Debtwire US Private Credit Forum 2022
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Unmesh Bhide- Managing Director at J.P. Morgan and Co-Founder of PricingDirect
Unmesh Bhide is a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan and Co-Founder & chief product officer of PricingDirect. PricingDirect provides independent evaluated pricing (valuation and pricing data) for more than 2.6 million U.S. taxable fixed income securities and derivatives daily. He is the driving force behind the implementation of machine learning in PricingDirect’s recently launched muni pricing service.
Prior to joining the firm in 1997, Mr. Bhide worked at the Merrill Lynch Pricing Service where he developed pricing models. He also served as an analyst in the fixed income portfolio management group at Daiwa Securities Trust Company.
Mr. Bhide earned a B.S. in Physics from the University of Bombay, an M.S. in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, and an M.S. in Computer Science from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He is a member of the Charter Financial Institute and a CFA charter holder since 1997.
When Mr. Bhide is not devising frameworks for new product methodologies he enjoys driving 2,000 mile road trips with his family traversing through our national parks.
Bruce Buchanan is Co-Head of Oppenheimer’s Debt Advisory & Restructuring practice with over 25 years of restructuring and strategic corporate finance advisory experience, assisting companies and private equity sponsors in evaluating strategic alternatives. He has advised on complex debt restructurings in both a public and private company context and has arranged over $30 billion in distressed and leveraged capital commitments. Prior to joining Oppenheimer, Mr. Buchanan was Head of Debt Capital Advisory at PwC and Head of Restructuring and Strategic Finance at Morgan Stanley and GE Capital. Mr. Buchanan is a Certified Public Accountant, holds an MBA in Finance from New York University, and the FINRA Series 24 (Principal) securities license. He is a Certified Insolvency Restructuring Advisor, member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and a frequent speaker at various conferences, including iGlobal Forum, Practising Law Institute, Turnaround Management Association and VALCON. He was awarded the 2017 Gold Medal from the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors and was listed among “People to Watch” by Turnarounds and Workouts.
Alex is Americas co-head of Private Credit within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. He was named co-chief executive officer and co-president of Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc. in 2022. He is a member of the Asset Management Private Credit Investment Committee, Specialty Lending Group Investment Committee and BDC Investment Committee. Alex also serves on the Americas Inclusion and Diversity Committee, is the head of the Asian Network in the Americas and the firmwide recruiting captain for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Prior to joining Goldman Sachs Asset Management, he worked in the Financial and Strategic Investors Group (FSIG) within the Investment Banking Division from 2006 to 2019, where he managed the firm’s relationships with private equity and related portfolio company clients. From 2000 to 2006, Alex was in Leveraged Finance, where he originated and executed leveraged loan and high yield financings for sponsor and corporate clients across all industries. From 1997 to 2000, he was based in Hong Kong, working on mergers & acquisitions, debt and equity financings, privatization and restructuring assignments for clients across Asia Pacific. Alex joined Goldman Sachs in 1994 as an analyst and spent his first three years at the firm across the Information Technology, Fixed Income Capital Markets and Leveraged Finance groups. He was named managing director in 2006 and partner in 2012.
Alex serves on the Board of Directors for the JED Foundation and the Korean American Community Foundation.
Alex earned a BS from MIT in 1994.
Jason Dillow is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Bardin Hill. Mr. Dillow chairs the firm’s Operating Committee and Executive Committee and is a member of the Risk Oversight Committees. Mr. Dillow rose through the leadership ranks of the firm over more than a decade, becoming the firm’s Chief Investment Officer in January 2016 and Chief Executive Officer in October 2018. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Dillow worked in the Special Situations Group at Goldman Sachs, a global multi-billion dollar investing business specializing in stressed and distressed debt and event-driven equities investing within Goldman Sachs’ Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities Division. In that role he was responsible for investments in the energy, power, industrial, and financial industries. He began his career in the Financial Institutions Group of Goldman Sachs’ Investment Banking Division. Mr. Dillow received an A.B. with Honors from Princeton University.
Heath is a Senior Managing Director at NXT Capital, a provider of financing solutions to U.S. private equity backed lower middle market companies. Heath oversees NXT Capital’s capital markets activities, with an emphasis on structuring and syndicating financing transactions. Heath is also responsible for managing relationships with other leveraged lending institutions and gathering and analyzing market intelligence. In addition, Heath originates lending opportunities from other arrangers and intermediaries.
Heath brings 25 years of capital markets and leveraged lending experience to NXT Capital. Prior to joining NXT Capital, Heath formed Golub Capital’s loan syndication function and team. Previously, he was a Director of Capital Markets at Merrill Lynch Capital responsible for structuring and syndicating transactions originating in the Western, Midwest and Northeastern U.S. Heath’s experience also includes capital markets positions with Antares Capital Corporation, Heller Financial and GE Capital, as well as roles at vCapital, Inc. and State Farm Insurance.
Heath earned a B.A. in Finance from Michigan State University and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
David Golub is President of Golub Capital, a market-leading, award-winning direct lender and experienced credit asset manager, with over $45 billion of capital under management. Golub Capital partners with institutional investors and family offices, offering tailored solutions for investors’ credit asset strategies. 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 Q4 2021 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 Year, Americas (Private Debt Investor, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021; Mergers & Acquisition, 2016), Senior Lender of the Year, Americas (Private Debt Investor, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020) and Business Development Company of the Year, Americas (Private Debt Investor, 2015, 2016, 2017).
Prior to joining Golub Capital in 2003, Mr. Golub was a Managing Director of Centre Partners, a leading middle market private equity firm, and of Corporate Partners, a Lazard-sponsored $1.5 billion private equity fund formed to acquire significant minority stakes in established companies.
Mr. Golub is a member of the Founder’s Council of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, where he was the first board Chairman and a long-time director. He is a member of the board of the Loan Syndications and Trading Association. Mr. Golub is a member of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council. He is also a member of the Director’s Circle of the Association of Marshall Scholars. He previously served on the boards of the Hudson Guild and the World Policy Institute. Mr. Golub is on the board of directors of Burton Snowboards and has served on the boards of numerous public and private companies.
Mr. Golub earned his AB degree magna cum laude in Government from Harvard College. He received an MPhil in International Relations from Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was named an Arjay Miller Scholar.
Karen Halliday is a Partner of Varagon and leads the firm’s Capital Formation & Investor Solutions team. Karen has spent her career building relationships with investors that include institutions, advisors, family offices and individuals. Prior to joining Varagon, she was Managing Director, Head of Tax Efficient Strategies at Golub Capital and previously held leadership roles in debt capital markets and leveraged finance at Silver Point Capital, GE Capital and Bankers Trust. She earned a B.A. degree from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and is a board member of the Mohonk Preserve.
Ken serves as President and CEO of Churchill Asset Management, an affiliate of Nuveen, the asset management arm of TIAA, a Fortune 100 financial services company. He also serves as Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending, Inc., Churchill’s publicly registered business development company.
Throughout his over 35-year career in the investment industry, he has accrued a broad range of experience in leading private credit investment businesses. Previously, Ken served as a Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, where he also served as President and a Director of TCG BDC, Inc. (Carlyle’s publicly traded business development company). Prior to that he founded and was President and CEO of Churchill Financial Group, served as Head of Leveraged Finance for Royal Bank of Canada and was Head of Indosuez Capital, a leading middle market merchant banking and asset management business in partnership with Credit Agricole Group. Ken was also a founder of the high yield finance business at Chase Securities (now JP Morgan Chase). He began his career in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at Drexel Burnham Lambert. He regularly appears as a guest commentator on private credit markets on Bloomberg, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times.
Ken graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University and a J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. He serves on the Pension Investment Advisory Committee for the Archdiocese of New York, the Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Investment Committee of Canisius High School (a private Jesuit Preparatory school in Buffalo, NY) and the Advisory Board of Teach for America (Connecticut). Ken is a guest lecturer at Boston University Questrom School of Business and a former member of the Board of Advisors and Adjunct Professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.
Michael serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Enhanced Capital Group LLC. He also serves on the firm’s investment committees and Board of Directors.
Michael is a well-respected leader dedicated to increasing the scale and effectiveness of impact investing. He has over two decades of experience in the field and pioneered some of the space’s earliest impact investing initiatives. Throughout his tenure, Michael has shaped Enhanced Capital’s impact measurement and learning development, and helped investors become more familiar with the impact investing space. Michael started an “Impact Affinity Group” at Chief Executives Organization (CEO), an organization for graduates of the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO), that hosts quarterly meetings featuring speakers and discussions on various investment- and philanthropy-focused ESG/impact topics.
Prior to becoming president, Michael served as the company’s senior vice president and general counsel, where he handled the company’s various legal matters, including government relations and corporate compliance issues. Prior to joining Enhanced Capital, Michael practiced law for seven years in New Orleans and Minneapolis, with an emphasis on mergers & acquisitions and financing transactions. He clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Since joining Enhanced Capital, Michael has lectured extensively on capital formation programs and has testified before numerous state legislatures and other governmental institutions on related issues. Michael also has served on the boards of numerous civic, community, and charitable organizations, including as chairman of YPO’s Gotham Chapter. He is currently on the board of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
Michael is a 1986 graduate of Vassar College and a 1993 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School, where he graduated order of the coif (highest honors) and served as an editor of the Law Review.
Todd is a leveraged finance and private debt partner in A&O Shearman'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 Shearman’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.
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.
Daniel Lepore joined PennantPark in November 2021 and is a Managing Director and Head of Liability Management. Since joining PennantPark, Daniel has been responsible for asset and fund financing, CLO formation and execution, private fund formation and solutions, and liquidity optimization.
Before joining PennantPark, Daniel was a Principal in the Direct Lending team at The Carlyle Group where he helped oversee the liability management of the platform, including fund and asset-level financing, private and public securitization formation, and overall treasury management. Before that, he was a Vice President with ZAIS Group, LLC from 2013 to 2016 where he was a CLO trader focused mainly on CLO mezzanine debt and equity. Prior to that, Daniel was a Vice President in the Risk Management group at Marathon Asset Management through the credit crisis, from 2007-2013.
Daniel holds a BS in Economics from The College of New Jersey, magna cum laude, and is a CFA Charterholder.
Brad Marshall is Head of North America Private Credit, CEO of both the Blackstone Private Credit Fund (BCRED) and the Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (BXSL), and a Senior Managing Director with Blackstone. Mr. Marshall focuses on Blackstone Credit’s Direct Lending efforts and is a member of the performing credit investment committee.
Before joining Blackstone Credit, then known as GSO Capital Partners, 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.
Sandra Lee Montgomery is a recognized leader in banking & finance having closed more than $5 billion in transactions for first- and second-lien senior lenders, mezzanine investors and equity sponsors across the country in 2021 alone. She is consistently recognized for her achievements by publications and organizations including the Los Angeles Business Journal, Chambers USA, Legal 500, Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers and Latinvex.
In 2019 Sandra was named one of the Most Influential Women Lawyers by the Los Angeles Business Journal and on November 4, 2020, the Daily Journal released an article featuring Sandra as one of the Top Women Lawyers.
Sandra is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, the Women Partners Advisory Committee and she was the co-Chair of the New Business Committee for the last four years. She is also a mentor in the Firm’s Diverse Lawyer Mentoring Circle Program.
Her areas of focus include acquisitions, recapitalization and other leveraged financings, cash flow and asset-based financings, debtor-in-possession and exit financings, cross-border financings, unitranche and mezzanine financings and restructurings.
Sandra has industry experience in a wide range of business sectors including retail, technology, transportation, manufacturing, distribution, general industrial, import/export, agriculture and services. She has extensive knowledge of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code and other laws that relate to secured transactions. Sandra has also handled numerous cross-border transactions involving Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, the Cayman Islands, England, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Scotland and Singapore.
Judson Oswald is a corporate partner in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He focuses his practice on debt financing transactions. Judson represents private equity sponsors, their portfolio companies and other private and public companies in connection with complex secured and unsecured debt financing transactions, including leveraged acquisition financings, senior and subordinated lending transactions, first and second lien, bridge, mezzanine and asset based financings. He received his J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law and his B.A. from Miami University.
Judson was recognized in the 2020 edition of Chambers USA for his work in Banking & Finance where clients noted he is a “very good lawyer with a great deal sense and technical knowledge.”
Joe Priolo is a Senior Vice President in the U.S. Structured Credit group at DBRS Morningstar. In this role, he is a lead credit ratings analyst on new issue structured credit transactions, including CLOs, CLO-like warehouse facilities, and credit-linked notes. Mr. Priolo joined DBRS Morningstar in 2009.
Prior to joining DBRS Morningstar, Mr. Priolo was a financial analyst for Harding Advisory, an ABS-CDO collateral manager, from 2007-2008 and a structured finance analyst for Ernst and Young, in the ABS-CDO group, from 2006-2007.
Mr. Priolo holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting from Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University
Hallie Ransone joined the Global Fixed Income team at Liberty Mutual Investments in 2020 where she leads the Private Credit business as a Portfolio Manager. Her responsibilities include developing and driving the platform’s originations strategy, overseeing the underwriting and ongoing monitoring of investments, and managing portfolio construction. In addition to direct investments, Hallie manages Liberty’s investments in middle market private credit managers.
Hallie was previously a Director at Société Générale (SG) where she was responsible for the origination of corporate and investment banking products for natural resources clients. Her mandate included sourcing and executing direct lending, financial advisories, and private placements for non-investment grade issuers.
Prior to joining SG in 2018, Hallie spent 12 years investing in energy assets directly on behalf of GE Capital Energy Financial Services (EFS). During her time with GE EFS, she underwrote and managed investments across the capital structure with an emphasis on structured equity and credit investments. She joined GE Capital in 2006 and is a graduate of the company’s Financial Management Program. Hallie holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Boston University Questrom School of Business, Summa Cum Laude, with a dual concentration in Finance and Entrepreneurship.
Sarah Roche is a Director at Twin Brook Capital Partners, leading an underwriting team focused on the structuring, diligence, negotiation, execution, and management of investments across a range of industries.
Prior to joining Twin Brook in 2017, Sarah was a Vice President at NXT Capital LLC. Prior to NXT, Sarah held several positions at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., including credit analyst, portfolio manager, mezzanine debt private placements associate and syndicated leveraged finance associate. Sarah received a B.S. in Accounting and Decision Science from Miami University’s Farmer School of Business.
Matthew Edward Schernecke advises direct lenders, mezzanine investment funds, and venture capital investors in a variety of debt and investment transactions with borrowers of all sizes, types, and structures. He also counsels private equity clients and corporate borrowers on domestic and cross-border acquisition financings, out-of-court restructurings and workouts, bankruptcy matters, ESG and impact investment financings, and real estate financings. Matthew leads transactions spanning diverse industries, including financial services, real estate, retail, life sciences, health care, technology, food and beverage, hospitality, film and music entertainment, media, and telecommunications.
Matthew advises clients of all kinds on the financing aspects of sustainable investments with a broader social impact. He has broad knowledge and experience structuring and negotiating loan documents to embed and track social impact through ESG-oriented covenants and impact investment financing transactions.
Raphael joined HighVista in 2004 and today leads the firm's investment team, having been involved in nearly all areas of HighVista’s portfolio for nearly two decades. Raphael leverages a strong background in securities analysis and risk management, coupled with deep investment experience across the spectrum of private market asset classes – foremost credit and hedge, as well as niche alternative strategies providing investors with exposure to hard to access markets, including litigation and rescue financing, special/distressed situations, arbitrages, and insured structures, among others.
Jason is a member of the Capital Markets team and leads Cinven’s capital markets activities in the US.
He has been involved in a number of transactions, including Arxada (formerly LSI), BioAgilytix, Drake Software, Jaggaer, National Seating & Mobility, Nitel and Ufinet International.
Prior to joining Cinven, Jason worked in financial sponsors coverage at Credit Suisse in New York, and in securities litigation at Berkeley Research Group in California.
Jason holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and a B.A. Economics plus a B.S. Environmental Economics & Policy from the University of California, Berkeley.
He joined Cinven in 2019.
Christine Yoon is a senior director in Fitch Ratings’ Structured Credit group. Her primary areas of expertise are in collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) backed by broadly syndicated and middle market loans. She is currently responsible for the surveillance of Fitch’s CLO ratings and contributing to CLO market research.
Prior to joining Fitch in 2005, Christine was a market analyst at Loan Pricing Corporation (now Refinitiv LPC), analyzed data in the broadly syndicated loan market for the publication of league tables, maintained data for the Goldman Sachs/LPC Liquid Leveraged Loan Index and wrote for the company’s publications.
Christine earned a B.A. in Mathematics from Cornell University and an M.A. in Mathematics Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.