Steven Abrahams is a Managing Director and Head of Investment Strategy at Santander US Capital Markets. His team provides analysis and advice for institutional investors in rates, financing markets, corporate credit, securitized products and emerging markets.

Before joining SanCap, he served as co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Milepost Capital Management, an SEC-registered investment adviser serving institutions and private funds, and as a director of MTGE Investment Corp., a publicly traded REIT (MTGE:NASDAQ). Through his 33-year career, he has held senior positions at Deutsche Bank, Bear Stearns and Morgan Stanley.

Steve holds a B.S. from Northwestern University and a Ph. D. from Columbia University and has taught as an adjunct professor of finance and economics at Columbia Business School. He is also the author of The Bear Stearns Quick Guide to Mortgage-Backed Securities, Competitive Advantage in Investing: Building Winning Professional Portfolios, published by John Wiley & Sons, and most recently Santander’s A Quick Guide to CLO Debt and Equity.

Through his career, Steve has helped launch the market in specified agency MBS pools (1994-1995), the first agency mortgage credit risk transfer (1998), the first application of the Capital Asset Pricing Model to CLO manager performance (2018) and the first trading of FHA-only mortgage pools (2020).

Harpreet S. Anand is a Portfolio Manager & Partner at Oak Hill Advisors, a leading alternative investment firm with $65 billion of capital under management across performing and distressed credit investments in North America and Europe. He serves on various firm committees, including the compliance committee, investment strategy committee, and several fund investment committees. Mr. Anand also serves on the firm’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council. Previously, he had senior research responsibility for automotive, building products, chemicals, metals & mining, paper & packaging, and aerospace & defense industries. Prior to joining OHA in 2006, Mr. Anand worked at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. in its Leveraged Finance/Financial Sponsors Group.

He earned a B.B.A., with honors, from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Mohamed Basma is a managing director, head of leveraged credit at Voya Investment Management. Mohamed also chairs the leveraged credit investment committee. Mohamed is currently a member of the board of directors of the Loan Syndications and Trading Association. Prior at Voya, he was managing director, head of senior loans and global CLOs for leveraged credit, responsible for all aspects of the team’s senior loan and global CLO business and the team’s CLO investing strategies. Prior to joining Voya, Mohamed was a senior auditor and consultant in the audit and business advisory group with Arthur Andersen, LLP, responsible for executing corporate audits and financial consulting engagements.

Mohamed earned a BBA from American University of Beirut, Lebanon and an MBA from Arizona State University. He is a CFA® Charterholder.

Theodore Basta is the Executive Vice President of Market Analytics and Investor Strategy for the LSTA, where he leads the LSTA’s Market Analytics team, which is responsible for the LSTA analytical and reporting initiatives, all of which enhance market visibility, transparency, and liquidity.  Mr. Basta also manages the Association’s key strategic products and partnerships, including the LSTA’s secondary trading and settlement data initiatives, the LSTA/Refinitiv LPC Mark-to-Market Pricing Service, and the Morningstar/LSTA Leveraged Loan Index. In addition, Mr. Basta organizes the Association’s global investor conferences and NYC-based annual loan conferences.  Mr. Basta also runs the LSTA’s Shift Date Process and oversees the LSTA’s website. Finally, Mr. Basta plays an active role in speaking at industry conferences, both in the US and abroad, and has authored chapters on the secondary loan market in numerous books and market publications.

Prior to joining the LSTA, Ted was Vice President and Director of Global Pricing with Loan Pricing Corporation (LPC), where he managed the LSTA/LPC Mark-to-Market Pricing Service. During his tenure at LPC, Ted was not just instrumental, but a driving force in pushing the boundaries of new product development and secondary market analytics, inspiring innovation in the industry.

Mr. Basta received an M.B.A. from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College and a B.A. in Accounting from Long Island University.

Andrew Berlin is Vice President, Director of Policy Research at the LSTA. In this role, he strategizes with the Policy team on the LSTA’s initiatives, develops thought leadership, policy-related research, and presentations, and engages loan and CLO market participants, press, regulators, lawmakers, and other stakeholders on market developments and the LSTA’s policy positions.

Previously, Andrew was the Director of Global Financial Services Industry Thought Leadership and Content Strategy at Protiviti, a global consulting firm and wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Half. He has over a decade of experience covering leveraged finance capital markets through the credit lifecycle as a journalist and in editorial leadership roles at Debtwire, Reuters, and Reorg.

He received an MBA in finance from Boston University and a BFA in drama from New York University.

Suraj Bhatia is a member of senior management of the Americas Division of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited (SuMi TRUST).   He focuses on client relationships from a macro/geopolitical strategy lens, with emphasis on carbon transition and other banking initiatives. He leads the climate team for The Americas Division. In the past he was responsible for starting up and overseeing many of the Investment and Banking Businesses, as well as strategy teams, in the Americas.  These included the Branch’s Leveraged Loans business, as well as Project Finance, Aviation, Real Estate, Trade and Commodity Finance, and Structured Products such as CLO AAAs and Subscription Finance.

Mr. Bhatia has a B. Tech. from IIT, Delhi, an MBA from Delhi University and holds an Advanced Professional Certificate in Management from NYU’s Stern School of Business.  Prior to SuMi TRUST, Mr. Bhatia underwent an Italian government all expense paid training program on Solar Energy at SOGESTA Italy.

In the past, Mr. Bhatia has remained on the Board of Directors of the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA), was the Chair of the U.S. Japan Committee and an ex-advisory member of the Board.

On December 12, 2024, Mr. Bhatia will be honored as a finalist at S&P Global Platts Energy Awards Gala, 2024, in the category: Lifetime Achievement Award.

Harlan is Head of Infrastructure and Investment Grade Credit for the Americas.

Harlan has more than 20 years of institutional principal investing experience across the global infrastructure landscape. He joined Macquarie after serving as Chief Business Officer at The Forest Road Company, a leading specialty and incentive tax credit finance business. Harlan led several key strategic initiatives and was responsible for the development of Forest Road’s renewable energy and asset-based finance platform with a strategic and targeted focus on distributed generation.

Before that, he served as the Co-Head of the Americas Special Situations strategy at KKR Inc, responsible for helping build and lead the special situations strategy across North America, Europe, and Asia. Prior to KKR, Harlan held several senior investment and portfolio management roles, with experience that included investment banking, private equity, and investment management.

He currently serves as an Executive Committee Member of the Board of Directors for the Youth Renewal Fund, the largest network of schools across the socioeconomic periphery in Israel, as well as on the Board of Advisors for the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania.

Harlan holds a Bachelor of Science in economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

John Clements is a Managing Director and Head of Barclays’ US CLO Primary business.  Prior to joining Barclays in 2018, John spent 17 years at Citi where he was Co-Head of their US CLO Primary business.  Mr. Clements began his career at JP Morgan Chase and its predecessor companies and held various positions in their Structured Credit, Private Placements and Middle Market Lending businesses.  John has been involved in numerous CLO industry associations including the LSTA and the Structured Finance Association (Board Member).

John Clements graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a BA degree in Management and Economics.

Ed Cong is a Partner and Portfolio Manager of Marathon Asset Management, LP.  Mr. Cong is a member of Marathon’s Executive Committee, Investment Committee, and Diversity & Inclusion Council. Mr. Cong is responsible for portfolio construction, asset allocation, and overall strategy for Marathon’s private, asset-based investment funds and programs. He also is the lead portfolio manager for structured finance investments in Marathon-managed funds and separate accounts. He joined Marathon in 2006 from Citigroup’s Institution Clients Group, where he specialized in asset-backed financings within the Financial Institutions Group.  Previously, he was a quantitative research analyst at Morgan Stanley Capital International.

Mr. Cong holds a B.S. in Operations Research and Financial Engineering from Princeton University.

Jeff Dickson is an Executive Managing Director of PGIM Private Capital and Head of Alternatives, which encompasses all leveraged Private Credit businesses, including Direct Lending, Corporate Mezzanine, and Energy Mezzanine. Jeff has been an integral part of PGIM Private Capital’s risk investing since 2000 as the initial principal and later Managing Partner of PGIM Capital Partners, the middle market corporate mezzanine fund complex. From 1996 to 2000, he was head of the San Francisco Global Corporate Finance office and was responsible for PGIM Private Capital’s investment activities in the U.S. Western territory. He joined Prudential in 1989.

Jeff received a BS from Babson College and an MS from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.

Derek is a Senior Client Portfolio Manager for Invesco’s global private credit group. He is focused on supporting business development efforts and is responsible for client communication for senior loans and alternative credit products.

Derek joined Invesco Senior Secured Management, Inc. in 2022. Prior to his current role, Derek was a vice president and client portfolio manager at Seix Investment Advisors responsible for senior loan and high yield bond strategies. Previously, Derek was vice president at JP Morgan on the multi-asset portfolio management team focused on investments in equities, fixed income, and alternatives. Prior to JP Morgan, Derek was a fixed income product specialist at Goldman Sachs within the investment management division. Derek began his career in 2010 at the LSTA (Loan Syndications and Trading Association) as a market analyst providing research to institutional clients on the senior loan market.

Derek graduated with a BBA in Finance from Lehman College and is a CAIA charterholder.

Erica Frontiero is a senior financial executive, advisor and operating partner, with over 20 years of deal experience in M&A, leveraged finance, capital markets, investor relations and broker-dealer management, having raised over $200BN in public and private debt and equity financings, including LBOs and IPOs.

She is a leading expert in direct lending and private capital markets, and has served on several industry boards, numerous panels and as a representative to government and regulatory agencies worldwide. Currently, Erica is the CEO of EF Advisors, serving as a Senior Advisor, Strategic Consultant, and Operating Partner, guiding fund managers, investors, trade organizations, and CEOs on M&A, growth strategy, capitalization, valuation and private capital. Erica was previously a Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Carlyle Global Capital Markets and the Head of Capital Solutions, a $60MM business within Carlyle, and the head of Debt Capital Markets and a member of Investment Committee for Direct Lending within Global Credit at Carlyle, a $425BN Global Investment Firm. Prior to joining Carlyle, Erica spent 12 years with Antares/GE Capital and began her professional career at Banc of America Securities (Bank of America Merrill Lynch) in New York and London. She honed her corporate communication and negotiating skills working at NBCUniversal in national sales and business development.

Erica has been an active leader in several professional organizations and initiatives driving improvement in gender parity and diversity in finance and was recognized for these efforts as a recipient of the inaugural Women of Wall Street Award in 2019 and a Carlyle DEI Award in 2021. She chairs the Board of Directors of Dress for Success, a global charity focused on getting women back to work and previously served as a member of the Governance Board of the Wall Street Woman’s Alliance (WSWA) a network dedicated to promoting women to c-suite roles. She was elected to two terms of the Board of Directors of the LSTA (Loan Syndications and Trading Association) and was a Co-Chair for the Investor Manager Committee for ACC (Alternative Credit Council); a division of AIMA, (Alternative Investment Management Association).

Erica holds a B.A. in Economics from Wake Forest University with minors in Politics and International Studies and Series 24, 7, and 63 securities licenses. She resides in Manhattan and grew-up in Gloucester, MA.

Shinichi Fujita is Principal of Alternative Investment Department at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management, specializing in private debt and CLOs. Prior to this role, he was involved in alternative investments, focusing on infrastructure at Daiwa SB Investments. Mr. Fujita began his career in 1991 at Sumitomo Bank (now Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation), where he specialized in derivatives, securitization, and structured finance.

Mr. Fujita holds a degree in Economics from Kobe University.

Mr. Geis is Portfolio Manager, Head of Trading and Capital Markets at ICM US, having joined as part of the Marble Point transaction in January of 2023. Mr. Geis joined Marble Point in January of 2017 and has since been responsible for overseeing all trading and capital markets activity at Marble Point, and now also ICM US, which includes managing all aspects of the firm’s sell-side sales and trading, capital markets and private equity relationships. Mr. Geis is also responsible for portfolio management and construction and sits on the ICM US investment committee.

Prior to joining Marble Point, Mr. Geis was a Partner & Head of Trading at GoldenTree having worked with the firm from 2003-2016. In his role as Head of Trading, Mr. Geis had direct oversight over 7 traders in the New York office and 2 traders in the London office. Mr. Geis has extensive experience trading leveraged loans, high yield bonds, stressed & distressed, CDS and FX and maintained direct oversight over the trading of equities, options, rates and sovereign bonds. Mr. Geis also worked very closely with the sell-side to maximize capital markets relationships and source profitable investment opportunities.

Prior to joining GoldenTree, Mr. Geis was employed at TD Securities (USA) Inc. for 7 years. Mr. Geis joined TD Securities as a senior analyst in their Corporate Finance Group before working as an Associate in TD Securities’ Credit Derivatives & Derivative Products Group. From 2000 – 2003 Mr. Geis was a Vice President in TD Securities’ High Yield Loan Sales & Trading Group covering accounts on products ranging from leveraged loans, total return swaps, credit default swaps and CLOs.

Mr. Geis began his career in finance in 1995 at NatWest Bank, N.A. where he was formally credit trained and graduated from Rutgers College in 1994 with a B.S. in Finance and double major in English. Mr.

Geis has been a CFA® Charterholder since 2001 and is a member of the CFA Society New York.

Sean Griffin is the CEO & Executive Director of the LSTA, the trade association for the multi-trillion dollar corporate loan market in the United States.

Prior to joining the LSTA in April 2024, Mr. Griffin spent 23 years at JPMorgan where he was a Managing Director and held various roles within its global markets division, including deputy head and co-head of JPMorgan’s Global Primary CLO business.  Mr. Griffin’s experience covers cash flow and market value securitization products and spans multiple asset classes focusing on corporate credit and bank loans.

While at JPMorgan, Mr. Griffin worked with various issuers and investors, including private equity, hedge funds, asset & money managers, banks and insurance companies.  Mr. Griffin utilized CLO/CDO technology to provide clients with access to capital and address their business goals, whether it be the growth of AUM via traditional CLO/CDO issuance, balance sheet relief and more specialized bespoke financing solutions.

Mr. Griffin received a BA in Mathematical Economics from Brown University.  He resides in Westport, CT with his family where he is actively involved with youth sports, including football, soccer and rugby.

Mr. Hayward is a Partner and Portfolio Manager of U.S. Liquid Credit in the Ares Credit Group, where he is responsible for managing Ares’ U.S. CLO strategies. Mr. Hayward also serves as a Vice President of Ares Dynamic Credit Allocation Fund, Inc. (NYSE:ARDC). Additionally, he serves as a member of the Ares Credit Group’s U.S. Liquid Credit Investment Committee. Before joining Ares in 2012, he was a Senior CLO Analyst at State Street Bank, where he focused on managing a team in the Trustee Department.

Mr. Hayward holds a B.A. from the University of Rochester in Economics.

Brian Juliano is a Managing Director and Head of the U.S. Leveraged Loan Team for PGIM Fixed Income. He is also the Co-Head of PGIM Fixed Income’s U.S. CLO business and is a portfolio manager for the Firm’s investments in CLO tranches. Before joining the Bank Loan Team in 2003, Mr. Juliano was a CDO analyst and member of the CDO Business Team for the Firm and a manager in financial analysis in the Finance Group, where he was responsible for the finance function of various investment subsidiaries. Mr. Juliano joined the Firm in 2000. Previously, he was a consultant at Deloitte & Touche, where he worked on investment strategy and tax compliance of high net worth individuals.

Mr. Juliano received a BS in Finance and an MBA in Finance and Accounting from New York University.

Mr. Kaplan joined Oaktree in 2016 and is a managing director and portfolio manager for the U.S. Senior Loan strategy. Before joining Oaktree, he was a portfolio manager, managing director and analyst with Levine Leichtman Capital Partners.  There, Mr. Kaplan managed a fixed income portfolio investing in leveraged loans and high yield securities.

Prior thereto, he was an analyst for the credit opportunities strategy at Wolf Point Capital Management. Additional investment experience, in the distressed debt area, includes serving as vice president at PPM America, Inc.; Bank One, NA; and Renaissance Financial Restructuring.  Mr. Kaplan began his career as a senior analyst with Bankers Trust Corporation.

Mr. Kaplan received a B.S. degree cum laude in economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and is a CFA charterholder.

Ms. Lam is Octagon’s Chief Executive Officer, a member of Octagon’s Investment Committee, and a member of the Firm’s Board of Managers. Ms. Lam also serves on the Firm’s Executive Committee and is a member of the Firm’s ESG Committee. Prior to assuming the Chief Executive Officer position in 2024, Ms. Lam served as a Senior Portfolio Manager across various CLOs, separately managed accounts, and commingled funds. She also oversaw the Firm’s Structured Credit (CLO debt and equity) investment strategies.

Ms. Lam joined Octagon in 1999; prior to becoming a Portfolio Manager in 2013, she oversaw Octagon’s investments in the software, business services, finance & insurance, paper & packaging, gaming & lodging, homebuilding, and real estate industries. She was also responsible for the Structured Credit exposure held in Octagon’s CLO vehicles.

She earned a B.S. in Investments from Babson College, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude. Ms. Lam received her CFA Charter in 2006.

Kevin Lawi is a Managing Director of UBS Asset Management.  He joined CIG in 2021 to lead the origination and structuring of transactions across the capital structure for Private Credit Opportunities within CIG.

Mr. Lawi was previously a Senior Director in the Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s (PSP) Credit Investments group.  Mr. Lawi was a founding member of the team at PSP responsible for building out the firm’s private credit direct investing activities in 2016.  At PSP, Mr. Lawi had senior origination, underwriting, structuring and portfolio management responsibilities for both liquid and illiquid credit strategies across the capital structure including unitranche loans, second lien loans, high yield bonds and structured equity.  He led Credit Investment’s investing activities in the industrial and financial institution industry verticals and represented the firm in Board of Director meetings of portfolio company investments.

Prior to joining PSP, Mr. Lawi was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs & Co. in the Leveraged Finance Group.  At Goldman Sachs he was responsible for underwriting and structuring debt financing transactions with leading financial sponsors and sub-investment grade corporates.  He began his career at JPMorgan as a Credit Analyst. Mr. Lawi graduated from Duke University with a J.D./M.B.A. and a B.A. from Columbia College.

Edward joined Macquarie Asset Management in 2016.  He is a Portfolio Manager for US Leveraged Credit.  In this role, he manages bank loan strategies and collateralized loan obligations (CLOs).  Previously, Edward was a Senior Trader focusing on bank loans, high yield, and CLOs.  He led bank loan trading for the Delaware Floating Rate Fund, as well as core plus, multi-sector and high yield strategies. Prior to joining Macquarie Asset Management, Edward worked at Sun Life Investment Management and Silvermine Capital Management.  Edward began his career at Lehman Brothers. He received a Bachelor of Arts in international business and management from Dickinson College.

Matthew Maxwell is a Managing Director and Head of U.S. Loans, serving as a Portfolio Manager for the U.S. CLO platform.

Before joining Carlyle, Mr. Maxwell was a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at BlackRock, serving as the head of BlackRock’s U.S. CLO issuance business and a lead portfolio manager on leveraged loan separately managed accounts.

Previously, Mr. Maxwell led leveraged loan desk research at Morgan Stanley from 2011 to 2016. Mr. Maxwell also worked in leveraged & distressed credit research and investment banking at Deutsche Bank from 2004-2011.

Mr. Maxwell earned a BS in Applied Economics & Management from Cornell University.

Jennie Mazzucco is a Principal at Blue Owl and member of the Direct Lending Investment Team. In her current role, she focuses on the firm’s capital markets efforts. Previously, she focused on evaluating and structuring direct lending transactions to middle market companies.

Before joining Blue Owl, Jennie was a Vice President on the Investment Team at CCMP Capital Advisors, a private equity firm based in New York. Jennie began her career as an Analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Jennie received her BA in Economics and History from Brown University, from which she graduated Magna Cum Laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Scott McKay is a Managing Director at Blue Owl and member of the Liquid Credit Investment Team. In his role, he focuses on leading Liquid Credit.

Before joining Blue Owl, Scott was a Managing Director at Littlejohn & Co., a middle-market private equity fund based in Greenwich. Scott began his career as an Investment Banking Associate at Bear Stearns & Co. in the Leverage Finance Group. Prior to beginning his finance career, Scott served in the United States Air Force as an acquisition officer and was honorably discharged at the rank of Captain.

Scott received his BS in Management from the United States Air Force Academy and MBA from the University of Southern California.

Eric Muller is a Partner, Portfolio Manager and Chief Executive Officer – BDCs at Oak Hill Advisors, a leading alternative investment firm with $65 billion of capital under management across performing and distressed credit investments in North America and Europe. He shares responsibility for leading OHA’s private credit business and has primary management responsibility for OHA’s BDCs.

Prior to joining OHA, Mr. Muller worked in Goldman Sachs’ Merchant Banking Division, where he was a Partner in the Private Credit Group, responsible for leading its private senior lending business in North America and managing vehicles that invested across the spectrum of the credit market. He previously worked as a private equity investor for the Cypress Group. Additionally, Mr. Muller serves on the Investment Committee for the Boston University Endowment and the Dean’s Advisory Board for the Boston University Questrom School of Business. He is Co-Chairman of the Board of Trustees for StreetSquash, an after-school youth enrichment program.

He earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A., summa cum laude, salutatorian, from Boston University.

Kosuke Nagata is the Head of the Credit Investment Division at Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management, effective October 1, 2024. Starting in January 2025, this division will be responsible for providing investment advisory services, including gatekeeping functions, for CLOs in which MUFG Bank and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation invest.

Before assuming this role, Mr. Nagata was in charge of managing securitized products, primarily CLOs, in the Credit Products Investment Division of Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation.

Mr. Nagata began his career at Mitsubishi Trust and Banking Corporation (now Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation) in 1999. Since then, he has been managing foreign exchange, interest rate derivatives, and credit investment.

Mr. Nagata holds a degree from the Faculty of Commerce at Keio University.

Hugo Pereira is Vice President of Market Analytics & Investor Strategy at the LSTA. Previously, he was a Director of Analysis at Refinitiv, focusing on the leveraged loan and CLO markets, and product manager for LPC Collateral, Refinitiv’s CLO analytic product. Over his tenure, Hugo covered the syndicated loan market and broader credit markets and was a frequent contributor to Refinitiv publications.

Mr. Persohn earned his BBA degree summa cum laude in Finance and Business Economics from the University of Notre Dame. He is also a CFA® Charterholder.

John G. Popp is a Managing Director of UBS Asset Management. He is the Global Head and Chief Investment Officer of the Credit Investments Group (CIG) with primary responsibility for investment decisions, portfolio monitoring processes and business development for CIG’s global investment strategies.  He established CIG in 1997. Mr. Popp served as the Chief Executive Officer and President from February 16, 2010, to November 14, 2023, and currently serves as a Director of the Credit Suisse Funds, the Credit Suisse Asset Management Income Fund, Inc. and the Credit Suisse High Yield Bond Fund.  Mr. Popp is a member of CIG’s Corporate Credit Forum, Structured Credit Forum, and PCO Investment Committee.

Prior to joining CIG, Mr. Popp was a Founding Partner and Head of Asset Management for First Dominion Capital, LLC, overseeing the management of $2.5 billion in Credit Securitization Vehicles.  From 1992 through 1997, Mr. Popp was a Managing Director of Indosuez Capital and served as President of Indosuez Capital Asset Advisors, Inc., and President of 1211 Investors, Inc.  While at Indosuez, Mr. Popp was responsible for building the firm’s asset management business, including the development of three Credit Securitization Vehicles aggregating $1.3 billion.  In 1989, Mr. Popp joined the Corporate Finance Department of Kidder Peabody & Co., Inc. as Senior Vice President, previously serving as Vice President in the Mergers and Acquisitions department of Drexel Burnham Lambert.

Mr. Popp is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Brookings Institution’s Foreign Policy Leadership Committee, the Leadership Advisory Board of the Wharton School and the Juilliard School Council. In addition, Mr. Popp is a former member of the Board of Directors of The Loan Syndications & Trading Association (LSTA). Mr. Popp graduated with a B.A. from Pomona College and an M.B.A. from the Wharton Graduate Division of the University of Pennsylvania.

Tom Porcelli is Chief U.S. Economist at PGIM Fixed Income. Mr. Porcelli is responsible for leading the formulation of PGIM Fixed Income’s views on the U.S. economy, contributing to the internal investment process, and engaging with clients and key stakeholders on timely macroeconomic developments. Prior to joining the Firm, he was Chief U.S. Economist at RBC Capital Markets for 14 years. In that role, he focused on forecasting and creating narratives around the U.S. economic backdrop as part of the global economic effort. Mr. Porcelli worked closely with the various functional units within RBC Capital Markets and traveled globally to meet with RBC clients to share his insights on the U.S. economy and markets.

Before RBC he worked as an economist at Merrill Lynch where he was a member of the team responsible for economic forecasting and Fed watching. Mr. Porcelli began his career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York working on the Open Market Desk. In this capacity, he was closely involved with the execution of and analysis around monetary policy. In addition, he was responsible for disseminating pertinent economic and market analysis to policy makers in an effort to provide them with critical information used in the policy making process. Mr. Porcelli appears regularly on Bloomberg and CNBC and is quoted widely in the global press.

He holds a Master’s degree from Columbia University.

Dave Preston is the Head of Structured Credit Research and has 20 years of experience in securitization and structured credit.

Prior to joining AGL, Preston was head of ABS & CLO research at Wells Fargo Securities, leading a client-facing research group covering U.S. and European CLOs, Middle Market CLOs, and Asset-Backed Securities (ABS) – specifically, Auto ABS, Credit Card ABS, Aircraft ABS, Container ABS, and EETCs. The team published external research on CLOs, ABS, and EETCs, and met with institutional investors to discuss CLO and ABS investments.

The Wells Fargo CLO Research team was ranked #1 in Institutional Investor’s All-America Fixed-Income Research survey every year from 2013 to 2020.  Wells Fargo CLO research was also ranked #1 Most Helpful CLO Team every year from 2015 to 2020 by Greenwich Associates Fixed Income Investors Survey and was named Best CLO Research Team by Creditflux in 2015, 2016, and 2017.

Before joining Wells Fargo, Preston served as a fixed-income strategist with Raymond James & Associates. In addition, Dave served in the U.S. Army as an infantry officer for five years.

Preston has a BA in English from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, and an MBA from Tulane University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.

Chris is a managing director with Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM). He is director of fixed income product and portfolio strategy and an institutional portfolio manager for MSIM floating-rate loan investment strategies. Chris is responsible for market research and analysis, advancing the firm’s managed strategies through thoughtful investment communications and insights on the credit markets. He joined Eaton Vance in 2008. Morgan Stanley acquired Eaton Vance in March 2021. Before joining Eaton Vance, Chris was a fixed-income product specialist with Fidelity Investments, responsible for product strategy, investment communications and client portfolio management for Fidelity’s suite of fixed-income investment capabilities.

Gregory Robbins is Vice Chair of Golub Capital, a market-leading, award-winning direct lender and experienced private credit manager. As of April 1, 2024, Golub Capital had over $70 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 Q1 2024 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 Decade, Americas (Private Debt Investor, 2023), Senior Lender of the Decade, Americas (Private Debt Investor, 2023), Lender of the Year, Americas (Private Debt Investor, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023), Senior Lender of the Year, Americas (Private Debt Investor, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2023) and BDC Manager of the Year, Americas (Private Debt Investor, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2023).

Mr. Robbins joined Golub Capital in 2004 and is Vice Chair of the Firm. He also serves as an officer of GBDC and a member of the board of the Loan Syndications and Trading Association. Mr. Robbins serves on Golub Capital’s Leadership and Operating Committees and has held several other senior positions during his time at the Firm. Prior to joining Golub Capital, Mr. Robbins was a Vice President in the Merchant Banking Group at Indosuez Capital.

Mr. Robbins earned a BS degree in Economics, with a Finance concentration, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Rachel Russell is the Global Head of CLO New Issue at Morgan Stanley, responsible for the origination, financing, structuring and syndication of broadly-syndicated and private credit CLOs.  Rachel has spent her career involved in a variety of roles across structured credit, including responsibility for the US CLO New Issue business, syndication of CLOs, ABS & RMBS and the distribution of structured credit products to institutional investors.  She is a member of the LSTA Board of Directors.

Rachel earned her BComm from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Anand heads the US CLO business at Jefferies, including the Primary CLO and Secondary Trading businesses. He has been with Jefferies since 2013 focusing on origination, structuring and secondary trading of US CLOs and CDOs. Prior to joining Jefferies, Anand was a Vice President at Barclays where he focused on CLO trading and synthetic credit structuring from 2009 to 2013. Prior to that, Anand worked at Lehman Brothers where he focused on synthetic credit structuring and trading.

Anand holds a B.S. in Electronic Engineering from College of Engineering Guindy, India and an MBA from Indian Institute of Management Bangalore.

Mr. Schnabel is a Partner in the Ares Credit Group and serves as Co-Head for U.S. Direct Lending, serving on the U.S. Direct Lending Investment Committee. Additionally, he serves as Co-President of Ares Capital Corporation (“ARCC”). He also serves on the Ares Sports, Media and Entertainment Investment Committee and acts as a co-lead for the strategy.

Prior to joining Ares in 2001, Mr. Schnabel was in the Corporate Development Group at Walker Digital Corporation, a business and technology research and development firm, where he was responsible for corporate finance, merger and acquisition and strategic planning activities. Previously, Mr. Schnabel was in the Corporate Finance Group at Morgan Stanley, where he performed financial analyses for mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts and equity/debt offerings.

Mr. Schnabel holds a B.A., cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania in Economics.

Howard is chairman and co-head of Alcentra’s private credit activities in Europe.  In this role, he leverages his extensive sponsor and investor relationships built over a 35 year career in credit.  He was previously Alcentra’s head of origination, direct lending in Europe.

Prior to Alcentra, Howard was a partner at Park Square Capital, creating and then overseeing that firm’s mid-market direct lending strategy.

Before Park Square, Howard was head of origination and sponsor coverage at GE Capital’s European acquisition finance business and won awards in 2014 and 2015 as Debt Provider of the Year, pioneering the use of unitranche financing in European buyouts.

Earlier in his career, Howard held senior credit roles at RBS and Société Générale, working in both Paris and London.

Howard is married with three grown children and lives in west London.  He enjoys photography, Chelsea football club, the theatre and classical music.

Mr. Sherry joined the firm in 2007 and is a Portfolio Manager with the Leveraged Finance team where he is responsible for managing US CLO portfolios. His responsibilities also include serving as a member of the Leveraged Loan Credit Committee and the CLO Tranche Credit Committee. Prior to his current role, Mr. Sherry was a Credit Research Analyst covering a number of industries, including electric utilities, auto and equipment rental, airlines, and GDS.

Before joining the firm, Mr. Sherry worked in structured finance at Assured Guaranty Corp., credit research at PIMCO, and equity research at Prudential Securities.

Mr. Sherry received a BS (Honors) from Cornell University and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from UCLA Anderson School of Management. He also is a CFA charterholder.

Jonathon Siatkowski is a Managing Director and Marathon’s Head of CLO Capital Markets, responsible for the structuring, syndication, and capital formation of Marathon’s CLO Management Strategy.  Mr. Siatkowski is also responsible for investments in CLO equity, warehouse facilities, and other alternative credit structures within Marathon’s CLO Investing Strategy.  He is a member of the Performing Credit Investment Committee, focused on managing the structural quality of Marathon CLOs within the framework of the firm’s fundamental credit underwriting process.

Mr. Siatkowski joined Marathon in 2018 from Kohlberg & Co. and its credit managers, Katonah Capital & Trimaran Advisors.  At Kohlberg, Mr. Siatkowski led the structuring of Trimaran CLOs, and invested in CLO equity and mezzanine securities on behalf of Kohlberg and its BDC.  Mr. Siatkowski began his career at Bear, Stearns & Co. where he specialized in the structuring of CLOs as a member of the F.A.S.T. team.

Mr. Siatkowski holds a B.S. in Finance and Economics, cum laude, from the Leonard Stern School of Business at New York University.

Mr. Stein joined Sound Point in 2023 and is currently Head and Chief Investment Officer of the U.S. Performing Credit platform. Additionally, Mr. Stein serves on Sound Point’s Management Committee as well as many of the firm’s investment and risk committees. Mr. Stein is a veteran CIO and portfolio manager with over 30 years of credit investing experience. Prior to joining Sound Point, Mr. Stein served as Chairman, CEO, and CIO of Symphony Asset Management, a San Francisco-based alternative asset manager that was active across the credit investing spectrum. Mr. Stein joined Symphony Asset Management in 1999 and as CEO, grew Symphony’s AUM from approximately $7 billion in 2009 to $19.5 billion when he departed in 2018. Prior to Symphony Asset Management, Mr. Stein was a Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Wells Fargo.

Mr. Stein earned a B.A. in Economics from University of California at Berkeley and an M.B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin.

Daniel Strong joined SMBC in May 2018 as an Executive Director in the Structured Credit Group. Daniel is responsible for the origination and structuring of middle-market CLOs as well as related advisory services.

Prior to joining the firm, Daniel held banking roles at Capital One with its Financial Institutions Group since 2016 and before that at Natixis with its U.S. Structured Credit and Solutions Group since 2003.

Daniel has a Bachelor of Science degree from James Madison University with a major in quantitative finance and minors in mathematics and economics. Daniel is a CFA charterholder.

Mr. Sweeney is a Senior Portfolio Manager focused on CLOs, the MetWest Floating Rate Income Fund and bank loan products. He also serves as a member of the investment committee in the Fixed Income group. Mr. Sweeney was previously a Portfolio Manager at Bradford & Marzec, LLC and Macquarie Group (FKA Four Corners Capital Management) for separately managed accounts, closed-end funds, and CLO accounts.

Prior to Four Corners, he worked as a Research Analyst evaluating leveraged loan and bond investments for Columbia Management (Ameriprise Financial, Inc.) and ING Capital Advisors. Mr. Sweeney has also worked in investment banking at Wells Fargo Securities (First Union) where he focused on underwriting, structuring, and syndicating leveraged loan transactions within the sponsor origination and consumer product groups.

He holds a BS from Rutgers University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Heizo Takenaka is a professor emeritus at Keio University in Japan. And was formerly Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications etc (2001-2006). In his capacity as an economist and as part of his social activities, he also serves on several advisory boards and committees including: Member of the Policy Council under Kishida Administration; and independent Outside Director, SBI Holdings Inc. He was named to a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum in 2007. Professor Takenaka’s research interest is in economic policy.

In 2001, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi named Professor Takenaka the Minister for Economic/Fiscal Policy, in which position he chaired the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy and steered macroeconomic policy.  Over the next 5 and a half years, he spearheaded Japan’s economic structural reform.  In 2002, Professor Takenaka was named the Minister for both Financial Services and Economic/Fiscal Policy.  In this capacity, he accomplished the disposal of non-performing loans of Japanese banks, which had hindered the Japanese economy for more than 10 years.  In 2004, he was elected to the House of Councilors, and was named the Minister for both Economic/Fiscal Policy and Privatization of the Postal Services.  In this capacity, he realized the privatization of Japan Post, the biggest public enterprise in Japan.  In 2005, he was named the Minister for both Internal Affairs and Communication, and Privatization of the Postal Services.  The following year, Professor Takenaka returned to academia, leaving both the Cabinet and the House of Councilors when Prime Minister Koizumi resigned.

Professor Takenaka started his academic career in 1981 as a visiting scholar at both Harvard University and University of Pennsylvania.  His academic experience includes: Senior Economist, Institute of Fiscal and Monetary Policy, Japanese Ministry of Finance (1982); Associate Professor, Faculty of Economics, Osaka University (1987); Visiting Associate Professor, Harvard University (1989); Visiting Fellow, Institute of International Economics (1989); and Associate Professor (1990) and Professor, Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University (1996).  Professor Takenaka was named a member of the Economic Strategy Council (advisory board for economic policy to the Prime Minister) in 1998 and a member of the IT Strategy Council (advisory board on IT policy to the Prime Minister) in 2000.

Professor Takenaka received his B.A. in economics from Hitotsubashi University and his Ph.D in economics from Osaka University.  He is the author of numerous books, including “Contemporary Japanese Economy and Economic Policy” (1991), “Prospects of the Japanese Economy for the 21st Century” (1993), “The Internationalization of the Japanese Economy and Corporate Investment” (1993), “Wealth of People” (1994), “The Economy in which Fast Movers Win” (1998), “Policy Crisis and the Japanese Economy – A Search for the Causes of the Economic Slowdown in the 1990s” (2001), “The Structural Reforms of the Koizumi Cabinet” (2008) and “Lessons from Heisei Era”(2019).

Miyoko Taniguchi is a Principal at Oak Hill Advisors, a leading alternative investment firm with $65 billion of capital under management across performing and distressed credit investments in North America and Europe. She works in the areas of investor relations and new business development.

Prior to joining OHA, Ms. Taniguchi worked at Ares Management as a Vice President in Relationship Management and at Och-Ziff Capital Management as Head of Asia Client Relationship Management. She started her career at BlackRock in the Global Client Group.

Ms. Taniguchi earned a B.S. in Economics from the University of New Hampshire.

Mr. Taylor joined PineBridge in 2017 to support the launch of the firm’s middle market private credit business and lead the capital markets effort.  Mr. Taylor has over 30 years of banking and lending experience, including middle market direct lending, capital markets and CLO asset management.  Prior to joining PineBridge, he was a senior origination team member and Head of Capital Markets at Business Development Corp of America (“BDCA”, a non-traded BDC), where he was hired as a founding team member in 2013. In 2004, Mr. Taylor joined Callidus Capital Management (ultimately becoming Allied Capital Finance), as a founding member of the middle market senior debt platform in the role of Managing Director and Head of Capital Markets, where he was ultimately a senior member of the Allied Capital/GE Capital Unitranche team.

Prior to Callidus, Mr. Taylor worked at JPMorgan Chase and First Union where his responsibilities included origination and execution of both private equity supported and non-sponsored debt transactions, capital markets and loan syndications, and middle market M&A transactions.

Mr. Taylor received a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Scranton and a Masters of Business Administration from the Stern School of Business, New York University.  Mr. Taylor is also a CFA charterholder.

Vishwanath (Vishy) Tirupattur is a Managing Director and the Chief Fixed Income Strategist as well as the Director of Quantitative Research at Morgan Stanley. During his 20-year tenure at the firm, he has also served as the Global Head of Fixed Income Research, the Head of US Fixed Income Research and the Global Head of Securitized Products Strategy. He is a member of the firm’s Global Investment Committee, responsible for investment and asset allocation advice provided to the firm’s $4 trillion plus retail-client assets. He has been voted to the Institutional Investor’s All-American Fixed Income Research Team in multiple categories on multiple occasions.

Before joining Morgan Stanley in September 2004, he had portfolio management and risk management responsibilities at the Chubb Corp, American International Group and Lincoln National Corp., managing interest rate, equity, and credit derivatives. Prior to joining the financial services industry, he was a post-doctoral associate at the Office for Futures and Options Research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He holds an MS in Agricultural and Applied economics from Virginia Tech and a PhD in Agricultural and Consumer economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Kenji Toukaku began his career at the Industrial Bank of Japan (IBJ, now Mizuho Bank) in 1990, where he focused on trading JGB options and interest rate derivatives as well as securitized products research at IBJ Securities. Mr. Toukaku joined Credit Suisse (now UBS) in 2005 to continue his work in securitized products research. In 2007, he was in charge of trading securitized products such as MBS, as well as JGBs and interest rate derivatives.

In 2019, he joined Fukuoka Financial Group, where he is currently responsible for the investment management of securitized products, with a focus on CLOs, Agency MBS/CMOs, and private assets.

Tess Virmani is Deputy General Counsel, EVP – Head of Policy at the LSTA.

As a member of the senior leadership team, Tess heads the LSTA’s policy initiatives and serves as lead on all ESG initiatives. In this broad role, Tess has the opportunity to further the Association’s mission of promoting a fair, orderly, and efficient loan market. She and the Policy team engage with market participants, press and regulators on issues and developments in the global loan market. The LSTA’s Policy team offers thought-leadership through publications, conferences, and webcasts.  On ESG developments, the Association has been significantly involved in sustainable lending and ESG reporting in private markets since the emergence of this trend. On behalf of the Association, Tess founded and serves as Co-Secretariat on the ESG Integrated Disclosure Project and maintains global sustainable loan frameworks, such as the Green Loan Principles and Sustainability-Linked Loan Principles.

Prior to joining the LSTA, Tess practiced as a finance attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in New York. She received a B.S. in International Politics from the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. She is admitted as an attorney in New York. She is a Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting Credential Holder and holds a CFA Institute Certificate in ESG Investing.

Ms. Walsh joined Bain Capital in 2007. She is a Partner on the Bain Capital Credit team and Head of US CLOs responsible for the origination and management of the funds. During 2014 through 2016, she was based in the London office responsible for the European CLO platform. Prior to focusing on CLOs, Ms. Walsh held roles in our Liquid Credit and industry research groups.  Previously Ms. Walsh was an analyst at Goldman Sachs in the Bank Debt Portfolio Group.

Ms. Walsh received a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Notre Dame.

Daire joined Alcentra in July 2014 and is Head of European Liquid Credit and the Portfolio Manager for Alcentra’s European CLOs and European Loan funds. He is a co-Chair of the European Liquid Investment Committee. Daire has experience of both par and distressed credit investing across a broad range of sectors. He has previously held roles as Deputy High Yield Portfolio Manager and Senior Credit Analyst within Alcentra. Before joining Alcentra, Daire spent seven years as a credit analyst at Oak Hill Advisors. Daire moved to Oak Hill in 2006 from JP Morgan’s Leveraged Finance and Capital Markets groups where he focused on credit analysis and syndication.

He earned an M.B.S. from the UCD Michael Smurfit School of Business (1st Class Honours) and a B.Sc. from the National University of Ireland, Galway (1st Class Honours).

Carly Wilson, Managing Director, is a member of BlackRock’s Global Credit Platform. She is a portfolio manager for the platform’s bank loan strategies and global long/short credit strategies.

Since joining BlackRock in 2009, Ms. Wilson’s investment experience has focused on both single name and sector selection within Credit, as well as fund-level risk management. Her bank loan experience spans mandate types, including daily liquidity mutual funds, semi-liquid offshore funds, CLOs and separate accounts managed on behalf of a global client base with bespoke needs. On behalf of the platform’s Global Long/Short Credit Fund, Ms. Wilson focuses on asset allocation and cross-market relative value, as well as single name alpha generation and risk budgeting. In this role, she invests long and short in many global markets – including credit, rates and equities, in both cash and derivatives.

Ms. Wilson is currently on the Board of Directors of the Loan Syndications & Trading Association (LSTA).

Prior to her current role, Ms. Wilson worked at multi-strategy hedge fund R3 Capital where she focused on credit research and portfolio management. Previously, she worked at Lehman Brothers in Global Principal Strategies as part of the capital structure arbitrage investment team. Ms. Wilson began her career in equity trading at Lehman Brothers.

Ms. Wilson earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 2004.

Mr. Worman is a Managing Director at HPS Investment Partners and Head of US CLO Management and Liquid Loan Funds and related Separately Managed Accounts. Prior to joining HPS in 2021, Mr. Worman was a Portfolio Manager and Partner at Brigade Capital Management where he was responsible for managing the US and European CLOs and CBOs. Prior to Brigade, Mr. Worman worked as a Senior Analyst at Greywolf Capital, where he focused on distressed and event-driven opportunities across the capital structure. Prior to Greywolf, Mr. Worman was an Associate in the Healthcare Group at Madison Dearborn Partners. Mr. Worman began his career at Bear, Stearns & Co. as an Analyst.

Mr. Worman holds a BBA in Accounting and Finance from the Roberto C. Goizueta Business School at Emory University and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Wright joined Bain Capital in 2000. He is a Partner and Global Head of Credit, based in the Boston office. Mr. Wright is a Portfolio Manager, Credit Committee member and oversees the firm’s Liquid, Structured and Private Credit investment strategies.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Wright was the Co-Head of Liquid and Structured Credit, and has led the firm’s CLO business since 2016.

Mr. Wright received a Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University, and is a CFA® charterholder.