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Douglas Bratton
Founding Partner, CEO & Co-CIO
Douglas K. Bratton is Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Co-Chief Investment Officer, and majority owner 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 hedge fund management, credit strategies, private equity and venture capital. Since 1989, Mr. Bratton has managed portfolios using these strategies on behalf of organizations associated with the Bass family. During this period, he also negotiated alternative asset related purchases and joint ventures for Bass and Crestline entities. 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 spent six years with Taylor & Company, an investment organization associated with members of the Bass family. From 1989 to 1991, Mr. Bratton was a partner of the Airlie Group, L.P. where he managed the merger arbitrage and special situation portfolio. From 1988 to 1989, Mr. Bratton was employed by Investment, L.P. as a partner in the Merger Arbitrage group. From 1984 to 1988, Mr. Bratton served as Vice President in the Merger Arbitrage group for Smith Barney Harris Upham and Company. 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.
Caroline Cooley
Managing Partner
CIO, Summit Equity Alpha
Caroline Cooley is Managing Partner and CIO of Crestline Summit Equity Alpha, a multi-PM equity market neutral hedge fund. She also serves on the firm’s 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 in 1998. Before joining Crestline, Ms. Cooley was a Managing Director at the Culmen Group. 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. Ms. Cooley began her career in the investment industry at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company (later merged into JP Morgan) in 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.
John Cochran
Partner & COO
John Cochran serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Crestline. He is a member of the Management Committee and the Investment 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 is a CPA and received a B.B.A. in Accounting from Texas Christian University in 1987.
Keith Williams
Managing Partner & Co-CIO
Keith Williams joined Crestline in 2012. 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 distressed or underperforming companies while working with McKinsey & Company and a nationally recognized restructuring boutique. Mr. Williams has a BBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University and an MBA from Rice University.
Chris Semple
Partner, US Credit
Chris Semple joined Crestline in 2011 and is responsible for Crestline’s Opportunistic and Private Credit Strategies. He is a member of the Management 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.
James Delaune
Managing Director
James Delaune joined Crestline in 2015 in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. 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.
Michael Aingorn
Managing Director
Michael Aingorn joined Crestline in 2019 and focuses on our Liquid Credit and Opportunistic Strategies. 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 was 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.
Steven List
Managing Director
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).
Marc Strauss
Managing Director
Marc 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.
William Palmer
Managing Director
William 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 SpringCM, Inc., Actifio, Inc. and Riversand Technologies.
Clark Wen
Managing Director
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.
Neilson Arbour, CFA
Managing Director, Senior Portfolio Manager
Neilson Arbour is the Senior Portfolio Manager leading Crestline Summit Equity Alpha, a multi-PM, equity market neutral hedge fund. 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 in 2007, 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.
Mark Walker
President, Crestline Summit
Mark Walker is President of the Crestline Summit Strategy. 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.
Jon Norton
Managing Director
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.
Ed White
Portfolio Manager
Mr. White joined Crestline in 2018 to run a strategy dedicated to investing in global equity capital markets issuance. Mr. White successfully ran similar strategies for 15 years at SAC Capital (now Point 72) London and Hong Kong, Cheyne Capital London and most recently Folger Hill, New York. Mr. White started in the investment industry in Hong Kong with the Fleming group in 1990.
Jeff Tack, CFA
Director - Fixed Income
Jeff Tack, CFA, Director of Fixed Income Strategies, Mr. Tack joined Crestline in 2012 and is the Director of Fixed Income strategies for Crestline’s Diversified Funds. Prior to joining the firm Mr. Tack was a Senior Portfolio Manager for ABN AMRO North America, and then he served as Director of Hedge Fund Selection with Amundi Alternative Investments. Mr. Tack received his MBA from the University of Chicago and his BBA from the University of Michigan.
Graham Ballard
Analyst - Equities
Graham Ballard, CAIA, Analyst, joined Crestline in 2012 and focuses on equity fund research and monitoring for our Diversified Funds. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Ballard worked as an Investment Analyst with the Texas Permanent School Fund in Austin. Mr. Ballard received his BS in Finance from the University of Kansas.
Matthew Cave
Analyst - Opportunistic Strategies
Matthew Cave, CPA, Middle Office Senior Analyst, joined Crestline in 2010 and assists the middle office with a focus on Opportunistic Strategies. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Cave spent over 7 years working as an accountant at Q Investments. Mr. Cave also has experience as an auditor for PricewaterhouseCoopers and has a B.B.A. and a Masters of Accountancy from Abilene Christian University.
David Finch, CFA
Managing Director, Senior Portfolio Manager
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.
Jake Friemel
Director
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.
Matt McCutchen
Director
Matt McCutchen, Director, Associate Portfolio Manager, Mr. McCutchen joined Crestline in 2011 as an Associate Director in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. McCutchen served as a Vice President at Prophet Equity, a private equity firm which makes control investments in distressed companies and special situations. He also served as a Senior Associate at Sun Capital Partners, a private equity firm which makes control investments in turnaround and distressed companies. Mr. McCutchen began his career in New York City, working in the investment banking division of Citigroup (formerly known as Salomon Smith Barney). Mr. McCutchen received his B.S. and M.S. in Accounting from the University of Florida.
Rahul Vaid
Managing Director
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.
Matthew Katz
Director
Mr. Katz joined Crestline in 2014 and is a Director for the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Mr. Katz has more than 19 years of investment banking and principal investment experience, predominately involving the recapitalization of privately-owned growth companies in the middle market. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Katz was a Managing Director with FdG Associates LP, a New York-based private equity firm. At FdG, he sourced and executed investment opportunities, and worked closely with portfolio company management teams on critical path issues including the development of strategic growth plans; building organizational infrastructure; capital allocation and financing structures; and mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining FdG, Mr. Katz was an investment banker with Lehman Brothers in the Global Natural Resources group. Focusing primarily on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance, his responsibilities included valuation, transaction structuring, as well as company and industry analysis. Mr. Katz holds a B.A. degree in History (concentration in Colonial and Revolutionary America) from Williams College.
Matthew Walters
Associate
Matt Walters, CFA, Vice President, Mr. Walters joined Crestline in 2011 as an Associate in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Walters worked as an Associate for Blackstreet Capital Management where he focused on distressed and turnaround investing. He began his career as an Investment Banking Analyst at Stephens, Inc. Mr. Walters graduated summa cum laude with a B.B.A. and M.S. from Seton Hall University.
William Wennerth
Associate
William Wennerth, Vice President, Mr. Wennerth joined Crestline in 2010 as an Associate in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Wennerth was an investment banker in Citigroup’s Middle Market M&A Group where he focused on mergers, divestitures, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations and capital raises for numerous privately-held companies. Mr. Wennerth began his career in Chicago as an Investment Banking Analyst in the Global Industries Group at Banc of America Securities. Mr. Wennerth has a B.A. with honors from the University of Chicago.
Michael Guy
CIO, Europe
Michael Guy joined Crestline in 2015 and is Chief Investment Officer of Crestline Europe. Mr. Guy most recently founded and was Senior Portfolio Manager of the Tenax Credit Opportunities Fund, one of the first private credit funds of its type in Europe. Prior to this he was Managing Director and co-Head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Global Loans and Special Situations Group, EMEA from 2009 to 2012. He 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 Troop Commander in the British Army in Germany.
Sanjeev Sarkar
Managing Director
Sanjeev Sarkar joined Crestline in 2015 and is responsible for the European Opportunistic investments. Mr. Sarkar 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. He has more than 10 years’ experience working as a principal investor including as a Venture Partner for a single LP fund investing in special situations and providing growth capital, a senior analyst at ADM Capital and an associate at Cazenove Private Equity. Sanjeev has structured new facilities, been involved in workouts, invested in complex transactions (equity and debt) and managed operational turnarounds across Europe. He has a Masters in Finance from the London Business School and is a qualified accountant with more than 6 years’ experience at Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young.
Andrey Panna
Managing Director
Andrey 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 Distressed Debt Research and Special Situations at UBS in London. Prior to UBS, he was a portfolio manager running a proprietary book of illiquid special situations and distressed debt investments at Credit Suisse in London where he joined Mr. Guy in 2004. He has over 20 years of experience of investing in special situations and distressed debt, financial restructurings, operational turnarounds, corporate finance advisory work and equity research experience. He holds a BA from Lipscomb University, USA.
Alfonso Ramirez
Managing Director
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.
Jonathan Redman
Director
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.
W.B. "Bud" Kirchner
Senior Advisor and Portfolio Operating Partner
W.B. “Bud” Kirchner, Senior Advisor and Portfolio Operating Partner, Mr. Kirchner joined Crestline in 2013 and is the Senior Advisor and Portfolio Operating PartnerMr. Kirchner has more than 40 years of operational, transactional and asset management experience and is the Founder and Chairman of Kirchner Group a traditional merchant bank that he established in 1985. Mr. Kirchner has started and successfully exited companies in industries as diverse as financial services, agribusiness, airline and consulting, and has conducted corporate transactions in over 25 countries. He has been a principal or agent in over 300 private capital ventures. Mr. Kirchner was awarded ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ an unprecedented two consecutive years during the mid 1990s. He is also the co-founder of the Christopher Douglas Hidden Angel Foundation (CDHAF), a charitable organization devoted to enriching the lives of individuals with cognitive, emotional, and/or physical impairments.
Dave Philipp, CFA, CAIA
Partner, Fund Liquidity Solutions
Dave Philipp, CFA, CAIA is a Partner of the firm in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group and a Senior Portfolio Manager of the Portfolio Financing Funds at Crestline Investors. 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.
Amit Mahajan
Managing Director, Senior Portfolio Manager
Amit Mahajan joined Crestline in 2016 and is currently a Managing Director of the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group and a Senior Portfolio Manager of the Portfolio Financing Fund. Mr. Mahajan has 17 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.
G.R. Christon
Managing Director
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.
Paul Choy
Managing Director
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.
Michael Rich
Managing Director
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.
Daniel Gabay, CFA
Vice President
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.
Matthew Derr
Vice President
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.
David Couch
Senior Associate
David Couch joined Crestline in 2019 as an Associate in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Mr. Couch has 7 years of experience in M&A advisory, valuations and deal execution. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Couch worked for Texas Instruments in the Corporate Development and Equity Investments Group in Dallas, TX. Before that, he worked in Financial Advisory Services at Weaver and RSM. Mr. Couch holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Trinity University and an M.S. in Accounting from Texas Christian University.
Dallas Ward
Vice President
Dallas Ward joined Crestline in 2019 and focuses on asset management and portfolio analysis and monitoring within Crestline’s Portfolio Financing strategy. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Ward served as a Senior Associate at The Carlyle Group, where he focused on portfolio and asset management across the Direct Lending platform, which was comprised of multiple fund structures including: two BDC’s (public/private), a joint venture fund, SMA’s and multiple CLO’s. He was also intimately involved in the structuring and management of several credit facilities facing multiple bank lenders, and provided oversight on all middle office functions in the Direct Lending group.
Chad Zidow
Senior Analyst
Mr. Zidow joined Crestline in 2017 as a Senior Analyst in the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Mr. Zidow has 5 years of experience in credit, leveraged finance and private equity. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Zidow worked for South Texas Energy Partners, a private equity firm focused on natural resources and real estate investments. Mr. Zidow also worked in the Emerging Markets Credit Research group for Merrill Lynch in New York City and in the Leveraged Capital group for AIG Asset Management in Houston. Mr. Zidow graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Texas at Austin with a BBA in Finance and a BA in Psychology. He also holds an MSc degree in Applied Economics from the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics.
David P. Killion
CEO
Mr. Killion has been CEO of Crestline Denali Capital and its predecessor Denali Capital since Denali Capital's inception in March 2001. Prior to co-founding Denali Capital, Mr. Killion was President and CEO of First Source Financial Inc. ("First Source"), a $2.4 billion commercial finance and loan asset management firm.. Prior to joining First Source in 1995, Mr. Killion was President of the Corporate Finance Division of Household Commercial Financial Services ("HCFS"), a subsidiary of Household Finance Corporation. Before joining HCFS in October 1989, Mr. Killion spent twelve years at American National Bank in Chicago where he most recently headed the Corporate Strategy group and earlier headed various lending units of the bank. Mr. Killion graduated with honors from the University of Illinois (BS, Finance) in 1972 and received his MBA from the University of Chicago in 1977.
Gregory R. Cooper
Senior Managing Director, Co-Head
Gregory R. Cooper, Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Crestline Denali Capital, has been a Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Crestline Denali Capital since July 2018 and Senior Managing Director of Crestline Denali Capital and its predecessor Denali Capital since Denali Capital's inception in March 2001. Prior to co-founding Denali Capital, Mr. Cooper was most recently a Senior Vice President of First Source, a $2.4 billion commercial finance and loan asset management firm. Prior to joining First Source in 1998, Mr. Cooper spent eleven years at Sanwa Business Credit Corporation ("SBCC") in Chicago. Prior to joining SBCC, Mr. Cooper spent two years at Mellon Financial Services. Mr. Cooper attended DePaul University and has taken courses at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Business.
John P. Thacker
Senior Managing Director, Co-Head
John P. Thacker, Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Crestline Denali Capital, has been Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Crestline Denali Capital since July 2018. Prior to that Mr. Thacker was Chief Credit Officer of Crestline Denali Capital and its predecessor, Denali Capital, since March 2001. Prior to co-founding Denali Capital, Mr. Thacker was a Senior Vice President of First Source Financial (1998-2000) and spent his early career in credit management at Sanwa Business Credit Corporation (1991-1998), and as an analyst at Maryland National Corporation (1984-1991). Mr. Thacker received a BS in Business Administration (Finance) from Villanova University and an MBA from Loyola College of Maryland.
Roger Marcincuk, CPA
Managing Director, Global Head of Operational Due Diligence
Roger Marcincuk, Jr., CPA, Managing Director of Operational Due Diligence, joined Crestline in May 2004 and leads the firm’s global operational due diligence efforts for all of Crestline’s fund of funds products. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Marcincuk held roles in investigative financial due diligence for the large accounting firms since 1993. Previous experience includes consulting on over 100 M&A transactions aggregating $20 billion in market value while providing investigative due diligence services to identify and to analyze financial, operational and competitive issues. Mr. Marcincuk also has expertise analyzing and identifying business risk for companies in both the domestic and international markets. Mr. Marcincuk is a licensed CPA and received a B.S. from Bentley College and a M.B.A. from Georgetown University.
Jeremiah Loeffler, CPA
COO, Credit & Opportunistic Strategies
Jeremiah 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.
Matt Schmitt
Operational Due Diligence Senior Analyst
Matt Schmitt, CPA, Operational Due Diligence Senior Analyst, Mr. Schmitt joined Crestline in 2012 and performs diligence on our underlying managers as part of our Operational Due Diligence team. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Schmitt spent three years in the audit practice with KPMG as a Senior Auditor, where he worked with Bass investments/hedge funds, as well as smaller hedge fund and private equity clients. Mr. Schmitt is a CPA and has both his B.B.A. in Accounting and Finance and a Masters in Accounting from Texas Christian University.
Joshua Tyson, CFA
Director
Joshua Tyson, CFA has more than 13 years' experience in the investment industry and currently oversees portfolio manager sourcing and research for Crestline's Summit Equity Alpha Fund. Prior to joining the Summit team, Mr. Tyson served as an Equity Analyst for the firm’s Hedge Fund of Funds. Prior to joining Crestline in 2013, Mr. Tyson worked 8 years at T. Rowe Price in Baltimore Maryland. Most recently at T. Rowe, Mr. Tyson was a Senior Associate on the firm’s Asset Allocation team, overseeing investments in the firm’s target date and target risk mutual funds. Mr. Tyson graduated from LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas with a B.S. in Finance and minors in Accounting and Economics. Mr. Tyson is also a CFA charterholder.
Melinda Lilly
Managing Director & COO
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.
Graham Grunow
Vice President
Graham Grunow joined Crestline in 2013 and is a Vice President 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.
Tim Kuhnen
Senior Analyst
Tim Kuhnen, Senior Analyst, joined Crestline in 2015 and assists the Fund Liquidity Solutions Group. Prior to joining Crestline Mr. Kuhnen studied at Rice University where he worked part-time in equity research for Roth Capital Partners and served as an investment banking summer analyst at Mizuho Bank. He has financial modeling, credit analysis, and due diligence experience across funds and direct assets. Mr. Kuhnen holds a Bachelor of Science from Rice University and is a 2018 Level III Candidate of the CFA Program.
Dustin Earnest
Analyst
Dustin Earnest, CPA, Analyst, Mr. Earnest joined Crestline in 2013 as an Analyst in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Earnest was a Financial Analyst with BVA Group. He received his BBA in Finance and Masters in Accounting at The University of Texas at Austin.
Dallas Ward
Manager
TBD
Michael Bullard
Director
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.
Eric Spector
Analyst
Eric Spector, Analyst, Mr. Spector joined Crestline in 2013 as an Analyst in the Opportunistic Strategies Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Spector was an Investment Banking Analyst with Barclays. He graduated cum laude with his B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University.
Robert Zell, CPA
Associate Director of Operational Due Diligence
Robert Zell, CPA, Associate Director of Operational Due Diligence, joined Crestline Investors in 2013 and leads the firm’s operational due diligence efforts for its Opportunity and Recovery funds. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Zell was Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer for private equity firm Rock Island Capital where he assisted in due diligence and investment analysis while also managing the fund administration and compliance program. Previous experience includes financial positions with Institutional Shareholder Services and Artesia Technologies, both were portfolio companies of private equity firm Warburg Pincus. Mr. Zell is a CPA and received a B.B.A. in Accounting and Marketing from Baylor University and an M.B.A. in Investments and Corporate Finance from the University of Notre Dame.
Paul Robson, CFA
Head of Client Partnership Canada & President
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.
Alex Didych, CFA, FRM, PRM
Managing Director & CRO
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.
Anton Slepnev
Senior Risk Systems Developer
Anton Slepnev-Sokolinskiy, Senior Risk Systems Developer, joined Crestline in 2011 and is a member of Crestline’s Investment Risk Team. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Slepnev-Sokolinskiy was a systems engineer for Genus Technologies. In addition, Mr. Slepnev-Sokolinskiy worked as a programmer for Everest Asset Management, where he led the development of the front-office information system and developed automated trading systems. Mr. Slepnev-Sokolinskiy received both his B.S. and M.S. in Applied Mathematics and Physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.
Camille Sassman, CPA
CFO
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.
Jonathan Rude, JD
Assistant General Counsel
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.
Nathan Shulman
Director of Software Development
Nathan Shulman, Director of Software Development, joined Crestline Investors in October of 2008. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Shulman spent 12 years developing enterprise level software for Alcon Laboratories, Inc., Dell, Inc., and Microsoft Corporation. His experience includes web and client architecture with focus on security, reliability, and scalability using Microsoft technologies. Mr. Shulman graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in Computer Science.
Craig Pope
Director & Head of Information Technology
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.
Allison Ortegon
Director
Allison Ortegon, Director, joined Crestline Investors in December of 2010. Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. Ortegon worked as a Data Warehouse Technologist and provided ongoing development, maintenance and testing of new and existing processes and structures. Ms. Ortegon graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Computer Science.
Frank Jordan
Partner, Head of Client Partnership Group
Frank Jordan joined Crestline in 2016 and is Head of the Client Partnerships 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.
David Mabry
Managing Director
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.
Scott Nelson
Managing Director
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.
Christopher Golio
Managing Director
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.
Graham Officer
Managing Director
Graham Officer joined Crestline in 2017 and is part of the Business Development & Client Partnerships Group. He heads the marketing for the Crestline Summit Equity Alpha product, which is the Firm’s multi-portfolio manager equity long-short strategy. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Officer spent 21 years at Goldman, Sachs & Co in a number of different sales leadership positions within their Securities Division. He most recently was the head of the North American Institutional Equity Derivative Sales team for global equity volatility and synthetic products. He started his career in Fixed Income and transitioned to Equities where he spent most of his career. Mr. Officer has a B.A. in Economics from Bucknell University.
Sean Gannon
Managing Director
Sean Gannon joined Crestline in 2010 and is responsible for Client Development. Mr. Gannon has 25 years of experience in the investment industry including: Director of Marketing & Client Service at Dorchester Capital Advisors, Senior Vice President & Investment Committee Chairman at a $2.5B private bank, and Director of Marketing and Client Service at Lipper & Company, a $4.5B hedge fund. Mr. Gannon also spent 9 years at Mellon’s Global Corporate Banking Department as Vice President & Team Leader where he focused on leveraged finance transactions. Mr. Gannon is a graduate of Miami University where he received his B.A. in Political Science and the University of Pittsburgh where he received an M.B.A. He is a member of the Finance Advisory Board at Miami University.
Kelly Kruse
Managing Director
Kelly Kruse joined Crestline in 2007 and is responsible for overseeing certain marketing and client service related efforts within the Client Partnership Group. 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.
Daniel Schwarz
Associate Director
Daniel Schwarz, CPA, Associate Director, joined Crestline Investors in 2007and is a senior memeber of Crestline’s Client Service team. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Schwarz was Senior Associate with KPMG, LLP. During his tenure at KPMG, Mr. Schwarz focused almost exclusively on auditing hedge funds and other investment companies and specialized in valuing a wide variety of complex financial instruments. Mr. Schwarz is a graduate of Texas A&M University where he received his B.B.A. in Accounting and M.S. in Finance.
Joe Pigott
Managing Director
Joe Pigott joined Crestline in 2016 in the European Office. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Pigott 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. Mr. Pigott has a background in investing as well as fund structuring and marketing. Mr. Pigott holds a BA in literature from the University of McGill and an MBA in Finance from McMaster University.
Jesús Payán, JD
General Counsel
Jesús Payán, JD 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 Management Committee, a participant in the Opportunistic Investment Committee meetings, serves as secretary for the Firm’s Board of Director meetings 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.
Paula Roberts
Chief Compliance Officer
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.
Jesse Yorio
Managing Director
Jesse Yorio joined Crestline in 2019 and is a Portfolio Strategist and Convertible Bond PM. Mr. Yorio managed a similar strategy for Soros Fund Management and Duquesne Capital Management. He was most recently at Point72 Asset Management where he was a discretionary macro research analyst and trader. Prior to Point72, Mr. Yorio was a Partner and Chief Risk Officer at Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers. Mr. Yorio started in the investment industry in New York with Goldman Sachs in 1999 and has a M.Eng. degree in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University.
Chris Marchak
Director
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.
Aaron Mack
Director
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.
Hannah Naegeli
Senior Analyst
Hannah Naegeli joined Crestline in 2020 as an Analyst 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.
Matt Viscusi
Associate
Matt Viscusi joined Crestline in 2019 as a Senior Analyst 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.
Issam Dairanieh, PhD
Operating Partner
Dr. Dairanieh brings over 35 years of experience in technology development, commercialization and investment in the energy, materials and environment sectors. Since 2017, Issam serves as an operating partner with Fund Liquidity Solutions providing support to investments in the ESG as well as the venture capital and fund restructuring areas. Prior to that, Issam was the CEO of the Global CO2 Initiative focusing on the commercialization of technologies leading to reducing carbon emissions. Prior to that, Issam spent 18 years at BP across multiples roles in the clean technology and alternative energy sectors, culminating in leading the BP corporate venture capital team (a global virtual team in the US and Europe) and managing over $250m in related assets. Dr. Dairanieh received a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL., a M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois, a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Syracuse University and a B. Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Jordan. Issam obtained executive training at Imperial College, U California (Berkeley) and Harvard.
Bryan Fischer
Director
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.
Nowlin Randolph, CFA, CAIA
Managing Director
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 Morgan
Managing Director
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.
Ashley Sanders, CPA
Director
Ashley Sanders, CPA joined Crestline in 2015 and serves as the Director of Firm Operations and Tax. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Sanders worked at Jasper Ridge Partners and was responsible for overseeing all areas of tax compliance. Previously she worked at a local regional accounting firm. Ms. Sanders has her B.B.A. in Accounting from Tarleton State University.
Michael Blewitt
Managing Director, Head of Human Resources & Public Relations
Michael 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. 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.
Rick Hodgdon
President, Head of Insurance Business
Rick Hodgdon joined Crestline in 2021. Mr. Hodgdon has had extensive experience as a CEO 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 is well-versed in strategic planning and execution, structuring and negotiating transactions, and capital management.
Mr. Hodgdon spent several years in Ireland as Chairman and CEO leading the AEGON insurance and reinsurance expansion in Europe. He was both a past Chairman of DIMA and member of the Taoiseach Finance Committee, respectively. Mr. Hodgdon was integrally involved in the European Life Reinsurance and initial Solvency II directive. Mr. Hodgdon has a Bachelor of Science degree from Concordia University.
Jennifer Slimmer, CPA
Director
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.
Summer Jarratt
Managing Director
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.
Robert Bernstone
Head of Trading & Portfolio Manager
Robert Bernstone joined Crestline in 2021 and is a Managing Director, overseeing all of Crestline Summit’s trading and is also a Portfolio Manager for Index Strategies. Mr. Bernstone joined from Credit Suisse, where he was a Managing Director and held a number of roles in New York and London including Global Head of Delta One Trading. Mr. Bernstone has also held senior trading roles at Deutsche Bank and Barings, in New York and Tokyo. Mr. Bernstone began his career at Morgan Stanley in New York in 1989 and has a BA from Brandeis University.
Cason Beckham, CFA
Director
Cason Beckham, CFA joined Crestline in 2021 and has over 15 years' experience in the investment industry and currently oversees tactical strategies for Crestline's Summit Equity Alpha Fund. Prior to joining the Summit team, Mr. Beckham worked in business development at Walleye Capital and before that as an allocator at Texas Teachers Retirement System. While at Texas TRS, he built out the internal Equity Capital Markets program for the Trust. Mr. Beckham also previously co-managed an Index Event strategy at Alpine Global and started his career trading market microstructure arbitrage opportunities at proprietary shops such as Assent LLC. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Finance and minor in Psychology. Mr. Beckham is a CFA Charterholder.