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Allan Schmitt is a Managing Director within the Corporate Debt Finance Group at Wells Fargo Securities.  Mr. Schmitt joined Wells Fargo in 2006 and has spent his entire career focused on providing clients with financing solutions for portfolios of non-investment grade leveraged loans. These financing solutions have predominantly consisted of asset based lending facilities for the bank and capital markets transactions through the execution of collateralized loan obligations. 

In his role within Corporate Debt Finance, Mr. Schmitt acts as a relationship manager for a large portion of the group’s direct lending client base across both US and Europe with a focus on providing financing solutions to asset managers and investors within the direct lending market.  Mr. Schmitt also spearheads the groups CLO origination and execution efforts which includes arranging middle market and broadly syndicated CLOs for asset managers, insurance companies, hedge funds and finance companies.  In this role, Mr. Schmitt works on the origination, structuring and overall execution of asset backed finance solutions.   

Mr. Schmitt graduated from Rhodes College with a BA in Economics.   

Andreas Wilgen is Managing Director and Co-Head of the Global Cross Sector team in Structured Finance. The team of ~30 analysts focuses on non-traditional structured finance, which includes securitizations backed by digital infrastructure, transportation assets such as aviation, container and rail, Oil & Gas PDP, future flow securitizations, music and IP royalty cashflow and all forms of solar ABS. The team is also Fitch’s focal point for private credit securitization structures. Andreas’ focus is rated note feeders (RNF), credit fund finance and private credit securitizations. Given his London base, Andreas also has regional focus on EMEA and APAC for all other sub-sectors. Prior to his current role Andreas was the Group Credit Officer for Global Structured Finance at Fitch Ratings. Credit Officers are part of a team acting as a check and balance on the ratings team, providing additional perspectives and research to protect the quality of Fitch’s ratings. Prior to this Andreas was the co-Head of US ABS where he was responsible for managing the New York and Chicago-based staffs; overseeing criteria, research, and analytical development; and interacting with a variety of market participants, particularly investors. Prior to this, Andreas headed the EMEA ABS team in London with a similar sector and product focus. Andreas began his career at Fitch in April 2005 after having earned the degree of Diplom-Kaufmann at the University of Cologne and an M.B.A. from Eastern Illinois University.

Arlene Shaw is a Managing Director and Treasurer.  Ms. Shaw is responsible for structuring and executing collateralized loan obligations, lines of credit and other financing for the firm.   Ms. Shaw joined Brightwood in February 2016.   Prior to Brightwood, Ms. Shaw was a Senior Associate at Schulte Roth and Zabel LLP in the corporate finance group, where her practice was focused on, middle market credit facilities, acquisition financing and liquidity facilities for hedge funds and private equity funds, including warehouse lines, leveraged finance vehicles, capital call facilities, CLOs and fund-of-fund loans.   Ms. Shaw holds a BA, summa cum laude, from the State University of New York at Albany and a JD, cum laude, from Tulane University Law School. Ms. Shaw is committed to philanthropic works and serves on the Water Board for the City of New York Department of Environmental Protection and the board of Inherent Foundation. 

 Bruce Richards is the CEO, Chairman, and Co-Founder of Marathon Asset Management. Based in New York, Bruce co-founded Marathon with Lou Hanover in 1998. Bruce received a B.A. in Economics, Summa Cum Laude, from Tulane University and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He previously worked at Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette and Smith Barney. 
 
Fun Fact: Bruce's side hustle is competitive tennis and online chess, has traveled to all 50 states, and provides 8 scholarships per year to Veterans at leading universities totaling over 50 thus far. 

Carolyn Alford represents financial institutions, funds, private equity sponsors, issuers and corporate
borrowers on a wide range of complex and innovative finance matters including acquisition,
unitranche, first lien/second lien and mezzanine financings, leveraged and investment-grade
syndicated credit facilities, private placements of notes and asset-based lending.
While her industry experience is broad, she has an extensive track record in financing matters
for healthcare, pharma, energy, telecom and media sectors. Notably, Carolyn co-leads King &
Spalding's Finance & Restructuring practice and serves on the firm's managing Policy Committee.
Carolyn also has experience structuring programmatic lending platforms, and is frequently called
upon by clients to advise on structuring innovative financial products and to represent their interests
in workouts and out of court restructurings.
Carolyn is a fellow and past-President of the American College of Investment Counsel, where she
served on the Board of Trustees for eight years, and the American College of Commercial Finance
Lawyers, where she has served on the Nominating Committee. As a passionate proponent for
diversity, Carolyn is proud to serve on the Board of the Atlanta Women's Foundation. Carolyn also
has the honor of serving as a board member of the Children's Hospital of Atlanta Foundation.

 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.

 Chris Grizzard is a Director with Bayshore Capital and a member of the firm’s investment committee. He is responsible for investment research, due diligence, and execution, with a primary focus on private credit, private equity, and venture capital. He was previously in the Investment Banking division of Robert W. Baird & Co., completing M&A, IPO, and debt refinancing transactions for Baird’s global industrial clients. Chris graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Finance from Florida State University, and a Master of Science degree in Finance from the University of Florida. Chris is a CFA and CAIA charterholder. 

Cory Olsen has over 20 years of financial operations experience, primarily in the Loan and CLO markets. Before joining AccessFintech, Cory's experience in the industry was predominantly at buyside firms.

With an extensive background in the loans space, (CLOs, broadly syndicated, distressed and private credit), Cory made a career transition to join the technology-SaaS sector. Today, she is dedicated to building technology solutions aimed at addressing the inefficiencies prevalent in the industry.

Cory is leading the team of Loans Products at AccessFintech, and has created a suite of services specifically for the CLO, Syndicated Loans and Private Credit industry.

Based in New York, Devi Aurora is Managing Director and Analytical 
Manager at S&P Global Ratings. She heads a diversified portfolio of
U.S. financial institutions in S&P’s ratings practice, and her team of 
experienced analysts has a portfolio that covers U.S. banks, securities 
firms, financial market infrastructure companies, and alternative 
funds. As team leader, she manages relationships with issuers and 
investors, and is responsible for ensuring analytical rigor and 
consistency across financial institutions and alternative funds ratings. 
Prior to her most recent position, she served as a senior member of
the global Financial Institutions team, where she analyzed banks and 
other financial institutions and specialized in research and thoughtleading commentaries on banking industry trends and regularly 
represented S&P’s views on these topics. 
Devi began her career as an international macroeconomist and country 
risk expert at DRI/Global Insight. She subsequently specialized in fixed 
income research and corporate credit trends analysis for S&P Global, 
with a focus on default research and leveraged finance. She has 25
years of experience with credit analysis, fixed-income analytics, 
economic modeling and forecasting. 
Devi holds a M.A. degree in international economics from Yale 
University and a B.A. degree in Economics and French from Vassar 
College, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

Duane McLaughlin is a market-leading lawyer in both bank lending and debt capital markets. He has extensive experience representing borrowers, lenders and sponsors in complex financings and credit arrangements, including acquisition financings, senior secured and unsecured facilities, mezzanine and subordinated facilities, unitranche loans, asset based loans, cash flow loans, special situations loans, and cross-border loans. In recent years he has worked on some of the largest and most complicated financed M&A matters, and regularly works on capital solutions matters. He has an impressive roster of long-term corporate clients and portfolio companies who he regularly represents on debt finance matters. 

Earl Hunt is a Partner and serves as Chairman and CEO of Apollo Debt Solutions. Prior to joining in 2021, 
Earl was a Partner in the Global Markets division at Goldman Sachs where he was responsible for 
strategic client coverage. He also served as a member of the Goldman Sachs's Partnership committee 
and Global Markets Operating Committee. Previously, Earl was Co-Head of US Distressed & Par Loan 
sales at Goldman Sachs. Before that, Earl worked at Citi as a director in Leveraged Finance sales. 
Earl earned a BA in Economics from Brown University and is a member of the Brown University Board of 
Trustees.

Eric Klar, a partner in the Firm's Debt Finance practice and co-head of the US Private Credit & Direct Lending pillar, primarily focuses on advising major financial institutions and private lenders in complex corporate finance transactions, including leveraged buyouts, acquisition financings and recapitalization transactions. In addition, Eric advises clients with respect to the financing of large-scale data center projects throughout the United States. Eric's clients include leading investment and commercial banks, direct lenders, private credit funds and business development companies, such as Bank of Montreal, Deutsche Bank, Jefferies Finance, First Citizens Bank, Société Générale, Antares Capital, Ares Capital, Benefit Street Partners, CION Investment Corp., MidCap Financial, Oaktree Capital, Digital Bridge Credit, MUFG Bank, Mizuho Bank and Varagon Capital Partners, and leading global providers of data centers, such as Vantage Data Centers.​

Closely involved in all aspects of deal structure, negotiation and documentation, his record of accomplishment is testament to his commitment to helping clients to achieve their goals. Drawing on his knowledge of the sector, he has helped numerous clients to navigate the intricacies of large-scale and multijurisdictional deals.​

Eric also draws upon his successful career in a range of business settings. Prior to joining White & Case, he was a Managing Director in the Leveraged Finance Group of a global financial institution, and the President and CEO of a military aircraft parts distribution company.

Gregory Robbins is Vice Chair of Golub Capital, a market-leading, award-winning direct lender and experienced credit asset manager. As of January 1, 2023, Golub Capital had over $60 billion of capital under management, a gross measure of invested capital including leverage. Golub Capital partners with institutional investors and family offices, offering tailored solutions for investors’ credit asset strategies. The Firm specializes in delivering reliable, creative and compelling financing solutions to companies backed by private equity sponsors. Golub Capital has been a top 3 U.S. Middle Market Bookrunner each year from 2008 through Q4 2022 for senior secured loans of up to $500 million for leveraged buyouts. Golub Capital has been consistently recognized with industry awards, including Lender of the Year, Americas (Private Debt Investor, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021), Senior Lender of the Year, Americas (Private Debt Investor, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020) and Business Development Company of the Year, Americas (Private Debt Investor, 2015, 2016, 2017). 

Mr. Robbins joined Golub Capital in 2004 and is Vice Chair of the Firm. He is also an officer of Golub Capital BDC, Inc. (NASDAQ: GBDC). Mr. Robbins was previously a Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of the Investor Partners Group. Prior to joining Golub Capital, Mr. Robbins was previously a Vice President in the Merchant Banking Group at Indosuez Capital. Prior to this position, Mr. Robbins worked as an Associate at Saw Mill Capital, a middle market private equity firm.  

Heather provides strategic guidance to private investment funds across the liquidity spectrum, spanning all asset classes. As a trusted advisor to clients, she delivers comprehensive legal services to institutional investment managers on operational and regulatory issues.

Heather Wyckoff helps form complex hedge funds, private credit, real estate and other real asset funds, venture capital/growth equity funds, and other private equity funds. She advises clients on operational and regulatory matters. She has particular experience in semi-liquid and evergreen funds in illiquid asset classes, including hedge funds with substantial private investment portfolios, slow-pay private credit funds, and evergreen real estate, agriculture, and other real asset funds. Heather is adept at forming funds with bespoke and complex structures for marketing and investing globally. Additionally, Heather represents fund managers and institutional investors in the negotiation of seed deals, co-investment vehicles, “funds of one,” and other strategic relationships. Heather is a recognized industry speaker on topics including semi-liquid and evergreen funds, private credit, capital raising, seed capital arrangements, and various regulatory issues. She has been quoted in numerous industry publications, including Pensions & Investments, Bloomberg, and Buyouts. Heather is a leading investment funds lawyer listed in Crain’s New York Business 2023 “Notable Women in Law” and was named one of The Hedge Fund Journal’s “50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds” in 2022 and 2024. She’s also been recognized by The Legal 500 in the private equity funds category and IFLR1000’s Banking, Finance and Transactional Law Expert Guide.

James Jefski is a senior vice president and global head of Private Credit for State Street. In this role, James has responsibility for the business performance and go-to 1 market strategy and comprehensive servicing solutions for traditional closed-end products, evergreen funds, semi-liquid vehicles with wealth/retail investor bases, BDCs, CLOs, and products designed for insurance-related investors.

Prior to this role, James was the North American head of State Street’s Alternatives Segment, responsible for the strategic direction, growth, and performance of our hedge and private markets administration services. Earlier in his career, James held various leadership roles providing client, prospect, and market coverage for Private Credit and Private Equity clients. For seven years, he led our Private Credit accounting and administration services teams for multiple private fund structures; he also oversaw the 2011 launch and management of Private Credit’s BDC-focused business.

James joined State Street in 2007 from Investors Bank & Trust, where he had been associated since 1999, supporting Private Equity, Hedge, and Structured Loan products. James earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Siena College and a Master of Business Administration from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.

Jay Ramakrishnan joined AB in 2014 and is a Managing Director, the Head of Originations, a founding member, and a member of the investment committee of AB Private Credit Investors. Her responsibilities include developing and driving group-level productivity and originations strategy across the team, as well as business initiatives such as technology-focused growth capital solutions. In addition, Ramakrishnan leads the team’s investments in the healthcare and healthcare technology sectors and covers East Coast financial sponsors with an emphasis on technology, healthcare, and business services. She was previously a managing director with Barclays Private Credit Partners, where she held a similar role and, as a founding member of the business, was involved in various initiatives, including fundraising and business launch. Prior to joining Barclays in 2007, Ramakrishnan was a vice president at Goldman Sachs and worked in the Specialty Lending Group in New York, following her experience at Goldman Sachs in London, where she oversaw a European leveraged-loan portfolio and gained experience in managing restructurings. She was previously in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns and started her career as an associate consultant for Bain & Company. Ramakrishnan holds a BA (Hons) in economics from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Location: New York 

Jay Hu leads the structured finance teams responsible for new ratings, surveillance and research on CLOs, Corporate and Novel ABS, structured credit, and ABCP in the Americas. Additionally, he is a key member of the Private Credit Group, overseeing all structured deals related to private assets. Jay is a member of Moody’s Decentralized Finance and Digital Assets leadership team and also chairs Moody’s global structured finance surveillance council. At Moody’s for over two decades, Jay has held a series of leadership roles of increasing scope and responsibility. 

Prior to joining Moody’s, Jay was a senior economist at FannieMae, where he researched mortgage portfolio risk. He also authored academic research on the relationship between job markets and capital markets which appeared in the Journal of Finance. 

Jay holds a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, and a bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management. 

Keith Sambur is a nationally recognized debt finance partner in Holland & Knight's Denver office and a co-leader of the firm's Private Credit practice. Mr. Sambur's practice focuses on a variety of debt finance transactions. 

Mr. Sambur primarily focuses on representing private equity sponsors, private credit funds, portfolio companies, hedge funds, asset managers, single-sponsors and alternative capital sources in complex financing leveraged lending transactions, including leveraged buyouts, private placements, high-yield and convertible debt offerings, recapitalizations, restructurings and other special situation transactions. He also has significant experience with preferred equity transactions and equity-kickers, including warrant consideration. 

Mr. Pinto oversees Global Private Credit, Insurance, Asset Management and Funds Ratings and Research. He has worked at Moody’s Ratings for more than a decade in a variety of senior positions.

Mr. Pinto’s extensive career in the fixed income credit markets, in New York and London, has included leadership roles at sell-side and buy-side firms including Merrill Lynch, Keefe Bruyette & Woods (now Stifel) and Susquehanna International.

At Moody’s, Mr. Pinto is deeply committed to educational and empowerment initiatives, acting as an Executive Sponsor for Moody's CFA and Global Administrative Professionals Networks, a Mentor Advisor in the Women’s Business Resource Group and a frequent participant in career development seminars.

Mr. Pinto is a Chartered Financial Analyst and, an alumnus of Columbia Business School and Trinity College (CT).

Marco Prono is a Managing Director and co-Head of J.P. Morgan Direct Lending practice. In this capacity Marco is focused on establishing and developing the firm’s direct lending platform globally.   

Prior to his current role, Marco was a senior member in the Leveraged Finance Capital Markets team at J.P. Morgan in London. His primary sectors of focus included Industrials, Consumer & Retail, Transportation, Lodging and Leisure, where he was responsible for the underwriting and syndication of Euro and Sterling debt financings for European and cross-border clients. In addition, Marco had been leading the firm’s efforts in EMEA distressed, special situations and restructuring financing projects. Marco’s breadth of experience spans across North and South America, and Europe.  

Prior to moving to London, Marco was a senior member of the J.P. Morgan Restructuring team in New York. Marco focused on raising capital for (di)stressed companies and has led several high-profile DIP and Exit financings, exchange offers and prepackaged plans of reorganization in a variety of industries, including automotive, media, paper & packaging, real estate, financial services and building materials.   

Marco joined J.P. Morgan in 2003 in London holding positions in the Credit Derivatives and Equity Derivatives groups, focusing on valuation control and market risk.  

Marco earned a M.B.A. in Finance from Columbia University in 2008, a M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2001 and a Laurea Degree in Electrical Engineering from the Politecnico di Torino, Italy in 2002. 

Mary Liz Brady represents financial institutions, private credit funds, alternative lenders, private
equity sponsors and private and public companies in leveraged finance transactions, including in
connection with acquisitions, refinancings, loan workouts and restructurings. While her industry
experience is diverse, she has an extensive background in financing matters for the healthcare,
pharmaceutical , manufacturing, technology and telecommunications sectors.
Mary Liz has handled the negotiation and documentation of a range of facility types, including
senior, subordinated, asset-based, bridge and mezzanine financings, both secured and unsecured
with total facility sizes ranging from $10 million to over $1 billion.
Some of Mary Liz’s significant representations include PGIM Private Capital, Golub Capital,
Monroe Capital and Capital One.

Financial Institutions / Head of North America Non-Bank Financial Institutions, Managing Director 

Meghan Neenan is a managing director and the North American head of Non-Bank Financial Institutions. Her coverage includes investment managers, business development companies, consumer and commercial finance companies, leasing companies, securities firms and financial market infrastructure companies. 

Prior to joining Fitch in June 2006, Meghan was an equity analyst at Morningstar, Inc. covering companies in the financial institutions industry. She began her career as a bank examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, analyzing a wide range of institutions, from small community banks to large, complex banking organizations. Meghan graduated summa cum laude from Mount Union College and earned her MBA from the University of Notre Dame. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and the New York Society of Security Analysts. 

Patrick McGowan is a Managing Director at Sanctuary Wealth Group, serving as the Head of Alternative Investments and Head of Manager Research. In this role, he spearheads a team responsible for all Alternative Investment activities, including the Firm's private equity,

private credit, real asset, and hedge fund investing strategies, as well as the traditional Investment Research Focus List. He is a member of the Sanctuary Asset Management Investment Council, which plays a pivotal role in constructing the Firm's global economic and capital market views and leads the Alternative Investment Committee.

Before joining Sanctuary, Mr. McGowan held a senior leadership position at the GP-stakes arm of Azimut Group (BIT: AZM), one of the largest independent wealth management companies in Europe; Invesco Private Capital (NYSE: IVZ), where he worked on investments for early-stage venture capital funds; the Carlyle Group, in the private credit joint venture OC Private Capital (TAKIX). He started his career at OppenheimerFunds.

Mr. McGowan serves on the Executive Committee and is a board member at the Institute for Portfolio Alternatives (ipa.com). He also serves on the Board of Unifi CAIA.

Patrick earned his Bachelors of Science in Psychological Sciences from Vanderbilt University and completed the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate Business School accelerator MBA. He holds his FINRA Series 7 and 63 licenses.

Patrick Wolfe, Managing Director, is a Senior Portfolio Manager in BlackRock's Global Credit Platform. He is Head of Portfolio Construction for US Private Credit's US Direct Lending funds which includes overseeing allocations, portfolio positioning, and liability management. Mr. Wolfe is also Senior Portfolio Manager on BlackRock Credit Strategies Fund (CREDX), COO and Senior Portfolio Manager for BlackRock Private Credit Fund BDC (BDEBT), and Head of US middle-market CLOs. Mr. Wolfe joined BlackRock through the acquisition of TCP. 

At TCP, Mr. Wolfe was a portfolio manager on the US Direct Lending Funds and launched the middle-market CLO platform taking the business to over $1 billion of assets.  

Before TCP, Mr. Wolfe was in structured credit at Deutsche Bank for six years focusing on the structuring, issuance, and management of CLOs and other credit strategies. He began his career in 2006 at KSJG LLP in the Advisory group focused on mortgage banking. 

Mr. Wolfe earned a B.S. in Accounting from San Diego State University in 2006. 

Mr. Wolfe volunteers his time as a member of the Board of Directors of the Southern California Golf Association Junior Foundation which develops an inclusive golf community that enables kids to thrive on & beyond the course. 

Piyush Singhi has over a decade of experience working with credit-focused funds, specializing in data management, solution development, and operational efficiency. As Senior Managing Director at Indus Valley Partners, he helps firms streamline front, middle, and back-office processes through technology-driven solutions.

Previously, Mr. Singhi worked at Infosys, Computer Associates, and ICICI Bank before joining IVP in 2009. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from VTU and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM Calcutta. Known for his analytical mindset, he combines strategic vision with technical expertise to drive meaningful results.

Ramki Muthukrishnan is a Managing Director and heads the Non-Banking Finance team at S&P Global Ratings. In this role, Ramki has oversight on over 165 ratings from various subsectors including BDCs, Asset Managers, Operating lease companies, consumer and commercial lending. Prior to his current role, Ramki headed the leveraged finance team where he directed directs efforts in the US leverage finance and recovery analytics, leveraged finance research and commentary. Prior to his current role, he headed the surveillance function for US CLOs and the US RMBS functions at S&P. Ramki also leads all research and outreach in Credit Estimates and Private Credit on the analytical side. Ramki has over 20 years of experience in corporate, CLOs and RMBS ratings.  In 2023, Ramki was identified by Business Insider as 10 industry leaders transforming business for his work on Private Credit.  

Before joining Standard & Poor’s, Ramki worked at Syntel Inc., a Michigan-based technology consulting company and prior to that, at Motorola, India.    

Ramki sits on the Board of the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance (ALJA).   

Ramki holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Madras University, a master’s from Xavier Institute of Management, Jamshedpur and an MBA from Yale School of Management.  

Mr. Byrne is the President of Benefit Street Partners, a wholly owned 
subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE: BEN). He also serves as 
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Franklin BSP Capital 
Corporation, Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FBRT), and Benefit Street 
Partners Multifamily Trust.
Prior to joining Benefit Street Partners, Mr. Byrne was Chief Executive Officer 
of Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. He was also the Co-Head of Global Capital 
Markets at Deutsche Bank as well as a member of their Global Banking 
Executive Committee and Global Markets Executive Committee. Before 
joining Deutsche Bank, Mr. Byrne was Global Co-Head of the Leveraged 
Finance Group, and Global Head of Credit Research at Merrill Lynch & Co. He 
was also a perennially top-ranked credit analyst, principally in the Gaming, 
Lodging & Leisure sector.
Mr. Byrne earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at 
Northwestern University, and a BA from Binghamton University. Mr. Byrne is 
a member of the Board of Directors of Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ: 
WYNN), and New York Road Runners. He is also the Founder and Chief 
Executive Officer of KASAI Elite Grappling Championships.

Robert Dodd joined Raymond James in 2012 through the acquisition of Morgan Keegan & Co. and currently covers an array of specialty finance companies. Dodd joined Morgan Keegan in 2001 as an associate analyst following transaction processing and telecom companies. Prior to joining Morgan Keegan he was a research analyst for Schroder Salomon Smith Barney in London. He received his doctorate in chemical physics from the University of Maryland, and his B.Sc. degree with honours in mathematics from Royal Holloway College, University of London, England. 

Sandra Zafra Stulberger is the Managing Director and Global Head of Alternatives/Loans Operations for Outsourced Platform Services, at BlackRock. In this capacity, Ms. Stulberger oversees pre-sale workshops, client consulting, solutions, implementations, and middle office support for Aladdin and accounting clients, investing in loans and private instruments. She engages with executives on complex workflows, leads strategic initiatives, budget discussions, and project management. Ms. Stulberger spearheads education on the syndicated and private credit markets.

Prior to her current role, Ms. Stulberger was the head of Global Loans and Alternative Services (GLAS), where she built out the credit support operating model and managed the day-to-day operations for loans settlements and servicing.

Ms. Stulberger is also a member of the Operations and Steering Group within the Loan Syndication and Trading Association (LSTA), advocating for standardization, consistency, and automation in the loans industry.

Before joining BlackRock in 2011, Ms. Stulberger worked at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) as a Vice President in Loans Operations and an Embedded Risk Manager. She joined Goldman Sachs in 1999 in Senior Bank Debt Operations and held various management positions within that group until joining GSAM in 2007. Her previous roles also include positions at Bank Brussels Lambert and Citibank’s Loan Administration division. Ms. Stulberger holds a BS degree in Finance and an MBA from St. John's University, The Peter J. Tobin College of Business.

Sheel Patel, Head of New York Private Credit, has over 15 years of experience working on complex commercial financing transactions. He represents private credit lenders on cutting-edge leveraged financing transactions, asset-based financing transactions, mezzanine lending, preferred equity investments, event-driven and opportunistic financing transactions, as well as special situations, workouts, restructurings, and insolvency matters. He leads high-profile leveraged finance matters for top credit funds and represents capital solutions/special situations-oriented direct lenders in mission-critical lending transactions. Sheel is also a leading commentator on private credit and special situations topics, having been quoted in publications such as Bloomberg, the Financial Times, and Reuters.

Ms. Cleary is a Partner, President and Head of Ivy Hill Asset Management, L.P. ("IHAM"), where she has been employed since July 2010. She additionally serves as a member of the Ivy Hill Asset Management Investment Committee. Prior to joining Ares in 2008, Ms. Cleary was an Assistant Vice President at CIT Sponsor Finance, where she focused on evaluating new investment opportunities and performed credit due diligence on potential investments. Previously, Ms. Cleary was an Analyst at GE Global Sponsor Finance, where she completed GE's Investment Analyst program. Ms. Cleary holds a B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College in Finance and Accounting. 

Mr. Powell joined Apollo in 2006. Mr. Powell was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Midcap Financial Investment Corporation (“MFIC”) in August 2022. He served as President of the Company from May 2018 to August 2022 and served as Chief Investment Officer for the MFIC’s investment adviser from June 2016 to August 2022. Mr. Powell is a Partner and Portfolio Manager in Apollo’s Direct Origination business. He holds leadership roles in Apollo’s Credit Business, including its aircraft leasing and lending businesses. Mr. Powell is director of PK AirFinance, Eliant Inventory Solutions, Capteris Equipment Finance and ChyronHego. Prior to Apollo, Mr. Powell worked in Goldman Sachs’ Principal Investment Area and in investment banking at Deutsche Bank. He graduated from Princeton University 

Theodore L. Koenig, Chairman and CEO of Monroe Capital LLC. Mr. Koenig also serves as the Chairman, President and CEO of Monroe Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: MRCC), a publicly traded business development company (BDC); and as Chairman, Director and CEO of Monroe Capital Income Plus Corporation.  Monroe Capital LLC (“Monroe”) is a premier boutique asset management firm specializing in private credit markets across various strategies, including direct lending, technology finance, venture debt, opportunistic, structured credit, real estate and equity. Since 2004, the firm has been successfully providing capital solutions to clients in the U.S. and Canada. Monroe prides itself on being a value-added and user-friendly partner to business owners, management, and both private equity and independent sponsors. Monroe’s platform offers a wide variety of investment products for both institutional and high net worth investors with a focus on generating high quality “alpha” returns irrespective of business or economic cycles. Monroe has been recognized by both its peers and investors with various awards including Private Debt Investor as the 2023 Lower Mid-Market Lender of the Decade, 2022 Lower Mid-Market Lender of the Year, 2022 CLO Manager of the Year, Americas; Inc.’s 2023 Founder-Friendly Investors List; Global M&A Network as the 2023 Lower Mid-Markets Lender of the Year, U.S.A.; DealCatalyst as the 2022 Best CLO Manager of the Year; Korean Economic Daily as the 2022 Best Performance in Private Debt – Mid Cap; Creditflux as the 2021 Best U.S. Direct Lending Fund; and Pension Bridge as the 2020 Private Credit Strategy of the Year.   

In 2023, Mr. Koenig received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Corporate Growth - Midwest Division for his contribution to the mergers and acquisitions industry over the years. He was also named one of the 30 Top Changemakers driving the evolution and growth of the private credit asset class by Private Debt Investor. In 2021, he received the SFNet Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award, for having made significant contributions to the secured finance industry throughout his career. In 2017, he was honored with the Tree of Life Award by the Jewish National Fund in appreciation of his outstanding community involvement, dedication to the cause of American-Israeli friendship, and devotion to peace and the security of human life. In 2016, Mr. Koenig received the Leadership Achievement Award by The Global M&A for his management talents, influence and contributions made to advance and grow their respective organizations as well as markets.  In 2014, he was inducted in the Academy of Alumni Fellows of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University for his significant contributions to the art and science of business management. In 2013, Mr. Koenig was awarded the Stanley C. Golder Award by the Illinois Venture Capital Association as a recognized leader in venture/private equity investing and for his profound and lasting contribution to the private equity industry in Illinois.  He also received the 2013 Torch of Liberty Award from the Mid-West Region of the Anti-Defamation League recognizing his achievements in both the corporate and philanthropic communities.  Mr. Koenig was named the 2012 Middle Market Thought Leader of the Year by The Alliance of Mergers & Acquisitions Advisors (AM&AA) and Grant Thornton LLP recognizing individuals in the mergers and acquisitions profession who create and advocate ideas that are transformative for the industry.   

In 2021, Mr. Koenig co-founded HOPE Chicago, a first-of-its-kind two-generation college scholarship program serving inner city Chicago high school students and their parents, covering both tuition and non-tuition expenses. To date, over 4,000 high school students have received college scholarship opportunities under the program.  

Prior to founding Monroe Capital in 2004, Mr. Koenig was President and CEO of Hilco Capital LP, a junior secured/mezzanine debt fund established in 2000.  Prior to that, he spent 13 years at the Chicago-based law firm of Holleb & Coff as partner and co-chair of the firm’s Corporate Law, Mergers & Acquisitions and Business Finance groups, where he supervised and was responsible for structuring, negotiating and documenting acquisitions and sales of middle-market companies as well as representing the firm’s bank, financial institution and commercial finance clients in financing transactions for buyout, growth, recapitalization and restructuring transactions.  Before joining Holleb & Coff in 1986, Mr. Koenig spent three years in the Mergers/Acquisitions and Corporate Finance practice group of Winston & Strawn where he was involved mostly in structuring and documenting buyouts, sales and financings for middle market companies. 

Mr. Koenig is a graduate of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University (B.S.) in accounting with high honors and Chicago-Kent College of Law (J.D.) with honors.  He also successfully passed the Certified Public Accounting Exam.  Mr. Koenig is a Director of the Secured Finance Network, and a member of the Turnaround Management Association and the Association for Corporate Growth.  Mr. Koenig also serves on the Board of Trustees, Naples Children & Education Foundation; as Director on the Northwestern Medical Group Board of Directors and the Northwestern Medical HealthCare Investment Committee; Board of Trustees, Illinois Institute of Technology; Dean’s Advisory Council, Kelley School of Business at Indiana University; and Board of Advisors, Chicago-Kent College of Law.  

Mr. Koenig is a frequent lecturer to various business and financial organizations and has published numerous articles in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate and leverage buyout finance, and general business and economic trends.      

Theodore L. Koenig, Chairman and CEO, Monroe Capital LLC 

Tom Speller is a Managing Director and the Head of European Funds at KBRA UK. Tom joined KBRA in 2021 and focuses on the rating of Fund Finance transactions including subscription lines and NAV loans.    

Prior to joining KBRA, Tom was an executive director at Goldman Sachs International, where from 2006 he worked as a credit risk analyst covering a variety of industries and products, with a particular focus on the funds industry, including private equity funds and hedge funds, as well as structured lending.  

Tom received a BSc. in mathematics and statistics from the University of Edinburgh and is currently a CFA Charterholder. 

Tod Trabocco is a Managing Director on the Client Solutions team at Marathon Asset Management. Based in New York, he joined the firm in 2024. Tod has a M.A.L.D. from the Fletcher School of Diplomacy at Tufts University and a M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. He previously worked at Aksia, ITE Management, Cambridge Associates, Kayne Anderson, CIFC, Moody's Investors' Service and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. 

Fun Fact: Tod holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.