Agenda
Registration & Breakfast
Welcome
Panel: European market outlook
After a record-breaking 2021 and a strong start this year, what does the rest of 2022 have in store for the European CLO market? The €100 billion of total issuance was spread among 56 active managers as the market continued to broaden. Our panel of experts will reflect on the growth of the industry over the past twelve months and look ahead at the challenges and opportunities for investors in European CLOs.
Coffee
Panel: US CLO market outlook
From Covid to SOFR the US CLO market has had some challenges over the last few years, but it’s overcome them all. How will the CLO market follow up a year like 2021 which saw $391 billion of issuance? Some of the best-known participants in the market address everything from the growth of the CLO investor base to the impact of rising interest rates.
Panel: ESG for CLOs
The importance of ESG continues to grow on both sides of the Atlantic, but as the range of ESG-compliant options grow, so do the challenges for CLO investors. What are the differences between “ESG CLOs” and rest of the market? How can investors avoid greenwashing? And how should global investors deal with stark regional differences on the social and governance portions of the acronym?
Masterclass: Getting investors comfortable with European retention vehicles
The regulations on risk retention in European share the burden of compliance between manager and investors. As the number of managers choosing the retention vehicle route grows, so do the number of questions from other investors in the CLO. This masterclass explains what investors need to know about the various risk retention vehicles managers use, and what questions they need to ask before they can sign off that investment.
Lunch
Panel: Allocating to structured credit
As the CLO market continues to grow it is attracting a new and more diverse set of institutional investors. Our panel of expert allocators will talk us through how structured credit in general, and CLOs in particular, fits into their portfolios. How do they deal with the complexities of the asset class? How do they approach manager selection? And what advice do they have for new pension funds and insurance companies coming into the asset class for the first time?
Panel: Midmarket CLOs
Midmarket CLOs seem to be performing well, and saw $44 billion of issuance last year. But given the opacity of their underlying assets it can be hard for outsiders to tell. What’s the real status of the US middle-market companies that these deals invest in, and how will these smaller companies cope with rising interest rates? With 31 active managers in the sector, and two new debutants in 2021 the middle-market continues to diversify. Will that continue, and what tips do our veteran managers have for newcomers to the space?
Coffee
Fireside chat: CRE CLOs
From its niche as an alternative to US CMBS, the CRE CLO has become a mainstream choice with $45 billion of issuance in 2021. And it finally made the jump into Europe market with the pricing of Starz Mortgage Securities 2021-1 DAC late last year. What does the future hold for CRE CLOs on both sides of the pond?
Concluding remarks
Networking reception
Creditflux Manager Awards Dinner 2022
Please note that attendance at this gala dinner is by invitation only and that entry is not included as part of a Symposium ticket.
Confirm cancellation
An error occurred trying to play the stream. Please reload the page and try again.
CloseSign-up to join the ION Analytics Community to:
- Register for events
- Access market insights
- Download reports
Chris is Head of Private Markets, EMEA at S&P Global Ratings, covering all aspects of the private debt space end to end, looking after relationships with Private Equity firms, Multistrategy Funds, Direct Lending Funds, Debt Origination and Debt Syndicate Teams in Arranging Banks plus their CLO Arranging Teams, as well as CLO Managers.
Prior to S&P Global Ratings he spent over 20 years in the syndicated loan market, working across many of its’ different asset classes. His career started in NatWest on the project group that subsequently transformed into Europe’s first dedicated secondary loan sales team. His next role was on the primary sales desk, distributing corporate, structured and financial institution loans to European investors.
After primary sales, Chris was posted to Hong Kong, where he was responsible for the pricing, structuring and origination of syndicated debt in South and South East Asia. The main focus of his role was to bring debut issuers from Thailand and India to the international loan market.
On his return to Europe, he became the Head of European Loan Trading for NatWest, taking the team through the integration with The Royal Bank of Scotland, transforming the desk from a back-to-back operation into a full trading book, working mainly in the leverage and corporate markets. At the same time, he joined the Board of the LMA, a post he was to hold for ten years.
During his time on the Board, he co-chaired the Valuation & Trading Practices Committee and chaired a number of working parties, as well as writing the first set of Transferability Guidelines for the LMA. He also held the post of Vice-Chairman of the LMA for two years.
After RBS, Chris moved to Bank of Scotland, where he created and headed the Loan Sales and Trading Team.
David has 18+ years of experience in financial markets, more than nine of these with investing in High Yield corporate bonds and structured credit, especially CLOs.
Steve is a seasoned structured credit banking professional and has been in the business for more than 25 years. He is presently responsible for running J.P. Morgan’s Primary CLO business in Europe. Previously with Apollo Global Management, Steve specialized in investing in CLOs and capital relief/SRT transactions as well as the issuance of Apollo’s managed CLOs. Steve also held positions with the U.K. Financial Services Authority and at Standard Chartered Bank. Prior to London Steve was in New York, where he was responsible for co-managing the CLO Banking Group at Lehman Brothers and was a senior member of the structured credit team at Natixis. Steve holds a BASc with First Class Honours in Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, an MBA from the Ivey Business School at Western University in Ontario, and is a CFA charter holder.
Mrs. Cohen Malka has 14 years of financial services and investment experience in the High Yield, Private Debt, Private Equity and Corporate Finance markets working most recently with Mr. Allen and Mr. Ammons at CPP Investment Board. She was responsible for deal sourcing, execution and active portfolio management. Prior to that, Mrs. Cohen Malka worked as an associate in the investment team of CCMP Capital Advisors, a private equity firm, and at Goldman Sachs International‘s Investment Banking Department focusing on Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Finance and IPOs.
Mrs. Cohen Malka holds a Master in Management with a major in financial engineering from ESCP Europe.
Sushila Nayak is co-head of the firm’s Structured Finance Group, based in London. Dual-qualified in New York and England, Sushila represents arrangers, borrowers, collateral managers, and investors in a broad range of securitisation, structured finance, and corporate finance transactions. Her experience includes CLOs, whole business securitisations, financings backed by a variety of asset classes (including aircraft, trade receivables and esoteric assets), as well as corporate bonds, syndicated loans, and private debt transactions.
Conor Power is a Managing Director with WhiteStar Asset Management and a co-head of their European loan business. WhiteStar manages over $18bn of which $2.5bn comprises European CLO AUM. Conor has been working in the industry for over 20 years and co-founded the European platform in 2018. He was previously a portfolio manager and investment committee member with KKR’s European leveraged credit team.
Conor started his career with KPMG Restructuring in 2000, working on corporate liquidations and restructuring advisory. He spent over 10 years with Avoca Capital, latterly as a Director and Head of Credit Management, with a focus on stressed credits and workout situations. Conor has also worked in private equity for a European Sovereign Wealth Fund, sourcing and executing transactions in the technology and financial sectors.
Mr. Vaccaro has 43 years of experience in corporate lending and asset management. He previously served as legacy CIFC’s Co-Chief Investment Officer and was named Chief Investment Officer of CIFC upon its merger with Deerfield Capital Corp. in 2011. Mr. Vaccaro spent 25 years at JPM where he began his banking career and where he received his credit training. At JPM, Mr. Vaccaro’s roles included Managing Director and Co-Head of the firm’s Media group. Mr. Vaccaro’s experience at JPM also included merchant banking, including mezzanine and equity co-investing, and roles as a credit supervising officer in the bank’s Corporate Banking department, member of the bank’s Credit Audit group and team leader in the firm’s Land Transportation and Global Automotive corporate lending groups. Mr. Vaccaro holds a B.A. in Economics from Cornell University
Jon Burke is a partner in Dechert’s global finance practice, advising asset managers, issuers, banks, underwriters and investors on a broad range of collateralized loan obligation transactions (CLOs) and other structured credit financing arrangements secured by broadly syndicated and middle-market loans.
Mr. Burke advises managers and borrowers in a variety of fund financing structures, including NAV facilities, collateralized fund obligations and rated feeders. He also has extensive experience representing investors in various esoteric asset classes, including life settlements, structured settlements, brokerage commissions, wage advances, and medical receivables.
Brad Larson is a Managing Director and Global Co-Head of New Issue CLOs and Corporate Asset Finance at Credit Suisse. Brad is based in New York and oversees the day-to-day functional responsibilities of the Global New Issue CLO business with personnel in New York, London, Paris, and Pune.
Brad joined Credit Suisse in 2010 and has 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. At Credit Suisse, Brad played a lead role in the bank’s return to the (2.0) CLO new issue market and, since June 2012, has led a global team that has priced more than 335 CLO transactions across BSL CLOs, MM CLOs, and CBOs with more than 75 managers.
Prior to joining Credit Suisse, Brad was a Managing Director and Head of Structured Credit at ACA Capital where he focused on the company’s US corporate credit business. While at ACA, Brad was a member of the CLO Collateral and Corporate Reporting committees. Before joining ACA, Brad worked at Pegasus Aviation, Prudential Securities, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young.
A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley with a B.A. in Legal Studies, Brad also holds an M.S.M. from the Krannert Graduate School of Management at Purdue University.
Som is the Head of Investments and a member of the Investment Committee at Lakemore. His responsibilities include investment selection, structuring and portfolio management of the firm’s various credit platforms. He has 20 years of experience in investment management during which he managed asset classes that included Specialist Credit and other Alternative Investments including Real estate and Private equity as part of large institutional portfolios. Som started his career with GE Capital in 2002 as a member of the risk management team for their long-term pensions and insurance portfolios investing in leveraged loans and structured credit. In 2005, he joined Lehman Brothers as part of their structured credit team focusing on credit hedging and CLO tranche strategies. In 2007, he joined NCB Capital as a senior portfolio manager for the structured credit portfolio managing around US$ 1 bn in US CLO tranche investments. He subsequently joined Safanad with the senior Lakemore team and managed the firm’s principal investment portfolio investing in Credit and Equity strategies, Private Equity and Real Estate. Som has a Bachelors in Statistics (Hons) from Indian Statistical Institute.
Himani is head of structured credit and responsible for structured product strategies.
Prior to joining the firm in 2004, Himani was in the Corporate Market Risk Management Group at Washington Mutual Bank and an assistant manager at ICICI Bank in India.
Himani graduated with a B.S. in Engineering and an M.B.A. in Finance from Gujarat University, India, and a Masters in Financial Engineering (MFE) from the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley.
Alex Wall runs US CLO Syndicate in New York and has been part of the CLO Primary business since 2018. Alex joined BNP Paribas in London in 2011 and moved to the New York office in 2014. Prior to BNP Paribas, he worked at Lloyds Banking Group in London. Alex holds a Master’s in Financial Engineering from the University of London, Birkbeck College and a B.Sc. (with Hons.) in Mathematics and Business from the University of Surrey.
Sabrina is the Chief Executive Officer for the European Leveraged Finance Association, an investor-only trade association comprised of European leveraged finance investors from 50 institutional fixed income managers, including investment advisors, insurance companies, and pension funds. The ELFA seeks to support the growth and resilience of the leveraged finance market while acting as the voice of its investor community by promoting transparency and facilitating engagement among European leveraged finance market participants.
Sabrina is a recognised expert in the European leveraged finance market focused on increasing transparency, improving disclosure standards, and educating market participants on the importance of lender protections in documentation.
Most recently, Sabrina was Head of European High Yield Research for Covenant Review. Prior to that, she was Counsel with DLA Piper in London.
For more information about ELFA, including our mission statement and member benefits, visit www.elfainvestors.com.
Conor O’Toole Heads up European Securitisation Research and is Global Head of CLO Research at Deutsche Bank having joined in November 2006. Conor started his career in structured finance on the buy side at Allied Irish Banks plc (AIB) in Dublin before moving to Sumitomo Trust& Banking Ltd in London in November 2004 where he latterly acted as a portfolio manager. Conor was responsible for investment and management of a European Investment Grade ABS portfolio including RMBS, ABS, CMBS and CDOs. At Deutsche Bank he covers the full spectrum of European ABS product where he has published market leading reports on peripheral RMBS, UK Non-Conforming, CLOs and CMBS sectors amongst others. Conor’s team was ranked no. 1 in the Greenwich European Asset Backed Research - European Investors Survey 2015, 2016, and 2017 (latest available) and has been repeatedly highly ranked in the Institutional Investor Survey.
Conor holds a Bachelor of Commerce International (with Spanish) degree from University College Dublin.
Richard Peterson is a Director and Product Head responsible for Credit Data and Analytics products and initiatives at Virtus from FIS. He is also a member of the steering committee for integrating ESG initiatives throughout FIS. Richard joined Virtus in 2019 with over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, including various roles in ABS sales, origination and strategy. Prior to joining Virtus, Richard was a subject matter expert for the structured product sales team at Moody’s Analytics. He has also held positions in investment banking at JPMorgan, Guggenheim and Citigroup. Richard holds an MBA from the University of Chicago in Finance and Economics and a BBA from Emory University in Finance and Management.
Cameron Saylor is a partner in the Structured Credit practice at Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s London office. Mr. Saylor specializes in structured finance, securitization, asset backed lending and credit funds, with a focus on CLOs. Mr. Saylor advises the leading arrangers and managers on European CLO transactions, having recently advised clients such as Credit Suisse, Blackrock, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Pinebridge, Societe Generale, Oak Hill Advisors, Sculptor, ICG, Alcentra, Mackay Sheilds, Albacore, Bank of America, PGIM, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Citi, Barclays, Natixis, BNPP, Nomura, and Rothschild.
Mr. Saylor is an expert regarding European and U.S. risk retention, having advised on complex and novel compliance issues relevant to both U.S. and European CLO and other securitization transactions. He has spoken at various industry conferences and is regularly quoted in the industry press on matters concerning risk retention, Brexit, and other regulatory matters.
Prior to joining Paul Hastings, Mr. Saylor spent close to 10 years in the structured finance practice at other leading U.K. firms. He trained and worked as a lawyer in Canada prior to moving to London.
Gordon Kerr is Head of European Research at Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited (KBRA), where he actively engages with investors and market participants on various aspects of European fixed income markets. Gordon is based in our London office and regularly publishes commentary and insight on various topics and issues facing the European capital markets.
Prior to joining KBRA, Gordon was head of European structured finance and covered bond research at DBRS Morningstar for eight years, publishing topical research on structured finance and covered bonds. His other responsibilities included taking the lead in global ESG research and outreach, as well as heading a team of data analysts responsible for developing tools, models, and market information analysis.
Prior to DBRS, Gordon spent nine years in research and trading at Citigroup, where he covered securitized products, covered bonds, and corporate credit.
Gordon holds a science degree from Acadia University in Canada and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business.
Scott Duggal is Head of European consumer asset-backed securities (ABS), residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) and collateralized loan obligations (CLO) research and lead ABS Portfolio Manager for abrdn. Scott is also a member of the abrdn Private Markets Solutions Private Capital Investment Committee approving fund investments across Private Markets including Private Credit. Scott joined abrdn in 2015 following the acquisition of Ignis Asset Management, which he joined in 2009 and was responsible for investments in ABS, RMBS and CLOs. Previously, Scott was a Director in Fitch’s structured credit ratings team; responsible for ratings and criteria development on a broad range of structured products including CLOs, CRE CLOs, Hedge Fund CFOs and Private Equity CFOs. Prior to that, Scott spent 3 years at Shell Asset Management Company where he was responsible for the CLO portfolio invested in US CLO equity, CLO mezzanine debt and other performing and distressed structured credit. Scott graduated from Kings College London with a First-Class Honours BSc in Computer Science with Management and he has an MSc in Investment Management from the Cass Business School.
Alice Lee is a senior member of the credit manager research team at WTW and specialises in alternative credit. Her role spans manager selection and working with asset owners to build diversified credit portfolios. She is an investment committee member for a credit-focused fund of funds managed by Towers Watson Investment Management. Prior to joining WTW in 2011, Alice was an analyst at Mazuma Capital, a Fund of Hedge Funds. She is a CFA Charterholder.
Michelle is co-portfolio manager within the structured credit team at Investec Bank Limited with a particular focus on CLOs. Michelle joined Investec Bank in 2003 and has covered various aspects of the structured credit market from both structuring to investing . She entered banking after completing her accounting articles at PwC in the Financial Services sector.
John is a partner in the London office of Milbank and a member of the firm's Alternative Investments Group.
John has a broad structured finance, securitisation and derivatives practice and has extensive experience of the full spectrum of derivative products and securitisation asset classes including equity, credit, rates, CLOs and CDOs (cash and synthetic), RMBS, lease receivables, trade receivables, NPLs, covered bond transactions and secured structured lending advising banks, funds and asset managers across Europe, the US and Asia.
The legal directories list John as one of the leading practitioners in the European market and IFLR recognise him as a “Rising Star”. John is also a regular and respected speaker on regulatory matters (with a particular focus on risk retention) at industry conferences, covering both the European and US markets.
Rich Reilly has a broad securities practice with an emphasis on CLOs and other structured finance transactions, securitizations and investment fund formations in the United States and Europe.
Rich has over twenty years of experience acting as counsel to arrangers, collateral managers and investors on US and European CLOs and other securitizations. His experience includes structuring CLOs and securitizations to comply with a variety of regulatory requirements including those imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act and the EU Securitisation Regulation.
In addition, he regularly represents investment advisors on the formation of private investment funds for the purpose of raising capital for investment in structured credit products including, among others, captive and non-captive CLO equity funds.
Rich has substantial CLO manager M&A experience having represented buyers and sellers in several transactions in the US and Europe.
In addition to his experience in the US CLO and securitization markets, Rich spent several years in London where he led the most active legal practice in the European CLO market from 2003 - 2011.
In the asset securitization area, Rich has represented issuers, arrangers, credit enhancement providers and servicers in a broad range of asset classes including solar, market-based lending, CMBS, RMBS, credit cards, trade receivables and asset-backed commercial paper.
Shawn Cooper is a portfolio manager and responsible for Orchard’s cash structured credit investments. Previously, he was a portfolio manager at Brevan Howard where he was responsible for CLO/ABS trading within the flagship multi-strategy master fund. Prior to joining Brevan Howard, Shawn was the Global Head of European Structured Credit Trading at Deutsche Bank where he worked from 2006 to 2014. He began his career as a software engineer.
Shawn received an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School and graduated cum laude with a BS in Computer Science from Cornell University. He is based in London.
Kelli Marti serves as Churchill’s CLO Portfolio Manager and is responsible for the management and growth of Churchill’s middle market CLO platform, including day-to-day vehicle oversight, assisting in the sourcing of assets and trading strategy development, as well as participating in fundraising initiatives. Before joining Churchill, Kelli spent eighteen years at Crestline Denali Capital, a CLO asset manager. Most recently she served as Crestline Denali’s Managing Director and Chief Credit Officer where she was responsible for overseeing the firm’s entire credit function including new business underwriting and portfolio management. She also served on the firm’s Investment Committee. Prior to joining Crestline Denali, Kelli was a Vice President at Heller Financial where she was responsible for underwriting and managing middle market loans. Prior to joining Heller, she was an Assistant Vice President at First Source Financial where she underwrote direct middle market transactions on behalf of the firm’s CLO portfolio. She began her career as an auditor at KPMG in Chicago.
Kelli graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame and received her MBA with high honors from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She previously earned her CPA certification.
Mr. Frank is a Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group responsible for business development, origination and capital markets across Fortress’ credit platform. Prior to joining Fortress Mr. Frank was at Cerberus Capital Management as a Managing Director in their direct lending business. From 2010 to 2014 Mr. Frank was a Managing Director and head of syndication for all debt capital markets activity, alternative financing and new issue structured products at Stifel Nicolaus. Mr. Frank joined Stifel as a result of Stifel’s acquisition of FSI Capital, a specialized asset management and capital markets firm focused on U.S. credit products. Mr. Frank worked at Merrill Lynch in their Structured Credit Products group, where he originated, priced and helped distribute approximately $25 billion of structured transactions. Mr. Frank began his career in Deloitte & Touche’s Securitization Transactions Team. Mr. Frank is a graduate of the Freeman School of Business at Tulane University
Mark has been Chief Investment Officer of Prytania since the firm’s inception in 2003 and Chief Executive Officer since October 2016. Mark has spent over thirty investment years in the financial industry, the last nineteen years investing on the buy-side.
Before joining Prytania, Mark constructed and managed a proprietary credit portfolio of over $1bn at Ansbacher & Co, alongside money market funds, investment grade, high-yield and emerging market funds.
Mark began his career as a financial analyst and economist at the Bank of England and was later responsible for economic and investment strategy at a number of securities houses covering cash and derivative products in debt, equity, foreign exchange and commodity markets.
Mark holds a first class MA in Economics from the University of Cambridge.
Edward Eyerman is a managing director and the head of European leveraged finance at Fitch Ratings, based in London. He leads a team of 18 analysts that rates over 400 leveraged transactions, and produces timely reports and commentary on leveraged product and market developments.
Prior to joining Fitch in April 2003, Ed was an investment banker in Credit Suisse First Boston’s European acquisition and leveraged finance and telecommunications groups. From
1997 to 1998, Ed was in the European high-yield origination and credit research groups at Deutsche Bank. He also worked for Merrill Lynch in New York from 1994 to1997 as an associate in the corporate bond research department covering Yankee bond issuers.
Ed holds a B.A. in history from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts and a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in New York.
Madelaine joined Oaktree’s London office in 2003 and serves as portfolio manager for the European High Yield Bond and European Senior Loan strategies, and co-portfolio manager for the Global High Yield Bond strategy. Before joining Oaktree, Madelaine spent more than three years at Deutsche Bank AG in London as a senior associate in the Leveraged Debt Origination Group specializing in loan, mezzanine and high yield bond financings to support European leveraged buyouts. Prior thereto, she spent two years in the Acquisition Finance Group at Natwest Group plc. Madelaine received a B.A. degree in economics from the University of Durham, England. She is a CFA charterholder.
Nick Shiren is a partner in the Capital Markets Group, resident in the London office. His practice focuses on a broad range of capital markets and financing transactions, with a focus on structured finance. In particular, Nick has extensive experience in derivative products (including credit default swaps, credit-linked notes, total return swaps, currency and interest rate swaps, repos and other derivative instruments), structured credit transactions (including collateralised loan obligations) and securitisation transactions (including securitisations of residential and commercial mortgages and consumer assets). He represents leading investment banks, arrangers, issuers and collateral managers in transactions throughout Europe and the United States.
A frequent commentator on industry issues, Nick is recognised as a leading practitioner by Legal 500 UK and IFLR1000 for Derivatives and Structured Products and Securitisation.
Nick received a Bachelor of Laws (honours) and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Queensland, and a Masters of Laws from the University of New South Wales.
He is admitted to practice in England and Wales and the State of New York.
Shiloh Bates, CFA joined Flat Rock Global in 2018 and is a Partner and Chief Investment Officer. Prior to joining Flat Rock Global, Mr. Bates was a Managing Director at Benefit Street Partners where he worked on corporate acquisitions. Prior to that, Mr. Bates was the Head of Structured Products at BDCA Advisor, where he was responsible for investments in CLOs and leveraged loans.
During his 20-year career, Mr. Bates has worked for several CLO managers and is a frequent panelist at CLO conferences. He wrote the book, CLO Investing with a focus on CLO Equity and BB Notes.
A life-long learner, Shiloh has a BA from Virginia Tech in Political Science, an MA in Public Policy from Harvard University, an MA in Financial Mathematics from the University of Chicago, and an MA in Statistics from Columbia University. He was also a specialist in psychological warfare in the US Army Reserves.
Chandrajit brings in over 20-years of experience as a structured finance banker, structurer and trader, covering stints at Wachovia Securities, Nomura Securities, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Old Mutual, Fitch Ratings and JP Morgan. He was responsible for originating and structuring several innovative transactions ranging from leveraged loan CLOs to Private Equity backed and Hedge Fund backed securitisation products.
Chandrajit was formerly a bond trader managing a trading book for corporate credit and sovereign debt. He is a graduate in Electronics Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and holds a Masters in Finance (with Distinction) in Financial Engineering from London Business School (LBS).
Mr. Desai joined Sound Point in 2019 and is currently Head of Structured Products Investing and a Portfolio Manager for the Harbor Strategy and the CLO Fund. Additionally, Mr. Desai serves on the firm's Management Committee and is a member on most risk, investment and valuation committees at the firm. Prior to joining Sound Point, Mr. Desai was a Partner at Ares Management, where he was the Head of Global Structured Products & European Liquid Loans and served as a Portfolio Manager for over $6 billion of structured credit funds and CLOs. Prior to his six years at Ares, Mr. Desai was Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Indicus Advisors, a structured credit and leveraged finance asset manager, which was started in 2006 and sold to Ares in 2011. Prior to Indicus Advisors, Mr. Desai was Head of Structured Credit origination and structuring business at J.P. Morgan in London and Goldman Sachs in London and New York. Having started his career in 1996, Mr. Desai has been one of the earliest participants in the CDO markets, with significant origination, structuring and investment expertise.
Mr. Desai earned a B.S., M.S., and M.Eng in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Gaurav Suri joined Livermore Investments Group in 2007 and is the Investment Manager for the Company's CLO portfolio. Mr. Suri has over 10 years of extensive CLO trading, structuring, and risk management experience. Mr. Suri built the Company's CLO capability from ground up, and is a well-known figure in the CLO investment community. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Suri worked with Deloitte at their Chicago offices, specialising his expertise in the financial services and healthcare industries. He also has extensive experience in India, where he founded and operated a high-tech company in New Delhi. Mr. Suri holds an MBA from INSEAD, and a Bachelors of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.