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Mr. Aingorn joined Crestline in 2019 and focuses on our Liquid Credit and Opportunistic Strategies. He is also a member of the ESG Committee. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Aingorn was a Partner at American Industrial Partners (“AIP”) where he was responsible for the firm’s capital markets activities. Prior to AIP, Mr. Aingorn was a Portfolio Manager at BTG Pactual US Asset Management, where he built and managed a portfolio of par, stressed and distressed credit opportunities in the US and Western Europe. Prior to BTG, Mr. Aingorn was a Senior Vice President at Plainfield Asset Management, where he was responsible for sourcing, structuring and executing liquid and private special situation investments. Earlier in his career, Mr. Aingorn worked at Lehman Brothers and Wellspring Capital Management. Mr. Aingorn has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.
Mr. Arbour joined Crestline in 2007 and currently leads Crestline Summit Strategies, a multi-strategy, multi-PM, market neutral hedge fund manager. Prior to Summit’s inception in 2015, he was the Head of Equity Strategies for Crestline Partners, the firm’s fund of hedge funds which grew to $4 BN AUM at its peak. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Arbour held various positions within equity sales and trading at JPMorgan with an emphasis on equity research and capital market transactions. His primary focus at JPMorgan was generating and tailoring equity trades for hedge funds and institutional clients. Mr. Arbour’s previous experience includes equity research at an institutional, long-only investment firm. He holds a BBA in Finance from Texas Christian University, is a CFA charterholder, and is a member of the Dallas-Fort Worth Society of Financial Analysts.
Mr. Blewitt joined Crestline in 2016 as Managing Director, Human Resources. He is responsible for ensuring the firm has the best talent in place at the right time, and for the creation and administration of programs that ensure Crestline’s HR practices, public relations efforts, culture, facilities, and work environment fully support the objectives of the firm. He is also a member of the ESG Committee. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Blewitt was Chief Human Resources Officer for Mount Kellett Capital Management, Head of Employee Services for Bridgewater Associates, Chief Learning Officer for both Comerica Bank and BankBoston, Vice President of Training for US Robotics, and spent almost a decade each at Goldman Sachs and GE in a variety of senior human resources and facilities roles. He attended Pace University and the University of Hartford.
Mr. Bratton is Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Co-Chief Investment Officer of Crestline Investors, Inc., the general partner of Crestline Management, L.P., the manager of a diversified family of investment products. He is the Chair of the Investment and Management Committees. Mr. Bratton has been an investment professional with organizations utilizing alternative asset strategies since 1983. He has extensive experience in credit strategies, hedge fund management, private equity and venture capital. Since 1989, Mr. Bratton has managed portfolios using these strategies on behalf of Crestline and the Bass family. During this period, he also negotiated alternative asset related purchases and joint ventures. These include: lift-outs of proprietary trading groups, seeding of asset managers and the acquisition of investment management organizations.
Mr. Bratton has been President of Crestline Investors, Inc. since 1997. Prior to founding Crestline Investors, he was employed by Taylor & Company, an investment organization associated with members of the Bass family, the Airlie Group, L.P., Investment, L.P. and Smith Barney Harris Upham. Mr. Bratton received a BS from North Carolina State University in 1981 and a Masters of Business Administration with Honors from Duke University in 1984.
Mr. Brown joined Crestline in 2017 and is a Director in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Brown was a Manager at CR3 Partners where he performed financial advisory, restructuring, detailed analysis, and transaction support for middle market clients to provide a successful restructuring. Prior to that, he was a Senior Associate for glendonTodd Capital where he was responsible for sourcing, evaluating and executing investments, as well as managing and monitoring the activities of portfolio companies. Mr. Brown graduated cum laude with a B.B.A. in Finance and Accounting from Texas Christian University and holds an M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University.
Michael Bullard joined Crestline in 2013 and is a Director in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Bullard work with Raymond James & Associates as an Investment Banking Analyst. Mr. Bullard received his BS in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis.
Paul Choy was engaged by Crestline in 2013 as a Senior Advisor to Crestline-Kirchner, a division focusing on mature and underperforming private equity funds, and subsequently joined the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group in 2018 as a Director. Mr. Choy has over 20 years of private investment and operational experience in technology and traditional sectors. Prior to his engagement with Crestline, Mr. Choy was a portfolio manager with Kirchner Group and served as the successor General Partner for lower middle market private equity funds where he oversaw the management and turnaround of underperforming portfolios. Prior to that, Mr. Choy was with CIBC Capital Partners, the merchant banking operation of CIBC, where he executed transactions and worked closely with portfolio companies across a broad range of technology subsectors. Mr. Choy graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering with a Telecommunications specialization from the University of Alberta and earned an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
G.R. Christon joined Crestline in 2015 and is a Managing Director in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Mr. Christon has 21 years of financial advisory and management experience with a focus on distressed assets, crisis management and corporate restructuring. At Crestline, Mr. Christon has been involved with several portfolio financing and fund restructuring transactions. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Christon was with Waterview Advisors where he advised underperforming companies, performed business valuations and provided litigation support for clients in bankruptcy court. Before that, Mr. Christon was a member of the corporate restructuring groups at KPMG, Alvarez & Marsal and FTI Consulting. Earlier in his career, he focused on business valuations and investment banking services for the firms Bernstein, Phalon & Conklin, and Houlihan Lokey. Mr. Christon holds an MA in Applied Economics, a JD and an MBA from Southern Methodist University, and a BS in Economics from Auburn University.
Mr. Cochran joined Crestline in 1998 and serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Crestline. He is a member of the Management Committee, the Investment Committee and the ESG Committee. While at Crestline, he has also held the titles of CFO and CCO at various points in his career. Mr. Cochran has 29 years of experience in various segments of the investment industry including private equity, venture capital and hedge funds. Prior to joining the Firm in October 1998, he spent 10 years with KPMG L.L.P. (“KPMG”). During his tenure at KPMG, a majority of his time was spent working with various hedge funds, investment companies, private equity firms, venture capital groups and broker dealers performing both audit and financial due diligence services. Mr. Cochran received a B.B.A. in Accounting from Texas Christian University in 1987.
Ms. Cooley joined Crestline in 1998 and is Managing Partner and CIO of Crestline Summit Strategies, a multi-strategy, multi-PM, market neutral hedge fund manager. She also serves on Crestline Inc.’s (parent company) Management Committee. A veteran in the alternative investment industry, Ms. Cooley has experience as a portfolio manager, risk manager and trader in equity, fixed income and derivative markets. Ms. Cooley previously was the CIO of Crestline’s Hedge Funds of Fund business, which grew to $4bn AUM at its peak, overseeing manager selection and portfolio management, since joining the firm. From 1986 through 1997, Ms. Cooley was a derivatives trader and risk manager with Taylor and Company, an investment firm associated with the Bass Family of Fort Worth, TX (one of the earliest multi-asset, multi-strategy alternative asset managers). Ms. Cooley began her career in the investment industry at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company (later merged into JP Morgan) where she specialized in futures markets in both New York and Chicago after receiving her BA in Economics from The College of William and Mary in 1983. Ms. Cooley serves on the Advisory Board of Texas Wall Street Women and the Investment Advisory Committee of Texas Employee Retirement System. Ms. Cooley serves on the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities of Fort Worth.
Mr. Couch joined Crestline in 2019 and is a Vice President in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Most recently, he was a member of the Corporate Development Group at Texas Instruments where he evaluated M&A opportunities across the semiconductor industry and managed a portfolio of direct equity and VC investments on behalf of TI Ventures, including serving as a Board Observer for the Dataforth Corporation. Prior to Texas Instruments, he worked in the Financial Advisory Service practices at both Weaver and RSM, where he provided due diligence, valuation, and forensic services to a variety of middle market clients. Mr. Couch holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Trinity University and a M.S. in Accounting from Texas Christian University and is a CPA (inactive).
Mr. Delaune joined Crestline in 2015 in the Opportunistic Strategies Group and leads the group’s real estate and co-investment transactions. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Delaune was a Vice President for Deutsche Bank in the Emerging Markets Credit Group. In this role Mr. Delaune focused on special situation credit across Emerging Markets (ex-Asia) and led the loan portfolio acquisition effort in Latin America. Prior to that, he was a research analyst in the Distressed Products Group within Deutsche Bank and focused on distressed and high-yield corporate credit. Mr. Delaune graduated from Washington & Lee University with a BS and Special Attainments in Commerce.
Matthew Derr joined Crestline in 2017 and is a Vice President in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Mr. Derr has 13 years of experience in investment banking, debt capital markets and credit underwriting. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Derr worked for Macquarie Capital in the Financial Sponsors and Leveraged Finance Group in New York. While at Macquarie, he was responsible for structuring, underwriting and arranging senior and subordinated debt packages for leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations and mergers of private equity-owned companies across numerous industries. Before that, he held positions at Bank of America Merrill Lynch within the Corporate Debt Products Group. Mr. Derr holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Pennsylvania State University.
Alex Didych, CFA, FRM, PRM joined Crestline in 2007 and is Managing Director of Crestline’s Investment Risk team. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Didych was Head of Market Risk Management, New York, at AMRO Bank N.V. Mr. Didych led the team responsible for the market risk management of trading activities that cover Credit, Local Markets, Equity and IR Derivatives Desks. In addition, he aggregated risk across the various products and trading desks to assess broader portfolio risks. Mr. Didych graduated summa cum laude with a M.S. in Applied Math-operations Research from National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Ukraine and also has a M.B.A. with high honors from the University of Chicago.
Mr. Fillmore joined Crestline in 2021 as an Analyst in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Fillmore was a Senior Audit Associate at BDO USA LLP where he led audit engagements of private investment vehicles and lower middle market firms. Mr. Fillmore graduated with a M.S. in Accountancy and Data Analytics from the University of Mississippi. He is also a CFA Charterholder and a Certified Public Accountant.
David S. Finch, CFA, joined Crestline in 2009 from Northwater where he directed the hedge fund investment teams in Toronto and New York. At Crestline Canada, Mr. Finch is responsible for research on Canadian-based hedge fund managers, portfolio management of specific client portfolios and developing customized solutions to meet clients’ total portfolio needs, including hedging and portfolio rebalancing strategies. Prior to joining Northwater in 2002, Mr. Finch was a Vice President and Portfolio Manager for ING Investment Management Inc., where he had responsibility for derivative, option replication, fixed income, and index portfolios. Mr. Finch also designed optimal portfolios for ING’s insurance companies, incorporating their unique liability characteristics and tax and regulatory constraints. Mr. Finch holds an Honors Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queen’s University. He has received the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) from the CFA Institute and is a member of the Toronto CFA Society.
Bryan Fischer joined Crestline in 2021 and is a Business Development Director in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Mr. Fischer has 17 years’ experience in business development and alternative investments. Prior to joining Crestline, he was Director of Business Development at BDO for the Southwest Region Private Equity Services Group and a Regional Director of Business Development for Great American Group, a B. Riley Financial company. Earlier in his career, Mr. Fischer co-founded an alternative investment firm, NBM Group, and was a trading manager at Traditum Group, focused on interest rate strategies. He is the current President of the Secured Finance Network Southwest Chapter. He graduated with a BS in Biology from Boston College.
Jake Friemel joined Crestline in 2018 and is responsible for investment origination and execution within Crestline's Opportunistic and Private Credit Strategies. Prior to that, he was CFO of Frontier Waste Holdings, a PE-backed solid waste management holding company headquartered in Dallas, TX. Previously, Mr. Friemel was at Comerica Bank, where he was a Vice President of the Environmental Services Department, focused on providing senior capital to privately held, waste management businesses across the United States and Canada. He has an MBA from Southern Methodist University and a BBA in Finance and Accounting from Texas Christian University.
Daniel Gabay, CFA joined Crestline in 2013 and assists the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Mr. Gabay has more than 13 years’ experience. Prior to joining the firm Mr. Gabay was an Associate Portfolio Manager with Northwood Family Office. Within the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group, Mr. Gabay is responsible for sourcing, underwriting, and managing transactions. In addition, Mr. Gabay has been involved in a number of fund restructuring transactions, is actively involved in managing a number of portfolios and represents the firm on several portfolio company boards. Mr. Gabay received his MBA from York University’s Schulich School of Business, and is a CFA charterholder.
Mr. Goldaris joined Crestline in 2022 as an Analyst in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Goldaris was a Bond Ratings Analyst at Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings rating both Corporate Leveraged Loans and Structured Securitized Bonds. Prior to joining S&P, Mr. Goldaris was an Institutional Sales Consultant for Fidelity Investments. Before his career in Finance, Mr. Goldaris served as a United States Army Officer during both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Inherent Resolve). Mr. Goldaris graduated with Honors from Indiana University – Kelley Business School with a B.S. in Economic Consulting, and a B.A. in Criminal Justice.
Christopher Golio joined Crestline in 2017 and is part of the Business Development & Client Partnerships Group. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Golio was a Partner for Constellation Associates providing private credit third party institutional marketing services primarily to direct lending and opportunistic managers. He specialized in direct lending, opportunistic, CLO, mezzanine and other illiquid strategies. Prior to Constellation, he was a Managing Director and the Chief Operating Officer of U.S. institutional distribution for Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners. His responsibilities encompass national distribution efforts across fund of hedge funds, private equity fund of funds and real estate fund of funds business. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Golio was a Managing Director and Co-Head of Customized Solutions for UBP Asset Management LLC where he was responsible for U.S. institutional clients and consultants and the development of a marketing strategy that increased the firm’s assets two-fold. Previously, he was a Partner and Head of Business Development at Double Alpha Group, Inc. statistical arbitrage hedge fund and a Senior Vice President at Zurich Capital Markets, Inc. Hedge Fund Structured Products and Managed Assets business. Mr. Golio received a B.S. in Accounting with a minor in Economics from the State University of New York at Oswego.
Mr. Grunow joined Crestline in 2013 and is a Director in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Grunow worked as a financial services auditor with Ernst & Young, LLP in their New York City and Dallas offices. Mr. Grunow was previously a licensed CPA in New York (inactive status) and has his B.B.A. and Masters in Accounting from The University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Grunow currently serves on the Board of Directors of Broadvoice, bMedia, and GiGstreem and is a former board member of Actifio, Inc.
Mr. Guy joined Crestline in 2015. He is a partner and Chief Investment Officer of Crestline, Europe and a member of the ESG Committee. Mr. Guy previously founded the Tenax Credit Opportunities Fund, one of the first private credit funds of its type in Europe, was Co-Head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Global Loans and Special Situations Group, EMEA, and held a similar role for Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette/Credit Suisse, managing that firm's market-leading Distressed and Special Situations business in Europe for over 10 years. He began his professional career at JP Morgan in New York in 1989. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MA from Oxford University, was an Associate at McKinsey and Company and served as a Tank Troop Leader in the British Army in Germany.
Mr. Hodgdon has had extensive experience as a CEO and Director in leading multiple Life and Annuity insurance and reinsurance companies, and is recognized as an industry leader in the U.S. and International insurance markets. Mr. Hodgdon has structured domestic and international financial insurance and reinsurance transactions and developed intra-group reinsurance programs to support group-wide risk management initiatives.
Mr. Hodgdon spent several years in Ireland as Chairman and CEO leading the AEGON insurance and reinsurance expansion in Europe. He was a past Chairman of DIMA and member of the Taoiseach Finance Committee and was integrally involved in the European Life Reinsurance and initial Solvency II directive. Mr. Hodgdon has a Bachelor of Science degree from Concordia University.
Mr. Jackson joined Crestline in 2015 and is a Director for the Crestline Summit Equity Alpha fund. Prior to joining the firm Mr. Jackson worked at Brown Graham & Company, P.C. in the audit/tax department and helped assist in valuation and litigation cases. Mr. Jackson received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from West Texas A&M University in Accounting.
Summer Jarratt joined Crestline in 2022 and is responsible for West Coast client partnerships. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Jarratt was an Executive Vice President at PIMCO focused on institutional account management and business development. Previously, Ms. Jarratt spent nine years managing and developing client relationships at BlueMountain Capital Management and Empyrean Capital Partners, where she gained experience across liquid and illiquid credit strategies, diversifying strategies and custom mandates. Ms. Jarratt began her career at Cambridge Associates and holds a BA in economics from Boston College.
Ms. Jolas joined Crestline in 2022 and is an Associate in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Jolas worked for Deloitte Corporate Finance in their Investment Banking Division where she was responsible for creating financial models, developing marketing materials, and conducting due diligence associated with sell-side transaction processes. Ms. Jolas holds a B.B.A in Finance and a B.A. in Spanish from the University of Texas at Austin.
Mr. Jordan joined Crestline in 2016 and is Head of the Client Partnership Group. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Jordan spent 10 years at GoldenTree Asset Management, most recently as Partner & Co-Head of Business Development and a member of GoldenTree’s Executive Committee. Prior to GoldenTree, Mr. Jordan was a Partner of High Yield Sales at Wasserstein Perella, where in 1998 he was voted Institutional Investor’s, Bond Week, High Yield salesman of the year. Earlier in his career, Mr. Jordan also spent time with Citibank and Salomon Brothers where he ran a national sales team. Mr. Jordan has been involved in credit markets and in many cycles where he has learned humility and the importance of collaborating with colleagues and clients.
Mr. Kirim joined Crestline in 2021 as a Vice President in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Kirim was a Risk and Valuation Specialist at Bloomberg LP where he led business development for Bloomberg's suite of independent pricing, liquidity, and enterprise risk solutions. Prior to joining Bloomberg, Mr. Kirim spent 10 years overseeing valuation, accounting, and portfolio risk operations at State Street and BNY Mellon. Most recently, he was responsible for the development and execution of valuation control policies and NAV oversight within State Street's asset servicing business. Mr. Kirim graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Finance and B.A. in Spanish from Pacific Union College. He is also a CFA Charterholder and CAIA Charterholder.
Ms. Kruse joined Crestline in 2007. She is responsible for overseeing certain marketing and client service efforts within the Client Partnership Group, and is a member of the ESG Committee. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Kruse worked in the loan origination division at Chase Home Finance. Ms. Kruse is a graduate of Texas Christian University where she received her B.B.A. in Marketing.
Melinda Lilly joined Crestline in 2015 and is the Chief Operating Officer for the Crestline Summit Equity Alpha fund. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Lilly was the Director of Operations at Paradigm Advisors with responsibilities in various capacities of the business including compliance, research, operations, and Investor Relations. Prior to joining Paradigm Advisors, Ms. Lilly was a Financial Representative at Fidelity Investments working in trading, client service, and branch operations, as well as serving as a point person to Fidelity’s high-net-worth clientele. Ms. Lilly graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Psychology from Lee University.
Steven List joined Crestline in March 2019. Mr. List has more than 25 years of expertise providing executive management, interim management, turnaround, and financial/restructuring advisory services. Most recently he was a Partner of CR3 Partners, LLC, a national restructuring firm, with an individual focus on interim management, bankruptcy and M&A. Prior to that, Mr. List spent four years heading the corporate asset management group of Mount Kellett Capital Management, a $7B Private Equity firm focused on special situations investments in North America, Europe, and Asia. Earlier in his career he worked with Mattress Giant Corporation, Crossroads LLC, and KPMG. Mr. List received his BBS in Accounting from the University of Oklahoma, and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Turnaround Professional (CTP) and Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA).
Mr. Loeffler joined Crestline in August 2010. He heads operations for the Credit & Opportunistic Strategies platforms. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Loeffler spent 5 years with Maverick Capital, Ltd. leading the internal audit function and working on special projects for the executive team. Prior to that he spent 3 years as a Senior Auditor with KPMG, where he focused a majority of his time on hedge funds, private equity funds and other investment companies. Mr. Loeffler is a CPA. He received a B.B.A. in Accounting & Finance from Texas Christian University and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas - McCombs School of Business.
David Mabry joined Crestline in 2006 and is responsible for client servicing. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Mabry served as Vice President of North American Institutional Accounting at JPMorgan Chase. His department provided accounting services to over 350 clients encompassing $620 billion in assets. Prior to JPMorgan Chase, Mr. Mabry was Vice President of Fund Accounting at Oppenheimer Funds, Inc., where he was responsible for an operations department which provided mutual fund, separate account and hedge fund accounting services. Mr. Mabry has a B.B.A. in Accounting and a M.B.A. from Texas Tech University.
Aaron Mack joined Crestline in 2015 and serves as a Director in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Mack was an Investment Banking Analyst with Barclays Capital. He received his BS in Finance from Lehigh University and MBA from University of Virginia.
Mr. Mahajan joined Crestline in 2016 and is a Managing Director of the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group and a Senior Portfolio Manager of the Portfolio Financing Fund. Mr. Mahajan has 19 years of experience in private equity, banking and consulting. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Mahajan spent two years at Macquarie Asset Management targeting portfolio lending and structured debt solutions for mature private equity funds, as well as secondary transactions. Previously, Mr. Mahajan spent nine years at PineBridge Investments (f/k/a AIG Investments) where he was most recently a Director and senior member of the $8 billion Private Funds Group. In that capacity, he was responsible for sourcing, due diligence, negotiating and monitoring of secondary private equity transactions on a global basis. Prior to joining PineBridge, he worked on private equity and merger and acquisition opportunities at New York-based investment firms Chatterjee Group (formerly affiliated with Soros Funds) and Arcadia Investment Partners. During his career, Mr. Mahajan gained substantial operating experience at Oblix, a technology firm and portfolio company of Kleiner Perkins and APAX Partners, which was acquired by Oracle. Mr. Mahajan began his career with Deloitte Consulting where he advised multinational clients in energy, telecom, insurance, utilities and the technology sector. He holds a BS in Computer Science and Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Chris Marchak joined Crestline’s European Office in 2018, after a year on secondment. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Marchak worked in PwC’s business recovery and restructuring practice, advising stressed/distressed companies and their stakeholders and implementing restructuring solutions ranging from distressed M&A through to insolvency. Prior to this, Mr. Marchak worked for Scup, a Brazilian social media marketing technology business and was responsible for establishing their initial US and international presence. He has a double Msc in Finance and International Management from ESADE Business School, a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from Warwick University and is a Chartered Accountant.
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Jonathan Morgan joined Crestline in 2019 and is focused on the firm’s insurance/reinsurance strategies. Mr. Morgan has 20 years of investment experience focused predominately in credit related assets. Prior to joining Bratton Capital, he was a portfolio manager at a Dallas based family office. He previously worked for Avenue Capital and One East Partners, both credit focused hedge funds. He began his career a Lone Star Funds, a distressed private equity fund. Mr. Morgan received a BBA degree from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Ms. Naegeli joined Crestline in 2020 and is an Associate in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Naegeli worked for J.P. Morgan Chase in the Middle Market Banking and Specialized Industries Group and was responsible for underwriting senior debt facilities for clients in various industries. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Southern Methodist University.
Scott Nelson joined Crestline Summit (Crestline's multi-PM, multi-strategy equity-oriented hedge fund business line) in 2022 and is a Managing Director, Head of Client Partnership Group, Summit Crestline. Mr. Nelson has 30+ years of investment industry leadership and distribution experience. In his role at Crestline Summit, he is responsible for distribution as well as investor and consultant relations. Prior to joining Crestline Summit, he was Global Co-Head of Business Development & Investor Relations at Eisler Capital. Previously, he was Head of the Investor Group at Autonomy Capital, a global multi-asset class, global macro alternative investment manager. Prior he was the Chief Operating Officer at Deephaven Capital Management, a global multi‐strategy alternative investment manager. Prior to Deephaven, Mr. Nelson was Chief Operating Officer at Provident Advisors LLC, a multi‐strategy alternative investment manager. He previously served as the Executive Vice President of Allianz Dresdner Asset Management where he was the head of the single strategy hedge fund business and as President of American Express Asset Management’s Advisory Capital Strategies Group, and Senior Managing Director of Alternative Investments where he led the single‐manager hedge fund and multi‐manager, fund of hedge funds businesses. Scott holds a B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College.
Jon Norton joined Crestline in August 2019. He joined from Wells Fargo Capital Finance (UK) Limited (formerly Burdale Financial Limited – acquired by Wells Fargo in 2012) where he spent fourteen years originating, structuring and syndicating asset-based loans in the UK and cross-border Europe. Prior to this he was Head of Corporates for Commerzbank AG, London Branch for eight years managing the relationship management (origination), trade finance and cash management teams. He held roles before that with the common theme of working for foreign banks in London. Mr. Norton holds an MBA from Cranfield School of Management, a BSc from Imperial College, London and began his professional career as a graduate engineer at Rolls-Royce plc. He is a Freeman of the City of London.
Mr. Palmer joined Crestline in 2015 in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Palmer was Vice President for the Special Situations Group at Goldman Sachs where he evaluated potential investments ranging from senior debt to preferred equity and warrant investments. Mr. Palmer began his career as a financial analyst with Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin. Mr. Palmer graduated magna cum laude with a BBA in Finance and Accounting from Texas Christian University. Mr. Palmer currently serves on the Board of Directors of Broadvoice, Evocative, GiGstreem, and FinditParts and is a former board member of SpringCM, Inc., Riversand Technologies and Actifio, Inc.
Mr. Pangrac joined Crestline in 2023 and assists the General Counsel on the Legal/Compliance team. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Pangrac worked at Ropes & Gray LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP and before attending law school, he was a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Navy. Mr. Pangrac has a J.D. from Stanford Law School, an M.S.A. from the Naval Postgraduate School, an M.A. from Georgetown University and a B.S. from the U.S. Naval Academy.
Mr. Panna joined Crestline in 2015 and is responsible for the European Opportunistic investments. Mr. Panna was previously Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager of the Tenax Credit Opportunities Fund, one of the first private credit funds of its type in Europe. Prior to this role, he was Managing Director and Co-Head of European Special Situations at UBS in London. Prior to UBS, he was a portfolio manager running a proprietary book of illiquid special situations investments at Credit Suisse in London where he joined Mr. Guy in 2004. He has over 20 years of experience of investing in private capital transactions (equity and debt), financial restructurings, corporate finance advisory work and equity research experience. He holds a BA from Lipscomb University, USA.
Mr. Payán joined Crestline in 2006 and heads Crestline’s Legal and Compliance team. Mr. Payan is responsible for overseeing a broad variety of legal, compliance and operational matters on behalf of the Firm including launching new products, serving as legal department touch-point for investor and counterparty relationships, attending to strategic growth and expansion opportunities and internal matters such as employee matters and overseeing the compliance department. In addition, he is a member of the Firm’s Management Committee, a participant in the Opportunistic Investment Committee meetings, serves as secretary for the Firm’s Board of Directors, sits on the Firm’s reinsurance company Board of Directors and is integrally involved in the structuring, legal diligence and closing of investment opportunities. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Payan worked at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as an Investment Fund/Corporate Attorney where he was responsible for advising and structuring hedge funds, private equity funds, fund of funds and a closed-end registered investment company in a variety of jurisdictions including the United States, Cayman Islands, BVI, Bermuda and the United Kingdom. Additionally, he has experience with the creation, implementation and review of regulatory compliance programs. Mr. Payan has a J.D., a B.A. in History, and a B.A. in Ethnic Studies from the University of Texas. Mr. Payan also serves as a Trustee since 2009 and Member of the Investment Committee and Chairman of the Legislative Committee for the City of Fort Worth Employees’ Retirement Fund and serves on the Board of Directors of Capital for Kids. In 2022 Mr. Payan was recognized as General Counsel of the Year, small legal department, by the DFW Association of Corporate Counsel.
Mr. Philipp joined Crestline in 2013 and is a Partner of the firm in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group, a Senior Portfolio Manager of the Portfolio Financing Fund and a member of the ESG Committee. Mr. Philipp has more than 27 years of experience in investment banking and alternative investments. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Philipp co-founded and managed several family-owned investment and advisory firms with holdings and operations around the world. Earlier in his career, he spent 12 years at Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse focused on providing structured financing strategies for alternative investment managers. He is a CFA Charterholder and a member of the Security Analysts of San Francisco. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Colorado.
Mr. Pigott joined Crestline in 2016 in the European Office. Prior to joining the firm, Joe was Managing Director, Fixed Income at Bear Stearns International. He was also a founding partner of the Pamplona Management’s Credit Opportunity Fund responsible for credit investing in their Credit Opportunities Fund and Portfolio Manager at Rosette Merchant Bank. Joe has a background in investing as well as fund structuring and marketing. Joe holds a BA in literature from the University of McGill and an MBA in Finance from McMaster University.
Craig Pope joined Crestline Investors in November of 2009. He brings to the firm an in-depth knowledge of enterprise and commercial software development processes. His prior 13 years of experience include coding and managing projects in the Education, Financial Services, Commercial Real Estate, Healthcare, Oil & Gas, Logistics and Retail business sectors. Mr. Pope graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering.
Alfonso Ramirez joined Crestline in 2015 in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Ramirez was a Senior Director for FTI Consulting, Inc. in the corporate restructuring practice. In this role, Mr. Ramirez spent over six years providing restructuring advisory and turnaround services to distressed or underperforming companies. Prior to joining FTI, Mr. Ramirez was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs where he spent five years within the Special Situations Group. He was responsible screening and structuring first-lien, second-lien, and subordinated debt investments, as well as minority equity investments in select transactions. Mr. Ramirez also worked at the Archon Group a real estate investment and mortgage loan company. He spent four years in underwriting and the portfolio management of investments in commercial office, industrial, and retail properties. Mr. Ramirez graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in Government.
Deep Randhawa, Vice President - Mr. Randhawa joined Crestline in 2022 and is a Vice President in the Opportunistic Strategies Group with a focus on Liquid Credit. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Randhawa was a Senior Associate at Starwood where he underwrote and managed investments across the infrastructure sector. Previously, he was an investment banking analyst in Jefferies. Mr. Randhawa graduated with a B.A. in Economics from the University of Miami and a MS in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin.
Nowlin Randolph, CFA, CAIA rejoined Crestline in 2020 after three years running Mahonia Partners, a hedge fund focused on closed-end fund arbitrage. He was previously Head of Research for the Diversified Funds business at Crestline, which he was part of from 2002 to 2017. Prior to Crestline, Mr. Randolph co-managed a long/short equities portfolio for four years at Perot Investments and worked for AmSouth bank. He received a BA in Mathematics from Sewanee.
Jonathan Redman joined Crestline in 2017 in the European Office. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Redman was an Investment Director at Next Wave Partners, a European-focused, lower middle-market private equity firm where he executed buy-out and growth equity opportunities. Prior to this, Mr. Redman worked at PWC in various capacities including the tax and structuring group for both distressed and M&A transactions, and also in the firm’s Transaction Services due-diligence practice. He has a BSc in Economics and Management from Cardiff University and is a Chartered Accountant.
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Michael Rich joined Crestline in 2017 and is a Director in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Mr. Rich has more than 25 years of experience, including over 20 years focused in credit origination, structuring, underwriting, trading and risk management. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Rich was a Director with LStar Capital, a credit affiliate of Lone Star Funds which is a global private equity firm with over $70 billion in aggregate capital commitments. At LStar, he was the lead underwriter in an ~$1 billion portfolio purchase of 67 stressed/distressed middle market credit investments. In addition Mr. Rich managed capital markets efforts including sourcing new investment opportunities, secondary trading, and developing new institutional relationships. Prior to joining Lstar, Mr. Rich was a principal of Three Seas Capital which was focused on leveraged credit investing strategies. Before that, he was a portfolio manager at Highland Capital Management, a credit-focused alternative asset manager with $23 billion in AUM. Mr. Rich holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Kansas State University and an M.B.A. from Fuqua School of Business, Duke University with a concentration in Finance.
Paula Roberts joined Crestline Investors in 2005. Ms. Roberts leads the Compliance Committee. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Roberts worked at HBK Investments, L.P. as a financial reporting manager. Ms. Roberts is an Investment Adviser Certified Compliance Professional (IACCP), as well as a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Internal Auditor. She holds a BA in Economics from The University of Texas at Austin and a BBA in Accounting with honors from Texas Women’s University.
Paul W. Robson, CFA joined Crestline in 2009 from Northwater where he was President of Northwater Capital Management Inc. At Crestline Canada, Mr. Robson heads up the Toronto office, is responsible for business development and consultant relations for Canada and also acts a strategic relationship manager for various partner clients. Before joining Northwater in 1996, Mr. Robson gained over five years of experience in investment policy analysis, index fund management, and derivatives investing with the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS). Mr. Robson holds an MBA from the University of Western Ontario. He also holds the CFA designation and is a member of the Toronto CFA Society.
Ms. Romero joined Crestline in 2022 in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. Romero was a Senior Associate for Guggenheim Partners in the Corporate Credit & Direct Lending group where she focused on underwriting and managing investments in the technology and software sector. Previously, she was an Associate at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey (now Truist) where she was responsible for underwriting syndicated debt transactions. Ms. Romero received her B.B.A. in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the University of Florida.
Jonathan Rude, JD joined Crestline in 2011 and assists the General Counsel on the Legal/Compliance team. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Rude worked at Patton Boggs LLP. Mr. Rude received his J.D. and B.A. degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.
Mr. Sarkar joined Crestline in 2015 and is responsible for European Opportunistic Investments. Mr. Sarkar was previously Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager of the Tenax Credit Opportunities Fund where he led a number of private market investments in asset backed special opportunities. He has more than 15 years’ experience investing in special situations and private equity. Over the course of his career, Mr. Sarkar has structured new facilities, led investments in asset backed platform companies, invested in the carve out of non-core businesses and both managed and invested in operational turnarounds. Mr. Sarkar has a Masters in Finance from the London Business School and is a qualified accountant with more than 6 years’ experience at Ernst & Young and Arthur Andersen where he began his career.
Camille Sassman, CPA joined Crestline in 2000 and manages the financial reporting and back office operations for the firm. Prior to 2012, Ms. Sassman served as Controller, responsible for financial reporting, treasury oversight and compliance matters. From 2002 through 2006, she also served as Chief Compliance Officer, overseeing and managing compliance and regulatory affairs for the firm. During her tenure at Crestline, Ms. Sassman has worked with fund of funds, private equity, lending, hedge fund, secondary and opportunistic strategies. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Sassman was a Senior Manager in KPMG’s audit practice with both public and private clients primarily in the investment industry. Ms. Sassman earned her B.B.A. in Accounting with honors from Tarleton State University.
Mr. Semple joined Crestline in 2011 and is responsible for Crestline’s Opportunistic and Private Credit Strategies. He is a member of the Management Committee, the ESG Committee and various investment committees. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Semple was Vice President in the Special Situations Group for Goldman Sachs where he was responsible for originating, underwriting, executing and managing middle market debt and equity investment opportunities. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Mr. Semple worked as a credit analyst within the Special Opportunities Group for TQA Investors. Mr. Semple has a BA in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin. He currently or has previously served on the Board of Directors of Urgent Team Holdings, Inc., Carepayment Technologies, Inc., Leading Pharma, LLC, Clinipace, Inc. and is a member of YPO.
Jennifer Slimmer, CPA joined Crestline Investors in 2009 and is currently serving as the Director of Fund Accounting. Ms. Slimmer is responsible for the oversight and reporting over various investment products managed by Crestline as well as managing administrator relationships and serving as a liaison to the auditors conducting the annual audit procedures over various investment products. Ms. Slimmer has worked with fund of funds, private equity, lending, hedge fund, secondary and opportunistic strategies during her tenure at Crestline. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Slimmer was a Senior Associate in the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) audit practice serving both public and private clients in a variety of different industries including manufacturing, oil and gas, and financial services. Ms. Slimmer earned her B.B.A. in Accounting and Finance and her M.S. in Accounting from Texas Christian University.
Gary Sorensen joined CL Life and Annuity as the Director, Marketing and Sales. Mr. Sorensen’s career in the financial services industry expands over 30 years working with multiple insurance companies. Mr. Sorensen’s experience has provided him with a successful background in recruiting and supporting distribution in the fixed annuities and life insurance market. Mr. Sorensen is responsible for recruiting distribution partners, managing advisor relationships, and training on product and sales concepts. He is involved in CL life’s product design and new business development. Mr. Sorensen received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Iowa.
Katrina Starkie joined CL Life and Annuity as the Director, Controller of Insurance Business. Ms. Starkie brings over 15 years of industry experience having previously held Controller positions at multiple life insurance companies. Ms. Starkie has extensive experience in Statutory accounting and will manage CL Life’s financial processes, and overseeing the administration of the life and annuity business. Ms. Starkie received her Accounting degree from the University of Birmingham, England and is a Chartered Accountant.
Mr. Strauss joined Crestline in 2019 and focuses on the Opportunistic and Private Credit Strategies. Prior to joining Crestline, Marc spent the majority of his investing career at LStar Capital and FS Investments, where he was responsible for deal sourcing, execution and asset management for unitranche, junior capital, and special situation debt investments. In addition to his investing experience, Mr. Strauss provided debt advisory and capital raising services while working at Jefferies Financial Group and Rothschild & Co. Mr. Strauss has a BA from the University of Rochester, a JD from the University of Virginia, and a MBA from Columbia Business School.
Mr. Terreri joined Crestline in 2022 and is an Associate in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group and focuses on portfolio analysis and asset management. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Terreri was a Portfolio Analyst on the alternative investments strategy team for a single family office in Dallas, responsible for general portfolio management, investment due diligence, allocation strategy and performance analysis. He holds a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and a M.S. degree in Management from the University of Notre Dame.
Rahul Vaid joined Crestline in 2015 and focuses on our Opportunistic Strategies. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Vaid was Co-Founder and Managing Director of Frontier Investment Holdings. At Frontier, Mr. Vaid was responsible for sourcing, acquiring and managing secondary credit assets, hedge fund side pocket assets and direct deal investment opportunities. Prior to Frontier, Mr. Vaid was General Partner of Pacesetter Capital Group where he sourced, led and managed investments in technology and middle-market companies across growth equity, venture capital and debt investments. He also founded a closed-end high yield debt fund and served as its President and CEO. Mr. Vaid has a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunications from Government College of Engineering Pune India, and Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Master of Engineering Management from Dartmouth College.
Mr. Viscusi joined Crestline in 2019 and is a Senior Associate in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Viscusi worked for BBVA in the Syndicated and Leveraged Finance group and was responsible for structuring, underwriting and arranging senior debt facilities in a variety of industries. Before that, he worked in the Financial Services audit practice with KPMG. Mr. Viscusi holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Oklahoma State University.
Mr. Walker joined Crestline in 2012 and is President of the Crestline Summit Strategies. Mr. Walker has 30 years of experience in the investment business managing both businesses and assets. Prior to joining Crestline, initially as a Senior Advisor focused on corporate strategy in 2012, Mr. Walker was a Partner and portfolio manager at Ranger Investments. He was formerly Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer and Founder of the BNP Paribas Global Relationship Management business in both New York and London with responsibilities for all hedge fund counterparty credit, legal and operational risks. Prior to that, Mr. Walker was Managing Director of Fund Linked Derivative structuring and distribution at Zurich Capital Markets in New York. He also served as Director of Equity Derivatives at Credit Suisse First Boston in New York where he co-founded its Capital Introductions Group. This followed a career in Private Wealth Management. Mr. Walker is a former U.S. Army Captain and has a BBA from Texas Christian University. Outside of work, Mr. Walker is the Chairman Emeritis of Pathways, a charitable organization dedicated to life management with more than 22,000 graduates.
Clark Wen joined Crestline in 2016 as Vice President in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Wen was an Associate Director in the Private Equity Group of Black Diamond Capital Management. In this role Mr. Wen focused on special situation investments across industries such as chemicals, TV network & broadcast, telecommunications, and forest products. Prior to that, he was a Manager in the Transaction Advisory Services of Ernst & Young, where he provided merger & acquisition evaluation and due diligence for several Fortune 500 companies in the Media & Entertainment Industry. Mr. Wen received a B.S. in Business Management from the Stern School of Business of New York University and he is a CPA.
Mr. Widmer joined Crestline in 2018 to lead the Corporate FP&A function, including forecasting, annual budgeting, and long-range planning. Mr. Widmer brings with him more than 10 years of modeling and finance experience. Prior to joining Crestline, he served as a Senior Associate at JP Morgan Chase, where he focused on credit analysis and portfolio monitoring across the cash flow-based lending platform. Mr. Widmer began his career at Fidelity Investments, where he served as a Financial Analyst and point of contact for Portfolio Managers. He received his MBA from the University of North Texas.
Mr. Williams joined Crestline in 2012 and is Managing Partner of Credit Strategies and Co-Chief Investment Officer. He is a member of the Management Committee and Investment Committees for all Credit Strategies. Mr. Williams has more than 24 years’ experience in alternative investments and restructuring advisor services.
Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Williams spent the majority of his investing career at Goldman Sachs’ Special Situations Group where he developed and implemented liquid and illiquid distressed investing strategies and was responsible for deal sourcing and execution for private debt strategies. In addition to his investing experience, Mr. Williams provided restructuring and turnaround services to underperforming companies as a founding member of McKinsey & Company’s RTS group and a nationally recognized restructuring boutique. Mr. Williams has a BBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University and and MBA from Rice University.
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Mr. Aingorn joined Crestline in 2019 and focuses on our Liquid Credit and Opportunistic Strategies. He is also a member of the ESG Committee. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Aingorn was a Partner at American Industrial Partners (“AIP”) where he was responsible for the firm’s capital markets activities. Prior to AIP, Mr. Aingorn was a Portfolio Manager at BTG Pactual US Asset Management, where he built and managed a portfolio of par, stressed and distressed credit opportunities in the US and Western Europe. Prior to BTG, Mr. Aingorn was a Senior Vice President at Plainfield Asset Management, where he was responsible for sourcing, structuring and executing liquid and private special situation investments. Earlier in his career, Mr. Aingorn worked at Lehman Brothers and Wellspring Capital Management. Mr. Aingorn has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.
Mr. Arbour joined Crestline in 2007 and currently leads Crestline Summit Strategies, a multi-strategy, multi-PM, market neutral hedge fund manager. Prior to Summit’s inception in 2015, he was the Head of Equity Strategies for Crestline Partners, the firm’s fund of hedge funds which grew to $4 BN AUM at its peak. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Arbour held various positions within equity sales and trading at JPMorgan with an emphasis on equity research and capital market transactions. His primary focus at JPMorgan was generating and tailoring equity trades for hedge funds and institutional clients. Mr. Arbour’s previous experience includes equity research at an institutional, long-only investment firm. He holds a BBA in Finance from Texas Christian University, is a CFA charterholder, and is a member of the Dallas-Fort Worth Society of Financial Analysts.
Mr. Blewitt joined Crestline in 2016 as Managing Director, Human Resources. He is responsible for ensuring the firm has the best talent in place at the right time, and for the creation and administration of programs that ensure Crestline’s HR practices, public relations efforts, culture, facilities, and work environment fully support the objectives of the firm. He is also a member of the ESG Committee. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Blewitt was Chief Human Resources Officer for Mount Kellett Capital Management, Head of Employee Services for Bridgewater Associates, Chief Learning Officer for both Comerica Bank and BankBoston, Vice President of Training for US Robotics, and spent almost a decade each at Goldman Sachs and GE in a variety of senior human resources and facilities roles. He attended Pace University and the University of Hartford.
Mr. Bratton is Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Co-Chief Investment Officer of Crestline Investors, Inc., the general partner of Crestline Management, L.P., the manager of a diversified family of investment products. He is the Chair of the Investment and Management Committees. Mr. Bratton has been an investment professional with organizations utilizing alternative asset strategies since 1983. He has extensive experience in credit strategies, hedge fund management, private equity and venture capital. Since 1989, Mr. Bratton has managed portfolios using these strategies on behalf of Crestline and the Bass family. During this period, he also negotiated alternative asset related purchases and joint ventures. These include: lift-outs of proprietary trading groups, seeding of asset managers and the acquisition of investment management organizations.
Mr. Bratton has been President of Crestline Investors, Inc. since 1997. Prior to founding Crestline Investors, he was employed by Taylor & Company, an investment organization associated with members of the Bass family, the Airlie Group, L.P., Investment, L.P. and Smith Barney Harris Upham. Mr. Bratton received a BS from North Carolina State University in 1981 and a Masters of Business Administration with Honors from Duke University in 1984.
Mr. Brown joined Crestline in 2017 and is a Director in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Brown was a Manager at CR3 Partners where he performed financial advisory, restructuring, detailed analysis, and transaction support for middle market clients to provide a successful restructuring. Prior to that, he was a Senior Associate for glendonTodd Capital where he was responsible for sourcing, evaluating and executing investments, as well as managing and monitoring the activities of portfolio companies. Mr. Brown graduated cum laude with a B.B.A. in Finance and Accounting from Texas Christian University and holds an M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University.
Michael Bullard joined Crestline in 2013 and is a Director in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Bullard work with Raymond James & Associates as an Investment Banking Analyst. Mr. Bullard received his BS in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis.
Paul Choy was engaged by Crestline in 2013 as a Senior Advisor to Crestline-Kirchner, a division focusing on mature and underperforming private equity funds, and subsequently joined the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group in 2018 as a Director. Mr. Choy has over 20 years of private investment and operational experience in technology and traditional sectors. Prior to his engagement with Crestline, Mr. Choy was a portfolio manager with Kirchner Group and served as the successor General Partner for lower middle market private equity funds where he oversaw the management and turnaround of underperforming portfolios. Prior to that, Mr. Choy was with CIBC Capital Partners, the merchant banking operation of CIBC, where he executed transactions and worked closely with portfolio companies across a broad range of technology subsectors. Mr. Choy graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering with a Telecommunications specialization from the University of Alberta and earned an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
G.R. Christon joined Crestline in 2015 and is a Managing Director in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Mr. Christon has 21 years of financial advisory and management experience with a focus on distressed assets, crisis management and corporate restructuring. At Crestline, Mr. Christon has been involved with several portfolio financing and fund restructuring transactions. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Christon was with Waterview Advisors where he advised underperforming companies, performed business valuations and provided litigation support for clients in bankruptcy court. Before that, Mr. Christon was a member of the corporate restructuring groups at KPMG, Alvarez & Marsal and FTI Consulting. Earlier in his career, he focused on business valuations and investment banking services for the firms Bernstein, Phalon & Conklin, and Houlihan Lokey. Mr. Christon holds an MA in Applied Economics, a JD and an MBA from Southern Methodist University, and a BS in Economics from Auburn University.
Mr. Cochran joined Crestline in 1998 and serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Crestline. He is a member of the Management Committee, the Investment Committee and the ESG Committee. While at Crestline, he has also held the titles of CFO and CCO at various points in his career. Mr. Cochran has 29 years of experience in various segments of the investment industry including private equity, venture capital and hedge funds. Prior to joining the Firm in October 1998, he spent 10 years with KPMG L.L.P. (“KPMG”). During his tenure at KPMG, a majority of his time was spent working with various hedge funds, investment companies, private equity firms, venture capital groups and broker dealers performing both audit and financial due diligence services. Mr. Cochran received a B.B.A. in Accounting from Texas Christian University in 1987.
Ms. Cooley joined Crestline in 1998 and is Managing Partner and CIO of Crestline Summit Strategies, a multi-strategy, multi-PM, market neutral hedge fund manager. She also serves on Crestline Inc.’s (parent company) Management Committee. A veteran in the alternative investment industry, Ms. Cooley has experience as a portfolio manager, risk manager and trader in equity, fixed income and derivative markets. Ms. Cooley previously was the CIO of Crestline’s Hedge Funds of Fund business, which grew to $4bn AUM at its peak, overseeing manager selection and portfolio management, since joining the firm. From 1986 through 1997, Ms. Cooley was a derivatives trader and risk manager with Taylor and Company, an investment firm associated with the Bass Family of Fort Worth, TX (one of the earliest multi-asset, multi-strategy alternative asset managers). Ms. Cooley began her career in the investment industry at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company (later merged into JP Morgan) where she specialized in futures markets in both New York and Chicago after receiving her BA in Economics from The College of William and Mary in 1983. Ms. Cooley serves on the Advisory Board of Texas Wall Street Women and the Investment Advisory Committee of Texas Employee Retirement System. Ms. Cooley serves on the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities of Fort Worth.
Mr. Couch joined Crestline in 2019 and is a Vice President in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Most recently, he was a member of the Corporate Development Group at Texas Instruments where he evaluated M&A opportunities across the semiconductor industry and managed a portfolio of direct equity and VC investments on behalf of TI Ventures, including serving as a Board Observer for the Dataforth Corporation. Prior to Texas Instruments, he worked in the Financial Advisory Service practices at both Weaver and RSM, where he provided due diligence, valuation, and forensic services to a variety of middle market clients. Mr. Couch holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Trinity University and a M.S. in Accounting from Texas Christian University and is a CPA (inactive).
Mr. Delaune joined Crestline in 2015 in the Opportunistic Strategies Group and leads the group’s real estate and co-investment transactions. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Delaune was a Vice President for Deutsche Bank in the Emerging Markets Credit Group. In this role Mr. Delaune focused on special situation credit across Emerging Markets (ex-Asia) and led the loan portfolio acquisition effort in Latin America. Prior to that, he was a research analyst in the Distressed Products Group within Deutsche Bank and focused on distressed and high-yield corporate credit. Mr. Delaune graduated from Washington & Lee University with a BS and Special Attainments in Commerce.
Matthew Derr joined Crestline in 2017 and is a Vice President in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Mr. Derr has 13 years of experience in investment banking, debt capital markets and credit underwriting. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Derr worked for Macquarie Capital in the Financial Sponsors and Leveraged Finance Group in New York. While at Macquarie, he was responsible for structuring, underwriting and arranging senior and subordinated debt packages for leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations and mergers of private equity-owned companies across numerous industries. Before that, he held positions at Bank of America Merrill Lynch within the Corporate Debt Products Group. Mr. Derr holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Pennsylvania State University.
Alex Didych, CFA, FRM, PRM joined Crestline in 2007 and is Managing Director of Crestline’s Investment Risk team. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Didych was Head of Market Risk Management, New York, at AMRO Bank N.V. Mr. Didych led the team responsible for the market risk management of trading activities that cover Credit, Local Markets, Equity and IR Derivatives Desks. In addition, he aggregated risk across the various products and trading desks to assess broader portfolio risks. Mr. Didych graduated summa cum laude with a M.S. in Applied Math-operations Research from National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Ukraine and also has a M.B.A. with high honors from the University of Chicago.
Mr. Fillmore joined Crestline in 2021 as an Analyst in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Fillmore was a Senior Audit Associate at BDO USA LLP where he led audit engagements of private investment vehicles and lower middle market firms. Mr. Fillmore graduated with a M.S. in Accountancy and Data Analytics from the University of Mississippi. He is also a CFA Charterholder and a Certified Public Accountant.
David S. Finch, CFA, joined Crestline in 2009 from Northwater where he directed the hedge fund investment teams in Toronto and New York. At Crestline Canada, Mr. Finch is responsible for research on Canadian-based hedge fund managers, portfolio management of specific client portfolios and developing customized solutions to meet clients’ total portfolio needs, including hedging and portfolio rebalancing strategies. Prior to joining Northwater in 2002, Mr. Finch was a Vice President and Portfolio Manager for ING Investment Management Inc., where he had responsibility for derivative, option replication, fixed income, and index portfolios. Mr. Finch also designed optimal portfolios for ING’s insurance companies, incorporating their unique liability characteristics and tax and regulatory constraints. Mr. Finch holds an Honors Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queen’s University. He has received the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) from the CFA Institute and is a member of the Toronto CFA Society.
Bryan Fischer joined Crestline in 2021 and is a Business Development Director in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Mr. Fischer has 17 years’ experience in business development and alternative investments. Prior to joining Crestline, he was Director of Business Development at BDO for the Southwest Region Private Equity Services Group and a Regional Director of Business Development for Great American Group, a B. Riley Financial company. Earlier in his career, Mr. Fischer co-founded an alternative investment firm, NBM Group, and was a trading manager at Traditum Group, focused on interest rate strategies. He is the current President of the Secured Finance Network Southwest Chapter. He graduated with a BS in Biology from Boston College.
Jake Friemel joined Crestline in 2018 and is responsible for investment origination and execution within Crestline's Opportunistic and Private Credit Strategies. Prior to that, he was CFO of Frontier Waste Holdings, a PE-backed solid waste management holding company headquartered in Dallas, TX. Previously, Mr. Friemel was at Comerica Bank, where he was a Vice President of the Environmental Services Department, focused on providing senior capital to privately held, waste management businesses across the United States and Canada. He has an MBA from Southern Methodist University and a BBA in Finance and Accounting from Texas Christian University.
Daniel Gabay, CFA joined Crestline in 2013 and assists the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Mr. Gabay has more than 13 years’ experience. Prior to joining the firm Mr. Gabay was an Associate Portfolio Manager with Northwood Family Office. Within the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group, Mr. Gabay is responsible for sourcing, underwriting, and managing transactions. In addition, Mr. Gabay has been involved in a number of fund restructuring transactions, is actively involved in managing a number of portfolios and represents the firm on several portfolio company boards. Mr. Gabay received his MBA from York University’s Schulich School of Business, and is a CFA charterholder.
Mr. Goldaris joined Crestline in 2022 as an Analyst in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Goldaris was a Bond Ratings Analyst at Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings rating both Corporate Leveraged Loans and Structured Securitized Bonds. Prior to joining S&P, Mr. Goldaris was an Institutional Sales Consultant for Fidelity Investments. Before his career in Finance, Mr. Goldaris served as a United States Army Officer during both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Inherent Resolve). Mr. Goldaris graduated with Honors from Indiana University – Kelley Business School with a B.S. in Economic Consulting, and a B.A. in Criminal Justice.
Christopher Golio joined Crestline in 2017 and is part of the Business Development & Client Partnerships Group. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Golio was a Partner for Constellation Associates providing private credit third party institutional marketing services primarily to direct lending and opportunistic managers. He specialized in direct lending, opportunistic, CLO, mezzanine and other illiquid strategies. Prior to Constellation, he was a Managing Director and the Chief Operating Officer of U.S. institutional distribution for Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners. His responsibilities encompass national distribution efforts across fund of hedge funds, private equity fund of funds and real estate fund of funds business. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Golio was a Managing Director and Co-Head of Customized Solutions for UBP Asset Management LLC where he was responsible for U.S. institutional clients and consultants and the development of a marketing strategy that increased the firm’s assets two-fold. Previously, he was a Partner and Head of Business Development at Double Alpha Group, Inc. statistical arbitrage hedge fund and a Senior Vice President at Zurich Capital Markets, Inc. Hedge Fund Structured Products and Managed Assets business. Mr. Golio received a B.S. in Accounting with a minor in Economics from the State University of New York at Oswego.
Mr. Grunow joined Crestline in 2013 and is a Director in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Grunow worked as a financial services auditor with Ernst & Young, LLP in their New York City and Dallas offices. Mr. Grunow was previously a licensed CPA in New York (inactive status) and has his B.B.A. and Masters in Accounting from The University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Grunow currently serves on the Board of Directors of Broadvoice, bMedia, and GiGstreem and is a former board member of Actifio, Inc.
Mr. Guy joined Crestline in 2015. He is a partner and Chief Investment Officer of Crestline, Europe and a member of the ESG Committee. Mr. Guy previously founded the Tenax Credit Opportunities Fund, one of the first private credit funds of its type in Europe, was Co-Head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Global Loans and Special Situations Group, EMEA, and held a similar role for Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette/Credit Suisse, managing that firm's market-leading Distressed and Special Situations business in Europe for over 10 years. He began his professional career at JP Morgan in New York in 1989. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MA from Oxford University, was an Associate at McKinsey and Company and served as a Tank Troop Leader in the British Army in Germany.
Mr. Hodgdon has had extensive experience as a CEO and Director in leading multiple Life and Annuity insurance and reinsurance companies, and is recognized as an industry leader in the U.S. and International insurance markets. Mr. Hodgdon has structured domestic and international financial insurance and reinsurance transactions and developed intra-group reinsurance programs to support group-wide risk management initiatives.
Mr. Hodgdon spent several years in Ireland as Chairman and CEO leading the AEGON insurance and reinsurance expansion in Europe. He was a past Chairman of DIMA and member of the Taoiseach Finance Committee and was integrally involved in the European Life Reinsurance and initial Solvency II directive. Mr. Hodgdon has a Bachelor of Science degree from Concordia University.
Mr. Jackson joined Crestline in 2015 and is a Director for the Crestline Summit Equity Alpha fund. Prior to joining the firm Mr. Jackson worked at Brown Graham & Company, P.C. in the audit/tax department and helped assist in valuation and litigation cases. Mr. Jackson received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from West Texas A&M University in Accounting.
Summer Jarratt joined Crestline in 2022 and is responsible for West Coast client partnerships. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Jarratt was an Executive Vice President at PIMCO focused on institutional account management and business development. Previously, Ms. Jarratt spent nine years managing and developing client relationships at BlueMountain Capital Management and Empyrean Capital Partners, where she gained experience across liquid and illiquid credit strategies, diversifying strategies and custom mandates. Ms. Jarratt began her career at Cambridge Associates and holds a BA in economics from Boston College.
Ms. Jolas joined Crestline in 2022 and is an Associate in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Jolas worked for Deloitte Corporate Finance in their Investment Banking Division where she was responsible for creating financial models, developing marketing materials, and conducting due diligence associated with sell-side transaction processes. Ms. Jolas holds a B.B.A in Finance and a B.A. in Spanish from the University of Texas at Austin.
Mr. Jordan joined Crestline in 2016 and is Head of the Client Partnership Group. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Jordan spent 10 years at GoldenTree Asset Management, most recently as Partner & Co-Head of Business Development and a member of GoldenTree’s Executive Committee. Prior to GoldenTree, Mr. Jordan was a Partner of High Yield Sales at Wasserstein Perella, where in 1998 he was voted Institutional Investor’s, Bond Week, High Yield salesman of the year. Earlier in his career, Mr. Jordan also spent time with Citibank and Salomon Brothers where he ran a national sales team. Mr. Jordan has been involved in credit markets and in many cycles where he has learned humility and the importance of collaborating with colleagues and clients.
Mr. Kirim joined Crestline in 2021 as a Vice President in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Kirim was a Risk and Valuation Specialist at Bloomberg LP where he led business development for Bloomberg's suite of independent pricing, liquidity, and enterprise risk solutions. Prior to joining Bloomberg, Mr. Kirim spent 10 years overseeing valuation, accounting, and portfolio risk operations at State Street and BNY Mellon. Most recently, he was responsible for the development and execution of valuation control policies and NAV oversight within State Street's asset servicing business. Mr. Kirim graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Finance and B.A. in Spanish from Pacific Union College. He is also a CFA Charterholder and CAIA Charterholder.
Ms. Kruse joined Crestline in 2007. She is responsible for overseeing certain marketing and client service efforts within the Client Partnership Group, and is a member of the ESG Committee. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Kruse worked in the loan origination division at Chase Home Finance. Ms. Kruse is a graduate of Texas Christian University where she received her B.B.A. in Marketing.
Melinda Lilly joined Crestline in 2015 and is the Chief Operating Officer for the Crestline Summit Equity Alpha fund. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Lilly was the Director of Operations at Paradigm Advisors with responsibilities in various capacities of the business including compliance, research, operations, and Investor Relations. Prior to joining Paradigm Advisors, Ms. Lilly was a Financial Representative at Fidelity Investments working in trading, client service, and branch operations, as well as serving as a point person to Fidelity’s high-net-worth clientele. Ms. Lilly graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Psychology from Lee University.
Steven List joined Crestline in March 2019. Mr. List has more than 25 years of expertise providing executive management, interim management, turnaround, and financial/restructuring advisory services. Most recently he was a Partner of CR3 Partners, LLC, a national restructuring firm, with an individual focus on interim management, bankruptcy and M&A. Prior to that, Mr. List spent four years heading the corporate asset management group of Mount Kellett Capital Management, a $7B Private Equity firm focused on special situations investments in North America, Europe, and Asia. Earlier in his career he worked with Mattress Giant Corporation, Crossroads LLC, and KPMG. Mr. List received his BBS in Accounting from the University of Oklahoma, and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Turnaround Professional (CTP) and Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA).
Mr. Loeffler joined Crestline in August 2010. He heads operations for the Credit & Opportunistic Strategies platforms. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Loeffler spent 5 years with Maverick Capital, Ltd. leading the internal audit function and working on special projects for the executive team. Prior to that he spent 3 years as a Senior Auditor with KPMG, where he focused a majority of his time on hedge funds, private equity funds and other investment companies. Mr. Loeffler is a CPA. He received a B.B.A. in Accounting & Finance from Texas Christian University and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas - McCombs School of Business.
David Mabry joined Crestline in 2006 and is responsible for client servicing. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Mabry served as Vice President of North American Institutional Accounting at JPMorgan Chase. His department provided accounting services to over 350 clients encompassing $620 billion in assets. Prior to JPMorgan Chase, Mr. Mabry was Vice President of Fund Accounting at Oppenheimer Funds, Inc., where he was responsible for an operations department which provided mutual fund, separate account and hedge fund accounting services. Mr. Mabry has a B.B.A. in Accounting and a M.B.A. from Texas Tech University.
Aaron Mack joined Crestline in 2015 and serves as a Director in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Mack was an Investment Banking Analyst with Barclays Capital. He received his BS in Finance from Lehigh University and MBA from University of Virginia.
Mr. Mahajan joined Crestline in 2016 and is a Managing Director of the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group and a Senior Portfolio Manager of the Portfolio Financing Fund. Mr. Mahajan has 19 years of experience in private equity, banking and consulting. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Mahajan spent two years at Macquarie Asset Management targeting portfolio lending and structured debt solutions for mature private equity funds, as well as secondary transactions. Previously, Mr. Mahajan spent nine years at PineBridge Investments (f/k/a AIG Investments) where he was most recently a Director and senior member of the $8 billion Private Funds Group. In that capacity, he was responsible for sourcing, due diligence, negotiating and monitoring of secondary private equity transactions on a global basis. Prior to joining PineBridge, he worked on private equity and merger and acquisition opportunities at New York-based investment firms Chatterjee Group (formerly affiliated with Soros Funds) and Arcadia Investment Partners. During his career, Mr. Mahajan gained substantial operating experience at Oblix, a technology firm and portfolio company of Kleiner Perkins and APAX Partners, which was acquired by Oracle. Mr. Mahajan began his career with Deloitte Consulting where he advised multinational clients in energy, telecom, insurance, utilities and the technology sector. He holds a BS in Computer Science and Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Chris Marchak joined Crestline’s European Office in 2018, after a year on secondment. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Marchak worked in PwC’s business recovery and restructuring practice, advising stressed/distressed companies and their stakeholders and implementing restructuring solutions ranging from distressed M&A through to insolvency. Prior to this, Mr. Marchak worked for Scup, a Brazilian social media marketing technology business and was responsible for establishing their initial US and international presence. He has a double Msc in Finance and International Management from ESADE Business School, a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from Warwick University and is a Chartered Accountant.
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Jonathan Morgan joined Crestline in 2019 and is focused on the firm’s insurance/reinsurance strategies. Mr. Morgan has 20 years of investment experience focused predominately in credit related assets. Prior to joining Bratton Capital, he was a portfolio manager at a Dallas based family office. He previously worked for Avenue Capital and One East Partners, both credit focused hedge funds. He began his career a Lone Star Funds, a distressed private equity fund. Mr. Morgan received a BBA degree from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Ms. Naegeli joined Crestline in 2020 and is an Associate in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Naegeli worked for J.P. Morgan Chase in the Middle Market Banking and Specialized Industries Group and was responsible for underwriting senior debt facilities for clients in various industries. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Southern Methodist University.
Scott Nelson joined Crestline Summit (Crestline's multi-PM, multi-strategy equity-oriented hedge fund business line) in 2022 and is a Managing Director, Head of Client Partnership Group, Summit Crestline. Mr. Nelson has 30+ years of investment industry leadership and distribution experience. In his role at Crestline Summit, he is responsible for distribution as well as investor and consultant relations. Prior to joining Crestline Summit, he was Global Co-Head of Business Development & Investor Relations at Eisler Capital. Previously, he was Head of the Investor Group at Autonomy Capital, a global multi-asset class, global macro alternative investment manager. Prior he was the Chief Operating Officer at Deephaven Capital Management, a global multi‐strategy alternative investment manager. Prior to Deephaven, Mr. Nelson was Chief Operating Officer at Provident Advisors LLC, a multi‐strategy alternative investment manager. He previously served as the Executive Vice President of Allianz Dresdner Asset Management where he was the head of the single strategy hedge fund business and as President of American Express Asset Management’s Advisory Capital Strategies Group, and Senior Managing Director of Alternative Investments where he led the single‐manager hedge fund and multi‐manager, fund of hedge funds businesses. Scott holds a B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College.
Jon Norton joined Crestline in August 2019. He joined from Wells Fargo Capital Finance (UK) Limited (formerly Burdale Financial Limited – acquired by Wells Fargo in 2012) where he spent fourteen years originating, structuring and syndicating asset-based loans in the UK and cross-border Europe. Prior to this he was Head of Corporates for Commerzbank AG, London Branch for eight years managing the relationship management (origination), trade finance and cash management teams. He held roles before that with the common theme of working for foreign banks in London. Mr. Norton holds an MBA from Cranfield School of Management, a BSc from Imperial College, London and began his professional career as a graduate engineer at Rolls-Royce plc. He is a Freeman of the City of London.
Mr. Palmer joined Crestline in 2015 in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Palmer was Vice President for the Special Situations Group at Goldman Sachs where he evaluated potential investments ranging from senior debt to preferred equity and warrant investments. Mr. Palmer began his career as a financial analyst with Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin. Mr. Palmer graduated magna cum laude with a BBA in Finance and Accounting from Texas Christian University. Mr. Palmer currently serves on the Board of Directors of Broadvoice, Evocative, GiGstreem, and FinditParts and is a former board member of SpringCM, Inc., Riversand Technologies and Actifio, Inc.
Mr. Pangrac joined Crestline in 2023 and assists the General Counsel on the Legal/Compliance team. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Pangrac worked at Ropes & Gray LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP and before attending law school, he was a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Navy. Mr. Pangrac has a J.D. from Stanford Law School, an M.S.A. from the Naval Postgraduate School, an M.A. from Georgetown University and a B.S. from the U.S. Naval Academy.
Mr. Panna joined Crestline in 2015 and is responsible for the European Opportunistic investments. Mr. Panna was previously Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager of the Tenax Credit Opportunities Fund, one of the first private credit funds of its type in Europe. Prior to this role, he was Managing Director and Co-Head of European Special Situations at UBS in London. Prior to UBS, he was a portfolio manager running a proprietary book of illiquid special situations investments at Credit Suisse in London where he joined Mr. Guy in 2004. He has over 20 years of experience of investing in private capital transactions (equity and debt), financial restructurings, corporate finance advisory work and equity research experience. He holds a BA from Lipscomb University, USA.
Mr. Payán joined Crestline in 2006 and heads Crestline’s Legal and Compliance team. Mr. Payan is responsible for overseeing a broad variety of legal, compliance and operational matters on behalf of the Firm including launching new products, serving as legal department touch-point for investor and counterparty relationships, attending to strategic growth and expansion opportunities and internal matters such as employee matters and overseeing the compliance department. In addition, he is a member of the Firm’s Management Committee, a participant in the Opportunistic Investment Committee meetings, serves as secretary for the Firm’s Board of Directors, sits on the Firm’s reinsurance company Board of Directors and is integrally involved in the structuring, legal diligence and closing of investment opportunities. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Payan worked at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as an Investment Fund/Corporate Attorney where he was responsible for advising and structuring hedge funds, private equity funds, fund of funds and a closed-end registered investment company in a variety of jurisdictions including the United States, Cayman Islands, BVI, Bermuda and the United Kingdom. Additionally, he has experience with the creation, implementation and review of regulatory compliance programs. Mr. Payan has a J.D., a B.A. in History, and a B.A. in Ethnic Studies from the University of Texas. Mr. Payan also serves as a Trustee since 2009 and Member of the Investment Committee and Chairman of the Legislative Committee for the City of Fort Worth Employees’ Retirement Fund and serves on the Board of Directors of Capital for Kids. In 2022 Mr. Payan was recognized as General Counsel of the Year, small legal department, by the DFW Association of Corporate Counsel.
Mr. Philipp joined Crestline in 2013 and is a Partner of the firm in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group, a Senior Portfolio Manager of the Portfolio Financing Fund and a member of the ESG Committee. Mr. Philipp has more than 27 years of experience in investment banking and alternative investments. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Philipp co-founded and managed several family-owned investment and advisory firms with holdings and operations around the world. Earlier in his career, he spent 12 years at Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse focused on providing structured financing strategies for alternative investment managers. He is a CFA Charterholder and a member of the Security Analysts of San Francisco. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Colorado.
Mr. Pigott joined Crestline in 2016 in the European Office. Prior to joining the firm, Joe was Managing Director, Fixed Income at Bear Stearns International. He was also a founding partner of the Pamplona Management’s Credit Opportunity Fund responsible for credit investing in their Credit Opportunities Fund and Portfolio Manager at Rosette Merchant Bank. Joe has a background in investing as well as fund structuring and marketing. Joe holds a BA in literature from the University of McGill and an MBA in Finance from McMaster University.
Craig Pope joined Crestline Investors in November of 2009. He brings to the firm an in-depth knowledge of enterprise and commercial software development processes. His prior 13 years of experience include coding and managing projects in the Education, Financial Services, Commercial Real Estate, Healthcare, Oil & Gas, Logistics and Retail business sectors. Mr. Pope graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering.
Alfonso Ramirez joined Crestline in 2015 in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Ramirez was a Senior Director for FTI Consulting, Inc. in the corporate restructuring practice. In this role, Mr. Ramirez spent over six years providing restructuring advisory and turnaround services to distressed or underperforming companies. Prior to joining FTI, Mr. Ramirez was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs where he spent five years within the Special Situations Group. He was responsible screening and structuring first-lien, second-lien, and subordinated debt investments, as well as minority equity investments in select transactions. Mr. Ramirez also worked at the Archon Group a real estate investment and mortgage loan company. He spent four years in underwriting and the portfolio management of investments in commercial office, industrial, and retail properties. Mr. Ramirez graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in Government.
Deep Randhawa, Vice President - Mr. Randhawa joined Crestline in 2022 and is a Vice President in the Opportunistic Strategies Group with a focus on Liquid Credit. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Randhawa was a Senior Associate at Starwood where he underwrote and managed investments across the infrastructure sector. Previously, he was an investment banking analyst in Jefferies. Mr. Randhawa graduated with a B.A. in Economics from the University of Miami and a MS in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin.
Nowlin Randolph, CFA, CAIA rejoined Crestline in 2020 after three years running Mahonia Partners, a hedge fund focused on closed-end fund arbitrage. He was previously Head of Research for the Diversified Funds business at Crestline, which he was part of from 2002 to 2017. Prior to Crestline, Mr. Randolph co-managed a long/short equities portfolio for four years at Perot Investments and worked for AmSouth bank. He received a BA in Mathematics from Sewanee.
Jonathan Redman joined Crestline in 2017 in the European Office. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Redman was an Investment Director at Next Wave Partners, a European-focused, lower middle-market private equity firm where he executed buy-out and growth equity opportunities. Prior to this, Mr. Redman worked at PWC in various capacities including the tax and structuring group for both distressed and M&A transactions, and also in the firm’s Transaction Services due-diligence practice. He has a BSc in Economics and Management from Cardiff University and is a Chartered Accountant.
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Michael Rich joined Crestline in 2017 and is a Director in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Mr. Rich has more than 25 years of experience, including over 20 years focused in credit origination, structuring, underwriting, trading and risk management. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Rich was a Director with LStar Capital, a credit affiliate of Lone Star Funds which is a global private equity firm with over $70 billion in aggregate capital commitments. At LStar, he was the lead underwriter in an ~$1 billion portfolio purchase of 67 stressed/distressed middle market credit investments. In addition Mr. Rich managed capital markets efforts including sourcing new investment opportunities, secondary trading, and developing new institutional relationships. Prior to joining Lstar, Mr. Rich was a principal of Three Seas Capital which was focused on leveraged credit investing strategies. Before that, he was a portfolio manager at Highland Capital Management, a credit-focused alternative asset manager with $23 billion in AUM. Mr. Rich holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Kansas State University and an M.B.A. from Fuqua School of Business, Duke University with a concentration in Finance.
Paula Roberts joined Crestline Investors in 2005. Ms. Roberts leads the Compliance Committee. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Roberts worked at HBK Investments, L.P. as a financial reporting manager. Ms. Roberts is an Investment Adviser Certified Compliance Professional (IACCP), as well as a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Internal Auditor. She holds a BA in Economics from The University of Texas at Austin and a BBA in Accounting with honors from Texas Women’s University.
Paul W. Robson, CFA joined Crestline in 2009 from Northwater where he was President of Northwater Capital Management Inc. At Crestline Canada, Mr. Robson heads up the Toronto office, is responsible for business development and consultant relations for Canada and also acts a strategic relationship manager for various partner clients. Before joining Northwater in 1996, Mr. Robson gained over five years of experience in investment policy analysis, index fund management, and derivatives investing with the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS). Mr. Robson holds an MBA from the University of Western Ontario. He also holds the CFA designation and is a member of the Toronto CFA Society.
Ms. Romero joined Crestline in 2022 in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. Romero was a Senior Associate for Guggenheim Partners in the Corporate Credit & Direct Lending group where she focused on underwriting and managing investments in the technology and software sector. Previously, she was an Associate at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey (now Truist) where she was responsible for underwriting syndicated debt transactions. Ms. Romero received her B.B.A. in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the University of Florida.
Jonathan Rude, JD joined Crestline in 2011 and assists the General Counsel on the Legal/Compliance team. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Rude worked at Patton Boggs LLP. Mr. Rude received his J.D. and B.A. degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.
Mr. Sarkar joined Crestline in 2015 and is responsible for European Opportunistic Investments. Mr. Sarkar was previously Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager of the Tenax Credit Opportunities Fund where he led a number of private market investments in asset backed special opportunities. He has more than 15 years’ experience investing in special situations and private equity. Over the course of his career, Mr. Sarkar has structured new facilities, led investments in asset backed platform companies, invested in the carve out of non-core businesses and both managed and invested in operational turnarounds. Mr. Sarkar has a Masters in Finance from the London Business School and is a qualified accountant with more than 6 years’ experience at Ernst & Young and Arthur Andersen where he began his career.
Camille Sassman, CPA joined Crestline in 2000 and manages the financial reporting and back office operations for the firm. Prior to 2012, Ms. Sassman served as Controller, responsible for financial reporting, treasury oversight and compliance matters. From 2002 through 2006, she also served as Chief Compliance Officer, overseeing and managing compliance and regulatory affairs for the firm. During her tenure at Crestline, Ms. Sassman has worked with fund of funds, private equity, lending, hedge fund, secondary and opportunistic strategies. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Sassman was a Senior Manager in KPMG’s audit practice with both public and private clients primarily in the investment industry. Ms. Sassman earned her B.B.A. in Accounting with honors from Tarleton State University.
Mr. Semple joined Crestline in 2011 and is responsible for Crestline’s Opportunistic and Private Credit Strategies. He is a member of the Management Committee, the ESG Committee and various investment committees. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Semple was Vice President in the Special Situations Group for Goldman Sachs where he was responsible for originating, underwriting, executing and managing middle market debt and equity investment opportunities. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Mr. Semple worked as a credit analyst within the Special Opportunities Group for TQA Investors. Mr. Semple has a BA in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin. He currently or has previously served on the Board of Directors of Urgent Team Holdings, Inc., Carepayment Technologies, Inc., Leading Pharma, LLC, Clinipace, Inc. and is a member of YPO.
Jennifer Slimmer, CPA joined Crestline Investors in 2009 and is currently serving as the Director of Fund Accounting. Ms. Slimmer is responsible for the oversight and reporting over various investment products managed by Crestline as well as managing administrator relationships and serving as a liaison to the auditors conducting the annual audit procedures over various investment products. Ms. Slimmer has worked with fund of funds, private equity, lending, hedge fund, secondary and opportunistic strategies during her tenure at Crestline. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Slimmer was a Senior Associate in the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) audit practice serving both public and private clients in a variety of different industries including manufacturing, oil and gas, and financial services. Ms. Slimmer earned her B.B.A. in Accounting and Finance and her M.S. in Accounting from Texas Christian University.
Gary Sorensen joined CL Life and Annuity as the Director, Marketing and Sales. Mr. Sorensen’s career in the financial services industry expands over 30 years working with multiple insurance companies. Mr. Sorensen’s experience has provided him with a successful background in recruiting and supporting distribution in the fixed annuities and life insurance market. Mr. Sorensen is responsible for recruiting distribution partners, managing advisor relationships, and training on product and sales concepts. He is involved in CL life’s product design and new business development. Mr. Sorensen received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Iowa.
Katrina Starkie joined CL Life and Annuity as the Director, Controller of Insurance Business. Ms. Starkie brings over 15 years of industry experience having previously held Controller positions at multiple life insurance companies. Ms. Starkie has extensive experience in Statutory accounting and will manage CL Life’s financial processes, and overseeing the administration of the life and annuity business. Ms. Starkie received her Accounting degree from the University of Birmingham, England and is a Chartered Accountant.
Mr. Strauss joined Crestline in 2019 and focuses on the Opportunistic and Private Credit Strategies. Prior to joining Crestline, Marc spent the majority of his investing career at LStar Capital and FS Investments, where he was responsible for deal sourcing, execution and asset management for unitranche, junior capital, and special situation debt investments. In addition to his investing experience, Mr. Strauss provided debt advisory and capital raising services while working at Jefferies Financial Group and Rothschild & Co. Mr. Strauss has a BA from the University of Rochester, a JD from the University of Virginia, and a MBA from Columbia Business School.
Mr. Terreri joined Crestline in 2022 and is an Associate in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group and focuses on portfolio analysis and asset management. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Terreri was a Portfolio Analyst on the alternative investments strategy team for a single family office in Dallas, responsible for general portfolio management, investment due diligence, allocation strategy and performance analysis. He holds a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and a M.S. degree in Management from the University of Notre Dame.
Rahul Vaid joined Crestline in 2015 and focuses on our Opportunistic Strategies. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Vaid was Co-Founder and Managing Director of Frontier Investment Holdings. At Frontier, Mr. Vaid was responsible for sourcing, acquiring and managing secondary credit assets, hedge fund side pocket assets and direct deal investment opportunities. Prior to Frontier, Mr. Vaid was General Partner of Pacesetter Capital Group where he sourced, led and managed investments in technology and middle-market companies across growth equity, venture capital and debt investments. He also founded a closed-end high yield debt fund and served as its President and CEO. Mr. Vaid has a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunications from Government College of Engineering Pune India, and Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Master of Engineering Management from Dartmouth College.
Mr. Viscusi joined Crestline in 2019 and is a Senior Associate in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Viscusi worked for BBVA in the Syndicated and Leveraged Finance group and was responsible for structuring, underwriting and arranging senior debt facilities in a variety of industries. Before that, he worked in the Financial Services audit practice with KPMG. Mr. Viscusi holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Oklahoma State University.
Mr. Walker joined Crestline in 2012 and is President of the Crestline Summit Strategies. Mr. Walker has 30 years of experience in the investment business managing both businesses and assets. Prior to joining Crestline, initially as a Senior Advisor focused on corporate strategy in 2012, Mr. Walker was a Partner and portfolio manager at Ranger Investments. He was formerly Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer and Founder of the BNP Paribas Global Relationship Management business in both New York and London with responsibilities for all hedge fund counterparty credit, legal and operational risks. Prior to that, Mr. Walker was Managing Director of Fund Linked Derivative structuring and distribution at Zurich Capital Markets in New York. He also served as Director of Equity Derivatives at Credit Suisse First Boston in New York where he co-founded its Capital Introductions Group. This followed a career in Private Wealth Management. Mr. Walker is a former U.S. Army Captain and has a BBA from Texas Christian University. Outside of work, Mr. Walker is the Chairman Emeritis of Pathways, a charitable organization dedicated to life management with more than 22,000 graduates.
Clark Wen joined Crestline in 2016 as Vice President in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Wen was an Associate Director in the Private Equity Group of Black Diamond Capital Management. In this role Mr. Wen focused on special situation investments across industries such as chemicals, TV network & broadcast, telecommunications, and forest products. Prior to that, he was a Manager in the Transaction Advisory Services of Ernst & Young, where he provided merger & acquisition evaluation and due diligence for several Fortune 500 companies in the Media & Entertainment Industry. Mr. Wen received a B.S. in Business Management from the Stern School of Business of New York University and he is a CPA.
Mr. Widmer joined Crestline in 2018 to lead the Corporate FP&A function, including forecasting, annual budgeting, and long-range planning. Mr. Widmer brings with him more than 10 years of modeling and finance experience. Prior to joining Crestline, he served as a Senior Associate at JP Morgan Chase, where he focused on credit analysis and portfolio monitoring across the cash flow-based lending platform. Mr. Widmer began his career at Fidelity Investments, where he served as a Financial Analyst and point of contact for Portfolio Managers. He received his MBA from the University of North Texas.
Mr. Williams joined Crestline in 2012 and is Managing Partner of Credit Strategies and Co-Chief Investment Officer. He is a member of the Management Committee and Investment Committees for all Credit Strategies. Mr. Williams has more than 24 years’ experience in alternative investments and restructuring advisor services.
Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Williams spent the majority of his investing career at Goldman Sachs’ Special Situations Group where he developed and implemented liquid and illiquid distressed investing strategies and was responsible for deal sourcing and execution for private debt strategies. In addition to his investing experience, Mr. Williams provided restructuring and turnaround services to underperforming companies as a founding member of McKinsey & Company’s RTS group and a nationally recognized restructuring boutique. Mr. Williams has a BBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University and and MBA from Rice University.
