Fund Finance Association

Meet our Board Members & Staff

Board Members

Sammy Asoli

General Manager & Managing Director

SMBC

Sammy Asoli

General Manager & Managing Director | SMBC

Sammy Asoli joined SMBC in August of 2020 as Global Head of Fund Finance Solutions. Prior to SMBC Sammy served as the Global Co-Head of Sponsor Finance and Deputy Head of FIG, North America at Lloyds Banking Group. Before his time at Lloyds, Sammy held positions at J.P. Morgan, The Blackstone Group, and Goldman Sachs & Co where he built up his extensive background in various aspects of Private Equity. Sammy earned his Bachelor of Science from Manhattan College where he studied economics, and later when on to Columbia University to obtain a Master of Public Administration (MPA) of Economic Policy & Management.

Terence Hatton

Treasurer

MUFG Bank Ltd

Terence Hatton

Managing Director | MUFG Bank Ltd

Terry Hatton is a Managing Director and head of the Fund Finance Group for MUFG in New York. MUFG’s fund client base includes real estate, mezzanine, infrastructure, energy, private equity and venture capital. The bank has built an established track record, providing fund sponsors with competitive lending products, inclusive of subscription and bridge capital call facilities; senior and asset-based debt financing for general industries, as well as health care, environmental, and aerospace and defense. Terry has a bachelor’s degree from University of Western Ontario.

Jeff Johnston

Chair

EverBank

Jeff Johnston

Co-Head of Fund Finance | EverBank

Jeff Johnston is Senior Vice President, Co-Head of Fund Finance, for EverBank.

Prior to joining the bank, Mr. Johnston was a Managing Director and the Head of Asset Management within Wells Fargo’s Corporate & Investment Banking group with oversight of a nearly $100 billion portfolio of bank commitments.

Prior to founding the Subscription Finance business at Wells Fargo in 2010, Mr. Johnston was responsible for the portfolio and workout of over $10B of legacy structured products for the bank, including cash and synthetic ABS and CRE CDO’s, total return swaps, and RMBS positions. Prior to joining Wells Fargo, Mr. Johnston served in Bank of America’s Global Structured Products group.

Mr. Johnston is a Co-founder and Chairman of the Board for the Fund Finance Association, a global industry association for constituents in the fund finance space, is considered an original thought leader of fund finance and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences.

Mr. Johnston is a CFA charter holder and is a graduate of the University of South Florida.

Mike Mascia

Secretary

Fund Finance Association

Mike Mascia

Secretary | Fund Finance Association

Mike Mascia is the former Chair of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft’s Finance Group and was a member of the firm’s Management Committee. He had a globally recognized fund finance practice, having represented lenders in subscription credit facilities to real estate and private equity funds sponsored by many of the world’s preeminent fund sponsors. He has been lead counsel on numerous hybrid facilities, and is one of the few attorneys in the United States with experience in both subscription credit facilities and CLO’s. Mike represents lenders on leverage facilities to secondary funds and other credits looking primarily to fund assets or NAV for repayment. Mike is the founder of the annual Global Fund Finance Symposium and he is a founding member and the Secretary of the Funds Finance Association.

Tina Meigh

Vice Chair

Maples Group

Tina Meigh

Partner | Maples Group

Tina is global head of Maples and Calder's Finance team and is based in the Maples Group's Cayman Islands office. She leads the Fund Finance and Derivatives practice groups and also has extensive experience in all aspects of banking and securitisations. Tina represents hedge funds, private equity funds and banks on fund finance and other lending transactions, bank products, deal structures and on all types of secured transactions. She advises a large number of international associations and financial institutions on derivatives and issues surrounding related collateral packages in the context of insolvency in the Cayman Islands. She also has significant experience of general corporate and commercial matters and the establishment of offshore investment funds.

Tina joined the Maples Group in 2005 and was elected as a partner in 2012. She previously worked for Lovells where she completed a secondment to Citibank. Tina has been recommended in Chambers Global, Legal 500 as a 'Leading Individual' and Who's Who Legal. Clients praise that she "continues to maintain her stellar reputation with company and financial institution clients. She is responsive, always well informed, and knowledgeable of the marketplace and its trends."

Tina sits on the Board and is Vice Chair of the Fund Finance Association, a non-profit association for the fund finance market. She is also a member of the Cayman Islands Legal Practitioners Association (CILPA).

Joe Rocco

Managing Director

Blackstone

Joe Rocco

Managing Director | Blackstone

Joseph Rocco is a Managing Director in Blackstone Treasury and is involved in credit and risk management initiatives for Blackstone’s Treasury operations, including risk assessment for the firm’s cash management and investment strategies. He works closely with counterparts from throughout the firm and its funds on funding initiatives and FX hedging and trading strategies. Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Rocco worked at Moody’s Investors Service covering residential mortgage and asset-backed securities where his primary responsibilities included rating surveillance, methodology development and sector commentary. Mr. Rocco holds an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a BS in Finance from Fordham University.

Danielle Roman

APAC Vice Chair

Mourant

Danielle Roman

Partner | Mourant

Danielle is a Partner in Mourant’s Banking and Finance team in Hong Kong, having practiced in Asia for over 15 years. She advises on a broad spectrum of cross-border transactions, including asset finance (with particular expertise in aviation and shipping finance), fund financing, acquisition and leveraged finance, debt restructurings, project finance, FinTech and general corporate lending.

In fund financing, she regularly represents investment and commercial banks on subscription credit facilities. She is also Co-Head of the Asia-Pacific Executive Committee for the Fund Finance Association, and is on the board of directors of Women in Fund Finance Asia. Danielle has been recognised for her work in fund finance through awards such as the Dee Dee Sklar Women in Fund Finance Award 2020.

Prior to joining Mourant in 2012, she worked at Clifford Chance in Hong Kong and Dentons in London.

Emma Russell

EMEA Vice Chair

Haynes Boone

Emma Russell

Partner | Head of the Finance Practice Group | London | Haynes Boone

Emma Russell is a partner and head of the Finance Practice Group in the London office of Haynes and Boone. Emma is an experienced loan finance lawyer with extensive knowledge in global fund finance, real estate finance transactions, and structured and specialty finance, as well as more general experience in acquisition, leverage, and general corporate finance. Her practice focuses on the full range of fund lending products across all fund sectors, (including private equity, real estate, secondaries, infrastructure, and hedge) from capital call facilities, hybrid/NAV facilities, to general partner support, co-invest facilities and portfolio acquisition facilities and assisting funds with structuring. Emma has significant experience advising credit funds and their lenders in relation to leverage facilities to CLO’s/CDO’s and securitisation vehicles. Emma’s experience also includes advising both lenders and funds on private equity, receivables financing, asset based lending, speciality finance, real estate fund structuring, and acting for both lenders and sponsors in relation to investment and development real estate finance and leverage restructurings. Emma has spent significant time working in-house with various financial institutions during her career. She has gained varied experiences with both business and legal teams across all lending sectors. Emma co-chairs the European Committee of Women in Fund Finance, a group associated with the Fund Finance Association, which is focused on recognition and promotion of women leaders within the alternative investment fund finance industry.

Touchstone, Mary (Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP)

Mary Touchstone

Vice Chair

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Mary Touchstone

Partner and Head of Fund Finance Practice | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Mary Touchstone is a Partner and Head of the Fund Finance Practice at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Mary has helped to establish Simpson Thacher as a global leader in the representation of financial sponsors in fund financings. She is widely acknowledged as a leading lawyer in the subscription credit facility market and represents many of the world’s preeminent sponsors of private equity, real estate, energy, infrastructure, debt and other investment funds on the largest and most complex fund facilities.

Mary and her team regularly work on a wide variety of fund level financings, including secured and unsecured subscription (or capital call) facilities, with borrowing capacity for the fund as well as its parallel funds, alternative investment vehicles and portfolio companies; fund guarantees and other credit support of portfolio level financings; NAV-based facilities and hybrid variations provided as aftercare facilities for funds that are later in their life cycles with less uncalled capital and more portfolio asset value; credit facilities for managed account vehicles; employee co-investment loan programs; management lines to investment advisers for working capital purposes; and liquidity financings for registered funds.

Jill Wilson

MD, Global Head of Financial Sponsors

Lloyds Bank

Staff Members

Katie Saxon

Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO)

Fund Finance Association

Katie Saxon

Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) | Fund Finance Association

Katie Saxon, Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), joins the FFA with over 12 years of professional experience, primarily focused in Human Resources. While working in the Real Estate and Facilities Services industries, Katie has shown a passion for process improvement and efficiency. As a solutions-oriented leader, she focuses on promoting and leading a culture of collaboration and establishing best practices. Katie holds the highest professional designations in Human Resources: SPHR and SHRM-SCP.

Michelle Bolingbroke

Chief Marketing Officer

Fund Finance Association

Michelle Bolingbroke

Chief Marketing Officer | Fund Finance Association

Michelle Bolingbroke, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Head of Marketing and Business Strategy, brings over 18 years of experience in marketing and business development within the financial services industry. Michelle has played a crucial role in shaping the association initially as a volunteer on the marketing committee since our inception. In her elevated role, as a key member of the executive team, Michelle collaborates with the Chief Operating Officer (COO) to drive the organization's strategic goals. As CMO, she oversees external communications, establishes strategic partnerships, and promotes the association's brand globally. Michelle continues to be a driving force behind the Fund Finance Association's growth and success.