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Alternative investment manager Highland Capital Management has added two institutional business development professionals to its team – Laurie Whetstone as managing director, and Kieran Brennan as director.
The appointments have been made in anticipation of increased opportunities in distressed credit.
The firm currently operates stressed and distressed credit strategies within various portfolios across the platform. Highland established a dedicated distressed private equity fund during the last credit cycle, focusing on control-oriented investments in senior secured loans of companies in complex distressed situations. Capitalising on opportunities that arose from the aggressive issuance of non-investment grade debt in the years prior,
Marc Wursdorfer has joined UBS as a Managing Director and EMEA Head of the Private Funds Group.
Wursdorfer brings a wealth of experience in private equity fundraising and secondary advisory having joined us from Credit Suisse, where he spent 15 years, initially in investment banking both in Zurich and London before joining the Credit Suisse Private Funds Group in 2008.
He was responsible for capital raising throughout the Nordics in addition to sourcing primary fundraising and secondary opportunities.
Wursdorfer will report to Kevin Kuryla, Global Head of Private Funds Group in addition to Javier Oficialdegui, Head of CCS EMEA.
Angelo, Gordon & Co, an alternative investment firm focused on credit and real estate investing, has appointed Ryan Mollett as Global Head of Distressed Debt.
Mollett was most recently a Senior Managing Director of GSO Capital Partners LP, the global credit investment platform of Blackstone, where he focused on distressed and special situation investing. Mollett will report to Josh Baumgarten, Angelo, Gordon’s co-Chief Investment Officer.
Michael Gordon, Chief Executive Officer and co-CIO at Angelo, Gordon, says: “Distressed debt investing has been a core element of Angelo, Gordon’s investment strategy since the firm began nearly 30 years ago. Ryan is
Blockchain Capital, a venture capital firm focused exclusively on the blockchain technology sector and crypto ecosystem, has appointed Jimmy Song as a Venture Partner.
Song, a Bitcoin Core developer, brings deep technical expertise to Blockchain Capital and will serve as a new bridge between Blockchain Capital and the crypto developer community, providing technical expertise to the firm’s investment research, and lead upcoming programs to foster blockchain technology innovation.
“The blockchain sector is evolving much differently than that of the internet, which has made it possible for the engineers and developers at the forefront of innovation in this sector to
Law firm Morrison & Foerster has appointed Jesse Gillespie as a partner in the corporate practice in the firm’s Tokyo office.
Gillespie comes to Morrison & Foerster from Sullivan & Cromwell with expertise in cross-border capital markets transactions.
Gillespie’s expertise further strengthens Morrison & Foerster’s capital markets practice – the only capital markets practice in Tokyo that covers both Japanese and US laws, and provides advice with respect to primary and secondary market transactions. His arrival also enhances the firm’s cross-border M&A transactions offering in relation to securities law issues.
“Jesse’s pan-Asian credentials are impressive,” says Eric Piesner,
BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) has appointed Michel Fryszman as Head of Structured Finance. He joined on 15 January and is based in Paris. Fryszman reports to Laurent Gueunier, Head of Real Assets, SME Lending & Structured Finance.
Fryszman’s appointment is the latest in a series of additions to BNPP AM’s Private Debt & Real Assets investment group, which was established in 2017 and manages EUR7.7 billion, including more than EUR1 billion in European securitisation funds. In this role Michel will be responsible for the management of BNPP AM’s structured finance team, expanded to five professionals, and for the
Alternative investment firm Summit Partners has promoted nine professionals globally.
Matt Hamilton was promoted to Managing Director; Johannes Grefe, Colin Mistele, Mark Nordstrom, Steffan Peyer and Ross Stern were promoted to Principal; Ian Rothkopf was promoted to Vice President; and Harry Fackelmayer and Bobby Humen were promoted to Senior Associate.
“We are very pleased to recognize the achievements of these talented colleagues,” says Peter Chung, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Summit Partners. “We are proud of their accomplishments and their dedication to the Summit organisation. In addition to their distinguished performance, they are all professionals of great
Independent private equity fund administrator Gen II Fund Services has promoted two team members to Principal – Shawn McMenimen and Stephen Ho.
McMenimen has senior level oversight responsibility for Gen II’s client service teams and is directly involved in managing key client engagements. He also has responsibility for the oversight over Gen II’s compliance department. Shawn has over 17 years of private equity fund administration experience.
Ho is responsible for running Gen II’s San Francisco service centre. His professional team provides fund administration services for clients throughout the western region of the United States. Ho has more than 15
CIFC, a credit manager specialising in US corporate and structured credit strategies, has appointed Jay Huang as a Managing Director, Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Structured Products Investments.
Huang (pictured), will oversee CIFC’s structured products investments business.
CIFC says Huang’s appointment is a key strategic move that will further bolster the firm’s investment expertise and market presence in the structured products space.
Previously, Huang served as Managing Director and Global Head of CLO, CDO and Distressed SIV Trading for Citigroup Global Markets, a business he built to become the top revenue-generating business within the firm’s Structured Credit
Denver-based private equity firm Mountaingate Capital (Mountaingate) has appointed JB Richardson and Trent Sisson as Principal and Vice President, respectively. Both previously worked closely with the partners of Mountaingate at their predecessor firm.
“We are thrilled to welcome JB and Trent to Mountaingate and to have the opportunity to work with them again. Our relationships with them go back over a decade. They are insightful investors and after starting their careers in investment banking and private equity, they have each gained invaluable experiences as operators in private equity backed and venture backed companies. Their experience in operations, technology, analytics, sales
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
