Our mission
Churchill is focused on providing our investors superior investment returns. Our highly talented, diverse, experienced team has a long track record of generating consistent, attractive risk-adjusted returns and providing comprehensive capital solutions to support the growth of U.S. middle market companies across economic cycles.
Our vision
We aspire to be the partner of choice for our investors, private equity sponsors, employees, and communities at large. We strive to have an inclusive, best-in-class team that is empowered to create long-term value for all of our stakeholders.
Our values
Collaborative Approach
Churchill is one team, maintaining a constant focus on positive cooperation to generate the most favorable outcomes for our firm’s stakeholders.
Relationship Oriented
We focus on fostering long-term, trusted partnerships to create value.
Inclusive Environment
Operate with Integrity
We value the responsibility & trust our stakeholders have placed in us to maintain a disciplined investment strategy.
Commitment to Excellence
Employees are the core of our business, striving to continuously improve to reach the full potential required to deliver the best performance in the industry.
Our team
We serve as a long-term partner and provider of capital to the middle market.
Led by seasoned professionals with an average of more than 25 years of industry experience, our team's consistency and strong, cohesive culture anchored in fundamental business model analysis continues to be highly valued by investors and private equity firms alike.
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Senior Management Team
Senior Management Team
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Ken Kencel
President & CEO
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Randy Schwimmer
Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Senior Lending
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Jason Strife
Senior Managing Director, Head of Junior Capital and Private Equity Solutions
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Shai Vichness, CFA
Senior Managing Director & Chief Financial Officer
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Christopher Cox
Senior Managing Director & Chief Risk Officer
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Mathew Linett
Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Senior Lending
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David Heilbrunn
Senior Managing Director, Head of Product Development & Capital Raising
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Chris Freeze
Senior Managing Director, Head of Investor Relations
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Kelli Marti
Senior Managing Director, Head of CLO Management & Co-Head of Chicago Office
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John McCally
Senior Managing Director & General Counsel
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Derek Fricke
Managing Director, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Board of Directors
Board of Directors
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Bill Huffman
Head of Equities & Fixed Income, Nuveen
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Ken Kencel
President & CEO
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Kevin McCarthy
Secretary & General Counsel, Nuveen
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Jose Minaya
Chief Executive Officer, Nuveen
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Investment Professionals
Senior Lending
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Joe Lee
Managing Director, Underwriting and Portfolio Management
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Kevin Meyer
Managing Director, Head of Origination
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Jessica Nels
Managing Director, Head of Capital Markets
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Jason Quinn
Managing Director, Origination
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Jeffrey Rabaut
Managing Director, Origination
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Tarek Srouji
Managing Director, Origination
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Mark Tamburello
Managing Director, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Jill White
Managing Director, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Pranai Cheroo
Principal, Origination
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Sean Mancini
Principal, Origination
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Vivek Sachidanand
Principal, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Paul Sadlowski
Principal, Origination
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Justin Zimmer
Principal, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Nicholas Carroll
Vice President, Origination
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Matt Caulfield
Vice President, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Lindsey Figliolino
Vice President, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Jacob Iati
Vice President, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Joseph McShane
Vice President, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Andrew Passero, CFA
Vice President, Capital Markets
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Sanjeet Singh
Vice President, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Jad Abdul-Aal
Senior Associate, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Ryan Babakian, CFA
Senior Associate, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Sam Gonzalez-Gross
Senior Associate, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Jordan Kenney, CFA
Senior Associate, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Kaela Klune
Senior Associate, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Colin Miller
Senior Associate, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Andrew Kuntz
Associate, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Caroline Pate
Associate, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Daryl Anderton
Senior Analyst, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Jack Gaffney
Senior Analyst, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Jack McTiernan
Senior Analyst, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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John Bomba
Analyst, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
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Ryan Greenough
Analyst, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Junior Capital and Private Equity Solutions
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Raja Doddala
Managing Director, Venture Capital & Growth Equity
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Nick Lawler
Managing Director, Head of Secondaries
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David McManama
Managing Director, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Anne Philpott, CFA
Managing Director, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Dodson Worthington
Managing Director, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Michael Chiulli, CFA, CPA
Principal, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Lucas Fries, CFA
Principal, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Erica Cunningham
Vice President, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Adam Froendt
Vice President, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Brandon Jordi
Vice President, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Jay Valentine
Vice President, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Davis Westbrook
Vice President, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Andrew Topping
Vice President, Secondaries
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Patrick Anderson, CFA, CPA
Senior Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Tyler Donofrio
Senior Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Connor Gay
Senior Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Brandon Ng
Senior Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Avery Ramsey
Senior Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Eliza Ike
Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Connor Dunleavy
Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Adam Frank
Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Fraser Hahn
Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Vince Pupi
Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Andrew DiCandilo
Senior Analyst, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Other Professionals
Investor Relations, Marketing and Business Development
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Alona Tolentino Gornick
Managing Director, Senior Investment Strategist and Co-Head of Chicago Office
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Meredith Chu McDonald
Managing Director, Senior Investment Strategist, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Gene Miao
Managing Director, Senior Investment Strategist, Senior Lending
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Jessica Tannenbaum
Managing Director, Head of Marketing and Communications
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Laura Stolfi
Managing Director, Senior Investment Strategist
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Matthew Battle
Principal, Investment Strategist
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Emily Manuel
Principal, Investor Relations
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Saheedat Onifade
Principal, Investment Strategist, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
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Sofia Azar
Vice President, Investor Relations
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Sherry Chen
Vice President, Head of Digital Marketing
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Sunny Huang, CFA, CPA
Vice President, Product Development
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Katie Travers
Vice President, Investor Relations
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Samantha Rapaport
Senior Associate, Product Development & Investor Relations
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Matthew Ricotta
Senior Associate, Investor Relations
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Michael Mara
Marketing Associate, Digital Designer
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Raja Amara
Associate, Investor Relations
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Tyler Reeves
Associate, Investor Relations
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Katie Zwetolitz
Associate, Investor Relations
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Evan Velleca, CFA
Senior Analyst, Investor Relations
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Katie Cutrone
Analyst, Investor Relations
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Michael Joyce
Analyst, Investor Relations
Finance
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Phil Beissner
Managing Director, Management Company Controller
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Ben Love, CFA
Managing Director, Head of Fund Finance
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Marissa Short
Managing Director, Funds Controller
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Gareth Wall
Principal, Finance
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Joe Durkin
Vice President, Finance
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Sydney Nyajeka
Vice President, Finance
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Gina Raspa
Vice President, Finance
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Nicholas Tandoi
Vice President, Finance
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Lily Xuan
Vice President, Finance
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Lauren Hopson
Senior Associate, Finance
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Jessica Medaglia
Senior Associate, Finance
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Alithea Culmer Perry
Senior Associate, Finance
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Susie Speakmaster
Senior Associate, Finance
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Brian Walsh
Senior Associate, Finance
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John Wein
Senior Associate, Finance
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Sarah Welden
Senior Associate, Finance
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Ryan Wells
Senior Associate, Finance
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Ryan Wydra
Senior Associate, Fund Finance
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Victoria Adinolfi
Associate, Finance
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Douglas Halpin
Associate, Finance
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Carol Qiao
Associate, Finance
Business Systems & Operations
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Courtney DeBolt
Managing Director, Head of Business Systems & Operations
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Luke Garriton
Principal, Operations
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Kevin McMillin
Principal, Infrastructure & Technology
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Chris Schultz
Principal, Operations
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Arjun Chhabra
Vice President, Infrastructure & Technology
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Michael St. Clair
Vice President, Operations
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Steve Dobson
Vice President, Operations, Treasury
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Marina Elkinyuk
Vice President, Operations
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Michelle Idrees
Vice President, Operations
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Zachary Zetlin
Vice President, Operations
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Andy Gilvey
Senior Associate, Operations
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Patricia Harris
Senior Associate, Fund Surveillance and Portfolio Compliance
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Joseph Piperato
Senior Associate, Operations
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Brian Thompson
Senior Associate, Operations
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Jackson Wexler
Senior Associate, Infrastructure & Technology
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Karen Yen
Senior Associate, Infrastructure & Technology
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Morgan Blume
Associate, Infrastructure & Technology
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Nara Enkhsaikhan
Associate, Operations
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Graves Ganzert
Associate, Operations
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Josh Guercio
Associate, Operations
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Owen Donnelly
Senior Analyst, Investment Infrastructure & Technology
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Thomas Jones
Analyst, Operations
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Gordon MacDonald
Analyst, Infrastructure & Technology
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Nick Miers
Analyst, Operations
Risk Management
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Brent Chase
Managing Director, Head of Workout
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Carol Loundon
Managing Director, Deputy Chief Risk Officer
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Matthew Cianella
Principal, Portfolio Management
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Cynthia Qualls
Principal, Portfolio Management
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Mickey Weatherston
Principal, Head of Sustainability and ESG Integration
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Preston Kafka
Vice President, Valuation Specialist
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Alecia Chen
Senior Associate, Valuation Specialist
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Bailey Page
Senior Associate, Sustainability and ESG Integration
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Kevin Prendergast
Senior Associate, Portfolio Management
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Max Schulman
Senior Associate, Valuation Specialist
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Nick Taylor
Senior Associate, Risk Management
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Justin Blackman
Senior Analyst, Portfolio Management
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Jonathon D’Arcy
Senior Analyst, Infrastructure & Technology
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Christy Ims
Senior Analyst, Valuation Specialist
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Susan Orth
Senior Analyst, Risk Management
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Liz Capperella
Analyst, Portfolio Management
Administration
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Lynn Miceli
Director of Administration
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Louisa Colon
Senior Executive Assistant to the President and CEO
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Natalie Austrian
Executive Assistant
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Nadia Bajraktarevic
Executive Assistant
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Rachel Benitez
Executive Assistant
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Bernise Valdez
Executive Assistant
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Jacqueline Morton
Administrative Assistant
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Iliana Nunez
Administrative Receptionist
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David Carias
IT Specialist
Legal and Compliance
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Charmagne Kukulka
Principal and Deputy Chief Compliance Officer
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Zachary Profant
Principal, Deputy General Counsel
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Robert Engelke
Vice President and Associate General Counsel
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Erin Hood
Vice President and Associate General Counsel
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Jake Wang
Vice President and Associate General Counsel
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David Baird
Paralegal
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Ken Kencel
President & CEO
Ken serves as President and CEO of Churchill Asset Management, an affiliate of Nuveen, the asset management arm of TIAA, a Fortune 500 financial services company. He also serves as Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NCDLC) and Nuveen Churchill Private Capital Income Fund (PCAP), Churchill’s publicly registered business development companies.
Throughout his over 35-year career in the investment industry, he has accrued a broad range of experience in leading private credit investment businesses. Previously, Ken served as a Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, where he also served as President and a Director of Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (Carlyle’s publicly traded business development company). Prior to that he founded and was President and CEO of Churchill Financial Group, served as Head of Leveraged Finance for Royal Bank of Canada and was Head of Indosuez Capital, a leading middle market merchant banking and asset management business in partnership with Credit Agricole Group. Ken was also a founder of the high yield finance business at Chase Securities (now JP Morgan Chase). He began his career in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at Drexel Burnham Lambert. He regularly appears as a guest commentator on private credit markets on Bloomberg, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times.
Ken graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University and a J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. He serves on the Pension Investment Advisory Committee for the Archdiocese of New York, the Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Investment Committee of Canisius High School (a private Jesuit Preparatory school in Buffalo, NY), the Advisory Board of Teach for America (Connecticut) and the Milken Institute’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Asset Management Executive Council. Ken is a former member of the Board of Advisors and Adjunct Professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.
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Randy Schwimmer
Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Senior Lending
Randy is co-head of senior lending and oversees senior lending origination and capital markets for Churchill Asset Management, an investment specialist of Nuveen.
Randy has broad experience in middle market finance and is widely credited with developing loan syndications for middle market companies. Prior to joining the firm, Randy served as a senior managing director and head of capital markets and indirect origination at Churchill Financial. In those positions, he took responsibility for all loan capital markets activities and for managing the firm’s indirect origination platform. Before that, he worked as managing director and head of leveraged finance syndication for BNP Paribas. He spent 15 years at JP Morgan Chase in corporate banking and loan syndications, where he originated, structured and syndicated leveraged loans.
Randy graduated with a B.A., cum laude, from Trinity College and an M.A. from the University of Chicago.
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Jason Strife
Senior Managing Director, Head of Junior Capital and Private Equity Solutions
Jason leads Churchill’s private equity and junior capital platform, including executing strategic initiatives, capital raising, sourcing investments, firm management, and portfolio construction for six mandates that provide debt and equity capital into the U.S. private equity middle market. Jason is a member of the firm’s Operating Committee and is Investment Committee Chair for six private equity and junior capital mandates, including LP commitments, equity co-investments, structured capital, secondaries, and junior loans.
Prior to joining Churchill, Jason was a Principal at Bison Capital, a Los Angeles based firm focused on junior capital investments. Prior to Bison Capital, Jason was an Associate at Weston Presidio, a private equity firm focused on growth capital and LBOs. Prior to Weston Presidio, Jason worked in the M&A group of Wachovia, executing private equity transactions.
Jason graduated from Wake Forest University with a Bachelor of Science in Analytical Finance and a Masters in Accounting, where he earned a scholarship for his graduate studies and passed the CPA examination. He currently sits on the Board of Visitors of the Wake Forest business school, and is involved with numerous boards and strategic committees, including at the Charlotte Latin School and the Congaree Global Golf Initiative.
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Shai Vichness, CFA
Senior Managing Director & Chief Financial Officer
Shai serves as the chief financial officer of Churchill Asset Management, an investment specialist of Nuveen.
Previously, as managing director and head of senior leveraged lending for Churchill’s parent company, Nuveen, Shai was responsible for initiating Nuveen’s investment program in middle market senior loans and was directly involved in the launch of Churchill Asset Management as an affiliate in 2015. Since the launch of Churchill, he has been a member of its investment committee and has been actively engaged in the management of Churchill, including the development of its infrastructure and operations. Shai joined Nuveen in 2005 and has spent his entire career in the private debt markets, with a significant amount of time spent in Nuveen’s workout and restructuring department.
Shai graduated with a B.B.A. from Baruch College, CUNY. He holds the CFA designation.
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Christopher Cox
Senior Managing Director & Chief Risk Officer
Chris is the chief risk officer for Churchill Asset Management, an investment specialist of Nuveen.
Prior to joining the firm, Chris was a principal of Carlyle GMS Finance and was a managing director and chief risk officer for Churchill Financial, which he joined in 2006. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing the company’s risk management infrastructure, including all risk management processes and policies. He was also a senior vice president at GE Commercial Finance (a division of GE Capital) from 1997 to 2006, where he held various risk management roles within the corporate lending group, focusing on middle market transactions. Chris also worked at Gibbs & Cox, Inc. in New York, NY.
Chris graduated with a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Tufts University and an M.B.A. from Fordham University.
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Mathew Linett
Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Senior Lending
Mat is co-head of senior lending and oversees senior loan underwriting and portfolio management for Churchill Asset Management, an investment specialist of Nuveen.Previously, he was a credit portfolio manager at Loeb King Capital and Havens Advisors, as well as a senior vice president at Jefferies & Co. He also served as a vice president at Indosuez Capital, a middle market merchant banking and asset management business, where he worked closely with Churchill’s CEO, Ken Kencel. Mat has invested at all levels of the capital structure including senior secured loans, public and private mezzanine debt, as well as private equity co-investments. In addition, he has significant distressed debt experience both as an investor in the secondary market as well as through direct workouts of middle market loans.Mat graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s dual degree program with a B.S., cum laude, in Economics from the Wharton School and a B.A., honors, in International Relations from the College of Arts and Sciences.
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David Heilbrunn
Senior Managing Director, Head of Product Development & Capital Raising
David oversees the product development and capital raising for Churchill Asset Management, an investment specialist of Nuveen, focusing on strategic initiatives, structuring new products and developing important institutional client relationships. He is also responsible for optimizing the firm’s various financing arrangements and supervises Churchill’s collateralized loan obligation (CLO) platform.
Prior to joining the firm in 2017, David held senior roles at several firms, including managing director of Fifth Street Asset Management, managing director of The Carlyle Group, senior managing director and head of corporate strategy and development for Churchill Financial, and managing director and CDO group head for Bear Stearns & Co. and JPMorgan.
David graduated with a B.S., magna cum laude, in Accounting from The State University of New York at Albany and an M.B.A., with distinction, from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.
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Chris Freeze
Senior Managing Director, Head of Investor Relations
Chris Freeze leads all aspects of Churchill’s investor relations efforts including ongoing investor reporting and communication with Churchill’s global investor base. He has deep experience managing relationships with a diverse range of global institutional, sovereign wealth fund and family office investors including building and managing a best-in-class team of investor relations professionals.
Before joining Churchill, Chris spent over nine years as a Managing Director at The Carlyle Group. Most recently he was CEO of TCG Securities LLC, Caryle’s broker/dealer. Prior to joining Carlyle, Chris was the Chief Operating Officer of Credit Suisse’s Customized Fund Investment Group (CFIG). Prior to joining CFIG, he was the Chief Compliance Officer of Credit Suisse Private Advisors, a FINRA licensed broker\dealer and investment adviser domiciled in Zurich. He began his career as an Assistant District Attorney in the Kings County (Brooklyn) District Attorney’s Office.
Chris received his BA from St. John’s University, an MA from John Jay College, a JD degree from St. John’s University School of Law and an LLM (Corporations) from New York University School of Law. He has held the FINRA Series 3, 4, 7, 8, 24, 53, 63, 65 and 66 licenses.
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Kelli Marti
Senior Managing Director, Head of CLO Management & Co-Head of Chicago Office
Kelli Marti serves as Churchill’s Head of CLO Management, the Portfolio Investment Strategist for Nuveen Churchill Private Capital Income Fund (PCAP) and Co-Head of Chicago Office. As Head of CLO Management, she is responsible for the management and growth of Churchill’s middle market CLO platform, including day-to-day vehicle oversight, assisting in the sourcing of assets and trading strategy development, as well as participating in fundraising initiatives. As Portfolio Investment Strategist, Kelli serves as the portfolio manager of PCAP, overseeing day-to-day investment activity and helping to make investment decisions on behalf of the fund.
Before joining Churchill, Kelli spent eighteen years at Crestline Denali Capital, a CLO asset manager. Most recently she served as Crestline Denali’s Managing Director and Chief Credit Officer where she was responsible for overseeing the firm’s entire credit function including new business underwriting and portfolio management. She also served on the firm’s Investment Committee. Prior to joining Crestline Denali, Kelli was a Vice President at Heller Financial where she was responsible for underwriting and managing middle market loans. Prior to joining Heller, she was an Assistant Vice President at First Source Financial where she underwrote direct middle market transactions on behalf of the firm’s CLO portfolio. She began her career as an auditor at KPMG in Chicago.
Kelli graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame and received her MBA with high honors from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She previously earned her CPA certification.
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John McCally
Senior Managing Director & General Counsel
John McCally serves as the general counsel for Churchill Asset Management, an investment specialist of Nuveen. He has been responsible for day-to-day legal matters for the firm since its launch in 2015.
Previously, John was an associate general counsel at Nuveen. At Nuveen, John provided advice and strategic guidance to investment and business development teams focused on public and private fixed income, derivatives and structured products, and was responsible for legal matters pertaining to Nuveen’s Leveraged Finance platform. Prior to Nuveen, John was an associate with Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, specializing in derivatives, structured products and investment management.
John graduated from Duke University and received his juris doctor from The George Washington University Law School.
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Derek Fricke
Managing Director, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Derek serves as a Managing Director on the Private Equity and Junior Capital team for Churchill Asset Management, where he is actively involved in sourcing and executing investments in junior capital and equity co-investments, as well as investments in private equity funds. Derek is a member of the firm’s Operating Committee and a member of the Private Equity and Junior Capital team’s Investment Committee overseeing six private equity and junior capital mandates, including LP commitments, equity co-investments, structured capital, secondaries and junior capital loans. Derek initially joined the team in 2013, when the group was operating as part of Churchill’s parent Company, TIAA and subsequently Nuveen. Prior to joining the organization, Derek spent several years as an investment team member at Chrysalis Ventures, a $400 million venture capital firm investing in early stage healthcare services, business services, and technology companies. Previously, Derek was an active mezzanine capital and equity investor in middle-market media and technology companies as an investment team member at BIA Digital Partners. Derek began his career in investment banking in Atlanta, GA with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Derek is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business.
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Bill Huffman
Head of Equities & Fixed Income, Nuveen
Bill heads equities and fixed income for Nuveen’s multi-affiliate model. He is also the president of Nuveen Asset Management, responsible for leading all of the business management activities.
He joined the firm in 2008 from Northern Trust where he was president and chief executive officer of Northern Trust Global Advisors, Inc., and concurrently served as chief executive officer of Northern Trust Global Investments Limited located in London. Prior to these roles, Bill served as the director of quantitative product management for Northern Trust. He began his career in 1991 as the leader of the internal audit group responsible for treasury, investment management and finance functions at the Northern Trust Corporation.
Bill graduated with a B.S. in Accounting from Indiana University and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Chicago. He has also passed the Certified Public Accountant exam. Bill serves on the Boys and Girls Club of Chicago Board of Directors and the Rush Medical Center Arthritis and Orthopedics Leadership Committee.
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Ken Kencel
President & CEO
Ken serves as President and CEO of Churchill Asset Management, an affiliate of Nuveen, the asset management arm of TIAA, a Fortune 500 financial services company. He also serves as Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NCDLC) and Nuveen Churchill Private Capital Income Fund (PCAP), Churchill’s publicly registered business development companies.
Throughout his over 35-year career in the investment industry, he has accrued a broad range of experience in leading private credit investment businesses. Previously, Ken served as a Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, where he also served as President and a Director of Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (Carlyle’s publicly traded business development company). Prior to that he founded and was President and CEO of Churchill Financial Group, served as Head of Leveraged Finance for Royal Bank of Canada and was Head of Indosuez Capital, a leading middle market merchant banking and asset management business in partnership with Credit Agricole Group. Ken was also a founder of the high yield finance business at Chase Securities (now JP Morgan Chase). He began his career in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at Drexel Burnham Lambert. He regularly appears as a guest commentator on private credit markets on Bloomberg, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times.
Ken graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University and a J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. He serves on the Pension Investment Advisory Committee for the Archdiocese of New York, the Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Investment Committee of Canisius High School (a private Jesuit Preparatory school in Buffalo, NY), the Advisory Board of Teach for America (Connecticut) and the Milken Institute’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Asset Management Executive Council. Ken is a former member of the Board of Advisors and Adjunct Professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.
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Kevin McCarthy
Secretary & General Counsel, Nuveen
Kevin serves as secretary and general counsel for Nuveen and is a member of the firm’s executive committee. He has led the development of Nuveen’s legal department to support the significant expansion and increasing complexity of Nuveen’s business and also partners with business leaders across the firm to support product development. Kevin serves as an officer of Nuveen Funds and is involved in the day-to-day operation, management and development of the firm’s funds business while also playing an active role in fund board relations.
Before coming to Nuveen in 2007, Kevin was a Partner with Bell, Boyd & Lloyd LLP. While at Bell, Boyd, he represented a number of mutual fund complexes, including Nuveen, and their advisers. Kevin also represented the independent board members of several fund complexes and also focused his practice on general corporate and securities law matters, including mergers and acquisitions.
Kevin graduated with a B.B.A. in Accounting from Notre Dame and a J.D. from the University of Illinois, College of Law. He is currently a board member of Lurie Children’s Hospital.
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Jose Minaya
Chief Executive Officer, Nuveen
Jose serves as Chief Executive Officer of Nuveen and was named President of Global Investments in December 2016 with accountability for leading and managing over $900 billion in AUM within thirteen distinct Public and Alternative affiliates. He also acts as Chairman to several of our subsidiary companies. In addition, he is a member of the Nuveen Investment and Risk committees. Previously, Jose was President of Nuveen Global Real Assets where he was responsible for the business activities and strategic direction across various asset classes including real estate, agriculture, timber, infrastructure, energy, and alternative credit strategies. Prior to that, Jose was Head of Private Markets Asset Management and served as Head of Natural Resources & Infrastructure Investments where he was responsible for building and managing the agriculture, timber, energy, and infrastructure investment platforms. Since joining the Nuveen organization in 2004, he also managed transactions involving privately-placed debt and equity.
Jose has over 23 years of investment experience including positions at AIG Global Investment Group where he was involved in emerging markets equity transactions, and the investment banking groups at Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan where his responsibilities included mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions. He holds a B.S. in finance from Manhattan College, where he was a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, an international economics honor society, and an MBA from Dartmouth College, Amos Tuck School of Business where he was a Robert Toigo Fellow.
Jose is a distinguished recipient of the 2016 Toigo Blazing Trails award for his demonstrated commitment to the education and leadership of the next generation of financial services talent. He also Co-Chairs the TIAA Military/Veterans Employee Resource Group which advances active duty and reserve military membership while helping TIAA better serve military and veteran clients. Finally, he is a recognized expert on real assets investing and is frequently sought after by the media and industry events for his perspectives and insights on the asset class.
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Joe Lee
Managing Director, Underwriting and Portfolio Management
Joe joined Churchill Asset Management in 2019 and currently serves as Managing Director in the underwriting and portfolio management group. He has over a decade of private equity and leveraged finance investment experience and was previously a Vice President in Structured Finance Investing and Lending at Goldman Sachs, focused on principal investments across corporate credit and structured products. Before Goldman Sachs, he worked at Antares Capital, where he structured and executed middle market leveraged buyout transactions. Prior to that, Joe was on the originations team at Mubadala GE Capital, focused on sourcing global debt investment opportunities, and he was also an investment professional for GE Equity, the global private equity arm of GE Capital. Joe began his career at GE Capital, where he graduated from the Financial Management Program.
Joe earned his B.S. in Accounting from Boston College, Carroll School of Management.
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Kevin Meyer
Managing Director, Head of Origination
Kevin joined Churchill Asset Management in 2015 and currently serves as Managing Director, Head of Origination with over twelve years of experience in middle market leveraged finance. Previously, he was an Assistant Vice President and Underwriter at GE Capital, a financial services institution that is focused on making direct senior, middle market loans. Prior to GE Capital, Kevin worked in sports marketing and event management at FIFA.
Kevin graduated from Fordham in 2008 with a B.A. in finance and minor concentration in economics. He received his MBA with specializations in finance and international business from Fairfield University’s Dolan School of Business in 2012.
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Jessica Nels
Managing Director, Head of Capital Markets
Jessica is a Managing Director in the Capital Markets team for Churchill Asset Management where she is responsible for middle market club transactions, syndication and lender relationship management. Prior to joining Churchill, Jessica was a Director on the Capital Markets team for Twin Brook Capital Partners, the middle market direct lending subsidiary of Angelo, Gordon & Co. While at Twin Brook, she structured, underwrote, and syndicated senior debt and unitranche credit facilities for middle-market private equity sponsors. Prior to that, she held various roles at BMO Harris Bank, Antares Capital and GE Capital.
Jessica earned a B.S. in finance and accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received an M.B.A. in finance and economics from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
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Jason Quinn
Managing Director, Origination
Jason joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as Managing Director, Origination with over fourteen years of experience in middle market leveraged finance. Previously, he was a Senior Vice President at Antares Capital, responsible for sourcing deals and managing relationships with West Coast private equity sponsors. Prior to that, he was a Vice President leading underwriting processes for senior debt financings supporting sponsored transactions. He began his career at GE Capital.
Jason graduated magna cum laude with a BBA from the University of Notre Dame, and he received his MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management. Additionally, he is a Certified Public Accountant.
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Jeffrey Rabaut
Managing Director, Origination
Jeff serves as a Managing Director at Churchill Asset Management with over fifteen years of experience in middle market leveraged finance. He is on the originations team where he focuses on developing relationships with private equity sponsors and middle market lenders. Before joining Churchill, Jeff was a Director at Sumitomo Mitsui Bank, responsible for launching its Chicago office and Midwest sponsor coverage. Prior to SMBC, he was a Vice President at Antares Capital and its predecessor firm GE Capital, responsible for screening new investment opportunities, underwriting and portfolio management.
Jeff graduated from Michigan State University with a B.A. in finance. He received his MBA with specializations in finance and economics from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
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Tarek Srouji
Managing Director, Origination
Tarek joined Churchill Asset Management in 2018 and currently serves as a Managing Director in the originations team, where he is responsible for developing relationships with private equity sponsors. He has over a decade of experience in private equity and leveraged finance. Previously, he worked at BNP Paribas as a Director in the firm’s Merchant Banking and Loan Syndication Groups. In these roles, he was responsible for originating, underwriting and syndicating private equity debt financings. Previously, Tarek held similar positions at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse. Tarek began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he earned his CPA and performed due diligence and quality of earnings reviews primarily for private equity clients.
Tarek graduated from Georgetown University with a B.S. in Finance and Accounting and has an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.
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Mark Tamburello
Managing Director, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Mark rejoined Churchill Asset Management in 2020 and serves as a Managing Director in the underwriting and portfolio management group with over 14 years of experience. Previously, he was with The Carlyle Group’s Direct Lending platform and was responsible for executing middle market senior, unitranche, and junior debt investments. Prior to Carlyle, Mark was an Associate at Churchill which he joined in 2010. He also held positions at Olympus Partners, a middle market private equity firm, and Harris Williams & Co., an investment bank focused on mergers and acquisitions of middle market companies. Mark received a BS in business administration with distinction from the University of North Carolina.
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Jill White
Managing Director, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Jill joined Churchill Asset Management in 2018 and currently serves as a Managing Director in the underwriting and portfolio management group with over 10 years of experience in middle market leveraged finance. Before joining Churchill, she worked at Antares Capital on the underwriting and portfolio management team, where she lead processes for senior debt financings. Prior to that, she spent several years on the Antares credit advisory team managing distressed credit situations. Prior to Antares Capital, Jill completed the GE Capital Investment Analyst program.
Jill graduated summa cum laude from John Carroll University with a B.S. in finance and minor in mathematics.
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Pranai Cheroo
Principal, Origination
Pranai joined Churchill Asset Management in 2023, where he is responsible for originating and leading middle market financing transactions as well as developing relationships with private equity sponsors. He has been in middle market leveraged finance for over 14 years. Previously, he was a Principal at The Carlyle Group, responsible for sourcing deals and managing relationships with private equity firms, as well as leading the underwriting, structuring and execution of debt financings. Prior to his time at Carlyle, Pranai held similar positions at Summit Partners and BNP Paribas.
Pranai graduated with a BA from Tufts University, where he double majored in Quantitative Economics and Mathematics. He is based in Los Angeles.
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Sean Mancini
Principal, Origination
Sean joined Churchill Asset Management in 2015 and currently serves as a Principal in the Origination team with over eight years of experience in middle market leveraged finance. Previously, he was an Associate at GE Capital, a financial services institution focused on making direct senior, middle market loans. Sean was accepted and graduated from the GE Capital Financial Management Program.
Sean graduated from The Pennsylvania State University, Smeal College of Business with a B.S. in finance. He also received an international business degree from Institute at Palazzo Rucellai.
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Vivek Sachidanand
Principal, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Vivek joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021 and serves as a Principal in the underwriting and portfolio management group. He has over 15 years of experience in middle market leveraged finance. Prior to joining Churchill, Vivek was a Principal in The Carlyle Group’s Global Credit platform, where he was responsible for originating, structuring, and executing private credit investments. Prior to joining Carlyle, Vivek was a Vice President at Jefferies Finance where he structured and underwrote senior and junior debt financings for sponsor-backed buyouts and M&A transactions. Vivek has also held roles at both Ivy Hill Asset Management and CIFC Asset Management, where he evaluated primary and secondary senior secured investment opportunities and managed a portfolio of investments across a variety of sectors.
Vivek earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan.
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Paul Sadlowski
Principal, Origination
Paul joined Churchill Asset Management in 2023 and currently serves as a Principal on the Origination team, where he is responsible for developing relationships with private equity sponsors and lenders. He brings over fifteen years of experience and expertise in private equity, leveraged finance and capital markets, having most recently served as Executive Director at J.P. Morgan in the firm’s Leveraged Finance Group. In this role, he was responsible for originating, underwriting and syndicating private equity and corporate financings. Paul began his career at Segall Bryant & Hamill Asset Management where he was an investment professional in the firm’s Fixed Income group.
Paul graduated from Vanderbilt University with a BA in Economics and History and has an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
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Justin Zimmer
Principal, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Justin joined Churchill Asset Management in 2020 and currently serves as a Principal in the underwriting and portfolio management group with over 7 years of experience in middle market leveraged finance. Previously, he worked at Antares Capital as an Assistant Vice President where he structured and executed middle market leveraged buyout transactions. Prior to Antares he held various roles within GE Capital spanning Underwriting, FP&A, Controllership and Pricing. Justin began his career at GE Capital, where he graduated from the Financial Management Program.
Justin earned his B.S. in Business Administration from Westminster College, Gore School of Business.
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Nicholas Carroll
Vice President, Origination
Nick joined Churchill Asset Management in 2017 and currently serves as a Vice President in the Origination team with over nine years of experience in leveraged finance markets across both large cap and middle market deals. Previously, he was an Analyst within the Investment Bank at JP Morgan working with the diversified industrials credit group. Prior to joining JP Morgan, Nick worked as an Analyst at GE Capital, a financial services institution that focused on making direct senior, middle market loans.
Nick graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2012 with a B.A in economics, with minors in accounting and communications.
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Matt Caulfield
Vice President, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Matt joined Churchill Asset Management in August 2021 and serves as a Vice President in the underwriting and portfolio management group with more than five years of leveraged finance experience. Most recently, Matt was a member of the middle market senior debt group at Manulife Investment Management. Matt started in leveraged finance at Crestline Denali Capital, a CLO asset manager. He began his career in the Deals practice at PWC in Chicago as a consultant advising clients on accounting considerations for capital markets and M&A activity.
Matt graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in Finance and a B.S. in Accountancy.
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Lindsey Figliolino
Vice President, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Lindsey joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021 and currently serves as a Vice President in the underwriting and portfolio management group with more than seven years of experience in middle market leveraged finance. Previously, she was an underwriter with Bank of Ireland, providing financing solutions for middle market private equity-backed transactions. Lindsey began her career in the Asset Management Assurance Group at Ernst & Young.
Lindsey graduated from Drexel University, LeBow College of Business, with a B.S. in Business Administration with a dual concentration in accounting and finance.
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Jacob Iati
Vice President, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Jake joined Churchill Asset Management in 2019 and currently serves as a Vice President in the underwriting and portfolio management group with over five years of experience in investment banking and middle market leveraged finance. Previously, he was an Associate within the Investment Bank at J.P. Morgan working in the healthcare, consumer and retail credit group. Prior to that, Jake worked as an Analyst in J.P. Morgan’s middle market banking division.
Jake graduated from the University at Albany with a B.S. in Business Administration, with a concentration in finance and management. He also received an M.B.A. from the University at Albany.
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Joseph McShane
Vice President, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Joe joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 where he currently serves as a Vice President in the underwriting and portfolio management group with over twelve years of experience in senior lending and middle market leveraged finance. Previously, Joe held various roles at JPMorgan, where he was most recently a Vice President in the middle market banking division focused on originating and structuring transactions for private equity and venture capital backed corporate borrowers within the for-profit healthcare sector. Prior to that, he was a Vice President within the Investment Bank at JPMorgan working with the healthcare, consumer, and retail credit group, where he was primarily focused on leveraged finance transactions with both large and mid-cap healthcare corporate borrowers.
Joe graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a B.A. in Political Science.
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Andrew Passero, CFA
Vice President, Capital Markets
Andy joined Churchill Asset Management in 2020 and currently serves as a Vice President focused on Capital Markets. Previously, he was a Vice President in the Portfolio Analytics group of JP Morgan’s Private Bank. Prior to joining JP Morgan, Andy worked as a Quantitative Portfolio Analyst at K2 Advisors, a fund of hedge funds manager.
Andy graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2012 with a B.S. in Finance, with minors in Economics and Information Systems. Andy is a CFA Charterholder.
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Sanjeet Singh
Vice President, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Sanjeet joined Churchill Asset Management in 2018 as a Vice President in the underwriting and portfolio management group with more than five years of experience in middle market leveraged finance and investment banking. Prior to joining Churchill, he was on the direct lending team at Medley Capital, a credit-focused asset manager providing financing solutions for middle-market transactions. Sanjeet began his career in investment banking at Bowen Advisors in Boston focused on M&A advisory.
Sanjeet graduated from the University of Michigan, with a B.A. in Economics and a minor in Math.
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Jad Abdul-Aal
Senior Associate, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Jad joined Churchill Asset Management in 2019 and currently serves as a Senior Associate in the underwriting and portfolio management group with two years of experience in leveraged finance and asset management. Previously, he was an Analyst at Antares Capital focused on providing financing solutions for middle market private equity-backed transactions. Most recently, Jad was an Associate at OFS Capital Management, focused on CLO management in the broadly syndicated loan market.
Jad graduated from John Carroll University, Boler School of Business with a B.S. in Finance and Economics.
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Ryan Babakian, CFA
Senior Associate, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Ryan joined Churchill Asset Management in 2016 and currently serves as an Senior Associate in the underwriting and portfolio management group with more than four years of experience in middle market leveraged finance. Previously, he was a Financial Analyst with Audax Group, a financial services institution providing mezzanine and senior debt to middle market companies. Ryan began his career in the Advisory practice of Ernst & Young.
Ryan graduated from The Pennsylvania State University, Smeal College of Business with a B.S. in finance. Ryan is a CFA charterholder.
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Sam Gonzalez-Gross
Senior Associate, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Sam joined Churchill Asset Management in 2018 and currently serves as a Senior Associate in the underwriting and portfolio management group with over three years of experience in middle market energy finance. Previously, he was an Associate with CIT Group, a financial services institution providing financing and advisory services to middle market companies.
Sam graduated from Hamilton College in 2015 with a B.A. in Economics.
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Jordan Kenney, CFA
Senior Associate, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Jordan joined Churchill Asset Management in 2019 and currently serves as a Senior Associate in the underwriting and portfolio management group with two years of experience in leveraged finance. Previously, he was an Analyst at Nuveen Private Markets focused on a wide range of asset classes, including private placements, senior secured loans, mezzanine finance, private equity funds and co-investments.
Jordan graduated from Drexel University, Lebow College of Business with a B.S. in Finance and Economics. He is a CFA charterholder.
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Kaela Klune
Senior Associate, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Kaela joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as a Senior Associate in the underwriting and portfolio management group with more than seven years of experience in middle market leveraged finance. Previously, she was an underwriter with Annaly Capital Management, providing financing solutions for middle market private equity-backed transactions. Prior to Annaly, Kaela was an Associate in the Software Lending group at Wells Fargo.
Kaela graduated from Boston College, Carroll School of Management with a B.S. in Management, with a dual concentration in Finance and Management & Leadership.
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Colin Miller
Senior Associate, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Colin joined Churchill Asset Management in 2018 and currently serves as a Senior Associate in the underwriting and portfolio management group with two years of experience in leveraged finance. Previously, he was an Analyst at Mizuho Bank focused on providing financing solutions for non-investment grade and private equity-backed transactions.
Colin graduated from the University of Delaware, Alfred Lerner College of Business & Economics with a B.S. in Finance and Accounting and a minor in Economics.
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Andrew Kuntz
Associate, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Andrew joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021 and currently serves as an Associate in the underwriting and portfolio management group with four years of experience in leveraged finance. Previously, he was an Assistant Vice President at Antares Capital managing investor programs and providing financing solutions to middle market private-equity backed companies.
Andrew graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Gies College of Business with a B.S. in Finance.
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Caroline Pate
Associate, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Caroline joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as an Associate in the underwriting and portfolio management group with over two years of experience in the credit markets. Previously, she was an Analyst within the Consumer & Retail Corporate Banking Group at Wells Fargo, focused on providing financing solutions for large corporate customers as well as private-equity backed transactions.
Caroline graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kenan-Flagler Business School in 2019 with a B.S. in Business Administration.
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Daryl Anderton
Senior Analyst, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Daryl joined Churchill Asset Management in 2023 and currently serves as a Senior Analyst in the underwriting and portfolio management group with two years of experience in leveraged finance. Previously, he was an Associate within the Leveraged Finance Credit Group at Bank of America, focused on providing financing solutions for non-investment grade and private equity-backed transactions. Prior to that, he held several positions at Bank of America focusing on various corporate treasury and credit risk initiatives.
Daryl graduated from East Carolina University in 2017 with a B.S. in Business Administration. He also received a Master’s in Accounting from North Carolina State University in 2018.
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Jack Gaffney
Senior Analyst, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Jack joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as a Senior Analyst in the underwriting and portfolio management group with two years of experience in technology, media, and telecommunications leveraged finance. Previously, he was an Analyst at CIT Group focused on providing financing solutions for middle market private-equity backed transactions.
Jack graduated from Boston College in 2020 with a B.A. in economics, with a minor in finance.
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Jack McTiernan
Senior Analyst, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Jack joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as a Senior Analyst in the underwriting and portfolio management group with two years of experience in leveraged finance. Previously, he was an Analyst within the Syndicated & Leveraged Finance Group at TD Securities focused on providing financing solutions for non-investment grade and private equity-backed transactions.
Jack graduated from Boston College, Carroll School of Management with a B.S. in Management, with concentrations in Finance and Business Analytics.
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John Bomba
Analyst, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
John joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as an Analyst in the underwriting and portfolio management group with one year of prior experience in valuations and private debt. Previously, he was an Analyst within the Valuations and Opinions Group at Lincoln International, focused on providing debt and equity valuations for private-equity backed transactions.
John graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Gies College of Business in 2019 with a B.S. in Accounting.
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Ryan Greenough
Analyst, Underwriting & Portfolio Management
Ryan joined Churchill Asset Management in 2023 and currently serves as an Analyst in the underwriting and portfolio management group with two years of experience in leveraged finance. Previously, he was an Analyst on the Leveraged Finance Capital Markets team at Goldman Sachs focused on executing financings for non-investment grade companies.
Ryan graduated from the University of Iowa, Tippie College of Business with a B.B.A. in Accounting, and a B.B.A. in Finance.
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Raja Doddala
Managing Director, Venture Capital & Growth Equity
Raja serves as a Managing Director and leads our venture capital and growth equity strategies. Raja’s mandate includes investments in venture capital funds across stages and growth stage technology companies in fintech, enterprise tech, health tech, prop tech, blockchain, and climate tech sectors. Raja joined TIAA’s parent company in 2016 as Head of digital and fintech strategy for TIAA’s retirement business. In 2018, Raja founded TIAA’s strategic fintech venture capital program where he built a portfolio of top tier fintech and enterprise tech VC fund investments.
Prior to his tenure at TIAA, Raja Spent 12 years at 7&I Holdings, the Japanese parent of 7-Eleven, the largest retailer in the world in terms of number of locations. At 7&I holdings, Raja started and grew several businesses at the intersection of retail, mobile and payments technologies. Raja founded 7-Ventures, a venture capital subsidiary of 7&I holdings that invests in technology and consumer goods start-ups.
Raja holds an MBA from Southern Methodist University in Dallas TX and Masters in Computer Science from La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. Raja resides with his wife and 2 children in Dallas, Texas. Raja is an endurance athlete and enjoys road cycling.
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Nick Lawler
Managing Director, Head of Secondaries
Nick serves as a Managing Director and Head of Secondaries on the Private Equity and Junior Capital team at Churchill Asset Management, based in Chicago. His responsibilities include oversight of origination, underwriting and portfolio management activities for secondary investments. Prior to joining Churchill in 2022, he spent 10 years at 50 South Capital Advisors, LLC, the alternative investment arm of Northern Trust Corporation, where he was a Senior Vice President and helped build and lead the firm’s secondaries business. Nick also served on 50 South Capital’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Before joining 50 South Capital, he was a member of Northern Trust’s Global Opportunities in Leadership Development (“GOLD”) program on the Investments Track – Northern’s functional and management training program. Nick joined Northern Trust in 2008 and began his career in Wealth Management.
Nick holds a B.A. in political science and minor in history from Boston College, where he was a member of the men’s varsity golf team, competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
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David McManama
Managing Director, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
David is a Managing Director on the Private Equity and Junior Capital team for Churchill Asset Management, which he joined via Nuveen in 2014. As part of the PEJC team, David is focused on sourcing and executing junior capital investments, equity co-investments, and investments in private equity funds. Previously, David spent four years as an Associate in the Industrial Investment Banking Group of KeyBanc Capital Markets, where he focused on executing middle market mergers and acquisitions transactions. Prior to KeyBanc, he was an Associate at Gulf Stream Asset Management, a CLO with approximately $4.0 billion under management, where he was responsible for underwriting new credit investments.
David holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Davidson College and a Master’s degree in Management from Wake Forest University.
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Anne Philpott, CFA
Managing Director, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Anne is a Managing Director on the Private Equity and Junior Capital team at Churchill Asset Management, where she is actively involved in sourcing and executing investments in junior capital and equity co-investments, as well as investments in private equity funds. She is also a member of the Private Equity and Junior Capital team’s Investment Committee, overseeing six private equity and junior capital mandates, including LP commitments, equity co-investments, structured capital, secondaries and junior capital loans. Additionally, Anne serves as Co-Head of Churchill’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council, where she collaborates on initiatives that prioritize inclusion and authenticity.
Previously, Anne was a Senior Director on the Private Equity and Junior Capital team at Nuveen. Ms. Philpott joined TIAA in 2005 and began her career as an Associate in the Private Placements group. As part of the Private Placements team she acted as a lead originator and portfolio manager for a variety of domestic and international high grade corporate debt investments.
Anne holds a B.S. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, and is a CFA charter holder and member of the CFA Institute.
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Dodson Worthington
Managing Director, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Dodson serves as a Managing Director on the Private Equity and Junior Capital team for Churchill Asset Management. He is responsible for sourcing, executing, and monitoring investments in private equity funds, as well as direct equity and debt investments in middle market companies. Prior to joining the firm in 2014, Dodson worked in the Leveraged Finance group at Wells Fargo Securities, where he provided strategic capital solutions for companies across various industries. Dodson has over 11 years of experience in investment banking, private equity, and entrepreneurial finance, including positions at UBS Investment Bank, VO2 Partners, and Square 1 Financial.
Dodson graduated with a Bachelor degree in History from Columbia University and an M.B.A from Columbia Business School.
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Michael Chiulli, CFA, CPA
Principal, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Michael is a Principal at Churchill, responsible for sourcing, analyzing, executing and portfolio monitoring for the institution’s junior capital, equity co-investment, and middle market funds mandates. Previously, he was a Principal on the Private Equity and Junior Capital team for Churchill’s parent company, Nuveen. Michael has over five years of alternative asset investment experience, having worked in several capacities investing in funds, junior capital and equity investments in middle market companies. Chiulli also has experience underwriting below investment grade fixed rate private placement investments. Prior to joining Nuveen, he held roles at Standard & Poor’s and KPMG.
Michael graduated with an MBA from the S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University and a B.S. in Accounting, Summa Cum Laude, from Fairfield University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Certified Public Accountant.
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Lucas Fries, CFA
Principal, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Lucas is a Principal on the Private Equity and Junior Capital team for Churchill Asset Management. Lucas is focused on sourcing, underwriting, executing and monitoring private equity investments across direct equity co-investments, junior capital investments and private equity fund commitments. Prior to joining the team in 2017, he was an Associate on Nuveen’s real asset private equity team focused on North American infrastructure and energy investments. Lucas began his career at TIAA’s Private Markets division, holding investment roles in TIAA’s alternatives strategies including investment grade private placements, project finance, and energy and infrastructure private equity.
Lucas graduated with a Bachelor degree in Business Administration from the Kenan Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a CFA charter holder and a member of the CFA Institute.
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Erica Cunningham
Vice President, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Erica serves as a Vice President on the private equity and junior capital team for Churchill Asset Management. Erica is focused on sourcing, underwriting, executing and monitoring investments in junior capital, equity co-investments and private equity funds. She joined Churchill’s parent organization, TIAA and subsequently Nuveen, in 2014. She has held multiple investment roles across TIAA’s alternatives strategies, including experience on the real asset infrastructure and energy private equity team and the middle market private equity and junior capital team. Erica started her career in the Structured Finance group at Deutsche Bank, where she focused on investments in mortgage-backed securities.
Erica graduated with dual Bachelor degrees in Engineering Science and Economics from Vanderbilt University and has an M.B.A. from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
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Adam Froendt
Vice President, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Adam joined the Private Equity and Junior Capital team in 2019, where he is actively involved in sourcing and executing investments in junior capital and equity co-investments, as well as investments in private equity funds. He has over two years of alternative asset management experience. Prior to his current role, Adam was an Analyst in the Private Markets group for Churchill’s parent company, Nuveen, where he worked on the Private Equity and Junior Capital and Private Placements teams.
Adam graduated from The University of Nebraska–Lincoln with a B.S. in Finance, Economics, and Management.
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Brandon Jordi
Vice President, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Brandon joined the Private Equity and Junior Capital team in 2018 and currently serves as a Vice President covering originations, underwriting, and portfolio management. Brandon has 4 years of middle market finance and investing experience. Previously, he was an investment banker in the Financial Institutions Group at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, where he worked on a number of M&A, debt, and public equity transactions.
Brandon graduated from the Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond with a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance.
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Jay Valentine
Vice President, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Jay currently serves as a Vice President in the Private Equity and Junior Capital group with over three years of experience in leveraged finance. Previously, he was an Associate at Nuveen Private Markets focused on a wide range of asset classes, including mezzanine finance, private equity funds & co-investments, distressed investments, and impact investments.
Jay graduated from Bentley University with a B.S. in Corporate Finance & Accounting.
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Davis Westbrook
Vice President, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Davis joined the Private Equity and Junior Capital team in 2018 and currently serves as a Vice President covering originations, underwriting, and portfolio management. He has more than 5 years of middle market finance experience. Previously, Davis served as an investment banking analyst in the Financial Services Group at Regions Securities, where he worked on syndicated finance and M&A transactions.
Davis graduated from the University of North Carolina with a B.A. in Economics and Media & Journalism.
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Andrew Topping
Vice President, Secondaries
Andrew serves as a Vice President of Secondaries on the Private Equity and Junior Capital team for Churchill Asset Management. His role includes originating and underwriting transactions, and performing portfolio management activities for secondary investments. Prior to transitioning to Secondaries in 2023, Andrew spent over four years with Churchill focused on private equity fund commitments, mezzanine finance, and direct equity co-investments. Andrew has over nine years of experience in middle market private equity. Prior to joining Churchill Asset Management, he was an associate at Copeley Capital, a Charlotte-based lower middle market private equity firm. Andrew began his career in accounting performing transaction advisory services and accounting due diligence for middle market private equity transactions.
Andrew graduated from The College of William and Mary with a Masters in Accounting and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance.
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Patrick Anderson, CFA, CPA
Senior Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Pat is a Senior Associate on the Private Equity and Junior Capital team at Churchill Asset Management. He is responsible for sourcing, underwriting, and executing venture capital/growth equity fund commitments and equity co-investments, including portfolio construction and management.
Previously, Pat joined Churchill’s parent organization, TIAA, in the Corporate Strategy & Development group. His responsibilities included Corporate Venture Capital investing, management consulting, M&A, and restructuring. Before TIAA, Pat was a Senior Manager at PwC, advising companies on capital raising, securitization transactions, and technology engagements.
Pat graduated with an MBA from Columbia University and earned an MS in Tax and a BS in Accounting/Economics from the State University of New York at Albany and Siena College, respectively. Pat is a CFA charter holder and licensed CPA. He is a member of both the CFA Society of New York and AICPA. Pat resides with his wife and dog in New York and enjoys traveling.
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Tyler Donofrio
Senior Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Tyler joined Churchill Asset Management in 2017 and currently serves as a Senior Associate on the Private Equity and Junior Capital team. Tyler is focused on sourcing, underwriting, executing, and monitoring investments in junior capital, equity co-investments and private equity funds. Previously, he was a Senior Associate on the Senior Lending Underwriting and Portfolio Management group. Prior to joining Churchill, he was an Analyst with Hancock Capital Management, a financial services institution focused on providing mezzanine debt and equity co-investments to middle-market, private equity-backed companies.
Tyler graduated from Boston College, Carroll School of Management with a B.S. in Management, with concentrations in Finance and Accounting and received an M.B.A, with honors, with concentrations in Finance and Economics from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
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Connor Gay
Senior Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Connor joined Churchill Asset Management’s Private Equity and Junior Capital group in 2020 with over two years of experience in middle market finance. Previously, he was an investment banking analyst in the Technology, Media & Telecommunications Group at Regions Securities, where he worked on syndicated finance and M&A transactions.
Connor graduated from the University of Georgia in 2017 with a B.A. in Economics and a B.S. in Mathematics.
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Brandon Ng
Senior Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Brandon joined the Private Equity and Junior Capital team in 2020 and currently serves as a Senior Associate covering originations, underwriting, and portfolio management. He has three years of middle market finance experience. Previously, Brandon served as an investment banking analyst in the Corporate & Institutional Markets Group at Regions Securities, where he worked on syndicated finance and M&A transactions.
Brandon graduated from Wake Forest University in 2015 with a B.A. in Economics.
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Avery Ramsey
Senior Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Avery joined Churchill Asset Management in 2020 as an Associate in the Private Equity and Junior Capital group, with five years of experience in financial services. Previously, Avery served as an Associate in the Leveraged Finance group at Morgan Stanley, where she worked on syndicated debt transactions.
Avery graduated from Davidson College with a B.A. in Economics and from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce with an M.S. in Commerce.
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Eliza Ike
Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Eliza joined Churchill Asset Management in 2023 as an Associate in the Private Equity and Junior Capital group, where she is responsible for covering originations, underwriting, and portfolio management. Prior to joining Churchill, Eliza was an Associate at Salem Investment Partners where she was involved in deal execution and portfolio monitoring. Previously, Eliza was a Consultant at Clarkston Consulting, where she advised clients in the Consumer Products industry.
Eliza graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – Kenan-Flagler Business School in 2018 with a B.S. in Business Administration.
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Connor Dunleavy
Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Connor joined the Private Equity and Junior Capital team in 2022 and currently serves as an Associate covering originations, underwriting, and portfolio management. He has five years of middle market finance experience. Previously, Connor served as an investment banking associate in the Corporate & Institutional Markets Group at Regions Securities, where he worked on syndicated finance and M&A transactions.
Connor graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2017 with a B.S. in Business Administration from the Kenan-Flagler Business School.
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Adam Frank
Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Adam joined the Private Equity and Junior Capital team in 2022 and currently serves as an Associate covering originations, underwriting, and portfolio management. Prior to his current role, Adam was a Director in FTI Consulting’s Restructuring Advisory practice where he advised companies, sponsors, and lenders through both in-court and out-of-court restructurings as well as other strategic finance matters. Previously, Adam was an Analyst within J.P. Morgan’s Investment Bank working with the Diversified Industries Leveraged Credit group where he underwrote leveraged finance transactions and monitored a portfolio of non-investment grade credits.
Adam graduated from The George Washington University School of Business with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance.
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Fraser Hahn
Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Fraser joined Churchill Asset Management in 2023 as an Associate in the Private Equity and Junior Capital group, where he is responsible for sourcing, executing and monitoring investments across mezzanine debt, equity co-investments and fund commitments. Previously, Fraser served as an Associate with Lazard Frères & Co. where he focused on pitching, securing and executing M&A advisory engagements across the Consumer, Food & Retail sectors. Prior to his time at Lazard Frères & Co., Fraser was an associate with Citizen Bank’s Aerospace, Defense & Government Services team where he advised on a variety of strategic alternatives including acquisitions and debt financings. Prior to Citizens Bank, Fraser was a senior consultant with Ernst & Young’s Risk Advisory group.
Fraser graduated from Clemson University in 2016 with a B.S. in Finance.
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Vince Pupi
Associate, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Vince joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 as an Associate in the Private Equity and Junior Capital group, where he is responsible for sourcing, executing and monitoring investments across mezzanine debt, equity co-investments and fund commitments. Prior to his current role, Vince was an Associate in Wells Fargo’s Corporate & Investment Banking – Technology, Media & Telecom group, focused on debt financing for M&A, recapitalizations, and other investment projects.
Vince graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – Kenan-Flagler Business School in 2019 with a B.S. in Business Administration.
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Andrew DiCandilo
Senior Analyst, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Andrew joined Churchill Asset Management in 2023 as a Senior Analyst in the Private Equity and Junior Capital group, where he is responsible for sourcing, executing and monitoring investments across junior capital, equity co-investments and fund commitments. Prior to his current role, Andrew was an Analyst within Wells Fargo’s Leveraged Underwriting Investment Banking group, focused on debt financing for M&A and other investment projects.
Andrew graduated from the University of California, Berkeley – Haas School of Business in 2021 with a B.S. in Business Administration.
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Alona Tolentino Gornick
Managing Director, Senior Investment Strategist and Co-Head of Chicago Office
Alona Gornick serves as a Managing Director, Senior Investment Strategist, and Co-Head of the Chicago Office for Churchill Asset Management. In her role, Alona provides meaningful investment insights across the private capital spectrum to the investment community, with a particular emphasis on the Private Wealth and Retail channel. She works closely with Nuveen’s global distribution team to deepen relationships with and educate Churchill’s investors and partners.
Alona also serves as Co-Head of Churchill’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council, where she collaborates on initiatives that prioritize inclusion and authenticity. Alona joined Churchill in 2017 as an Originator, developing relationships with leading private equity sponsors to source and structure high-quality deal flow for the platform.
Prior to joining Churchill, Alona spent 14 years in various investment, capital markets and investor relations roles at leading organizations, including Nuveen (Churchill’s parent company), Golden Gate Capital, and Oaktree Capital Management. She began her career in investment banking in the Gaming & Leisure Group at Banc of America Securities.
Alona earned her B.A. in Business Administration from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Meredith Chu McDonald
Managing Director, Senior Investment Strategist, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Meredith Chu serves as Managing Director – Senior Investment Strategist for Churchill’s global private equity business, focusing on providing a best-in-class investor experience for Churchill’s global limited partners. In her current role, she spearheads investor relations and business development for Churchill’s private equity strategies, where Churchill has committed $15.9 billion to middle market GPs. Meredith works closely with Nuveen’s global distribution team to deliver effective solutions to limited partners.
Prior to joining Churchill in 2022, Meredith spent 11 years at The Carlyle Group as a Product Specialist, where she led the project management of 20+ global capital raises for Carlyle’s private equity and AlpInvest solutions strategies across a diverse range of products. Key highlights include: Carlyle’s flagship U.S. buyout fund (the largest North American private equity fundraising in the industry at the time); Carlyle’s first one-and-done fundraising; and multiple fundraises that were achieved at the hard caps.
Meredith graduated from Rice University with a B.A. in Sociology and Managerial Studies. She currently holds her Series 7, 24, and 63 licenses.
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Gene Miao
Managing Director, Senior Investment Strategist, Senior Lending
Gene joined Churchill Asset Management in 2020 as Senior Investment Strategist, with over 30 years of financial services industry experience in leading strategic initiatives, investment and portfolio management, fund formation, and product development. Gene works closely with Nuveen’s global distribution team to deepen Churchill’s relationships with and develop creative solutions to meet the unique needs of investors around the world.
Gene served in numerous leadership positions in investing, origination, and product development at numerous firms. Gene began his career at Morgan Stanley, where he worked in the investment banking department and was a founding member of the High Yield Group. He joined Merrill Lynch as a Managing Director in the investment banking department, focusing on working with private equity and alternative asset managers as well as serving on the both the equity and debt commitment committees.
Prior to joining Churchill, Gene served as the Chief Investment Strategist of KCAP Financial (Kohlberg Credit) and led the $1 billion alternative asset business at Emigrant Bank. Previously, Gene oversaw the origination, structuring, and ongoing management of subordinated debt and structured equity investments at Highland Capital. At Highland, he was also responsible for the planning and execution of new funds and the development of new products, as well as served on a number of investment committees.
Gene earned an A.B., cum laude with honors, from Harvard College and received an M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.
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Jessica Tannenbaum
Managing Director, Head of Marketing and Communications
Jessica joined Churchill Asset Management in 2018 and currently serves as Managing Director, Head of Marketing and Communications with 0ver 12 years of experience in middle market leveraged finance. Previously, Jessica was Senior Vice President, Head of Marketing at Fifth Street Asset Management, a credit-focused asset management firm. She began her career on the Investment team and subsequently served in a Business Development role at Fifth Street.
Jessica received her B.B.A. from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School with concentrations in Finance and Marketing.
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Laura Stolfi
Managing Director, Senior Investment Strategist
Laura serves as a Managing Director, Senior Investment Strategist for Churchill Asset Management. In her role, Laura provides meaningful investment insights across the private capital spectrum to the investment community, with a particular emphasis on the Private Wealth and Retail channel. She works closely with Nuveen’s global distribution team to deepen relationships with and educate Churchill’s investors and partners.
From 2014 to 2021, she worked for Invesco’s Global Private Credit platform where she supported new business development and institutional client communications, shaping investor messaging and business strategy globally. Previously, Laura worked in corporate finance and investor relations at CIFC Asset Management where she supported marketing efforts and was responsible for financial projections on behalf of their private equity owners. Prior to CIFC, she was an associate at Goldman Sachs, where she worked in the firm’s investment management finance division focused on credit strategies. Laura began her career at Deloitte & Touche. She entered the investment management industry in 2003.
Laura graduated with both a B.S. in Business with a major in Accounting and an M.S. in Accounting from the University of Connecticut. She is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) and holds the FINRA Series 7 and Series 66 registrations.
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Matthew Battle
Principal, Investment Strategist
Matthew Battle is a Principal, Investment Strategist at Churchill Asset Management. In this role, Matt is responsible for investor coverage and new capital formation across the firm’s private equity and private credit strategies including co-investment, secondaries, structured capital, and senior and junior lending. Matt works closely with Nuveen’s global distribution team to deepen and expand Churchill’s investor relationships.
Prior to his current role, Matt spent two years as the Director of Private Equity Investor Relations at Black Diamond Capital Management. In this capacity, Matt was responsible for all aspects of Black Diamond’s private equity investor relations efforts.
Prior to that, Matt spent nine years at The Carlyle Group focused on investor relations and fundraising activities in the United States. At Carlyle, Matt was actively involved in relationship management, product development, fund formation, and marketing strategy across the firm’s investment platform.
Matt received his B.S. in Finance (Summa Cum Laude) from Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business. He maintains Series 7 and 63 licenses.
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Emily Manuel
Principal, Investor Relations
Emily Manuel joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021 and currently serves as Principal, Investor Relations.
Previously, Emily was an Associate Vice President on the Investor Relations team at the Carlyle Group, a global investment firm. Emily has over 12 years of experience within the financial services industry, beginning her career at John Hancock Mutual Funds.
Emily received her B.S. in Psychology from Tulane University.
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Saheedat Onifade
Principal, Investment Strategist, Junior Capital & Private Equity Solutions
Saheedat is a Principal, Investment Strategist at Churchill Asset Management. In this role, Saheedat is responsible for investor coverage and new capital formation across the firm’s private equity and junior capital strategies including primary fund commitments, co-investments, secondaries and junior lending. Saheedat works closely with Nuveen’s global distribution team to deepen and expand Churchill’s investor relationships.
Prior to joining Churchill in 2023, Saheedat worked at Nuveen, focusing on capital raising efforts across Nuveen’s $20bn+ global private equity platform including Churchill, Nuveen Impact private equity and Winslow growth equity.
Prior to Nuveen, she worked at KKR & Co., within their investing and capital markets team across the U.S. and Europe. She started her career at Goldman Sachs, in their investment banking division covering Financial Institutions and Leveraged Finance companies.
Saheedat graduated with honors from the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia with a B.S. in Business Administration, majoring in Banking & Finance. She currently holds her FINRA Series 7, 79 and 66 licenses.
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Sofia Azar
Vice President, Investor Relations
Sofia Azar is a Vice President, Investor Relations at Churchill Asset Management.
Prior to joining Churchill in 2023, Sofia was a Client Relations Manager at Mandatum Asset Management, a Nordic asset management company. Before that, she was a Senior Product Specialist at the Carlyle Group, focused on fundraising and investor relations for Carlyle’s private equity funds and AlpInvest’s private equity solutions strategies. Sofia has over 10 years of experience in the financial services industry.
Sofia received her B.A. in Art History from Davidson College.
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Sherry Chen
Vice President, Head of Digital Marketing
Sherry serves as a Vice President, Head of Digital Marketing at Churchill Asset Management, an affiliate of Nuveen. She joined the firm in 2015 and previously assisted in the creation of The Lead Left newsletter, Churchill Asset Management’s thought leadership publication reviewing deals and trends in the capital markets and uniquely focusing on the middle market space. Prior to joining the firm, she was a marketing manager at Finect, a financial technology startup that connects investors and investment professionals in a compliance platform. Sherry began working in the industry in 2013.
Sherry graduated with a B.A. in Finance from the National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan and an M.B.A. with concentrations in Finance and Marketing Intelligence from the University of Connecticut School of Business.
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Sunny Huang, CFA, CPA
Vice President, Product Development
Sunny joined Churchill Asset Management in 2019 as a Senior Associate focusing on Analytics and Product Development. Previously, she was an Analyst in the Structured Finance Advisory Practice of Ernst & Young LLP, focused on CLO cash flow and portfolio constraint modeling and analyses.
Sunny graduated cum laude from Tulane University, A.B. Freeman School of Business with a B.S.M. in Finance and Economics and a Master of Accounting. She is a CFA Charterholder and a Certified Public Accountant.
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Katie Travers
Vice President, Investor Relations
Katie joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021. She currently serves as Vice President, Investor Relations and is responsible for managing Churchill’s Request for Proposal (RFP) process.
Previously, Katie was an Associate Vice President on the Global Client Relations team at Nuveen and TIAA, supporting the broader private asset classes in the capacity of writing RFPs. Katie has nearly 15 years of experience in the financial services industry, beginning in real estate investment consulting.
Katie received her B.A. in Communications and Masters in Communications Management from John Carroll University.
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Samantha Rapaport
Senior Associate, Product Development & Investor Relations
Samantha joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021 and currently serves as a Senior Associate in the Investor Relations team. Previously, she was a Senior Analyst in the Structured Finance Consulting Services team of Ernst & Young LLP, focused on CLO cash flow modeling and regulatory due diligence.
Samantha graduated magna cum laude from Tulane University with a dual degree from the A.B. Freeman School of Business with a B.S.M. in Finance and Legal Studies in Business and from the School of Science and Engineering with a B.S. in Psychology.
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Matthew Ricotta
Senior Associate, Investor Relations
Matthew joined Churchill Asset Management in 2019 as a Senior Associate on the Investor Relations team with over three years of experience in the financial services industry. Previously, Matthew was an Associate at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where he worked with the private real estate and infrastructure fund businesses to manage relationships with institutional investors globally.
Matthew graduated summa cum laude from the University at Buffalo School of Management with a B.S. in Business Administration, with concentrations in Finance and International Business.
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Michael Mara
Marketing Associate, Digital Designer
Michael joined Churchill Asset Management in 2023 and serves as Marketing Associate, Digital Designer on the Marketing & Communications team. Previously, he was a Communications Designer at Hum Capital, a funding platform that helps high-growth startups raise capital. With over 9 years of multimedia experience, he began his career working in Communications for state and international governments.
Michael received his B.S. in Radio-Television-Film from the University of Texas at Austin and his M.F.A. in Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design.
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Raja Amara
Associate, Investor Relations
Raja joined Churchill Asset Management in 2023 as an Associate on the Investor Relations team with over four years of experience in the financial services industry. Previously, Raja was an Associate on the Investor Relations team at Sun Capital Partners, a global private equity firm.
Raja graduated from Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business with a B.S. in Business Administration, with a concentration in Finance and an Economics minor.
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Tyler Reeves
Associate, Investor Relations
Tyler joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as an Associate on the Investor Relations team. Previously, Tyler worked as a Senior Analyst at StepStone Group, where he focused on fundraising and investor relations for the firm’s venture capital business.
Tyler graduated from Hood College in 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts in Finance. He is a CAIA level two candidate and has held the FINRA Series 7 and 63 licenses.
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Katie Zwetolitz
Associate, Investor Relations
Katie joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as an Associate on the Investor Relations team. Previously, she worked at Bank of America for four years in Leveraged Finance, Special Assets, and Valuations.
Katie graduated from the University of Virginia in 2018 and received a B.S. from the McIntire School of Commerce with concentrations in Finance and Marketing.
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Evan Velleca, CFA
Senior Analyst, Investor Relations
Evan joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021 and currently serves as a Senior Analyst on the Investor Relations team. Previously, he was an Analyst at CrossBay Capital Partners, a private capital placement agent, where he focused on product diligence and supporting the distribution of alternative investment strategies to institutional investors.
Evan graduated summa cum laude from Sacred Heart University in 2019 with a B.S. in Finance and Business Economics. He is a CFA charterholder and a CAIA charterholder.
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Katie Cutrone
Analyst, Investor Relations
Katie joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 as an Investor Relations Analyst. Previously, Katie was a Mergers and Acquisitions Analyst at Rabobank, where she covered the Food and Agriculture sectors.
Katie graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University with a B.S. in Applied Economics and Management and a concentration in Finance from the Charles H. Dyson School.
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Michael Joyce
Analyst, Investor Relations
Michael joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as an Analyst on the Investor Relations team. Previously, Michael was a sales and business development lead at PitchBook Data, where he was responsible for managing East Coast business development initiatives and product sales expansion.
Michael graduated from Villanova University in 2021 with a B.S. in Finance and a minor in Business Law.
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Phil Beissner
Managing Director, Management Company Controller
Philip joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021 and currently serves as Managing Director, Management Company Controller with over fifteen years of accounting and finance experience. Prior to joining Churchill, he was the corporate controller at Eagle Point Credit Management LLC where he was directly involved with the enhancement of its accounting and financial reporting infrastructure. Earlier in his career, Philip also worked at W. P. Carey Inc. as vice president of financial reporting. Philip began his career in public accounting at Marcum LLP where he was responsible for financial statement audits of SEC filing clients.
Philip received both a B.S. and M.S. in Accounting from St. John’s University and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York. He has passed all three levels of the CFA exam.
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Ben Love, CFA
Managing Director, Head of Fund Finance
Ben joined Churchill in February 2022 as a Managing Director, Head of Fund Finance. He is responsible for the development of the Firm’s leverage strategy as well as the sourcing, execution and monitoring of financing arrangements across the platform. Ben focuses on all forms of bilateral and syndicated lending facilities, as well as public and private debt solutions, including collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”).
Previously, Ben worked as a director within Wells Fargo’s investment bank serving as a structured finance specialist. He was responsible for relationship origination and management, as well as leading the structuring and execution of CLO transactions and various types of lending facilities. He began his career in Wells Fargo’s sales and trading division, working as an analyst on a fixed income sales desk.
Ben graduated with a B.B.A from Roanoke College and received an M.B.A from Queens University of Charlotte. He is a CFA charterholder.
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Marissa Short
Managing Director, Funds Controller
Marissa joined Churchill Asset Management in 2018 and currently serves as Managing Director, Funds Controller with thirteen years of financial services experience. Previously, she was a senior manager in the Wealth and Asset Management Practice at Ernst & Young LLP, responsible for the planning, implementation, and completion of financial statement audits for top tier SEC and non-SEC clients.
Marissa received her B.S. in Accounting and Business Administration from Lehigh University and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York.
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Gareth Wall
Principal, Finance
Gareth joined Churchill Asset Management in 2020 and currently serves as a Principal in Finance. Previously, Gareth was a senior manager in the Wealth and Asset Management Practice at Ernst & Young LLP, responsible for planning, coordinating and executing financial statement audits and other business advisory engagement services for public and private clients within the financial services industry.
Gareth received his B.S in Actuarial Science from Heriot-Watt University, is a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and is also a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York.
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Joe Durkin
Vice President, Finance
Joe joined Churchill Asset Management in 2019 and currently serves as a Vice President in Finance and Accounting. Previously, he was a manager in the Wealth and Asset Management Practice at Ernst & Young LLP, responsible for financial statement audits of Hedge Funds, Private Equity Funds, and Business Development Companies. Joe also has experience in testing internal controls over financial reporting, as required by section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for publicly traded companies.
Joe received both a B.S and M.S. in Accounting from Fordham University and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York.
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Sydney Nyajeka
Vice President, Finance
Sydney joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021 and currently serves as Vice President in Finance with eleven years of financial services experience. Previously, he was a senior manager in PwC’s Asset and Wealth Management Practice, responsible for planning and executing financial statement audits of Direct Lending Private Credit Funds, Business Development Companies, Private Equity Funds and Hedge Funds.
Sydney received his B.S in Accounting and Postgraduates in Advanced Accounting and Applied Accounting from the University of South Africa. He is a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe and is a member of the Chartered Accountants Worldwide (CAW) network.
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Gina Raspa
Vice President, Finance
Gina joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as Vice President, Assistant Controller, Finance. Previously, she was the Assistant Controller at Sound Point Capital Management, responsible for the accounting and reporting of the management company. Earlier in her career, Gina worked at VanEck as a Senior Corporate Accountant and began her career in public accounting at Deloitte where she worked on financial statement audits for both SEC and non-SEC clients.
Gina graduated from Quinnipiac University with a B.S. in both Accounting and Finance and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New Jersey.
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Nicholas Tandoi
Vice President, Finance
Nick joined Churchill Asset Management in 2023 and currently serves as a Vice President in Finance and Accounting. Previously, Nick was an Assistant Vice President at Oaktree Capital Management, LP where he was responsible for the fund accounting, reporting, and operations of Emerging Market Debt and Opportunity Funds. Prior to Oaktree, he was a Manager in the Wealth and Asset Management Practice at Ernst & Young LLP, responsible for the planning and execution of financial statement audits of Hedge Funds, Private Equity Funds, and Mutual Funds.
Nick graduated from Fairfield University with a B.S. in Accounting. He also received a Masters in Accounting from Fairfield University. Nick is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York.
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Lily Xuan
Vice President, Finance
Lily joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as Vice President in Finance with thirteen years of financial services experience. Previously, she was a Director in PwC’s Asset and Wealth Management Practice, responsible for planning and executing financial statement audits of Business Development Companies, Direct Lending Private Credit Funds, Private Equity Funds and Hedge Funds.
Lily received her B.S. in Accounting from Baruch College, City University of New York. She is a certified public accountant in the state of New York.
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Lauren Hopson
Senior Associate, Finance
Lauren joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as a Senior Associate in Finance. Previously, Lauren was a Senior Fund Accountant at Warburg Pincus, responsible for the preparation of quarterly and annual financial statements of Private Equity Funds. Before Warburg, Lauren worked at Ernst & Young LLP in the Wealth and Asset Management Practice where she was responsible for the planning and execution of financial statement audits of Private Equity Funds.
Lauren received both a B.S. in Business Administration with a major in Accounting and an M.S. in Accounting from Southern Methodist University. Lauren is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York.
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Jessica Medaglia
Senior Associate, Finance
Jessica joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021 and currently serves as a Senior Associate in Finance and Accounting. Previously, she was a Senior Fund Accountant at Siguler Guff & Company, LP, responsible for the preparation of annual and quarterly financial statements of Private Equity Funds and Credit Funds. Before Siguler Guff, she worked at Ernst & Young, LLP in the Wealth and Asset Management Practice where she was responsible for financial statement audits of Private Equity Funds, and Hedge Funds.
Jessica received a B.B.A in Accounting from James Madison University, an M.B.A in Public Accounting from Iona College and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York.
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Alithea Culmer Perry
Senior Associate, Finance
Alithea joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as a Senior Associate in Finance. Previously, she was a manager in the Wealth and Asset Management Practice at Ernst & Young LLP, responsible for planning and executing financial statement audits of Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds.
Alithea received her B.S. and MBA in Accounting from Caldwell University and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York.
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Susie Speakmaster
Senior Associate, Finance
Susie joined Churchill Asset Management in 2023 and currently serves as a Senior Associate in Finance. Previously, Susie was a Senior Fund Accountant at Schonfeld, responsible for monthly financial reporting and the annual financial statements of Hedge Funds. Before Schonfeld, Susie worked at Ernst & Young LLP in the Wealth and Asset Management practice where she was responsible for the planning and execution of financial statement audits of Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds.
Susie received a B.S. in Business Administration with a major in Accounting from Binghamton University. Susie is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York.
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Brian Walsh
Senior Associate, Finance
Brian joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021 and currently serves as a Senior Associate in Finance. Previously, he was a senior in the Wealth and Asset Management Practice at Ernst & Young LLP, responsible for planning and executing financial statement audits of Hedge Funds, Private Equity Funds, and Business Development Companies.
Brian received his B.S. in Accounting from Fordham University.
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John Wein
Senior Associate, Finance
John joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021 and currently serves as a Senior Associate in Finance and Accounting. Previously, he was a Senior Associate in the Asset Management Practice at Cohn Reznick and KPMG, responsible for planning and executing financial statement audits of Private Equity Funds.
John received both a B.S and M.S. in Accounting from Fairfield University.
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Sarah Welden
Senior Associate, Finance
Sarah joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as a Senior Associate in Finance and Accounting. Previously, Sarah was an analyst at Aquarian Holdings where she was responsible for the general accounting and financial reporting of the management company. Prior to Aquarian, Sarah was an analyst at Arrow Capital Management where she provided operations and accounting support for their funds.
Sarah graduated from DePaul University with a B.A. in Accounting and minor in Economics.
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Ryan Wells
Senior Associate, Finance
Ryan joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021 and currently serves as a Senior Associate in Finance. Previously, he was a manager in the Wealth and Asset Management Practice at Ernst & Young LLP, responsible for financial statement audits of Hedge Funds, Mutual Funds, and Private Equity Funds.
Ryan received his B.S. in Accounting and Finance from the University of Maryland and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York.
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Ryan Wydra
Senior Associate, Fund Finance
Ryan joined Churchill in May 2023 as a Senior Associate within the Fund Finance vertical. He is responsible for assisting with the development of the Firm’s leverage strategy, including the sourcing, execution, and monitoring of financing arrangements across the platform. Ryan focuses on all forms of bilateral and syndicated lending facilities, as well as public and private debt solutions, including collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”).
Previously, Ryan worked as an associate within Wells Fargo’s Structured Products Group, focusing on Asset Backed Lines and CLOs. Ryan graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration with a second major in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Victoria Adinolfi
Associate, Finance
Victoria joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as an Associate in Finance and Accounting. Previously, Victoria was a senior in PwC’s Asset and Wealth Management Practice, where she worked on financial statement audits for clients in the private equity, investment management, real estate, and insurance industries.
Victoria graduated from the University of Miami and received both her B.S and M.S. in Accounting and has passed all four CPA examinations.
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Douglas Halpin
Associate, Finance
Douglas joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as an Associate in Finance. Previously, Douglas was a Senior Associate in the Wealth and Asset Management practice at Ernst & Young LLP, responsible for planning, preparation, and review of financial statement audit and valuation services for the firm’s premier Private Equity clients.
Douglas graduated from Villanova University in 2019 and received a B.B.A. in Finance and Accountancy.
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Carol Qiao
Associate, Finance
Carol joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as an Associate in Finance. Previously, she was a Senior in PwC’s Asset and Wealth Management Practice, responsible for planning and executing financial statement audits of Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds.
Carol received her B.S.B.A. in Accounting and Financial Management from Bucknell University. She is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York.
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Courtney DeBolt
Managing Director, Head of Business Systems & Operations
Courtney joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021 and currently serves as a Managing Director, Head of Business Systems & Operations. She has over 15 years of investment operations experience and was previously a Vice President at Ares Management overseeing the middle office for liquid credit and private equity. Prior to managing the middle office, she also held roles managing the reconciliation team and within the account onboarding team. Before Ares Management, she worked at Bain Capital Credit in their Boston and London offices. During her time at Bain Capital Credit, she held various operational roles in project management, settlements, and loan servicing.
Courtney received her BS in International Business, with a concentration in Finance, from Northeastern University.
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Luke Garriton
Principal, Operations
Luke joined Churchill Asset Management in 2019 and currently serves as a Principal in Operations. Previously, Luke was a Manager at PwC in the Financial Markets Practice. Luke was responsible for cash flow modeling, borrowing base testing, due diligence and collateral testing for CLOs and Direct Lending investment vehicles, as well as valuation of corporate debt, municipal debt and CLOs. He also worked to develop data visualization, analysis, and automation tools for client service and internal processes while at PwC.
Luke graduated from Quinnipiac University with a B.A. in Psychology and received a Masters of Business Administration concentrating in Finance from Monmouth University.
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Kevin McMillin
Principal, Infrastructure & Technology
Kevin joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021 as Head of Investment Analytics & Support and has over ten years of experience in financial markets. He is focused on the firm’s infrastructure and management of data across the platform. Additionally, Kevin oversees the Investment Analytics & Support team, which covers the Senior Lending and Private Equity & Junior Capital businesses.
Previously, Kevin was at Citadel LLC, responsible for tactical and strategic technology and data implementation across the global multi-strategy hedge fund and market making businesses. Prior to Citadel, he was a Manager on the Foreign Exchange business line at CME Group.
Kevin earned his B.S. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an M.B.A. from Loyola University Chicago Quinlan School of Business.
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Chris Schultz
Principal, Operations
Chris joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021 and currently serves as a Principal in Operations. Prior to joining Churchill, Chris was a Director at Bain Capital. While at Bain, he was responsible for managing the trade settlement function across the Credit, Public Equity and Partnership Strategies business units. Chris began his career at State Street where he held various operational roles supporting the asset management, securities lending and custody lines of business.
Chris received his B.A. in History from the College of the Holy Cross and his M.B.A. from Boston College.
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Arjun Chhabra
Vice President, Infrastructure & Technology
Arjun joined Churchill Asset Management in 2019 and currently serves as a Vice President, Business Analytics. He has over four years of experience in executing technology projects to streamline processes and provide operational scalability. Previously, Arjun was a Senior Business Analyst at Indus Valley Partners where he specialized in direct lending and credit investment funds.
Arjun graduated from Cornell University in the Dual Degree Program with a B.S in Operations Research and Information Engineering and a B.A in Economics.
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Michael St. Clair
Vice President, Operations
Mike joined Churchill Asset Management in 2020 and currently serves as a Vice President in Operations supporting the Junior Capital and Private Equity team. Previously, Mike held the position of Sr. Analyst in the Private Market Operations area at Nuveen, he was responsible for investment operations support for Private Debt and Private Equity portfolios.
Mike is joining us from Churchill’s parent company Nuveen, where he has held various positions there such as securities lender, corporate actions, and Valuation.
Mike received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Applied Mathematics from the City College of New York, also is the holder of Series 7 & 63 licenses.
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Steve Dobson
Vice President, Operations, Treasury
Steve joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as Vice President, Treasury Operations. He has over 20 years of industry experience and was previously at Anchorage Capital Group within Treasury Operations, responsible for managing the firms Liquidity, Cash and Collateral management.
Prior to this he worked at Goldentree Asset Management and Deutsche Bank, where he managed various operations and middle office teams within Treasury, Foreign Exchange, and Project Management.
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Marina Elkinyuk
Vice President, Operations
Marina joined Churchill Asset Management in 2020 and currently serves as a Vice President in Operations. Previously, Marina was a Senior Associate at Guggenheim Partners, where she was responsible for trade settlement of broadly syndicated, primary, secondary, distressed, European, and direct lending deals, as well as reporting, cash monitoring, and corporate actions. Prior to that, Marina served as a Senior Associate at Lord Abbett and as a Senior Operations Analyst at Deutsche Bank.
Marina graduated from Western Governors University with a B.S. in Business Management.
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Michelle Idrees
Vice President, Operations
Michelle joined Churchill Asset Management in 2020 and currently serves as a Vice President in Operations. Previously, Michelle was a Manager at Prospect Capital, where she was responsible for credit facility management, as well as forecasting and managing treasury, liquidity, and debt. Michelle has also served as a Senior Associate at Grant Thornton, where she was focused on financial statement audits of hedge funds and fund of funds.
Michelle received her B.S. in Business Administration from Stony Brook University and her Masters in Accountancy from Baruch College.
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Zachary Zetlin
Vice President, Operations
Zachary joined Churchill Asset Management in 2022 and currently serves as Vice President of Operations. Prior to joining Churchill, Zachary worked at Alvarez and Marsal in the Restructuring group. Zachary was responsible for developing Thirteen-Week Cash Flow, Three Statement and Recovery models, as well as performing other ad-hoc analysis for companies.
Zachary received his B.A. in Economics from Amherst College and his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law.
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Andy Gilvey
Senior Associate, Operations
Andy joined Churchill in 2021 and currently serves as a Senior Associate in Operations. Previously, Andy was a Loan Operations Work Director at MUFG Union Bank where he was responsible for servicing Syndicated/Commercial loans as well as cash account monitoring and reconciliation. Prior to that, he worked as a Portfolio Administrator with U.S. Bank in their Corporate Trust division serving as trustee for collateral managers.
Andy received his B.A in Interdisciplinary Studies with minors in Business Administration and Economics from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
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Patricia Harris
Senior Associate, Fund Surveillance and Portfolio Compliance
Patricia joined Churchill Asset Management in 2023 and currently serves as Senior Associate, Fund Surveillance and Portfolio Compliance. Previously, Patricia was an Assistant Vice President at Anchorage Capital Group, where she was responsible for their CLO portfolio compliance, reporting, and platform management. Patricia also served as an Analyst at EY, where she focused on auditing CLOs for collateral managers.
Patricia graduated cum laude from Louisiana State University with a B.S. in Finance and a minor in Political Science. She also received her Master of Business Administration, specializing in Finance, from Louisiana State University.
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Joseph Piperato
Senior Associate, Operations
Joe joined Churchill Asset Management in January 2023 as a Senior Associate in Operations supporting the Junior Capital and Private Equity Team. Previously, Joe was a Senior Accountant at TIAA where he spent nearly two decades in the Investment Accounting Operations group. Joe began his career at JPMorgan.
Joe received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Saint Peter’s University.
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Brian Thompson
Senior Associate, Operations
Brian joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021 and currently serves as a Senior Associate in Operations. Previously, Brian worked at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. In this capacity, his team served as Trustee for 20 structured finance deals and he was responsible for monitoring portfolio compliance for all vehicles, signing off on quarterly waterfall calculations and payments, and overseeing daily cash movement and account reconciliation.
Brian graduated from Colgate University with a B.A. in Economics and a minor in Political Science
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Jackson Wexler
Senior Associate, Infrastructure & Technology
Jackson Wexler joined Churchill Asset Management in 2021 as an Associate on the Investment Analytics and Support team and has over two years of experience in the financial services industry. He is focused on the development of the firm’s infrastructure with the goal of streamlining and automating reporting processes across the business.
Previously, Jackson was a Technology Associate at Morgan Stanley, where he served as a Business and Data Analyst in the Global Banking Technology division. Within this role, Jackson leveraged data to automate reporting and develop analytical tools.
Jackson graduated cum laude from the University of Florida’s Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.
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