THANK YOU TO OUR ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Simon is a Managing Director on the Hedge Funds and Private Credit teams and has over 21 years of experience in alternative investments. Simon is responsible for the management and oversight of Hedge Funds and Private credit investment programs in Europe, the Middle East, and Australia and focuses on portfolio construction and manager selection, providing customized investment recommendations. Simon is an instructor for ILPA’s “Private Credit for the Limited Partner”, a one-day, deep-dive seminar offered to ILPA members. 

Prior to joining Aksia in 2016, Simon spent twelve years at HSBC. There, Simon held several roles in alternative investments research and portfolio management and most recently was Head of Portfolio Management at HSBC Alternative Investments Limited. 

Simon graduated with first-class honors from the University of Oxford with a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and holds an MSc in Comparative Politics from The London School of Economics. He is a CFA charterholder. 

Felix is a Partner at Bright Capital and heads the Frankfurt based Private Credit Investment Team. He joined Bright Capital in 2018 and is responsible for originating, underwriting, and executing sponsor-backed and predominantly sponsor-less investment opportunities with a strong buy-and-build angle in the DACH lower-mid-market. Felix has >10 years of industry experience and, prior to joining Bright Capital, worked in Leveraged Finance at HSBC, where he focused on structuring and executing mid and large cap sponsor-backed LBO transactions. Felix started his career in Investment Banking, holds a Master of Science in Finance and studied in Germany, the US and France.

Harshit Shah is a Portfolio Manager with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Limited. He is a seasoned financial professional with over two decades of experience in banking, structured finance, leveraged finance and credit strategy. Currently Harshit manages the bank’s CLO portfolio and has been a key person in launching Direct Lending investments and Fund Finance business. His strategic insights and deep market knowledge have consistently driven value for the organization. 

 His career spans influential roles at leading financial institutions such as ICICI Bank UK, HDFC Bank, and ABN AMRO Bank, where he honed his expertise in credit risk analysis, investment strategy, and operational management. 

 Harshit is a qualified Chartered Accountant and a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounts & Auditing from Maharaja SayajiRao University of Baroda. 

Dagmara is Co-Chief Investment Officer for Tetragon Credit Partners. She joined the group in early 2007 and prior to that was an Associate in Morgan Stanley’s Securitized Products Group working on the structuring desks in New York and London. At Morgan Stanley, she was involved in the structuring and execution of CDO and CLO transactions across multiple underlying asset classes and structural types. Dagmara holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. She is based in New York.

Cécile Mayer Lévi joined Tikehau Capital in 2013 as Head of Private Debt activity. She has built a  talented team to become one of the leading players in Europe in private debt, in particular in direct lending and is actively involved with a very hands-on role in closing transactions, chasing  opportunities and monitoring investments. To date, she has arranged over 150 financing transactions and was one of the pioneers of the private debt strategy.

Cécile previously worked at Ardian (formerly AXA Private Equity) where she notably broadened the investment scope to include unitranche debt, with a strong focus on forming partnerships with portfolio companies and Private Equity shareholders. She began her career in 1988 at Merrill  Lynch (Corporate Finance and M&A) in Paris and then in New York. In 1991, she joined Elig, one of the pioneering private equity funds in France. In 2001, Cécile's focus pivoted to mezzanine debt investments, and she was appointed Investment Director at Omnes (formerly CAPE -Mezzanis).

Cécile sits as observer on the board of over 20 companies, where she contributes her 360° view to their management teams across a diversified range of industries. She is also board member and chair of the audit committee of the listed company FL Entertaiment. She is also chair of the Private Debt Commission of the trade association France Invest and is 
leading the initiative to implement ESG ratchets and an impact margin grid in deal documentation. In addition she has been appointed as a board member of France Invest since July 2023.

Cecile is a member of the investment committee of the endowment Alma Mater HEC, a leading European business school, and also Board member of the ACC- Alternative Credit Council in connection with AIMA to cover Private Debt related regulatory and legal evolutions in Europe and worldwide.