Dadong is Head of Barings Portfolio Finance and chair of the Portfolio Finance Investment Committee. He is responsible for leading a global team that originates, underwrites, and manages investment grade portfolio finance investments. Dadong was previously Head of Alternative Investment Solutions at MassMutual where he built strategic partnerships with alternative asset managers globally and originated bilateral private portfolio finance opportunities. Prior to joining MassMutual, Dadong was an investment professional with experience investing across the capital structure in both public and private asset classes at Blackstone, Altai Capital, and Coatue Management. Previously, he was an investment banking professional at J.P. Morgan in the Financial Institutions Group. Dadong graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business and LSA Honors College with a triple major in business, biophysics, and honors German, where he was a Martin Haller Award recipient.

Mr. Thomas is an executive vice president and portfolio manager in the New York office. He is responsible for liability management of PIMCO’s private strategies globally as well as fund finance investing. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2018, he worked for Goldman Sachs in its FICC division, holding a variety of positions in structured products trading and client financing. He has 21 years of investment experience and holds an undergraduate degree in economics from Dartmouth College.

Lindsay Trapp is a partner in Kirkland’s New York office and a co-head of the Structured Capital & Insurance Solutions team. Her practice focuses on complex credit fund formation and insurance solutions for global private fund sponsors, handling fund structuring, compliance and distribution matters. She has extensive experience in rated funds and other structures for capital-efficient insurance investing; structuring funds for tax-efficient global fundraising; captive CLO equity funds with EU risk retention compliant manager originators; levered private funds utilizing captive CLOs; collateralized fund obligations (CFOs); evergreen illiquid asset funds; liquid multicredit funds; and funds of closed-end funds. Lindsay is frequently quoted by industry press including Ignites Europe and Creditflux, where she has been quoted about matters affecting rated funds, insurance investors, private funds, CLOs and their managers in the U.S. and Ireland. Most recently, Lindsay was recognized by Best Lawyers®: Ones to Watch in 2026. She was recognized as a Rising Star Partner in IFLR1000 in the area of private equity funds in 2024 and 2025. 

 Pramit Sheth joined Dawson in 2023 and has 18 years of credit experience in the structured and fund finance industry. Prior to joining Dawson, Pramit spent 12 years with Kroll Bond Rating Agency as a Senior Managing Director. In his most recent role there, Pramit was accountable for all new and existing Investment Funds debt ratings globally. Prior to that he was a senior member of the CMBS Structured Finance Ratings team, where he helped develop various methodologies and was part of the analytical credit team. Pramit holds a Bachelors Degree in Finance.

For over 15 years, Richard has been advising fund sponsors and lenders, in both an advisory and principal capacity. Prior to co-founding FFP, Richard was the General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and a Director of a $3 billion asset manager investing debt and equity in lower middle-market companies. During his ten-year tenure, Richard executed numerous capital markets initiatives on behalf of the firm’s investment vehicles and oversaw fund formation activity, developing comingled funds, SMA concepts, a NASDAQ-listed BDC, and joint ventures. Richard also executed financings for the foregoing, including but not limited to subscription facilities, corporate and SPV revolvers, total return swaps, hybrid and NAV credit facilities, GP/asset manager lines of credit and securitizations of credit assets. Richard’s breadth of asset management experience presents valuable, innovative expertise to fund sponsors dealing with fundraising, investor relations, compliance, financing, and portfolio management challenges and opportunities. Richard began his career as an attorney with two large law firms, representing Fortune 500 companies, privately held entities and alternative asset managers with M&A and capital markets activities, and financial institutions in the execution of leveraged finance and securitization transactions.