Panels

Moderator:

Chad J. Husnick
Partner, Kirkland & Ellis

Chad Husnick is a partner in Kirkland & Ellis’ Restructuring Practice Group. He represents debtors, creditors, equity holders, and other stakeholders in all aspects of corporate restructuring, bankruptcy, and insolvency proceedings. He has represented clients in a variety of industries, including energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, transportation, hospitality and gaming, real estate, retail, automotive, and printing.

Chad has extensive experience with assisting corporate clients with understanding, addressing, and, where necessary, litigating the complex issues associated with restructuring real estate investments, including real estate investment trusts, commercial mortgage-backed securities, and related mezzanine financing and “legacy liabilities,” including labor costs, pension liabilities, and retiree medical liabilities. Chad also advises clients regarding the myriad corporate governance issues facing financially distressed companies, including fiduciary duties and executive compensation.

Most recently, Chad was recognized in the 2017 edition of Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, with interviewees noting that he is “one of the next generation of big hitters in the business.” He also earned recognition in the 2017 edition of Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and Chicago Lawyer’s “40 Attorneys Under Forty,” with interviewees describing him as “hard-working, smart, diligent and committed to achieving the best results for his clients.” Chad was named a “Dealmaker of the Year – 2016” by The American Lawyer for his role in the $40+ billion restructuring of Energy Future Holdings Corporation and “Outstanding Young Restructuring Lawyer  ̶  2017” by Turnarounds and Workouts. Chad is a Contributing Author for Collier on Bankruptcy—the leading treatise on bankruptcy law.

Panelists:

Ian Fredericks
Senior Vice President–Strategic Growth/Client Development and Chief Legal Officer, Hilco Merchant Resources

Ian joined Hilco in 2011 after a successful career as a distressed Mergers and Acquisitions and Corporate Restructuring attorney.  Over the course of his career, Ian has negotiated and closed transactions involving tens of billions of dollars of assets.

Since joining Hilco, Ian has focused on the overall growth of the organization, having been responsible for, among other things, the acquisitions of Deal Genius – an online retail business (www.dealgenius.com) – and Fixture Finders (now known as Hilco Fixture Finders) -- the nation’s largest and most respected used retail fixture company.  Additionally, Ian has spearheaded several operational and administrative projects to further Hilco’s commitment to provide best-in-class services to our clients and maximize the value of their retail assets.

Over the course of his career, Ian has provided retail disposition and advisory services throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand.  Some of the most notable clients include Circuit City, Target, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Saks Fifth Avenue, The Sports Authority, Radio Shack, The Limited, Syms and Filene’s Basement, Zellers, Hudson Bay Company, Dick Smith, Super Retail Group, and Woolworths.  Additionally, Ian was one of the principal architects of the transaction to save Aeropostale.  

Prior to joining Hilco, Ian was a member of the Corporate Restructuring group of Skadden, Arps, Slate Meagher & Flom, LLP and, before that, Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP.

Gerald Madigan
Managing Director of Global Credit Trading, JP Morgan

Mr. Madigan is a portfolio manager and senior analyst responsible for distressed and special situation investments in JPMorgan’s Global Credit Trading Group. He has been involved in a wide range of distressed situations and corporate restructurings for over two decades, including RH Macy, USG, WRGrace, Refco, Delta Airlines, Lehman Brothers and Eastman Kodak, among others. Mr. Madigan most recently served on the Ad-Hoc Committee of AMR Corporation Creditors, a group which helped lead the restructuring and the eventual exit/merger with US Airways. Prior to joining JPMorgan in 1999, Mr. Madigan held various positions in the fixed income businesses of Morgens Waterfall Vintiadis (investment advisory), Oppenheimer & Company, and Kidder Peabody & Co. He began his restructuring career at Ernst and Young in 1990. Mr. Madigan serves on the corporate boards of AMF Bowlmor and Bally’s Total Fitness, and is a former board member of Minster Insurance Company Ltd. and CML Innovative Technologies. He also serves on the Board of God’s Love We Deliver, a NYC-based not-for-profit. Mr. Madigan received his MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University, and a BS in Economics from Marquette University. He is a non-practicing CPA.

Kent Percy
Managing Director, AlixPartners

Kent Percy has more than 20 years of experience developing comprehensive solutions in corporate restructurings and financial organizations. He specializes in working with companies to improve their earnings and working capital through restructuring and operational changes. His experience includes serving in senior financial and strategic positions, providing crisis management, developing strategic business plans, implementing restructuring transactions, preparation of public financial statements, determining productivity and cost improvement opportunities and advising on cash management. His recent clients have included Toys “R” Us, Shopko, Caesars Entertainment, Eastman Kodak, AOL, and Nebraska Book Company. He specializes in the retail, media, entertainment, and manufacturing industries.

Moderator:

Michael Feder
Managing Director, AlixPartners

Michael Feder is a Managing Director at AlixPartner. Michael leads underperforming companies through significant changes. His more than 35 years of experience as a C-level executive and change manager provide him with the judgment and decision-making capabilities that troubled companies need so they can become able to identify business problems and take corrective actions to solve them. His communication skills and financial acumen have been tested in many difficult situations. Michael works collaboratively with owners, boards of directors, and management teams as an advisor or interim manager by delivering improved operating performance and stability to client companies in transition.

Panelists:

Zul Jamal
Managing Director, Moelis & Company

Zul Jamal is a Managing Director at Moelis & Company. Mr. Jamal has extensive investment banking experience and focuses on in-court and out-of-court recapitalizations and restructurings for companies, creditors and acquirers across a wide range of industries. Prior to joining Moelis & Company in 2008, Mr. Jamal was a Senior Vice President at Jefferies & Company where he advised clients on a wide variety of restructuring transactions including Chapter 11 bankruptcies, exchange offers, consent solicitations, lender negotiations and distressed financings. Mr. Jamal also worked at Jefferies International in London where he was responsible for international financial sponsor, restructuring and leveraged finance activities. Mr. Jamal graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

David Muller
Portfolio Manager, Ashmore

David Muller, Portfolio Manager, joined Ashmore in April 2012. Prior to joining Ashmore, he was Director of Business Development at The Rohatyn Group, marketing emerging market alternative products to, and supporting institutional clients in, North America. His prior experience includes Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Fisher Francis Trees & Watts, Alecta Investment Management and JP Morgan Investment Management. David received a BA in International Relations from Brown University, a Masters of European Law from the Europa Institut/Universitaet des Saarlandes in Saarbruecken, Germany, and an MBA from the Booth Graduate School of Business. He is licensed as a Series 7 and Series 63 Registered Representative.

Kyle Owusu
Senior Distressed Debt Analyst, Reorg Research

Kyle Owusu covers LatAm, EMEA, and U.S. distressed and high-yield credits for Reorg Research. Prior to joining Reorg Research, Kyle was a research analyst at Loeb King Capital Management, where he focused on merger arbitrage, long/short, high yield and special situations. He has a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School and an A.B. in economics from Dartmouth College.

Moderator:

Jude Gorman
General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer, Reorg Research

As General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer, Jude is responsible for all legal, compliance and administrative matters at Reorg Research. Prior to joining Reorg Research, Jude was an associate in the restructuring, insolvency and workouts group of Latham & Watkins, where he represented debtors, unsecured creditors committees, secured lenders and ad hoc groups in a variety of bankruptcy and restructuring matters. He has a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.S.B.A. in marketing from Georgetown University.

Panelists:

Mark Fischer
Director of Credit Research, Reorg Research

As Director of Credit Research, Mark oversees a team of analysts and helps develop new ideas across Reorg Research products. Prior to joining Reorg Research, Mark was head of research at Pericles Capital Advisors, a special situations and distressed securities firm, and prior to that he was a senior analyst at Ahab Capital. Mark has 12-plus years of experience investing in distressed securities and has served on a number of ad hoc committees in different bankruptcy cases. He has an M.B.A. from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and a B.S. in business administration from Cornell University

Sarah Gefter
Co-Managing Editor of U.S. Credit, Reorg Research

As Co-Managing Editor of U.S. Credit, Sarah manages a team of analysts and reporters and directs coverage for all U.S. products. Prior to joining Reorg Research, Sarah was an analyst in the restructuring and finance and leveraged finance groups at Lehman Brothers-turned-Barclays, where she worked on advisory mandates as well as DIP, exit, rescue and high-yield financing deals. She has a B.A. in history of art and architecture from Harvard University.

Moderator:

Kevin Carmody
Senior Partner & Head of Corporate Restructuring, McKinsey & Co.

Kevin is the global leader of our Corporate Restructuring work within McKinsey’s RTS Practice. He specializes in corporate restructurings and operational turnarounds, specifically involving clients that are experiencing various forms of distress. Throughout his career, Kevin has led a number of complex operational turnarounds and financial restructurings in a number of industries. He has over 15 years of interim management, crisis management, and advisory experience and has testified as an expert witness in federal and state courts. He regularly advises senior management teams, boards of directors, senior lenders, and private equity funds on restructuring and crisis management situations.

He has been appointed as a C-level executive on several occasions, including in the roles of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO), in addition to serving clients as an advisor.

Kevin began his career at Chrysler Corporation and is a member of the Turnaround Management Association, American Bankruptcy Institute, and Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors.

Panelists:

Anjan Asthana
Senior Partner & Leader of EPNG for the Americas, McKinsey & Co.

Anjan is a senior partner in McKinsey’s Chicago office. He has 19 years of experience with the firm, serving in our Pittsburgh and Chicago locations. Over the years, he has helped large electric and gas utilities—and other players in the North American energy industry—drive superior returns to shareholders by shaping their corporate and regulatory strategies and by leading large-scale operational and organizational performance transformations.

Anjan leads and convenes gatherings of senior energy executives to focus on current topics of industry interest. He recently co-led a McKinsey effort to identify best operating practices in power-transmission and distribution companies worldwide.

Among his recent projects, Anjan has helped major US utilities improve operating performance and decrease costs by using change programs and continuous-improvement programs that are tailored for utilities. The programs cut across coal, nuclear power, transmission, and distribution. In addition, Anjan is helping top teams and boards understand—and create strategic responses to—the transformative effect of “disruptive trends” shaping the industry (e.g., shale gas and solar disintermediation). He has also counseled executives on how to build the capability of their teams and drive organizational and culture change that will be required to win in the coming years.

Before joining McKinsey, Anjan worked as a product engineer at General Motors, where he patented an innovative emissions-control product.

Anjan is active in the civic community in Chicago and serves on the board of the Goodman Theatre.

Paul Caruso
Corporate Counsel, Allstate Investments

 

 

 
Scott Leonard
EVP and Head of Finance, GenOn Energy

Moderator:

Michael Belsky
Executive Director of the Center for Municipal Finance, U of C Harris School of Public Policy

Michael D. Belsky is the Executive Director of the Center for Municipal Finance at The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. Mr. Belsky is also the Managing Director for Fixed Income at Greenwich Investment Management, a firm specializing in High Yield Municipal Bonds. Prior to joining the firm he worked in the municipal finance industry for over 30 years. Mr. Belsky spent most of his career as Group Managing Director of the Public Finance Group at Fitch Ratings. Mr. Belsky also served two terms as a member of the City Council in Highland Park, Illinois (1995–2003), and two terms as mayor (2003–11). From 2008 to 2011 Mr. Belsky was a member of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, a national body that sets accounting and financial reporting standards for state and local governments. Mr. Belsky received a BA in urban studies from Lake Forest College and an MA in public policy from the University of Chicago.

Panelists:

Marc Kieselstein
Partner, Kirkland & Ellis

Marc Kieselstein is a Partner at Kirkland & Ellis. Marc has extensive experience in complex corporate restructurings, representing debtors and creditors in all aspects of the insolvency practice, including Chapter 11 reorganizations, out-of-court workouts, sales of financially distressed companies, distressed debt transactions and Section 363 asset sales and purchases. Marc has been featured in Chambers USA, America’s Leadings Lawyers for Business every year since 2004. Most recently, in the 2017 edition, Marc was praised for his "incredibly strong mind" and "authoritative approach.” Prior editions of Chambers USA have described him as "star player," "an extraordinarily seasoned bankruptcy lawyer," and a "magnificent, excellent lawyer." Marc has also been recognized by Chambers Global every year since 2013. He was listed as a leading lawyer in Insolvency and Restructuring in the 2006–2009 editions of the International Financial Law Review 1000: Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms. Prior to relocating to Chicago in 2013, Marc was listed in the 2011 and 2012 editions of New York Super Lawyers.

Brian Kinney
Special Counsel of the Financial Restructuring Group, Milbank

Brian Kinney is special counsel in Milbank’s Financial Restructuring Group, resident in New York. He regularly represents statutory and ad hoc committees, creditors, debtors and other parties in chapter 11 cases, international insolvencies, and out-of-court restructurings. Mr. Kinney also has extensive experience negotiating debtor-in-possession financing and adequate protection arrangements, structuring reorganization plans, and representing acquirors and sellers of assets of and claims against debtors and other distressed companies.

John Miller
Co-Head of Fixed Income, Nuveen Asset Management

John Miller serves in a strategic role as the co-head of fixed income for Nuveen Asset Management, responsible for the investment process and performance of the firm’s municipal fixed income group, one of the largest and most experienced municipal bond managers in the investment industry.

John is a trusted public voice in discussing key issues and trends within the municipal market. He is a frequent guest on CNBC, Bloomberg Television and Fox Business News. His perspective is often sought out by leading industry media such as The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Bloomberg News and Morningstar. He has also served as a panelist on Barron’s Municipal Bond Roundtable.

John’s background features over 20 years of experience in the municipal marketplace. Before being named the co-head of fixed income in 2011, he was chief investment officer for the firm’s municipal bond team starting in 2007.

John earned a B.A. in economics and political science from Duke University, an M.A. in economics from Northwestern University and an M.B.A. in finance with honors from the University of Chicago.

Moderator:

Luigi Zingales
Professor, Chicago Booth

Luigi Zingales is the McCormack Distinguished Service Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. In 2014 he was President of the American Finance Association. In July 2015 he became the Director of the Stigler Center at the University of Chicago. His research interests span from corporate governance to financial development, from political economy to the economic effects of culture. He has published extensively in the major economics and financial journals. He also wrote two best-selling books: Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists (2003) with Raghu Rajan and A Capitalism for the People (2012).

Panelists:

Ryan Foss
Co-Head of Capital Markets, Laurel Road

Ryan Foss is the co-head of capital markets at Laurel Road where he’s responsible for managing the company’s mortgage and student loan pipelines, securitization platform, and relationships with the firm’s top institutional investors. Ryan has ten years of experience in securitized products trading/sales and previously worked at JPMorgan, Credit Suisse and RBS.

 

Rosemary Kelley
Senior Managing Director, Kroll Bond Rating Agency

Rosemary Kelley is a Senior Managing Director and co-head of ABS at Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Inc. Kelley has been at KBRA since 2011 and focuses primarily on consumer ABS including auto loan, auto lease, dealer floorplan, credit card, consumer loan, student loan, and timeshare sectors. Prior to joining KBRA, Kelley was a Senior Vice President at DBRS, Inc. focusing on consumer ABS. Before DBRS, she spent ten years at MBIA Insurance Corporation, most recently as a Director in the structured finance department. She had previously managed MBIA's portfolio management unit responsible for monitoring and workouts in consumer ABS. Rosemary has a BA from Manhattanville College and an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.

Benjamin Ragonese
Research Analyst, Hartford Investment Management Company (HIMCO)

Ben Ragonese is a structured products research analyst at the Hartford Investment Management Company (HIMCO). Since joining HIMCO in 2013, he has covered a wide range of products within the ABS and RMBS sectors including consumer ABS backed by both secured and unsecured collateral, commercial ABS, and non-agency residential mortgages. Ben previously worked at ING, is a CFA® charterholder, and has a BS in Finance from Lehigh University.

Tom Welch
Partner, Victory Park Capital

Tom Welch is a Partner at Victory Park Capital, having joined the firm in 2009. He is primarily responsible for sourcing, analyzing, executing and management of direct private debt and equity investments in middle market companies within the specialty finance and financial technology sectors. Mr. Welch also actively works on value creation initiatives and strategic alternatives for VPC’s investments. Previously, Mr. Welch served as a credit underwriter in the Cash-Flow Lending Group for CapitalSource, concentrating his investment efforts in the industrials, consumer products and business services industries. He also worked in the Global Multi-Industries Investment Banking Group at Merrill Lynch, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, leveraged finance and growth capital transactions. Mr. Welch received a B.S. in finance with honors from the University of Illinois.