Fund Finance Association

John Allan-Smith

Global Head of Financial Sponsors

National Australia Bank

John Allan-Smith

Global Head of Financial Sponsors | National Australia Bank

John is responsible for leading the Client Coverage team for Financial Sponsors at NAB. Based in New York, the role includes developing and coordinating NAB’s relationships with Sponsors across the bank’s global products and services.

He joined National Australia Bank in December 2018 as Head of Client Coverage, US with a focus on key client relationships across North American, many of which included large global alternative asset managers.

Prior to joining NAB John was the Head of Funds and Asset Managers in Barclays Corporate Banking team in the US.

John spent 14 years at Royal Bank of Scotland initially as a member of their Leveraged Finance team in London, Stockholm and New York.

Following RBS’s receipt of support from the UK Government, John was a member of the team which established the £282bn Asset Protection Scheme in conjunction with HM Treasury – which provided significant protection for the bank’s capital base.

Latterly John was a Managing Director and Head of RBS Americas Non-Core Division – responsible for strategic asset management, credit monitoring, risk control and governance of >$12bn of Commercial Real Estate, Leveraged Finance, DCM and other Corporate assets.

John started his career as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte in London working in their financial institutions group.

Hugh Anderson

Partner

Walkers

Hugh Anderson

Partner | Walkers

Hugh Anderson is based in the Walkers' Cayman Islands office where he is a partner in the firm's Global Finance and Corporate Group.

Hugh specialises in corporate and finance transactions with extensive experience in subscription finance, hedge fund finance, mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, as well as banking and securities investment business regulatory matters. Hugh acts for lenders, borrowers, sponsors on a broad range of finance and corporate transactions including capital call facilities, NAV facilities, acquisition financings, asset based facilities, and complex cross border and syndicated credit facilities. Hugh also acts for corporates on mergers and acquisitions, public listings, joint ventures, corporate restructurings and venture capital investments. Hugh's clients include international banks, financial institutions and asset managers.

Prior to joining Walkers, Hugh worked in the finance group of Minter Ellison in Melbourne, Australia where he advised on a variety of corporate finance, acquisition finance and debt restructuring matters.

Ana Arsov

Managing Director, Global Head of Private Credit, and Global Co-Head of Financial Institutions

Moody's Investors Service

Ana Arsov

Managing Director, Global Head of Private Credit, and Global Co-Head of Financial Institutions | Moody's Investors Service

Ana Arsov is a Global Managing Director, co-heading the global banking rating franchise for Moody’s Investor Service which includes rating coverage for banks, securities firms, specialty finance and market infrastructure and directly oversees the ratings for non-Insurance, Financial Institutions issuers for North America. Ana joined Moody’s in 2013 with an extensive experience in analyzing financial institutions and managing credit professionals. Prior to her senior management role, Ana was the Managing Director responsible for the rating coverage for global investment banks, securities firms and specialty finance ratings. Ana is also a coauthor of Moody's rating methodologies for finance companies, securities firms and clearing houses, and also led the development of Moody's counterparty risk rating. Prior to Moody’s, Ana gained extensive experience in credit risk management at several large banks including as Executive Director in Credit Risk, responsible for financial institutions including North American banks, broker dealers, exchanges and clearinghouses for UBS. Also, she was Head of Global Portfolio Management-Credit Risk Management at Morgan Stanley, focusing on comprehensive coverage, identification and analysis of risks across the firm’s trading and lending businesses as well as leading key risk management initiatives for Morgan Stanley Bank N.A. Ana began her career in Credit Risk Management at Lehman Brothers in various credit risk roles, ultimately heading up the North American Financial Institutions and Structured Finance team, and subsequently worked on Lehman’s bankruptcy resolution. Ana holds a master’s degree in Management (with a specialization in Financial Services and Banking) from Boston University, and a bachelor’s degree in Business from Pace University, New York. Ana also holds certificate on board governance from Harvard Business School.

Benjamin Berman

Latham & Watkins LLP

Benjamin Berman

Latham & Watkins LLP

Ben Berman represents borrowers in secured lending and other financing transactions, including fund finance and acquisition financing.

Mr. Berman guides borrower-side clients through the full spectrum of:

Private equity and private debt subscription lines of credit
Acquisition and carve-out financings
Corporate financings, including in aviation and technology
ESG-linked credit facilities
Fund-level NAV financings, cash-flow, receivables financings, and asset-based loans

Mr. Berman leads Latham’s fund finance practice and he regularly helps clients navigate complex financings at the forefront of the market, leveraging his extensive private capital experience and deep relationships across the industry. Mr. Berman draws on close ties across the Latham platform — particularly with the corporate, investment funds, and tax teams — to strategize solutions that allow clients to achieve their commercial objectives.

A recognized thought leader on fund finance and an innovator in the fund finance practice, Mr. Berman has spoken at industry events and panels and has been quoted in industry publications and authored a chapter on subscription facilities for GLI – Fund Finance.

Mr. Berman maintains an active pro bono practice, recently working on matters through the Legal Counsel for the Elderly and for election protection.

Natalie Black

Director, Financial Sponsors

ANZ

Pallo Blum-Tucker

Managing Director, Head of Alternative Lending

State Street

Pallo Blum-Tucker

Managing Director, Head of Alternative Lending | State Street

Pallo Blum-Tucker joined State Street in 2013. Pallo is a Managing Director who manages the Alternatives Lending Team within Fund Finance within the Global Credit Finance division of State Street. Pallo currently runs the Global Capital Call (Subscription Finance) business, along with FOHF lending, and has previously run the Private Credit, CLO, and Corporate, Insurance & Investment Advisor lending portfolios. Prior to this role, Pallo was a portfolio manager and trader for the Leveraged Loan Team; he had oversight of both the US and European leveraged loan portfolios.

Previously, Pallo served as a Senior Corporate Credit Analyst for both the Investment Grade and Leveraged Loan teams covering Technology, Services, Autos and Financials. Pallo worked at Silvermine Capital Management from 2011 - 2013 prior to joining State Street, primarily investing in Leveraged Loans for Silvermine's CLO portfolios where he covered the Technology, Services, Transportation, and Paper and Packaging sectors. Pallo worked at Aladdin Capital Management from 2006 - 2011 where he invested in Leveraged Loans and High Yield Bonds in both CLO and Separate Account portfolios, covering sectors including Telecom, Retail, Gaming, Services, and Financials.

Pallo started his career in finance in 2000 with State Street Research & Management, for a combined 21 years of experience in finance, with a BA with College Honors from the University of Vermont and an MBA from Cornell University.

David Cunn

Vice Chairman

J.P. Morgan Private Bank

Steven J. Colombo

Managing Director

Goldman Sachs Asset Management

Steven J. Colombo

Managing Director | Goldman Sachs Asset Management

Steve is a managing director within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where he leads the team responsible for fund financing activity across the business, including the origination, structuring and execution of all financing arrangements. Steve also manages all lending relationships, and has shared oversight of business terms across trading agreements more broadly. He joined Goldman Sachs as a vice president in 2016 and was named managing director in 2021.

Prior to joining the firm, Steve held various roles at Tudor Investment Corporation, most recently as the global head of Treasury Operations. He began his career at Lehman Brothers in 2006.

Steve serves on the Emerging Leaders Council of New Heights Youth, Inc., a sports-based nonprofit that is focused on youth development and education based in New York City. He also serves as a mentor within the Fund Finance Association.

Steve earned a BS in Finance from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2006.

Pratap Dasgupta

Senior Managing Director & Global Head Fund Finance

Macquarie Group

Chris Davis

Partner

Reed Smith LLP

Vicky Du

Global Head, Fund Finance

Standard Chartered

Brandon Feitelson

Team Leader, Structured Finance

City National Bank

James Heinicke

Partner

Ogier

James Heinicke

Partner | Ogier

James is a partner in our banking and finance team in the Cayman Islands. He is the head of Ogier’s Fund Finance practice and has extensive experience on a wide range of finance and corporate matters acting for financial institutions, private equity sponsors, hedge funds and corporates. James is also a member of Ogier's Latin American team and frequently acts for clients located in the region.

James is an experienced transactional lawyer who manages a broad range of finance and corporate matters.

James is head of Ogier’s Fund Finance practice and part of Ogier's multi-disciplinary Private Equity team. He regularly advises lenders and borrowers on all types of fund financing matters and, in particular, has significant experience on subscription and capital call financings and fund-of-fund facilities.

James also has a very active Latin American practice and he regularly advises banks, funds and corporates located in the region on a wide range of finance, regulatory, corporate and restructuring matters.

He frequently represents international banks and other clients on licensing applications to the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority and ongoing regulatory requirements and has extensive experience acting in connection with the acquisition, disposal and restructuring of regulated entities in the Cayman Islands.

James is also part of Ogier's multi-disciplinary Restructuring & Corporate Recovery team. He specialises in refinancing and corporate reorganisation. With a focus on non-contentious restructuring his experience includes advising stakeholders on debt to equity swaps, corporate restructuring, distressed transactions and security enforcement.

He received his Bachelor of Sciences from the University of Warwick in 2001, his Post-graduate Diploma in Law from Nottingham Law School in 2002 and his Diploma in Legal Practice from Nottingham Law School in 2003.

James is a member of the Cayman Islands Legal Practitioners Association and the Law Society of England and Wales.

Admitted in:

2009 - Cayman Islands

2005 - England and Wales (non practising)

Mike Henry

Managing Director

U.S. Bank

Jocelyn Hirsch

Partner

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Jocelyn Hirsch

Partner | Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Jocelyn Hirsch is a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP whose practice focuses primarily on the representation of private equity sponsors and corporate borrowers in complex financing transactions, including leveraged buyouts, cross border facilities, asset based facilities and sponsor capital call/subscription and NAV facilities. Her experience in private equity covers multiple sectors including real estate, energy, infrastructure, secondary and financial services funds with aggregate funds raised totaling tens of billions of dollars. Jocelyn's client list spans the globe and includes Warburg Pincus, Vista Equity Partners, Ares, Golub Capital, HGGC, LS Power, TPG, JPM Infrastructure, Summit Partners and GTCR, among others.

Jocelyn is nationally regarded as a leading voice in the fund facility market and represents many of the world’s preeminent private equity, debt and related investment funds in complex and bespoke fund financings. She is routinely called upon to speak on fund finance topics.

Patrick Hurley

Partner

Goodwin

Matthias Jahnke

Managing Director

Wells Fargo

Nick Jordan

Managing Director / Commercial Market Lead

CIBC BANK USA

Nick Jordan

Managing Director / Commercial Market Lead | CIBC BANK USA

Nick is a Managing Director and Commercial Market Lead within CIBC’s Non-Bank Finance Group, one of CIBC’s specialized Fund Finance groups. The business unit focuses exclusively on partnering with private debt firms who primarily serve the private equity community. He is responsible for the origination and structuring of solutions that provide incremental capital and service capabilities. This spans subscription lines, asset leverage, hybrid offerings, first-out or split lien financing and related banking services.

Previously, Nick spent the majority of his career with private debt provider Antares Capital leading the underwriting, structuring and syndication of cash flow loans for private equity backed transactions. He began his career with General Electric, holding a variety of roles across its businesses.

Nick earned an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and graduated summa cum laude from Syracuse University.

Ann Richardson Knox

Partner and Global Head of Fund Finance

Mayer Brown

Ann Richardson Knox

Partner and Global Head of Fund Finance | Mayer Brown

Ann Richardson Knox is the office practice leader of the New York Banking & Finance practice and is the Global Head of Mayer Brown’s Fund Finance team. Ann also serves on the firm’s Partnership Board. Ann has spent 24 years structuring complex financings to US and global private funds, sponsors and portfolio companies and has represented both financial institutions and funds. Ann’s vast experience encompasses financings at every level of the capital stack and every phase of a fund’s existence.

Ann represents major domestic and foreign investment and commercial banks as lead agent and arranger in connection with subscription credit facilities and net asset value facilities. She has been lead counsel on many of the largest and complex such facilities to funds sponsored by the world’s preeminent fund sponsors and led the first ESG subscription credit facility in the US market. Ann’s practice also includes structuring novel solutions to provide leverage on fund portfolio assets, including private equity limited partnership interests, real estate, infrastructure, debt and portfolio companies. Notably, Ann led the first such portfolio leveraging financings to secondary funds more than fifteen years ago.

Ann has been involved with the Fund Finance Association and Women in Fund Finance industry groups since their inception and currently serves on the US Advisory Board of the Fund Finance Association and is the US Co- Chair of the Women in Fund Finance. She has been recognized by the industry as the 2021 recipient of the Fund Finance Association’s “Woman in Fund Finance Award”. Ann was named a 2022 Notable Diverse leader in law by Crain’s New York Business and has also been named a 2020 “Woman Worth Watching” by Profiles in Diversity Magazine.

Laurie Lawler

Managing Director, Head of Capital Call Financing, Deputy Head of FI Origination

Société Générale

Laurie Lawler

Managing Director, Head of Capital Call Financing, Deputy Head of FI Origination | Société Générale

Laurie Lawler is currently a Managing Director at Société Générale acting as Head of Capital Call Financing and Deputy Head of Credit & Structured Finance Fixed Income Origination in the US. In her current role, Laurie focuses on the origination of transactions across SG’s credit & structured finance product offerings in addition to running a subscription finance practice servicing SG’s Financial Sponsor, Asset Manager and Insurance Company client base. She joined SG in October 2018 from HSBC where she held various positions from 2006 through 2018, including Head of US Conduit Financing, Head of US Capital Call Financing and most recently was the Head of Structured Finance in the Americas. Laurie has over 20 years of experience in the origination, structuring and execution of structured financings ranging from traditional conduit securitizations to more esoteric fund financing transactions. Prior to joining HSBC, she spent five years within Citi's Global Securitized Markets division executing conduit securitization transactions. Laurie graduated from Iona College in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics and was a Division I college athlete.

Jeff Maier

Managing Director

Citizens

Jeff Maier

Managing Director | Citizens

Jeff Maier is a Senior Managing Director on the Private Equity Finance team at Citizens Private Bank and based in New York. Jeff has worked in private capital since 2002 when he joined JPMorgan’s proprietary private equity group, JPMorgan Partners (JPMP). After the spin-out of JPMP in 2005, Jeff helped launch JPMorgan’s Private Equity Fund Services, a leading third-party provider of banking and fund administration services to private equity sponsors globally. In 2012, Jeff joined Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) to lead their Global Fund Banking group out of New York. During his tenure at SVB, Jeff was able to grow the New York Private Equity and Venture portfolio from $1B to over $6B in loan commitments. In 2017, Jeff and his business partner, Scott Aleali, joined First Republic Bank (FRB) to lead their Private Equity Finance business in New York. During their tenure at FRB, Jeff and his team originated over $8B in loan commitments. Jeff has extensive middle office, back-office, and business development expertise in private capital, including banking and lending to some of the leading private capital sponsors in the world. His team has experience lending to Funds, Management Companies, and GP entities.

Jeff holds a law degree from the University of Missouri and a B.S. from Illinois State University. He was a founding Board Member of the Fund Finance Association and current co-host of #FundFanatics.

Micaela Mastrogiannis

KKR & Co. Inc

Wesley Misson

Head of Fund Finance, U.S.; Co-Chair Finance Group

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Wesley Misson

Head of Fund Finance, U.S.; Co-Chair Finance Group | Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Wes Misson is Head of Fund Finance in the U.S. and co-chair of Cadwalader’s Finance Group. He leads the largest and most experienced team in the U.S. market, which collectively with Cadwalader’s UK Fund Finance practice represents credit providers on Subscription Credit Facilities, NAV-Facilities, Hybrids, Pref Equity Structures, GP Financings, Venture Debt and Capital Relief and Risk Transfer Trades for private equity, real estate and other investment funds of all sizes and vintages sponsored by many of the world’s preeminent fund sponsors. Wes has represented financial institutions as lenders and lead agents in hundreds of Subscription Credit Facilities, Hybrid Facilities, NAV Facilities and other types of fund financings during the course of his career. His experience also encompasses being a market leader on ESG facilities while serving on the firm’s ESG Task Force and being a problem solver for more than a decade-plus working with fund-related borrowers on the negotiation of third-party investor documents with institutional, high net worth and sovereign wealth investors.

Wes was featured in the Financial Times North America Innovative Lawyers 2021 Report in the “Sustainability” category for his representations on nine environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related fund facilities in the U.S., including his work advising Bank of America on a $4.1 billion ESG-linked credit facility tied to Board diversity for funds managed by The Carlyle Group.

Wes has served as lead counsel on many of the largest and most sophisticated fund financings ever consummated. Over the past two years alone, he has advised more than 35 banks as lead or syndicate lender in transactions valued in excess of $75 billion in terms of lender commitments.

Beyond his client work, Wes is very active in broader industry initiatives, as a prolific author and educator on fund finance, including as a regular contributor to the firm’s weekly newsletter, Fund Finance Friday, and as a year-round speaker at and participant in related events, including as part of the Fund Finance Association (FFA), the industry’s main networking association. He is also deeply involved in charitable work as chairman of the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, and enjoys spending time with his family.

Wes has a J.D. from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Nick Mitra

Managing Director

Société Générale

Nick Mitra

Managing Director | Société Générale

Nick Mitra is a Managing Director in the Credit & Structured Financing platform at Société Générale. He is part of the team responsible for Capital Call, Hybrid, NAV facilities and PE Secondaries financings. Prior to joining Société Générale, Nick worked at Natixis where he headed the Capital Call financing business, He has also worked at Goldman Sachs and Accenture in different roles and was the CFO of an entrepreneurial start-up – UConnections.com – aimed at the education space. Nick started his career at Lehman Brothers as a trader’s assistant in the security lending/repo area. Nick has approximately 18 years of experience in the financial sector. Nick is also a co-founding member of the Fund Finance Association, an industry group dedicated to Fund Finance and related products, where he sits on the Board of the Association.

Nick holds an MBA in Finance from NYU and a BS in Finance from Lehigh University, and is a CFA charter holder. He is also the First Vice Chairman of the Fund Finance Association.

Gopal Narsimhamurthy

Managing Director, Global Head of Fund Ratings

KBRA

Gopal Narsimhamurthy

Managing Director, Global Head of Fund Ratings | KBRA

Gopal Narsimhamurthy is a Managing Director within the Funds Rating Group at KBRA. Gopal has been with KBRA since 2014 and has worked across a number of analytical areas including structured finance, public finance, and project finance.

From September 2017 to August 2019, he relocated to Dublin, Ireland, to provide analytical coverage for European structured finance transactions and support KBRA’s growth initiatives across the region. Previously, he was an associate analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, where he specialized in higher education and health care credit analysis.

Gopal holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Rutgers University and a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in finance from New York University.

Tom Nowak

Managing Director

BofA Securities, Inc.

Tom Nowak

Managing Director | BofA Securities, Inc.

Thomas (Tom) Nowak is a Managing Director in BofA Securities, Inc.’s market leading Syndicated Finance group. He is responsible for managing the Loan Syndicate and Distribution efforts supporting Subscription Finance clients across the bank. Clients include private equity opportunity funds, hedge funds, buy-out funds, credit funds, real estate funds, infrastructure and secondaries funds, as well as public pension plans and institutionally sponsored entities.

Mr. Nowak has 27 years of experience in structuring, syndicating and executing debt transactions across all levels of the capital structure. Prior to assuming his current role, he worked in investment banking as well as financial and economic consulting.

Tom holds Series 7, 24 and 63 licenses and is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (BBA in Finance) and the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (MBA in Finance and Accounting).

Michael O’Connor

Partner

Conyers

Joe O'Donnell

Partner

Morrison Foerster

Jonathan Peiper

Mizuho Americas

Anthony Pirraglia

Deputy Chair, Finance

Loeb & Loeb

Anthony Pirraglia

Deputy Chair, Finance | Loeb & Loeb

Anthony Pirraglia focuses his commercial finance practice primarily on fund financing transactions, representing both borrowers and lenders on unsecured and asset-based lending transactions. Valued by his clients for his practical, results-oriented approach, Anthony presents complex situations clearly and concisely to quickly achieve a successful transaction.

Anthony regularly represents mezzanine lenders, private equity funds and other investors in their loans to and investments in companies with acquisitions and corporate restructures. He also practices as special counsel, representing institutional lenders in direct placement of corporate securities.

He has significant experience advising on the structuring, documentation and negotiation of warehouse and other loan facilities and a wide variety of privately placed financial transactions, as well as leveraged buyouts, project and facility financing, real estate financings, and loan and other asset securitizations.

Anthony’s practice also includes a special emphasis on workouts, restructuring and bankruptcies of multiple-property credit tenant loan securitizations. His most notable workouts include the favorable liquidation and recovery on approximately 30 Borders credit tenant leases.

Anthony is a frequent speaker on fund financing. In his spare time, he enjoys everything car related but has not yet found time to learn to drive a stick shift.

Natasha Puri

Director

Lloyds Bank

Natasha Puri

Director | Lloyds Bank

Natasha is a Vice President on the Sponsors & Structured Finance team based in New York at Lloyds Bank. In her role, Natasha is responsible for the origination and structuring of fund financing facilities and hedging products for private equity, real estate, infrastructure, secondaries and private debt managers. Her experience includes finance structuring across traditional capital call lines, hybrid, and NAV facilities, as well as fund-level FX solutions.

Natasha is the Founder and Global Chair of the FFA’s Diversity in Fund Finance Group. Natasha started the initiative in 2017, and has championed its efforts to grow into a global committee, driving DE&I engagement within the organization. She was recognized by the FFA with the Rising Star Award in 2020 and the inaugural recipient of the Diversity in Fund Finance Award in 2021 for her outstanding contributions to the industry. Within Lloyds Bank, Natasha is an active member of the local DE&I committee and was recognized as a DE&I Role Model.

Prior to joining Lloyds in 2017, Natasha worked at PwC for ~5 years where she was a Senior Associate in the Alternative Investments practice. Natasha is a Certified Public Accountant in New York with a BBA in Accounting from Hofstra University.

Simon Raftopoulos

Corporate Practice Group Head

Appleby

Simon Raftopoulos

Corporate Practice Group Head | Appleby

Simon Raftopoulos is the Local Corporate Practice Group Head in the Cayman Islands and a member of the Corporate Finance and Private Equity teams.

He represents clients in a wide variety of corporate finance transactions, specialising in fund finance and private equity, joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, initial and secondary public offerings and private placements of equity and debt securities. Simon also represents clients on large private equity transactions and his team has a deep PE formation and transactional presence in Cayman.

Simon has consistently been ranked since 2012 and is highly rated globally across the leading legal directories. He is currently recognised by Who´s Who Legal 2021 as one of the world´s leading banking and M&A lawyers, a ´market leader´ in IFLR1000’s 2020 rankings as well as ranked as a 2020 ‘leading individual’ in Legal 500. Chambers Global reported that clients laud him for his skills and describe him as “commercial and practical [with] a good group of lawyers around him” and a “brilliant lawyer, with excellent and creative ideas for complex issues”.

Simon holds the Securities Institute International Capital Markets Qualification and participates regularly at conferences and seminars, providing commentary to international and local media. He has been a contributing author to the Global Legal Insights Fund Finance publication since its inception.

In the Cayman Islands, Simon has also undertaken pro bono work for over a decade and is a recipient of the Lee Friedman award for his service to the Family Crisis Centre and the community.

Alistair Russell

Partner

Carey Olsen

Alistair Russell

Partner | Carey Olsen

Alistair is a partner in the corporate and finance group of Carey Olsen in the Cayman Islands and advises on all aspects of finance, corporate, investment funds and commercial law.

He advises clients on a broad range of transactions, including financing, private equity, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and capital markets.

Alistair was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 2008 and as an attorney-at-law in the Cayman Islands in 2013. Prior to re-locating to the Cayman Islands, Alistair was formerly with Skadden, Arps, Slate Meagher & Flom and Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, each in London.

Alistair obtained a Bachelor of Civil Law with distinction from Christ Church, Oxford University, and an LLB with first class honours from Kings College London.

Konstyantyn Shcherbakov

Head of Alternative Funds Lending

The Bank of New York Mellon

Konstyantyn Shcherbakov

Head of Alternative Funds Lending | The Bank of New York Mellon

Konstyantyn Shcherbakov, CFA is the Head of Alternative Funds Lending at The Bank of New York Mellon. In his role Konstyantyn is responsible for overseeing fund finance offering for the institutional side of the BNYM across capital call finance, NAV lending and other debt products extended to Private Equity and Hedge Funds. Konstyantyn re-joined The Bank of New York Mellon in September 2021 where he started his career during 2006-2010 covering hedge funds, banks and broker-dealers. In between he held variety of roles primarily focused on the Financial Sponsors both on the client coverage and structured finance sides at Santander, ABN AMRO and Barclays. Konstyantyn has MBA in Finance from Rutgers Business School.

Jan Sysel

Partner

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP

Jan Sysel

Partner | Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP

Jan Sysel is a partner in the Corporate Department and the Finance Practice, resident in New York.

Mr. Sysel represents sponsors, borrowers, arrangers and lenders on a wide variety of financing transactions primarily in connection with fund formation, as well as leveraged acquisitions, spinoffs, recapitalizations and restructurings, across a broad range of industries. He has extensive experience in structuring, negotiating, documenting and executing complex financings, including syndicated senior facilities, mezzanine facilities and private debt placements. His work includes unsecured and secured first and second lien facilities, both cashflow-based and asset-based, with particular focus on fund subscription facilities and other types of investment fund leverage.

Mr. Sysel serves as a member of the Fund Finance Association (FFA) US Advisory Council, frequently speaks at FFA and other industry conferences, and is a mentor on the FFA's NextGen platform supporting junior market participants.

Mr. Sysel previously worked on secondment at Goldman Sachs, where he advised on loan transactions for private wealth management clientele. Prior to joining Fried Frank, he practiced corporate law in the Czech Republic for several years and served in the Czech Army as a staff attorney at the Litigation Department of the Czech Ministry of Defense.

Albert Tan

Partner and Co-Head of Fund Finance

Haynes Boone

Albert Tan

Partner and Co-Head of Fund Finance | Haynes Boone

Albert Tan is a Partner and Co-Head of the Global Fund Finance Group with Haynes and Boone, LLP. Albert also currently on Haynes Boone’s Executive Committee, Board of Directors and Partners Compensation Committee.

Albert has represented investment and commercial banks, as agents and arrangers in more than 600 subscription secured credit facilities with total value of over $200 billion to Asia, US, Europe, Latin America and global real estate, infrastructure, debt, buyout and energy private equity funds, including structuring and documenting some of the first subscription financing to real estate private equity funds in Japan, Greater China, Singapore and Korea and to some of the largest global infrastructure funds and Asia-focused buyout funds; and during the global financial crises of 2007-2008, Albert was one of few fund finance attorneys who represented lenders in the successful enforcement of subscription financing defaults against PE funds and their investors.

The National Law Journal selected Albert to its inaugural list of Finance, Banking and Capital Markets Trailblazers in 2019, Euromoney Expert Guides, Euromoney Institutional Investor 2012, listed him as a “Leading Practitioner” in its Guide to Leading Practitioners: International Private Equity, U.S., and the Minority Corporate Counsel Association recognized Albert as a 2021 MCCA Rainmaker for his outstanding leadership, business acumen, passion and dedication to proactive client development.

Albert serves as a member of the US Advisory Committee and Asia Pacific Executive Committee of the Fund Finance Association.

Albert received his BA from San Diego State University and his JD and LLM from Southern Methodist University and Georgetown University; and speaks Chinese (Mandarin).

Jennifer Tedjeske

Partner

Chapman and Cutler LLP

Ramya S. Tiller

Partner

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

Ramya S. Tiller

Partner | Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

Ramya S. Tiller is a corporate partner based in the New York office. Ms. Tiller is a member of the firm’s Finance and Special Situations Groups, and leads the firm’s Fund Finance Group in New York. Her practice covers a broad range of financings, including complex acquisition and leveraged transactions, fund finance transactions and other alternative capital transactions. She has extensive experience in borrower and lender-side fund finance and structured finance transactions, regularly representing clients in PE NAV facilities, secondaries and credit fund NAV facilities, subscription credit facilities, GP financings and collateralized fund obligations (CFOs). She also regularly represents insurance companies in multiple financings, including those related to reinsurance sidecars, and other transactions.

Ms. Tiller is ranked as a Next Generation Partner in Commercial Lending by The Legal 500 US (2023), where she has been described as an “ultimate professional,” and “highly rated.” She is also recognized as a Notable Practitioner in Banking by IFLR1000 (2022). Ms. Tiller is a frequent speaker on finance-related topics for the Practising Law Institute and routinely writes on fund finance topics.

Ms. Tiller joined Debevoise in 2007. She holds a B.A. LLB (Hons.) from the National Law School of India University in Bangalore, where she graduated third in her class in 2002. She received an LL.M. (Corporate Law) from New York University in 2005, where she was a Hauser scholar. Ms. Tiller is fluent in German.

Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Tiller worked for a leading Indian law firm in Mumbai, India. Between 2010 and 2012, she served as a member of the Finance group at an international law firm in Munich, Germany.

Annie Wallis

Partner

Sidley Austin LLP

Annie Wallis

Partner | Sidley Austin LLP

Annie Wallis is a partner in the Chicago office. She practices in the Global Finance group. Her practice includes secured and unsecured lending transactions, cash flow and asset based leverage facilities, merger and acquisition financing, mezzanine and second lien financings, debt restructurings, private debt and financings of alternative assets, including financings for investment funds and asset managers (such as NAV facilities, fund-of-fund facilities, margin loans, and capital call facilities), and film, media and entertainment financing. She represents lenders, participants, agents, sponsors, originators and borrowers in single-bank and syndicated credits. Her clients include investment banks, commercial banks, hedge funds, private equity funds and public and private companies.

Annie completed a two-month assignment in Sidley’s Sydney, Australia office, representing foreign private issuers and investment banks in a number of different institutional debt private placements, including traditional 4(a)(2) private placements and Rule 144A offerings.

Variety has named Annie to its Legal Impact Report for 2019 and 2021, and its Dealmakers Impact Report for 2020. She was recognized for her work on behalf of MUFG Union Bank in connection with the Weinstein Co. and Open Road Films bankruptcies, representing The Raine Group in the launch of Thrill One Sports & Entertainment, and for her work in representing film production and distribution company Neon Rated.

David Wasserman

Managing Director - Head of Middle Market Lending and Capital Call Subscription Finance

Morgan Stanley

David Wasserman

Managing Director - Head of Middle Market Lending and Capital Call Subscription Finance | Morgan Stanley

David Wasserman joined Morgan Stanley as a Managing Director in 2018 and has 20+ years of structured corporate lending and fund finance experience. Mr. Wasserman currently leads the Capital Call, NAV and Direct Lending Finance businesses. Previously, Dave worked at SMBC for 14 years as General Manager in its New York Office with prior experience at Bank of America and PwC. Dave has a B.S. in Applied Mathematical Economics from SUNY Oswego and a MBA in Finance from Rutgers University.

Steve Willman

Managing Director and the Treasurer

TPG

Steve Willman

Managing Director and the Treasurer | TPG

STEVE WILLMANN TPG Global, LLC Mr. Willmann is a Managing Director at TPG. He and his team are responsible for financing and capital markets activity of the firm and its funds, structured financing solutions for investment vehicles, rating agency relationships, foreign exchange risk management and hedging transactions, counterparty risk management, and general bank and lender relationship management. Prior to joining TPG in 2007, Mr. Willmann was a Vice President at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where he spent eight years in corporate and investment banking roles in New York, Dallas and Atlanta. Mr. Willmann graduated from Texas Tech University and the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, and he currently serves on the Board of Trustees, and heads the finance committee, for Trinity Valley School in Fort Worth, Texas.

Daniel Winick

Partner

Clifford Chance

Daniel Winick

Partner | Clifford Chance

Daniel Winick is a Partner in Clifford Chance’s Global Financial Markets group. His practice focuses mainly on representing major domestic and foreign financial institutions and corporate and sponsor borrowers in secured and unsecured financing transactions, including acquisition finance, asset-based and structured finance deals, project and export finance transactions and other financing transactions.

Mr. Winick received his Bachelor of Laws from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University and his Bachelor of Arts from York University. He is admitted to practice in New York.

Ranked as a highly regarded partner
IFLR 1000 2022: United States: Banking

Trey Worley

SVP, Director of Equity Fund Services

Comerica Bank

Trey Worley

SVP, Director of Equity Fund Services | Comerica Bank

Trey Worley currently serves as Senior Vice President and Director of Equity Fund Services (EFS) at Comerica Bank. He is responsible for leading Comerica’s national fund finance strategy and manages a diverse team of 21 colleagues located across the country, including New York, Boston, Palo Alto, San Diego, and Dallas. Prior to leading the EFS team at Comerica, Trey was responsible for managing the Western Region of Comerica’s Mortgage Banker Finance Department. Trey has served on several internal teams at Comerica that have focused on operational efficiencies and revenue enhancement initiatives. Trey is a graduate of Comerica’s Leadership Development Program and the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Dallas Program and is currently participating in the North Texas Business Council for the Arts’ Leadership Arts Institute.

Trey is also a Past President of the Board of Directors of the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association where he promoted and advocated for fair and ethical lending practices among real estate finance professionals. This included several trips to Austin and Washington D.C. where he met with legislators as an influential voice for real estate finance. Trey is also a 2012 graduate of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Future Leaders Program.

Trey earned bachelor’s degrees in finance and economics from Baylor University where he graduated in 2000. A native of Waco, Texas, Trey currently lives in McKinney with his wife and two daughters. Trey is an avid golfer and enjoys serving with his church internationally in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. On these trips, Trey has helped build houses in Mexico and provide clean drinking water to communities in Central America.

Ruth Yang

Managing Director, Global Head of Private Markets & Thought Leadership

S&P Global Ratings

Ruth Yang

Managing Director, Global Head of Private Markets & Thought Leadership | S&P Global Ratings

As Global Head of Private Markets & Thought Leadership, Ruth Yang is responsible for developing and expanding S&P Global Ratings’ coverage of private credit alongside the franchise’s market engagement in both public and private markets through thought leadership outreach. She serves as the Chair of the cross-divisional S&P Global Private Debt Research Lab.

Previously, she led the company’s Credit Research & Insights research team, overseeing the creation and publication of macro-credit and thematic research, risk assessments, rating transition analyses, and credit market forecasts while governing the Credit Conditions Committee (CCC) process. Ruth has more than 25 years of experience in the leveraged finance markets—including with Fitch Solutions as Managing Director for Leveraged Finance Intelligence, where she was responsible for developing their leveraged finance offerings; and with Leveraged Commentary & Data, where she managed leveraged finance content and operations globally for more than 15 years.

Ruth received an A.B. with honors from Harvard University.