Debtwire US Private Credit Forum 2023
The must-attend event for the US middle market returns!
Conrad New York Downtown, 102 North End Avenue, New York, NY 10282
Breakfast and registration
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Opening panel: Current state of the US private credit market-filling the public void
According to reports, the private credit market as of 2022 has grown to USD1.4 trillion AUM and it is expected to increase to USD2.3 trillion by 2027. These statistics sit against a backdrop of rising interest rates, inflationary pressures, and a looming recession in the US, where an effective shut-off of the syndicated loan market has meant that private credit managers are increasingly being asked to finance large buyouts. For lenders with dry powder, this should present an opportunity of higher returns as well as the ability to negotiate more favourable terms with borrowers. However, concerns around long-term financial strain remain. Our panel of leading private credit managers and experts will discuss their views on the market and offer insights on how to best navigate the choppy waters ahead.
- What are fund managers doing to prepare for continued uncertainties and market dislocations?
- How has the fundraising market shaped up in the past year, and where are funding sources coming from?
- The transition from public to private lending – how are direct lenders capitalising on this, and what changes do they expect in the next few months?
- Which recession-resistant sectors are private credit managers favouring, and what is the outlook for the year ahead?
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Networking break
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Opportunistic credit: distressed debt and special situations- a strategy for volatile times
The current dislocation of the economy and heightened global inflation could arguably be setting the scene for a distressed cycle, with current market conditions favouring opportunistic strategies as corporate borrowers face heavy debt loads and financial distress. Having an opportunistic credit strategy means that managers can build portfolios with good downside protection, and with more firms raising and closing funds targeting distressed debt and special situations, activity in this sector seems to be poised for an uptick. Our panel of fund managers will assess the opportunity set.
- How are continued market dislocations creating more distressed debt and special situation opportunities? What has changed compared to a year ago?
- How can managers best take advantage of the upcoming distressed cycle?
- What are some of the sectors and more unique strategies that opportunistic investors are looking at?
- What is the outlook for the year ahead?
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Networking Lunch
CLOs under pressure
The outlook for the US CLO market remains rocky at the beginning of 2023, with ongoing headwinds impacting CLO formation and performance, a rising level of low-rated CLO assets in 2022, and a risk of credit rating downgrades. Despite this, industry experts have remarked that mid-market deals and broadly syndicated CLO activity remains. Given these conditions, our panel of CLO managers will discuss the resilience of the sector and what they have been doing to navigate the current market dislocations.
- Given the current market downturn and deteriorating credit conditions, what will the long-term impact be for CLOs?
- How has CLO formation fared in the past 12 months? Are we seeing opportunities for new CLO formation given the current rate environment?
- How are CLO managers reacting to the current downturn, and what strategies have they employed? Will we see increased consolidation?
- Which segments of the CLO market are defying the odds?
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Fireside chat - private credit secondaries: coming of age
Private credit secondary deal activity has been growing steadily as LPs search for liquidity options, with more asset managers raising capital in the market. Our secondaries experts will break down the trends and outlook for this strategy.
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Networking break
Sector focus: Software and technology – risks and rewards
In the past year, the technology and software sector has captured the attention of private credit lenders who sought to finance deals in the industry despite market volatility, as evidenced by several take-privates funded with private debt and a rise in popularity in ARR loans for growth-stage companies. However, given the current state of the economy, it is likely that lenders will pause to take stock and become more selective and disciplined in their investments. Our panel of technology and software private credit lenders and industry experts will discuss their views on the market and identify opportunities on the horizon.
- How has the technology and software lending market developed in the past 12 months, and how has the drop-off in tech valuations impacted the private credit market?
- Will the appetite for software deals among private credit firms remain as buoyant as before, and is the competition still as strong?
- Where are the greatest opportunities for returns in this sector?
- ARR lending – what promoted the growth of the recurring revenue financing market, and will this lending model remain popular?
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Panel- Institutional investor insights- allocator perspectives
The recent state of the public markets has meant that institutional investors’ overall asset allocation pie has shrunk. Despite this, private credit remains an attractive source of investment for LPs, amounting to over USD100 billion in pension fund investments. Indeed, a public market retreat has meant that pensions now have more flexibility to add more illiquid debt into their portfolios, and there seems to be no pause in activity for this asset class. Our panel of top LPs will discuss their private credit allocations, key considerations, and their outlook for the year ahead.
- What continues to make private credit a compelling investment opportunity for LPs, especially given the current macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape?
- What are some of the investment trends investors are leaning towards in this climate, such as expanding into new geographic locations and focusing on non-cyclical businesses?
- Despite market optimism, what are some of the ongoing challenges LPs face when investing in the space?
- What are some unique opportunities LPs see on the horizon, and what are allocators’ plans for the year ahead?
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End of conference and networking drinks
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With over 20 years of experience in the financial media and information industry, Yana Morris a passionate and innovative leader who thrives on creating and delivering high-quality content and solutions to global clients. As the Chief Content Officer she is responsible for the content strategies, distribution and compliance of ION Analytics core service brands: Debtwire, Dealogic, Mergermarket and Infralogic.
| Mr. Alexopoulos joined Golub Capital in 2007 and is a Senior Managing Director and Head of Originations on the Direct Lending team. He is a member of the Firm’s Investment Committee and is responsible for originating, underwriting, executing and monitoring investments for the Firm. Prior to joining Golub Capital, Mr. Alexopoulos worked at Silver Point Capital, where he was on the Commercial Finance team that provides senior and junior capital to middle market companies. Prior to that, he was a Vice President at GE Capital’s Global Sponsor Finance group, where he originated, structured and executed middle market private equity and leveraged finance transactions. Prior to this position, Mr. Alexopoulos worked in GE Capital’s Restructuring group, where he managed the workout of distressed portfolio investments. Mr. Alexopoulos earned his BA degree in Economics from Cornell University. He received an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. |
Charlotte E. Muellers is Managing Director, Co-Head of North America, Credit Investments, at the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments Holding USA LLC). She has more than 25 years of experience in private debt.
Charlotte joined PSP Investments USA in 2016 and her primary responsibilities include management of the NY Credit team, overseeing origination, portfolio management and capital markets functions.
Prior to joining PSP Investments USA, Charlotte held a number of senior positions, including Vice President, TPG Specialty Lending and Vice President, Barclays Private Credit Partners.
Charlotte holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from American University and an MBA from Columbia University.
Since the inception of its Credit Investments group in November 2015, PSP Investments has led, structured or anchored debt transactions for leading sponsors, including Thoma Bravo, Veritas Capital, GTCR, KKR, Advent, Blackstone, TPG, TA Associates and Apollo.
Bill leads the investment, portfolio construction, and fundraising efforts of the Private Credit Team, and manages key relationships with general partners in North America and Europe.
Prior to joining Adams Street, Bill was head of the US Private Debt Group (at the time the Mezzanine Debt Group) at Oaktree Capital Management. In this role he developed the strategy, managed the team, and approved the investments. In conjunction with Oaktree’s in-house marketing team, Bill led the fundraising effort for each of the three funds for which he was responsible.
Prior to Oaktree, Bill worked at J.P. Morgan, where he was the Co-Head of both the Leveraged Finance Origination Team and the High Yield Capital Markets Group. Bill previously worked at NationsBank as head of the high yield business where he was responsible for the High Yield Origination Team, the High Yield Capital Markets Group, Private Placements, and Nations Bridge (the banks bridge loan unit). Bill commenced his career at Bear Stearns.
Bill is Chair of the Adams Street Partners Private Credit Investment Committee and member of the Executive Committee.
Education:
New York University, BS, cum laude
New York University, MBA
Years of investment/operational experience: 35 years
Randy is co-head of senior lending and oversees senior lending origination and capital markets for Churchill Asset Management, an investment specialist of Nuveen.
Randy has broad experience in middle market finance and is widely credited with developing loan syndications for middle market companies. Prior to joining the firm, Randy served as a senior managing director and head of capital markets and indirect origination at Churchill Financial. In those positions, he took responsibility for all loan capital markets activities and for managing the firm’s indirect origination platform. Before that, he worked as managing director and head of leveraged finance syndication for BNP Paribas. He spent 15 years at JP Morgan Chase in corporate banking and loan syndications, where he originated, structured and syndicated leveraged loans.
Randy graduated with a B.A., cum laude, from Trinity College and an M.A. from the University of Chicago.
John M. Timperio, a partner in Dechert's global finance practice and a member of the firm’s Policy Committee, has more than 25 years of experience working with some of the world's largest asset managers and investment banks on various types of structured finance solutions, including CLOs and structured loan facilities. Mr. Timperio leads Dechert’s Structured Credit and CLO team, which has not only been ranked one of the most active in the CLO market since it restarted but also one of the most distinguished in terms of industry awards for best CLO law firm. He is also actively involved in creating various permanent capital solutions for various of the firm's 50 plus asset manager clients who currently manage CLOs, including US and EU risk retention compliant structures.
Mr. Timperio is recognized by Law360 as a 2020 MVP of the Year for Structured Finance. Mr. Timperio is ranked as a leading lawyer for securitization and CLOs by Chambers USA, recognizing his expertise on middle market CLO transactions. Mr. Timperio is cited in Chambers USA as "the quintessential managers' lawyer in CLOs, he is at the forefront of development and is a pleasure to work with." Mr. Timperio is also a recommended lawyer for Structured Finance by The Legal 500 (U.S.), where he was described as "very prolific" and "well known" for his work in the middle market CLO sector. Since 2012, he has been ranked in The Best Lawyers in America as a leading lawyer in banking and finance law. Mr. Timperio is a frequent author and speaker on the topic of CLOs and risk retention.
Todd is a leveraged finance and private debt partner in Allen & Overy’s New York office. He advises a wide variety of financial institutions and investment funds across a broad range of domestic and international finance transactions. He regularly counsels commercial and investment banks, alternative asset managers and private credit funds, as well as borrowers and other market participants, on secured and unsecured loans, leveraged and acquisition financings, asset-based loan facilities, debtor-in-possession financings, bridge loans, restructurings and recapitalizations, and general corporate finance and banking matters. His practice spans the syndicated loan and “direct lending” markets and ranges from middle-market to large cap transactions across multiple asset classes, including U.S. domestic and Latin American digital infrastructure.
Todd leads A&O’s annual Leveraged Finance Training Camp and has published articles in a number of media outlets, including The Banking Law Journal, The Banker and the International Comparative Legal Guide to Lending & Secured Finance. He is a frequent contributor to industry conferences and podcasts, such as Debtwire’s U.S. Private Credit Forum and the ABF Journal and 9fin podcasts, among others.
Todd received his BBA from The University of Georgia and his JD and MBA from Vanderbilt University.
Alana C. St. Aude is Vice President and Senior Counsel for Private Credit in Goldman Sachs Asset and Wealth Management where she leads legal coverage of private credit transactions, with a focus on direct lending, hybrid capital, business development company, senior, subordinated, unitranche and mezzanine loans, equity co-investments, preferred equity and fund formation matters, along with other complex structuring and financing transactions for middle market and large cap private equity sponsored companies.
Alana also has experience as in-house counsel for Capital One's Commercial Bank where she was lead counsel for technology, media, telecom (TMT) leveraged finance and financial institutions group, and as a Banking & Finance Associate Attorney at the law firms of Weil Gotshal and Paul Weiss.
Alana is the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Advancement Initiative, an organization of mid-career women of color attorneys both in-house and at outside law firms. Alana was selected as a Leadership Council for Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellow for 2021, a 92Y Women in Power Fellow for 2020 and has been recognized as a Top 10-30 Somethings Award recipient for the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and Top 40 Under 40 by The Network Journal. Alana received her law degree from Harvard Law School where she was honored as a member of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, and received her Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University where she was a recipient of the Cornell Tradition Fellowship.
| Vincent Indelicato is a partner in Proskauer’s Corporate Department, and a member of both the Business Solutions, Governance, Restructuring & Bankruptcy and Private Credit Restructuring Groups. His practice focuses on corporate restructurings, with an emphasis on the representation of direct lenders, ad hoc groups, bondholders and creditors’ committees both out of court and in chapter 11. He is frequently consulted by leading distressed hedge funds, BDCs, private credit lenders, private equity investors and creditors on complex domestic and international insolvency and restructuring issues, including intercreditor and interlender matters, across a variety of industries. Vincent is also part of the Firm’s cross-disciplinary, cross-jurisdictional Coronavirus Response Team helping to shape the guidance and next steps for clients impacted by the pandemic. Vincent has been recognized by the American Bankruptcy Institute for his “formidable courtroom presence with natural dealmaker instincts” as a recipient of the 40 Under 40 Award, and an Outstanding Young Restructuring Lawyer by Turnaround and Workouts. Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business describes Vincent as “incredibly thoughtful” and “a smart practitioner,” who “lobbies hard for his clients” and “is aggressive in his approach, but practical when it comes to dealmaking.” The Chief Executive Officer of a client recently told Bloomberg Law that “his mind is automatically strategic. And in tough situations, he never goes on defense. He has the ability to manage multiple personalities and temperaments to get them focused on the end game.” Reorg, one of the most widely-followed publications in the distressed investing community, also selected Vincent as the inaugural guest of its Professional Spotlight podcast. Over the last decade, Vincent has played a lead role in some of the most significant corporate reorganization cases in the United States. These include his representation of the Statutory Committee of Unsecured Claimholders in the chapter 11 cases of Caesars Entertainment Operating Company Inc., which filed for bankruptcy with more than $18 billion of funded debt; the Los Angeles Dodgers in their $2 billion acquisition by Magic Johnson and Guggenheim Partners; Brookfield Asset Management in the $2.5 billion debt restructuring of Kerzner International’s Atlantis Bahamas Resort; and J.P. Morgan and other substantial creditors in the chapter 11 cases of MF Global, a financial services company with $41 billion in assets. Vincent has been widely recognized in the restructuring community as a thought leader. He writes frequently on restructuring topics, and his writing has been featured in, among other publications, The Wall Street Journal Bankruptcy Pro, The American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, Law360 and The Bond Buyer. He has also assisted Martin Bienenstock as an Adjunct Professor of Corporate Reorganization at both Harvard Law School and Michigan Law School. He serves as a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Views from the Bench Advisory Board, the Federal Bar Counsel Bankruptcy Litigation Committee and is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Vincent was selected to participate in the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges NextGen Program, and also serves as a Member of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Leadership Council. A Harry S. Truman Scholar, Vincent graduated from University of Michigan Law School as commencement speaker. Prior to law school, he served as the Special Assistant to United States Senator Charles E. Schumer and worked as a personal aide to John C. Whitehead, former chairman and senior partner of Goldman Sachs. He also led a team of entrepreneurs to bring the world’s first hybrid taxicab to New York City. Vincent graduated with an English degree from Haverford College, where he served as president of the student body and was one of 16 college students from the United States to be selected as a Goldman Sachs Global Leader. He was a visiting student of English at Pembroke College, Oxford University. A native New Yorker, Vincent attended Regis High School, a tuition free private high school for young men who demonstrate superior intellectual and leadership potential. |
Avinash Kripalani
Partner, Opportunistic Credit Strategy
Avinash Kripalani is a Partner of Bardin Hill focusing on the firm’s Opportunistic Credit strategy. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Kripalani was a Consultant within IBM Global Business Services focusing on clients in the financial services industry. Mr. Kripalani earned M.S., B.S., and B.A. degrees from the University of Virginia.
Mark Lawrence, Managing Director, is a portfolio manager for the Investment Team focusing on investments in special situations, direct lending, distress, and secondary markets.
Prior to joining BlackRock in 2016, Mr. Lawrence was a Managing Director at Apollo Global Management as a portfolio strategist and senior member of the Opportunistic Credit Team responsible for overseeing $15 billion of capital. Mr. Lawrence was responsible for investment sourcing, execution, and monitoring of private investments in direct lending and distress-for-control investment. Before his experience at Apollo, Mr. Lawrence was a Managing Director and senior analyst at Solus Alternative Asset Management from 2007 to 2012, a credit-focused hedge fund with $3 billion of assets under management. At Solus, Mr. Lawrence was responsible for identifying, analyzing, and valuing investments in a variety of industrial and basic materials sectors. Mr. Lawrence has experience in stressed and distressed investing including control transactions. Prior to Solus, Mr. Lawrence was a Managing Director and analyst at Stanfield Capital Partners from 2002 to 2007 and an associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers Securities from 1998 to 2002.
Mr. Lawrence is currently a member of the University of Washington College of Engineering Advisory Board and previously was on the advisory boards of University of Washington Chemical Engineering and Mendoza Graduate Alumni. In the past, he served on the board of Express Energy Services.
Mr. Lawrence earned a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington and an MBA from Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame.
Ben Radinsky, Principal, HighVista Strategies
Ben is a Principal at HighVista Strategies focused on our Opportunistic Credit and Special Situations investing. Ben brings 20+ years of relevant experience including some 13 years of credit investment experience, most recently at Crescendo Asset Management. Ben received a B.A. in Biology from Yeshiva University and an MBA in Finance and Statistics from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Henry Wang joined BC Partners 2017 as a co-founder of BC Partners Credit. He is a Partner in the Credit team based in New York.
Previously, Henry was a Partner at Stonerise Capital Partners. Prior to this, he worked in the Special Situations Group and Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs and has held roles at Vulcan Capital (Paul Allen’s investment firm, co-founder of Microsoft) and Thomas Weisel Partners.
He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and a BSBA from Boston University.
Derek Miller is a managing director at Fitch Ratings. He currently heads the U.S. Structured Credit group responsible for collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) and other structured credit ratings. The Structured Credit group assigns new issue CLO ratings, maintains the accuracy of existing ratings, performs CLO asset manager assessments, and publishes research on transaction characteristics and performance.
Prior to this position Derek had oversight of new issue ratings for U.S. CLOs and assessments of U.S. CLO asset managers. Previously, he also held various positions within the Structured Credit group of Fitch Ratings, with a focus on new issue and surveillance ratings for CLOs, credit-linked notes, and other cash funded CDOs. Derek joined Fitch Ratings in 2001. He received a B.S. in finance from Indiana University.
Wynne Comer is the Chief Operating Officer and has nearly thirty years of experience in the structured credit markets.
Prior to AGL, from 2007 to 2019, Comer served as Global Head of the CLO Primary business at Bank of America Merrill Lynch where she led a team in New York and London to originate, structure, market and syndicate CLOs and other securitized credit products. The team distributed the products to a diverse range of institutional investors in the U.S., Asia and Europe. Prior to joining Bank of America Merrill Lynch in 2007, Comer spent 14 years at Citigroup in a wide range of roles, including Global Structured Products, Global Structured Bonds and Public Finance. Comer started her career in Tokyo with three years as an analyst in the International Project Finance Group at Sanwa Bank, the predecessor firm of Mitsubishi UFJ.
Comer has a BA in Economics from Cornell University and a MBA from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College. She was recently a Board Member of the Loan Syndications and Trading Association and the President’s Council of Cornell Women.
Ian Gilbertson is a Portfolio Manager and CLO Trader for Invesco’s Global Senior Loan group. He is Co-Lead Portfolio Manager for Invesco’s US CLO franchise. In this role, he is responsible for structuring and management of CLO (collateralized loan obligation) funds, as well as trading and investing in CLO securities of third party managers. Mr. Gilbertson joined Invesco in 2008 as a credit analyst for the Senior Secured Management group and was promoted to junior portfolio manager in 2016. In 2019, he took on portfolio management responsibilities for CLOs, as well as management of Invesco’s CLO note strategies. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Gilbertson worked in market data at Fidelity Investments. Mr. Gilbertson earned a BBA degree in finance and accounting from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
Mr. Glyck is the Head of CLO Structuring at Octagon and is responsible for overseeing the execution of new-issue CLOs, as well as resets and refinancings of existing Octagon CLOs. Prior to joining Octagon in 2021, Mr. Glyck was Global Head of CLO Structuring at Barclays, where he managed the new-issue CLO businesses in both US and Europe (Top 3 volume in both regions). Prior to Barclays, Mr. Glyck worked as Senior Deal Captain on the New-Issue CLO desk at Goldman Sachs. Mr. Glyck received a Bachelors in Business Administration from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
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.
Jerry van Koolbergen is the Managing Director responsible for Structured Credit at DBRS Morningstar. In this role, he oversees US and European teams rating CLOs, CLO warehouses, direct origination funds, leveraged loan funds, CFOs of private equity, SME CLOs, CLNs, ABCP, trade receivables, subscription loans, special projects and surveillance. He also is jointly responsible for middle market corporate ratings, oversees corporate credit estimates and new product development. Mr. van Koolbergen joined DBRS Morningstar in 2008.
Prior to DBRS Morningstar, Mr. van Koolbergen was an Executive Director for Morgan Stanley in 2006, and a Vice President for JPMorgan from 1998-2006 responsible for CLO structuring and origination.
Mr. van Koolbergen holds an MBA in Finance from New York University, a BS in Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Northwestern University.
Lisa is responsible for Investment Fund Debt ratings within the US Structured Credit team. She has lead analyst responsibilities for a diverse portfolio of fund debt ratings. She is the primary author of the Global Methodology for Rating Debt Issued by Investment Funds and the Global Methodology for Rating Investment Management Companies. A senior member of DBRS Morningstar’s rating committee, Lisa participates as a voting member in reviewing, assigning and changing ratings and rating trends across various asset classes.
Prior to joining the US Structured Credit team in March 2022, Lisa spent 14 years on the Global Financial Institutions team covering a broad array of financial institutions globally. Lisa also leads the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) advisory group for DBRS Morningstar, which is responsible for setting and implementing internal DEI-related objectives.
Prior to joining DBRS Morningstar in 2008, Lisa worked in the Corporate Treasury Group at Bear Stearns. There she contributed to building and enhancing liquidity and funding models and managed the team that maintained and monitored these models. Lisa was also responsible for managing rating agency and fixed income investor relationships.
Lisa is a graduate of Syracuse University.
Adam Tope advises secondaries firms, investment fund sponsors, and investors on fund formation and GP-led transactions. Having completed more than 100 secondaries transactions in his career, Adam has developed class-leading processes for managing tender offers and pooled sale/purchase transactions for clients.
Adam's represents lead investors in connection with GP-led and other complex secondary transactions. He brings a global perspective to his practice, having represented managers and investors in dozens of jurisdictions.
Adam's sponsor-side clients include prominent private equity and hedge fund managers, real estate managers, and venture capital sponsors. He advises in multiple areas, including the drafting of offering memoranda, negotiations with investors and Investment Advisers Act and Investment Company Act compliance. Adam also draws on his computer programming experience to advise fund managers forming cryptofunds.
Adam has worked with spin outs from Apollo, Carlyle, Riverstone, Summit Partners, and others. He has a deep understanding of how principal compensation is structured and can guide principals in negotiating vesting arrangements, key person/for cause removal rights, and rights to carried interest/promote.
Adam’s investor-side clients include family offices, funds of funds, endowments, sovereign wealth funds and royal families. He has represented these investors in hundreds of transactions in nearly every jurisdiction.
Adam is a former entrepreneur and served as the president and CEO of one of the 500 largest online companies – giving him an entrepreneurial perspective useful to first time funds, startups and venture-backed organizations.
Mr. Salvato is a Partner in the Ares Secondaries Group, where he focuses on private equity secondaries. He also serves as a member of the Ares Secondaries Group's Private Equity and Credit Investment Committees. Prior to joining Ares in 2022, Mr. Salvato was a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Spring Bridge Partners, a firm dedicated and focused exclusively on GP-led secondary transactions. Previously, he was a Partner at Coller Capital Inc., where he focused on origination, underwriting and execution of global secondary transaction and was a member of the Investment Committee. In addition, Mr. Salvato was an Analyst in the Investment Banking Division at Credit Suisse First Boston in London. Mr. Salvato holds a B.Sc. from the University of Bristol in Chemistry.
Brian Ford is a debt finance partner in Kirkland & Ellis’ Los Angeles and Bay Area offices. He focuses on complex financing transactions for private equity firms, commercial lending institutions, portfolio companies, hedge funds, asset managers, alternative capital sources and other private and public companies. Such transactions have included the negotiation, structuring and documentation of secured and unsecured financings, including senior, mezzanine and subordinated debt transactions, acquisition financings, recurring-revenue based loans, dividend recapitalizations, debtor-in-possession financings, exit financings and workouts. Brian has also advised on some of the most cutting-edge out-of-court liability management transactions.
Erik Bissonnette is a Managing Director at Blue Owl Capital and serves as the Co-Head of Technology Investing. Blue Owl’s Technology Investing Platform manages $16B in assets, focused on making debt and equity investments in established enterprise software and technology companies.
Prior to joining Blue Owl, Mr. Bissonnette was a Managing Director and Head of Technology Leveraged Finance at Capital Source from 2009 to 2017. Preceding Capital Source, Mr. Bissonnette was an investor at ABS Capital Partners, and worked in investment banking at Wachovia Securities and Banc of America Securities.
Mr. Bissonnette received a B.A. in Economics with a double major in English from Wake Forest University
Stewart Hanlon, Managing Director – Co-Head, Technology Finance, & Co-Portfolio Manager, Software & Technology. Mr. Hanlon is a Managing Director & Co-Head, Technology Finance of Monroe Capital. He is responsible for co-leading relationship sourcing and the origination and underwriting of new business opportunities within the software, technology and tech-enabled services industries. Mr. Hanlon has over ten years of experience. Prior to Monroe, he was a Director at White Oak Global Advisors, LLC, where he was responsible for sourcing, underwriting and managing new investment opportunities within the Technology sector for White Oak’s private debt funds. Prior to White Oak, he was formerly an Associate with Saints Capital, a Technology and Healthcare focused secondary and private equity firm, where he was responsible for analyzing control and minority equity opportunities within the Technology sector. Prior to Saints Capital, he began his career with Ernst & Young. He earned his M.S. with honors in Financial Accounting and B.S. in Finance from the University of Colorado, Leeds School of Business.
Erwin Mock is a Managing Director and Head of Capital Markets at Thoma Bravo. Based in San Francisco, he joined the firm in 2015 and oversees Thoma Bravo’s capital markets activities related to new investments and existing portfolio companies. Additionally, Erwin is responsible for managing and helping grow the firm’s relationships with investment banks, direct lenders and debt / equity investors. Prior to Thoma Bravo, he served as a Managing Director at UBS Investment Bank in the leveraged finance group. Prior to that role, he had several leveraged finance and restructuring advisory roles at RBC, UBS and Credit Suisse / DLJ. Erwin graduated from Stanford University with a BA degree in Economics
Jay Ramakrishnan joined AB in 2014 and is a founding member, Head of Originations, and a member of the investment committee of AB Private Credit Investors. In addition, she is responsible for business initiatives such as technology-focused growth capital solutions, oversees investments in the healthcare/HCIT sectors, and covers select East Coast financial sponsors with an emphasis on technology, healthcare and business services. Previously, Ramakrishnan was a managing director with Barclays Private Credit Partners, and as a founding member of the business was involved in various aspects of business launch, transaction sourcing and execution. Prior to joining Barclays, she was a vice president at Goldman Sachs, in the Specialty Lending Group in New York, and in London, where she oversaw a European leveraged-loan portfolio and managed restructurings. Before that, Ramakrishnan was in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns, and she started her career as an associate consultant for Bain & Company. She holds a BA (Hons) in economics from the University of Cambridge, England, and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Location: New York
GLT-Managing Director, Head of Capital Solutions
David leads the Capital Solutions group.
Prior to joining CPP Investments in 2010, he was a Senior Vice President at Oaktree Capital Management in its Mezzanine Finance Group in New York. Before that, David was a Vice President at JPMorgan in its Principal Investments and Leveraged Finance groups in New York.
David holds a BAH in Economics from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., and an MBA from the Ivey Business School at Western University.
He is on the board of Antares Capital.
Ms. Hartviksen is a global credit investor with over 25 years of experience on both the buy and the sell-side at banks, pension funds and asset managers. In her current role at IMCO as Managing Director, Global Credit, she is responsible for building out the fund’s credit team and investments across public and private credit markets. Prior to joining IMCO in January 2020, she held several roles at Invesco including Head of Global High Yield, Head of Fixed Income, Trimark and Senior Portfolio Manager. Previously she also held the position of Senior Portfolio Manager on a market-neutral credit strategy with the CPPIB. Prior to returning to her native Toronto in 2009 she spent nearly a decade in Southern California with Western Asset Management, a leading fixed income asset manager, and before that was in Sao Paulo, Brazil where she worked as an EM Corporate Analyst at ING Barings and a Senior Analyst at JP Morgan. Ms. Hartviksen holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Toronto and is a CFA charterholder.
Doug Porter joined Maine Public Employees Retirement System (MainePERS) in 2012 and is a Managing Director and Head of Alternative Credit. Doug is responsible for the Alternative Credit portfolio design and implementation of making private credit fund investments and co-investments across the direct lending, infrastructure debt, commercial real estate debt, asset-based lending, and specialty finance sectors. Prior to joining MainePERS, Doug worked for three years in portfolio management at Acadia Trust. He holds a B.S. from the College of Charleston Honors College and an M.B.A. from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson. Doug is a CFA Charterholder and serves on the Board of the CFA Society Maine.
Ms. Suo is the Head of Alternative Credit at the Bureau of Asset Management, Office of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. In this role, she is responsible for the Alternative Credit allocation of the five New York City pension systems. Prior to joining the Bureau, Ms. Suo was responsible for investment due diligence and risk oversight of various fixed-income strategies at New York Life Investment Management. Previously, Ms. Suo also held portfolio management, trading, and risk management roles at Goldman Sachs and PIMCO. Ms. Suo received her Master of Business Administration from London Business School and her Bachelor of Science in Information and Decision Sciences from the University of Science and Technology of China.
Chris leads Ontario Teachers’ North American Private Credit team and has 24 years of experience in the finance industry on both the buyside and sellside. Chris joined Ontario Teachers' in 2014 as a senior member of Ontario Teachers’ Credit team, focusing on fundamental investments in both public and private credit.
Chris started his career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley (Toronto, New York, London), with a focus on high yield and leveraged loan transactions. Transitioning to the buyside in 2004, Chris was responsible for investment decisions for a number of strategies including fundamental credit and equity investing, convertible arbitrage, and merger arbitrage.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University of Toronto and is a CFA Charterholder.