortune 100 companies in the consumer retail, telecommunications and technology industries to develop and execute innovative partnership strategies for more than 25 years. As Managing Director and Head of Corporate Development for JPMorgan Chase’s Consumer & Community Banking business, Wims Morris leads the development and launch of strategic partnerships with leading technology, payments, e-commerce and fintech companies. She represents JPMorgan Chase on the board of directors of Persado and Greenlight Financial and is a board member of IQVIA.
Al leads the firm’s market leading BDC investment banking initiative, is a member of the firm’s fairness opinion committee and is the head of KBW’s Chicago investment banking office. Al Laufenberg has represented numerous financial institutions as well as working with special committees for over 25 years. Al has worked on successfully completing over 300 transactions exceeding $70 billion in transaction value for financial institutions.
Daniel Pietrzak (New York) joined KKR in 2016 and is a Partner and serves as the Co-Head of Private Credit and a portfolio manager for KKR’s private credit funds and portfolios. Mr. Pietrzak is Chief Investment Officer of the KKR / FS Investments joint venture and Co-President and Chief Investment Officer for FS KKR Capital Corp., which trades on the NYSE. He also serves of the board of directors of several KKR Credit portfolio companies, including Global Jet Capital, Oodle, Pepper and Toorak Capital Partners. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Pietrzak was a managing director and the co-head of Deutsche Bank’s structured finance business across the Americas and Europe. Previously, Mr. Pietrzak held various roles in the credit businesses of Societe Generale and CIBC World Markets. Mr. Pietrzak started his career at Price Waterhouse in New York. Mr. Pietrzak holds an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Accounting from Lehigh University. Mr. Pietrzak serves on the Advisory Board for the Lehigh University Center of Financial Services and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Scholars of Finance.
Bilal Rashid is President of OFS Capital Management. In addition, Mr. Rashid is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of OFS Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: OFS), Hancock Park Corporate Income, Inc. (a non-listed BDC) and OFS Credit Company (NASDAQ: OCCI). Prior to joining OFS in 2008, Mr. Rashid was a Managing Director in the global markets and investment banking division at Merrill Lynch. Mr. Rashid has more than 25 years of experience in investing as it relates to corporate credit and structured credit, investment banking and debt capital markets. Mr. Rashid has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University.
Arthur H. Penn founded PennantPark Investment Advisers in 2007 and serves as Managing Partner. He is Chairman and CEO of PennantPark Investment Corporation and PennantPark Floating Rate Capital, Ltd. Penn has over 30 years of experience in middle market direct lending, mezzanine lending, leveraged finance, distressed debt, and private equity. Penn co-founded Apollo Investment Management, was formerly a Managing Partner of Apollo Value Fund L.P. and held senior positions at CDC-IXIS Capital Markets, BT Securities and BT Alex. Brown Inc., UBS Warburg LLC, and Lehman Brothers. He holds a BS and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Jen Dardis is the chief financial officer and treasurer of T. Rowe Price. A member of the firm’s Management Committee, she has oversight for Corporate Strategy, Financial Planning & Analysis, the Controller’s Group, Global Tax, Procurement, and Investor Relations. Jen joined the firm in 2006 and became head of Corporate Strategy in 2016. She has prior experience in banking, corporate development, and M&A. Jen holds degrees from the College of William & Mary and the University of Virginia, Darden School of Business. She also serves as chair of the Board for The Maryland Food Bank.
Oliver Thym is a Partner on the Credit team at Thoma Bravo. He joined the firm in 2020 to lead the Thoma Bravo Credit platform and oversee the firm’s credit funds and strategic debt investments. Previously, Oliver spent his entire career at Goldman Sachs, where he was a Partner and Head of Private Credit in the Americas for the Merchant Banking Division. Oliver served on various divisional and firmwide committees, including the Merchant Banking Credit and Corporate Investment Committees and Firmwide New Activity and Credit Policy Committees. He earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business after receiving a BS in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering and a BA in Economics from Cornell University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa.
Kristine Jurczyk joined Vista Equity Partners in 2013 as a co-founder of Vista Credit Partners (VCP). Ms. Jurczyk assists with managing the credit platform, including raising and structuring the funds’ liabilities, and is a voting member of the VCP Investment Committee. Prior to joining Vista, she was at Antares Capital and previously Merrill Lynch Capital where she managed all facets of the deal process from sourcing, underwriting and structuring, to portfolio management of credit facilities to sponsor-backed companies across various industries.