EXPERIENCE

Brad Charchut joined Bain Capital in 2011. He is a Partner on the Credit team and member of the Private Credit Group, responsible for capital markets and originations in North America.

Prior to joining Bain Capital, Brad was a Senior Director at Cerberus and a Vice President at Heller Financial.

EDUCATION

Brad received an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BA from Northwestern University.

Brad Marshall is the Global Head of Private Credit Strategies, Chairman and Co-CEO of both the Blackstone Private Credit Fund (BCRED) and the Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (BXSL) in Blackstone Credit and Insurance (BXCI) based in New York.

Prior to joining Blackstone in 2005, Mr. Marshall worked in various roles at RBC, including fixed income research and business development within RBC’s private equity funds effort. Prior to RBC, Mr. Marshall helped develop a private equity funds business for TAL Global, a Canadian asset management division of CIBC, and prior to that, he co-founded a microchip verification software company where he served as Chief Financial Officer.

Mr. Marshall received an MBA from McGill University in Montreal and a BA (Honors) in Economics from Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada.

Brett Pearlman, a partner at Cleary Gottlieb, focuses on private credit, special situations direct lending, workouts, restructurings, and liability management transactions. He has extensive experience in various financing transactions, including asset-backed, unitranche, second lien, PIK-holdco, mezzanine, debtor-in-possession, and rescue financing. He works with sponsored and non-sponsored companies, leveraging his extensive network of sponsor, bank, direct lending, hedge fund, advisory, and intermediary relationships.

Previously, Brett was a principal at an independent investment firm focused on providing financing solutions to middle-market companies. Before that, he served as a senior vice president at a global private equity firm, overseeing its private debt portfolio of over 150 companies and serving as a director on several portfolio company boards across various asset classes.

Mr. Stewart is Global Co-Head Corporate Credit and is based in Dallas. He serves on the Leadership Committee and is a member of several investment committees.

Mr. Stewart oversees global public and private corporate credit investing strategies which include private credit, broadly syndicated loans, hybrid capital solutions and opportunistic/distressed credit. Mr. Stewart has 19 years of experience investing in corporate credit. Prior to joining Fortress in 2014, Mr. Stewart was a Managing Director at Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, a middle market private equity and credit investment firm, where Mr. Stewart led origination, execution and portfolio management for the direct lending, distressed debt and hybrid capital strategies. Before that, Mr. Stewart was an analyst at Houlihan Lokey in the financial restructuring group.

Mr. Stewart attended the University of Southern California where he received a B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance.

Christopher Zybrick serves as an investment professional focused on private credit transactions and is a member of the Private Credit Capital Markets team at OHA. In his role, Mr. Zybrick is responsible for structuring and negotiating financing terms for both financial sponsors and corporate borrowers, including in connection with leveraged buyouts, acquisitions and recapitalizations. He also supports co-investment activities alongside OHA’s private credit strategies. Prior to joining OHA, Mr. Zybrick was a Vice President in Leveraged and Acquisition Finance at Credit Suisse. Previously, he served as a leveraged finance credit analyst at Deutsche Bank. Mr. Zybrick earned a B.A. from Rutgers University

Eric Wittleder is a Managing Partner in Brookfield’s Credit Group. In this role, Mr. Wittleder serves as Deputy CIO of Brookfield’s infrastructure high yield debt strategy and supports the oversight of the underwriting of its global credit investment opportunities.

Prior to joining Brookfield in 2017, Mr. Wittleder worked for several leading investment banks, raising debt capital for energy and infrastructure projects in the U.S. and Latin America.

Mr. Wittleder holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University.

Evan Lederman is a Partner, Co-Head of Credit at J.F. Lehman & Company (“JFL”), an alternative asset manager with approximately $8 billion of AUM. Mr. Lederman has 20 years of investing, legal and restructuring experience across the credit spectrum, ranging from performing to distressed. He has chaired various creditor committees in some of the largest and most complex restructurings and serves on numerous public and private corporate boards, including currently serving as a director of JFL portfolio company, PURIS and Team, Inc.

Previously, Mr. Lederman was a Partner at Fir Tree Capital Management, a multi-billion dollar investment manager, where he was Co-Head of Credit and Special Situations. Mr. Lederman began his career as a restructuring and litigation attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.

A native of New York, Mr. Lederman graduated magna cum laude from New York University, where he earned a B.A. in political science and government and was the all-university commencement speaker. He also graduated with honors from New York University School of Law, where he received a J.D.

Fernando Martinez is a Managing Director, Global Credit, at the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO), an institutional investor managing over C$90 billion on behalf of its public sector clients. He manages a ~C$10 billion global credit strategy focused on active public and private credit investments (funds and direct), spanning direct lending, infrastructure credit, and capital solutions. Prior to IMCO, he was a Director at Sun Life Capital Management, focusing on private debt investing across North America and the UK. He began his career in Citigroup’s Institutional Clients Group. He holds an MBA from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. He is based in Toronto.

Fran Blair joined PSP Investments in 2018 and serves as a Managing Director in the firm’s direct investing Credit business, where he heads the distressed credit and rescue finance strategy in New York. Mr. Blair is a member of the Global Credit Investment Committee for private credit and liquid/syndicated leveraged credit in addition to leading the firm’s restructuring and post-reorganization corporate governance efforts. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of Transcendia Holdings Inc., Fleet Farm Group LLC, and Coronis Health I, LLC, with past board experience including Crash Champions LLC (formerly Service King), Dayton Superior Corporation, and Penson Technologies LLC (formerly Penson Financial Services). In addition to his corporate governance roles, Mr. Blair has extensive experience serving on creditor and ad hoc committees in restructurings and bankruptcies, including cases such as Indiana Toll Road. Prior to PSP, Mr. Blair was a Managing Director at Solus Alternative Asset Management LP, where he was a founding member of the investment team in 2007. He previously held roles in credit investing, trading, and restructuring at Deutsche Bank and began his career in the Financial Sponsors Group at Bankers Trust. Mr. Blair holds a BA in Economics from Hamilton College.

Gary Creem is a Corporate partner with Prosakuer Rose LLP and co-head of The Private Credit Group.

Gary focuses his practice on complex corporate finance transactions, including leveraged sponsor buyouts, acquisition financings and recapitalization transactions. Gary routinely represents an array of leading institutional investors in direct, club and syndicated financing transactions in the middle market and upper middle market, often involving cross-border components. His clients include leading investment banks, institutional investors, direct lenders, private debt funds, business development companies, and technology focused investors. Gary advises these clients on a range of credit products across the capital spectrum, including: senior and senior stretch loans; unitranche facilities (straight and bifurcated); second lien financings; mezzanine debt; subordinated notes; and other innovative financial products. Gary also advises clients on structuring software and other technology-based financings, including recurring revenue-based transactions.

A significant part of Gary’s practice is spent counseling institutional investors in complex inter lender arrangements, including agreements among lenders, intercreditor agreements and subordination agreements. Gary frequently advises clients on debt restructurings and out-of-court workouts, including forbearance matters, debt-for-equity exchanges, restructuring support agreements and Article 9 remedies. Gary has deep experience with non-traditional equity transactions, including debt-like preferred equity as third-party financing, equity kickers and co-investments for private credit investors and debt for equity swaps involving troubled companies.

Gary Creem is a Corporate partner with Prosakuer Rose LLP and co-head of The Private Credit Group.

Gary focuses his practice on complex corporate finance transactions, including leveraged sponsor buyouts, acquisition financings and recapitalization transactions. Gary routinely represents an array of leading institutional investors in direct, club and syndicated financing transactions in the middle market and upper middle market, often involving cross-border components. His clients include leading investment banks, institutional investors, direct lenders, private debt funds, business development companies, and technology focused investors. Gary advises these clients on a range of credit products across the capital spectrum, including: senior and senior stretch loans; unitranche facilities (straight and bifurcated); second lien financings; mezzanine debt; subordinated notes; and other innovative financial products. Gary also advises clients on structuring software and other technology-based financings, including recurring revenue-based transactions.

A significant part of Gary’s practice is spent counseling institutional investors in complex inter lender arrangements, including agreements among lenders, intercreditor agreements and subordination agreements. Gary frequently advises clients on debt restructurings and out-of-court workouts, including forbearance matters, debt-for-equity exchanges, restructuring support agreements and Article 9 remedies. Gary has deep experience with non-traditional equity transactions, including debt-like preferred equity as third-party financing, equity kickers and co-investments for private credit investors and debt for equity swaps involving troubled companies.

Mr. Gipkhin is a member of the private debt team.

Prior to joining StepStone, Mr. Gipkhin was an Investment Banking Analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, where he worked on a variety of mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity transactions for clients in the industrials space.

Mr. Gipkhin received his BS in Finance and Accounting from Indiana University.

H.T. Flanagan is a debt finance partner in the Dallas and New York offices of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He advises private credit funds, alternative lenders and other investors in traditional private credit financings and bespoke capital solutions. He counsels such credit-oriented investors on direct originations, secondary market opportunities, complex intercreditor issues and novel structured capital investments. In addition to his private credit-focused lender-side practice, H.T. also advises private equity firms and their portfolio companies on a range of borrower-side leveraged finance transactions. He has extensive experience representing both lender and borrower private capital clients on acquisition financings, liability management transactions, debtor-in-possession financings, hybrid capital instruments and special situations investments.

H.T. has been named as one of the future leaders in leveraged finance as part of the “500 X – The Next Generation” by Lawdragon and is recommended for private credit by The Legal 500 United States. Prior to entering law school, H.T. was a pitcher for the Washington University baseball team, where he was a three-time academic all-conference selection.

Horace Zona is a Managing Director, Credit at DigitalBridge. Mr. Zona has over 30 years of experience in the Communications, Media and Technology sectors with over 25 years of direct experience sourcing transactions in Digital Infrastructure. Prior to joining DigitalBridge, Mr. Zona was a Managing Director and Group Head of the Technology, Media Telecommunications Investment Banking Group at Truist Securities (formerly SunTrust Robinson Humphrey). Mr. Zona founded the business de novo and built the 60 person team over 14 years by expanding into Digital Infrastructure, Digital Media, FinTech and Software practices, utilizing strategic client dialogue to deliver unique solutions in M&A and Debt and Equity Capital Markets. Prior to Truist, Mr. Zona held several senior positions focused on Digital Infrastructure at Wachovia Securities (formerly First Union Securities) and TD Securities. Mr. Zona received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and English Literature from Boston College.

Mr. Mandinach is a managing director in the Newport Beach office. He leads product strategy for PIMCO’s global credit and private strategies platform, responsible for corporate, asset-based, and multi-asset public and private credit and private real asset debt and equity strategies. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2010, he worked in business development for the Chicago Climate Futures Exchange, where he developed derivative contracts on environmental commodities. Previously, he was a vice president in the structured products group at Bear Stearns. He has 19 years of investment experience and holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware.

Jeffrey Frank is the Head of Capital Formation in TPG Angelo Gordon’s middle market direct lending business, Twin Brook Capital Partners.

Previously, Jeff served as TPG Angelo Gordon’s Treasurer, overseeing the platform’s liquidity and financing activities and bank relationships. Before joining TPG Angelo Gordon, Jeff was a Vice President overseeing Treasury and Structured Funding for Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM). During Jeff’s almost 16 years at GSAM, he held several positions within their alternative investment businesses. Jeff was a member of GSAM’s private equity group and hedge fund strategy business units where he focused on liquidity, funding, structuring, and financial due diligence. Jeff holds a B.A. degree from Saint Anselm College.

John Britton is a partner in the New York office of Milbank and a member of the firm’s Alternative Investments Practice.

Primary Focus & ExperienceMr. Britton’s practice focuses on representing direct lenders in a broad range of private finance transactions, including domestic and cross-border acquisition financings, leveraged recapitalizations and refinancings; second lien and first out-last out structures; holdco and preferred equity financings; and debt restructurings. Mr. Britton also represents lenders and companies in restructuring matters and liability management transactions.

.Justin Karp is a Managing Director on the Secondary and Portfolio Finance team at Carlyle AlpInvest. 

He is based in New York. Prior to joining Carlyle AlpInvest, Mr. Karp was a Managing Director at Golub Capital, where he was responsible for originating, executing, and managing investments for the firm's private credit strategy. Mr. Karp spent over 17 years at Golub Capital, serving in a variety of capacities across direct lending and credit opportunities, and notably helped lead the firm's efforts in credit secondaries, NAV financing, and GP financing. Prior to joining Golub Capital, Mr. Karp worked at Shattuck Hammond Partners, focusing on M&A as well as debt and equity financings.

 Mr. Karp received a BBA degree with dual concentrations in Finance and International Business from the Roberto C. Goizueta Business School at Emory University

Kevin Mahony - Senior Managing Director, New York

Experience

Kevin joined Centerbridge in 2014 and focuses on investments in the Industrials and Consumer sectors. Prior to joining Centerbridge, Kevin was an Associate at Oaktree Capital Management in the Global Principal Group. Prior to that, Kevin was an Investment Banking Analyst at Lazard in the Restructuring Group.

Kevin serves on the Boards of Directors of Title Resources Group.

Education

University of Virginia, B.S. and B.A., with distinction

Madalina Iacob is a seasoned financial journalist with more than a decade of experience covering distressed debt, liability management transactions, complex restructurings, and event-driven credit across the high-yield and leveraged finance markets. Her reporting had a particular emphasis on the energy and telecommunications sectors, where she has closely followed in and out-of-court restructurings, covenant erosion, creditor litigation, and evolving private credit dynamics.

She holds a Master’s degree in Business and Economic Reporting from New York University and a Master’s in European Politics & Policy from the University of Manchester in the UK, where she was awarded an Open Society Foundation scholarship.

Prior to her U.S.-based financial journalism career, Madalina worked as a broadcast journalist covering geopolitical developments and policy across global markets. Her international reporting assignments included on-the-ground coverage from Afghanistan, Belgium, Cuba, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

Meenal Mehta is a Senior Managing Director at Blue Owl and member of the Direct Lending Investment Team. Meenal is also a member of the Diversified Lending Investment Committee. In her role as Co-Head of Underwriting, she oversees the day-to-day underwriting of diversified investments.

Before joining Blue Owl, Meenal was a Managing Director at Antares Capital, a direct lender to middle market firms based in New York. Prior to that, she was a Vice President at GE Capital. Meenal began her career as a Manager at L&T Finance Limited, Mumbai India in the Treasury Group.

Meenal received a BS in Commerce and Economics from Sydenham College, Mumbai University, a MS in Management Studies with a specialization in Finance from NMIMS, Mumbai University and an MBA from Emory University's Goizueta Business School.

Michael M. Mezzacappa is the co-head of The Private Credit Group and a member of the Corporate Department. His practice focuses on representing agents, lenders and borrowers in a variety of complex financings and credit arrangements, including acquisition financings (sponsor-led and strategic acquisitions and "going private" transactions, to name a few), dividend recapitalization financings, asset­ based loans, cash flow loans, special situations loans, DIP loans, bridge financings and cross-border and multi-currency loans. He has extensive experience representing agents and lenders in multi-tiered financing facilities, second-lien and unitranche loan facilities (including "B" loans and other "last out" structures), mezzanine and subordinated debt facilities, distressed debt facilities and intercreditor and subordination agreements. Michael helps investors craft and implement creative hybrid capital solutions that straddle traditional debt and equity, and advises on distressed investing, debt restructuring and workouts.

Michael is a member of the American Bar Association's Business Law Section, the New York City Bar Association, the Commercial Finance Association and the Turnaround Management Association. Michael obtained his B.S., with honors, from City University of New York in 1993, and his J.D., magna cum laude, from New York Law School in 1998, where he served on the New York Law School Review.

Michael Haynes – Portfolio Manager, Head of Private Credit

Michael Haynes is a Portfolio Manager and the Head of Private Credit strategies at Beach Point Capital Management. Mr. Haynes, who has been in the finance industry since 1996, also serves the head of the firm’s New York office. Prior to Beach Point he was a Director at Post Advisory Group. Mr. Haynes was previously at Babcock & Brown where he was responsible for principal investing and advisory assignments involving debt and equity across a range of industries and asset types. Earlier, he was the Vice President & Treasurer of Sirius Satellite Radio, where he was responsible for raising capital, strategic planning, and investor relations. Mr. Haynes has also served as an Investment Banker at Merrill Lynch and Oppenheimer. 

He currently serves on the board of advisors of the Tufts University Athletics Department. Mr. Haynes received a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University.

Nick Pepe is a Partner at Apollo and the firm’s global lead Product Specialist for Asset-Backed Finance (ABF). He oversees product growth and development across Apollo’s ABF and adjacent strategies, leads capital formation for the platform, and manages the ABF Product team. In addition, Nick serves on the steering committee of the Apollo Family Network, which supports families through volunteer opportunities, education, and community engagement.

Prior to joining Apollo, Nick spent six years as Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Mill Hill Capital LLC, where he co-founded the Mill Hill Convex Credit Fund and served on the firm’s investment committee and board of directors. Earlier in his career, he spent thirteen years in Citi’s Securitized Markets Division, focusing on asset-backed finance transactions for the firm’s institutional clients.

Nick graduated from Williams College with a B.A. in Economics.

Rashad is a Credit Partner and Managing Director with Stonepeak. Before joining Stonepeak, Rashad was a co-Founder and Partner at Boundary Street, focusing on lower middle market digital credit opportunities. Prior to Boundary Street, Rashad was a Director of Communications Infrastructure at Pacific Western Bank. Prior to Pacific Western Bank, he worked at CapitalSource and Protiviti in lending and consulting roles.

Rashad received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the College of William and Mary. He also earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation from the CFA Institute.

Ray Costa

Head of US Special Situations

Managing Director

Ray Costa is a Managing Director, Head of US Special Situations, and Portfolio Manager with Benefit Street Partners and is based in our New York office. He leads the firm’s US Special Situations strategy, focusing on opportunistic and distressed credit investments across market cycles.

Prior to joining BSP in 2014, Mr. Costa was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank Securities, where he was Global Head of Special Situations and Co-Head of Credit Fixed Income Trading for North America. Earlier in his career, he worked at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corporation.

Mr. Costa received a Bachelor of Arts from the State University of New York at Albany.

Since his commencement of employment in late November 2025, Robert Ruberton joined Lane42 as a Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager, based in the New York office. He joins after 21 years at Apollo Global Management, where he played a key role in establishing and growing various credit and special situations businesses. He was most recently a Partner and Co-Head of Hybrid Value, a $14 billion capital solutions and structured equity business which he co-founded in 2017.

Prior to Hybrid Value, Mr. Ruberton was a Partner, business head, and portfolio manager across multiple strategies, including Illiquid Opportunistic Credit, European Credit, the ALME European CLO platform, Asia Credit, Energy Credit, and Apollo Investment Corporation, a listed BDC. Mr. Ruberton was the chair or member of numerous Apollo investment committees and was a member of the firm's Partner Committee. He joined Apollo in 2004 after four years at Arsenal Capital Partners, a middle-market private equity fund. Before Arsenal, he was an investment banker at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette from 1997 to 2000.

Mr. Ruberton graduated cum laude from Harvard College with an A.B. in Economics. 

He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Peddie School and of Montclair Kimberley Academy, where he chairs both schools' Investment Committees and sits on their Executive Committees.

Sijia is a partner in Davis Polk’s Investment Management practice. Sijia advises fund sponsors on the formation and operation of investment funds in a variety of strategies and asset classes, including private equity funds, hedge funds, real estate funds, “hybrid” funds and debt funds. She also advises fund managers on fund-related aspects of M&A transactions, including deal structuring and co-investment arrangements.

Sijia represents fund sponsors and investors in connection with a broad range of complex secondary transactions – including continuation vehicle transactions, portfolio sales, tender offers, structured secondaries, synthetic secondaries and fund restructurings across various sectors.

She also advises fund sponsors on internal operations and firm management matters, including governance, compensation, succession planning and separation arrangements, as well as regulatory and compliance matters.

In 2024, Law360 named Sijia a “Rising Star” in fund formation and Secondaries Investor named her among the “Next Gen Leaders of Secondaries.”