Jane Lee Senior Managing Director, Head of CLO Capital Formation BLACKSTONE CREDIT AND INSURANCE

Ms. Jane Lee is the Global Head of Capital Formation efforts for Blackstone Credit’s Liquid Credit Strategies (“LCS”) unit. Ms. Lee is responsible for the origination of U.S. CLOs, European CLOs, and listed funds, and she is a member of Blackstone Credit's LCS Management Committee and sits on LCS’s Global Structured Credit Investment Committee, Asset Allocation Committee, and CLO Origination Committee.

Ms. Lee joined Blackstone Credit, then known as GSO Capital Partners, from RBC in 2005.  Prior to that, Ms. Lee was a Vice President at Indosuez Capital.  Before joining Indosuez Capital, Ms. Lee was a Director in the Loan Products Group of Fitch IBCA, Inc., where she was responsible for rating collateralized debt obligations and other credit derivative transactions.

Ms. Lee received a B.A. in Economics and Operations Research from Columbia University.                

Dushy Puvan Managing Director, Head of EMEA CLOs BNP PARIBAS

Dushy Puvan joined BNP Paribas in May 2014 to build the EMEA CLO business and is a CLO specialist with over 20 years experience of structured finance across asset classes. He has a focus on SME, corporate loan and leveraged loan assets, arranging cash and synthetic structures for banks and FIs. He was part of the first wave of CLO 2.0s in Europe. Dushy worked previously for Lloyds Bank (formerly Lloyds TSB) executing a range of balance sheet management solutions transactions for both regulatory capital relief and funding.

Dushy holds a PhD in Theoretical Chemistry from the University of Cambridge.

Aaron Scott Partner DECHERT

Aaron Scott advises on structured finance and securitization matters, with a particular focus on collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). Based in Dechert’s London office, Mr. Scott represents leading arrangers and managers on European CLO transactions. In addition, he advises on the EU regulatory aspects of U.S. CLOs, including risk retention and transparency requirements.

Matthew McCabe Managing Director OAKTREE CAPITAL

Prior to joining Oaktree in 2016, Mr. McCabe spent over four and half years in Commerzbank in a structured credit portfolio role where, in addition to managing legacy structured positions, he worked on opportunistic new credit origination. Previous experience included five and a half years in the RBS securitization business structuring ABS, CMBS and CLOs. Mr. McCabe began his professional life as a lawyer. He received an M.A. and an LL.B. from Trinity College Dublin. He is fluent in Italian.

Gauthier Reymondier Partner BAIN CAPITAL CREDIT

Mr. Reymondier joined Bain Capital in 2008. He is a Partner based in Bain Capital’s London office. He is Head of European Liquid and Structured Credit and a Portfolio Manager, specifically Bain Capital Credit’s European CLOs and separate accounts. Previously, Mr. Reymondier was a Manager at Bain & Company supporting private equity funds in Europe and worked at Schroder Salomon Smith Barney.

Mr. Reymondier received a B.A. from HEC Paris.

Chris Porter Head of Private Markets, EMEA S&P GLOBAL RATINGS

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. 

Roxana Mirica Partner and Head of Capital Markets APAX PARTNERS

Roxana Mirica is a Partner and head of Capital Markets in Europe. She is responsible for leading acquisition financing and ongoing debt and equity capital markets transactions for Apax’s portfolio companies.  Additionally, Roxana manages day-to-day relationships with banks and institutional debt and equity investors.

Roxana joined Apax Partners in 2017.  Prior to joining Apax Partners, Roxana spent 9 years at Barclays, most recently as Director in Leveraged Finance.

Roxana holds a BA in Economics and Chemistry cum laude from Dartmouth College.

Blake Jones Partner CLIFFORD CHANCE

Blake Jones advises on public and private structured finance, securitisation, asset backed lending with a particular focus on CLOs and fund leverage facilities.

He advises originators, managers and arrangers on a range of complex transactions. His expertise also extends to ESG securitisation, an area in which he has helped influence the development of ESG criteria in CLOs over the last few years, in an increasingly complicated regulatory landscape.

David Altenhofen Head of Investments ACCUNIA

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.

Adeel Shafiqullah Executive Managing Director and Head of European CLO Management SCULPTOR CAPITAL

Adeel Shafiqullah is an Executive Managing Director and Head of European CLO Management for Sculptor Capital. In this role, Mr. Shafiqullah oversees Sculptor Capital’s European performing credit investments, with a focus on leveraged loans and high yield bonds.

Prior to joining Sculptor Capital in 2015, Mr. Shafiqullah spent 13 years at Pinebridge Investments, most recently as Managing Director and Head of European Leveraged Finance

Prior to that, he was an Investment Banking Analyst at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette/Credit Suisse First Boston and at Chanin Capital Partners.

Mr. Shafiqullah holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business.

Jelena Cvejic Head of Leveraged Loans DEBTWIRE

Jelena Cvejic joined Debtwire in October 2021 as an editor and leveraged finance reporter. She heads the editorial team in Europe focusing on primary and secondary leveraged loan markets. Prior to joining Debtwire, Jelena led a team of journalists at Loan Radar, developing and delivering news and data content on syndicated loan markets across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and North America. She began her career in financial journalism 17 years ago and has covered leveraged finance, investment grade loans, emerging markets, as well as project and infrastructure finance.

Jelena holds a degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Conor Power Managing Director WHITESTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT

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.

Adrian Marshall Chief Executive Officer/Co-Chief Investment Officer ELMWOOD ASSET MANAGEMENT

Adrian has 23 years of industry experience. Prior to founding Elmwood Adrian served as the co-head of BlackRock’s US managed CLO business and lead portfolio manager for BlackRock’s US leveraged loan platform. While acting in this capacity Mr. Marshall oversaw a team managing over $18 bn in assets held across CLO, retail and separate account investment vehicles. Adrian transitioned into the lead portfolio management role for BlackRock’s US CLOs in 2009. Adrian spent his entire career at BlackRock prior to joining Elmwood.

Joe Carden Managing Director and Head of Fund Finance CERBERUS BUSINESS FINANCE

Mr. Carden is a Managing Director for Cerberus Business Finance, the Firm’s middle-market direct lending platform.

Prior to joining Cerberus in 2015, Mr. Carden was a Managing Director at Prime Asset Fund and separately, Managing Director at Guardian Capital from 2012 to 2014. In both roles, he was responsible for sourcing, acquiring, and managing pools of non-performing residential mortgages. From 2010 to 2012, Mr. Carden was Vice President of Operations at Citadel Investment Group, where he managed a team responsible for the middle- and back-office functions related to all structured products and bank debt. Mr. Carden started his career in 2006 at Bank of America Merrill Lynch working in the corporate trust group initially on middle-market CLOs before moving to commercial real estate CLOs.

Mr. Carden graduated from the University of Kansas with a B.S. in Economics.

Young Choi Partner, Global Head of Trading, Portfolio Manager - Rockford Tower KING STREET

Young Choi is a Partner, Global Head of Trading and the Portfolio Manager of Rockford Tower Capital Management. He is based in New York and is a member of the Management Committee, Global Investment Committee, CLO Investment Committee and Risk Committee.

Prior to joining King Street in 2006, Young worked at Citadel Investment Group as a Credit Analyst in the Distressed/High Yield Group and was Portfolio Manager of the firm’s $2 billion US leveraged loan and CLO portfolio. Prior to that, Young consulted at Bain & Co.

Young received a B.A. summa cum laude in Economics and a B.S.E. in Electrical Engineering from Duke University.

Sushila Nayak Partner ORRICK

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.

Jonathan Horowitz Managing Director & Head of Structured Liabilities FORTRESS INVESTMENT GROUP

Mr. Horowitz is a Managing Director in the Fortress Credit Funds Business and the Head of Structured Liabilities

Prior to joining Fortress in 2022, Mr. Horowitz was a Managing Director and portfolio manager in the Chief Investment Office of J.P. Morgan where we was responsible for $45bn of CLOs and consumer ABS

Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, Mr. Horowitz was a Managing Director in the CDO business at Morgan Stanley as Head of U.S. CDO Capital Markets and co-head of U.S. CDO Structuring and Origination

 Mr. Horowitz received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business

Christopher Terry Managing Director of AB Private Credit Investors ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN

Christopher Terry joined AllianceBernstein in 2017 and is a Managing Director of AB Private Credit Investors, where he currently leads the structured products initiatives for the team. Based in New York, he is focused on structuring, negotiating, and executing structured credit transactions including private credit CLOs, RRL ABS, warehouse facilities, and other long term portfolio finance solutions. Previously, he was an Associate at Garrison Investment Group, where he managed treasury for portfolio investments within the structured finance and real estate platforms. Prior to that, Mr. Terry served as a Credit Analyst and CLO Analyst at Monroe Capital. He began his career at LaSalle Bank as an Account Manager within the Global Trust Services Group. Mr. Terry holds a BA in Economics from the University of Michigan.

Alan George Managing Director, Head of Structured Products GOLUB CAPITAL

Alan George is a Managing Director and Head of Structured Products of Golub Capital, a market-leading, award-winning direct lender and experienced credit asset manager. As of October 1, 2023, Golub Capital had over $60 billion of capital under management, a gross measure of invested capital including leverage. Golub Capital partners with institutional investors and family offices, offering tailored solutions for investors’ credit asset strategies. The Firm specializes in delivering reliable, creative and compelling financing solutions to companies backed by private equity sponsors. Golub Capital has been a top 3 U.S. Middle Market Bookrunner each year from 2008 through Q3 2023 for senior secured loans of up to $500 million for leveraged buyouts. Golub Capital has been consistently recognized with industry awards, including Lender of the Decade, Americas (Private Debt Investor, 2023), Senior Lender of the Decade, Americas (Private Debt Investor, 2023), Lender of the Year, Americas (Private Debt Investor, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022) and Senior Lender of the Year, Americas (Private Debt Investor, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020).

Mr. George joined Golub Capital in 2008 and is a Managing Director and the Head of Structured Products. He is responsible for structuring and executing collateralized loan obligations, lines of credit and other structured debt financings for the Firm. He also helps oversee Golub Capital’s investment portfolio of third party securitization liabilities. Prior to joining Golub Capital, Mr. George worked at LaSalle Bank, where he specialized in real estate-focused collateralized debt obligations.

Mr. George earned his BS degree in Finance from the University of Pittsburgh.

Nick Robinson Partner PAUL HASTINGS

Nick Robinson is a partner in the Structured Credit practice of Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s New York office. He has almost 20 years of experience, and his practice has been dedicated to collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) and other structured products during most of this time.

Mr. Robinson concentrates his practice on representing underwriters, asset managers, administrative agents, and debt and equity investors in CLOs, with a focus on the middle market and private credit sectors. He also specializes in representing lenders, borrowers and asset managers in structured loan facilities, CLO warehouse facilities, risk retention financings, and a variety of other asset-backed securities transactions.

Mr. Robinson is frequently consulted on regulatory matters, in particular as to U.S. and EU risk retention compliance, the Volcker Rule, and other regulatory compliance issues related to CLOs. His practice has also covered a broader range of capital markets matters, including debt private placements, leveraged finance, and transportation finance.

Mr. Robinson is the co-author of several articles on pressing issues in the CLO market, including developments in the U.S. risk retention rules, is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, and is often quoted in the financial press on topics related to CLOs.

RECOGNITIONS

• Chambers USA, Nationwide Capital Markets: Securitization: CLOs (2022)
• The Legal 500 US, Recommended for Structured Finance: Securitization

EDUCATION

• Boston College Law School, J.D., 2005
• New York University, B.A. (cum laude), 1997

Shiloh Bates Chief Investment Officer FLAT ROCK GLOBAL

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.

Matthew Layton Partner PEARL DIVER CAPITAL

Matthew has 20 years’ experience of buy-side credit experience in CLOs and leveraged finance. Matthew joined Pearl Diver in 2009, he heads Pearl Diver’s EMEA business, is a voting member of the investment committee and is co-head of the credit division.  Prior to joining Pearl Diver, Matthew was a Credit Analyst with Alcentra where he covered Publishing, Media, Leisure and Gaming, Restaurants and Environmental Services. His experience covers analysing and investing in CLOs, investment origination, fundamental company level credit analysis and corporate restructurings.  Matthew holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Wales, Swansea.

Serhan Secmen Global Head of CLO Business NAPIER PARK

Serhan Secmen is a Partner and Portfolio Manager of the CLO Investments Strategy at Napier Park Global Capital (“Napier Park”). Napier Park separated from Citigroup’s alternative investment arm, Citi Capital Advisors (“CCA”), in February 2013. Prior to joining Citi Capital Advisors in August 2008, Serhan was a CLO trader at Lehman Brothers. Prior to his post at Lehman Brothers, he spent several years in Texas as a project manager focusing on special project financing. During his tenure at Napier Park, Serhan has assisted in the development of multiple propriety analytics systems and has been influential in the various strategies and methodologies for analyzing CLOs and other structured products. Since 2006, Serhan has also been involved in various industry forums and networks, including the investor roundtables for Moody's, S&P, and Fitch Ratings. He frequently appears as a speaker at multiple industry conferences and panels. Serhan holds an MBA degree from Wharton School of Business, an MS degree from Texas A&M University, and a BS degree from Bogazici University in Turkey.

Lauren Basmadjian Partner, Global Head of Liquid Credit THE CARLYLE GROUP

Lauren Basmadjian is Partner, Global Head of Liquid Credit within Carlyle’s Global Credit platform and CEO of CCIF, Carlyle’s Closed End Fund focused on investing on equity and junior debt tranches of CLOs . She is based in New York and sits on the firm's Liquid and Private Investment Committees.

Ms. Basmadjian joined the Carlyle Group in 2020 after 19 years at Octagon Credit Investors, where she was a Senior Portfolio Manager and member of the Investment Committee. Prior to becoming a Portfolio Manager, Ms. Basmadjian managed Octagon's workout efforts and oversaw the leisure & entertainment, retail, consumer products, business services, food & beverage, and technology industries. 

She graduated Cum Laude from the Stern School of Business at New York University with a B.S. in Finance and Economics.

Edwin Wilches Managing Director and Co-Head of Securitized Products PGIM FIXED INCOME

Edwin Wilches, CFA, is a Managing Director and Co-Head of PGIM Fixed Income’s Securitized Products team. Mr. Wilches is also a portfolio manager for dedicated CLO Tranche portfolios as well other dedicated securitized products funds. Mr. Wilches oversees securitized product security selection across the firm’s multi-sector, investment grade, high yield, LDI, money market and general account strategies. He plays an active leadership role in PGIM’s Racial Equity Initiative via participation in multiple workstreams, and is a member of the Latinx Executive Leadership Team for both PGIM and PGIM Fixed Income. Mr. Wilches is an active member in multiple trade associations across the US and European markets seeking to represent our client’s best interests and to help promote a functioning market structure. Prior to assuming his current responsibilities, Mr. Wilches was responsible for managing and trading the Firm's investments in CLO tranches, supporting the Dryden CLO platform's business development and investor relations efforts, and analyzing off-the-run alternative fixed income opportunities. Earlier, Mr. Wilches was a member of PGIM Fixed Income’s CDO analyst team, Business and Product Development Team and Fixed Income Operations team. Mr. Wilches joined the Firm in 2003. He received a BA in Economics from Rutgers University and an MBA from New York University. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Sid Chhabra Managing Director, Head of Securitized Credit and CLO Management RBC BLUEBAY ASSET MANAGEMENT

Sid is Head of Securitized Credit and CLO Management and a BlueBay Senior Portfolio Manager within the team. Sid joined BlueBay Asset Management (which is now part of RBC Global Asset Management) in June 2018 and has over 20 years of credit, securitized credit and CLO experience, having been involved in the credit and securitized credit markets from the earliest stages of issuance. He was most recently a London-based Managing Director, responsible for securitized credit and CLOs, at Anchorage Capital Europe, a USD15 billion alternative investment manager. Prior to Anchorage, Sid was part of the Securitized Credit/CDO Group, EMEA, at JPMorgan where he was involved in originating, structuring and investing in securitized credit products. Sid holds a BTech from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM) and an MS from the London School of Economics.

Steve Baker Head Euro CLO Primary JP MORGAN

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.

Laila Kollmorgen Managing Director - CLO Tranche Portfolio Manager PINEBRIDGE INVESTMENTS

Ms. Kollmorgen is responsible for managing the investments in Collateralized Loan Obligation (“CLO”) tranches issued by third-party managers. She joined the firm in 2015, having previously worked in originating, structuring, sourcing, investing, and trading US and European products for Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York, HSH Nordbank in Hamburg, and BNP Paribas in London. Ms. Kollmorgen holds an MBA from the Wharton School, a Master of Arts from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Wellesley College. She is a CFA charterholder and holds series 7 and 63 licenses. She speaks German, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese.

Ali El Ghorfi Head of Capital Markets, Alternative Credit AXA IM

Ali is the Head of Capital Markets at AXA IM Alts in charge notably of AXA IM managed CLOs. He has in the past participated in the negotiation of financing transactions, warehouse investments, CLO investments across the capital structure and structured new funds, previously holding the role of Senior Structurer, where he focused on securitized and structured assets. 

Ali holds a Master’s degree in Financial Risk Engineering from the University of Bordeaux IV and a Master’s degree in Statistics and Stochastic Modelling from the University of Bordeaux I.

Kos Vavelidis Partner DLA PIPER

Kos Vavelidis advises originators, issuers, arrangers, investment managers and investors on a broad range of structured finance, derivatives, securitisation and asset-backed lending matters, with a particular focus on Collateralised Loan Obligations (CLOs).

He has experience representing the majority of arrangers, warehouse providers and a range of collateral managers and investors on European CLO transactions and warehouse facilities. He has recently represented clients such as Barclays, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Neuberger Berman, ICG, Oak Hill Advisors, Ares and CVC.

His experience includes structuring CLOs and public and private securitisations to comply with a variety of regulatory requirements, including the Dodd-Frank Act and the EU and UK Securitisation Regulations. He advises on the EU and UK regulatory framework, including the risk retention and transparency requirements regimes, as they apply to European and U.S. transactions. 

He has been at the forefront of developments in the European CLO space and has been involved in the development of new concepts, including uptier priming debt language, new ESG language, rating agency criteria, sanctions language and commercial concepts. Kos has spoken at industry conferences and been quoted in the press on legal developments in the industry.

Kos also has extensive experience in derivatives. He has acted for banks, hedge funds, private equity sponsors, and corporate borrowers, sovereigns, and sovereign wealth funds on a wide spectrum of cross-jurisdictional matters, with a particular emphasis on OTC and structured derivatives transactions in respect of currencies, rates, commodities and credit.

Before joining DLA Piper, Kos worked at a major a US law firm for four years and a Magic Circle firm for six years. He has previously been seconded to the structured finance legal team of a leading global investment bank and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, where he acted as the Determinations Committee Secretary for all regions and worked on the publication of key derivatives documentation.

Kos graduated with a Law degree from King's College London in 2011 and worked as a summer analyst at Goldman Sachs and a diplomatic advisor with the Greek mission to the United Nations in New York before qualifying as a solicitor.

Alexander Collins Partner CADWALADER

Alex Collins is a partner in the Capital Markets Group in Cadwalader's London office.

Alex focuses on structured finance, with an emphasis on CLOs. He has acted on a wide range of cross-border structured finance transactions and in respect of CLOs, has represented arrangers, asset managers and warehouse finance providers in connection with a variety of European CLO 2.0 transactions and warehouse facilities.

Alex has been working on CLO transactions since the resurgence of the European CLO market a number of years ago and has advised on numerous public CLO transactions, warehouses and related transactions such as the establishment of originator retention structures and retention financings.

Before joining Cadwalader, Alex was with a Magic Circle firm for seven years. He was also seconded to the legal structured finance teams of two leading investment banks.

Alex has been recognised as a Rising Star in the seventh and eighth editions of Legal Media Group’s ‘Rising Stars’ as part of its Expert Guides series in Structured Finance and Securitisation as well as in the International Financial Law Review (IFLR)  2021 and 2022 European Awards. Chambers UK and Legal 500 UK also recognise Alex as being “a rising star who understands the commercial aspects of a transaction and can explain them succinctly, and is pragmatic and focuses on finding solutions that work”. Alex is also recognised by Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom for Capital Markets Law and Securitisation Law.

Alex is admitted to practice in England and Wales.

Shant Fabricatorian European CLO Reporter CREDITFLUX

Shant Fabricatorian has been with Creditflux since 2023 as their European CLO reporter. Initially from Sydney, he has also worked in east Africa and New York before moving to London. His background is in political economy and communications.

Elena Rinaldi Portfolio Manager TWENTYFOUR ASSET MANAGEMENT

Elena joined TwentyFour in 2015 as an analyst in the firm's ABS team. Her primary responsibilities at the beginning involved assisting in the management and day-to-day activities of the team, focusing on underwriting and modelling of ABS/CMBS/RMBS and CLOs. Over the years, she has developed strong expertise in CLOs and CMBS. She’s currently a portfolio manager and a member of the firm's ESG Committee, where she leads on all sustainability matters related to ABS.

Elena has a 1st class MSc with honours in Finance and holds a BSc. in Management and Business Administration from the University of Bologna.

Before joining TwentyFour, Elena worked for one year as a Financial Analyst at Oakmore Investment Partners and Aqovia. She is a CFA® Charterholder and a member of the CFA Society UK. 

Alan Kelly Partner and Senior Credit Officer APOLLO

Alan Kelly is a Partner and Senior Credit Officer, Asset Backed Finance.  Prior to this, Alan's role was Partner in the Structured Credit team as Co-Head of Apollo’s Global Asset Backed Finance investment activity. Prior to joining Apollo in 2012, Alan was responsible for seeking investment opportunities and marketing Stone Tower Capital’s services in Europe. Before that, he was Senior Portfolio Manager with LBBW in its Irish Asset Management subsidiary focused on structured credit assets. Previously, he spent five years as an interest rate trader.

Alan holds a B. Comm degree and an MBS in Financial Services from University College Dublin.

Colin Behar Portfolio Manager USS

Colin is the portfolio manager for the structured finance direct investment mandate at USS. He has 10 years of buy-side experience in ABS, RMBS, CMBS and CLOs across the capital structure, both in Europe and in the US.

Peter Polanskyj Head of Structured Credit OBRA CAPITAL

Mr. Polanskyj is a Senior Managing Director & Head of Structured Credit for Obra Capital. Prior to joining Obra Capital in 2022, Mr. Polanskyj was Managing Director and Head of U.S. CLO Management at Sculptor Capital Management (formerly known as Och-Ziff). In this role, Mr. Polanskyj oversaw the various aspects of creating, securitizing, and managing CLOs and similarly structured products as an issuer as part of ICS. This business grew from inception in 2012 to approximately $15 billion in assets in 2022. Previously, Mr. Polanskyj held various positions at Morgan Stanley, including roles as a strategist focused on credit, structured credit, equity derivatives, and capital structure arbitrage. He also worked as an independent consultant focused on employee stock option valuation and as a Supervising Actuary for Reliance National Insurance Company. Mr. Polanskyj holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Mathematics from Rutgers University, where he was named a Henry Rutgers scholar, and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School.

Justin Pauley Partner, Head of CLO Capital Markets BRIGADE CAPITAL

Mr. Pauley is the Head of CLO Capital Markets. Prior to joining Brigade in 2012, Mr. Pauley led RBS’s CDO/CLO strategy platform. As a CLO strategist, Mr. Pauley focused on relative value, structural characteristics and collateral quality. In that capacity, Mr. Pauley published monthly reports on the CLO sector and provided the trading desk with analysis and information systems. Additionally, Mr. Pauley worked for Wells Fargo Securities and held various positions that included CDO Research Analyst. Mr. Pauley is the author of Unlocking Financial Data (O’Reilly Media, 2017). Mr. Pauley received a BS in Computer Science from Winthrop University.

Mehdi Kashani Head of Structured Credit ARINI

Mehdi Kashani oversees Structured Credit at Arini. He has 19 years of experience in Structured Credit Products. Mr. Kashani joined Arini in August 2022 from BNP Paribas where he was Head of ABS and CLO Trading for 6 years. He developed and ran the European CLO and ABS secondary franchise and built the internal risk management infrastructure. The BNP Paribas trading desk won Global Capital’s Secondary ABS trading desk of the year 2020, 2021 and 2022. Prior to BNP Paribas, he was responsible for setting up the European ABS and Structured Credit desks at RBC Capital Markets in 2014. He ran that function for 2 years in addition to acting as Interim Co-Head of European Credit Trading within that period. 

Previously, he was core to the development of the European ABS trading platform within Citigroup’s Global Securitised Markets franchise from 2009 to 2014. Prior to that, Mr. Kashani set-up the secondary trading desks at HBOS and Lloyds. He started his career as a Credit Investment Analyst at HBOS Treasury, where he covered the full range of Global Structured Credit products until being named a portfolio manager in 2007, managing the Structured Credit Liquidity portfolio. 

Mr. Kashani graduated from City University with a BSc (Hons) in Banking and International Finance.