Michael West President Moody's Ratings

Mr. West has served as President of Moody’s Ratings since November 2019. Mike served as Managing Director—Head of MIS Ratings and Research from June 2016 to October 2019. Previously, Mike served as Managing Director—Head of Global Structured Finance from February 2014 to May 2016 and Managing Director—Head of Global Corporate Finance from January 2010 to January 2014. Earlier in his career, Mike was also responsible for the research strategy for the ratings businesses and before that led Corporate Finance for the EMEA Region, European Corporates and the EMEA leveraged finance business. Prior to joining Moody’s in 1998, Mike worked at Bank of America and HSBC in various credit roles.

Ana Arsov Managing Director, Global Head of Private Credit & Global Financial Institutions Co-Head Moody’s Ratings

Ana Arsov is a Global Managing Director, co-heading of the banking rating franchise for Moody’s Investor Service which includes rating coverage for banks, securities firms, specialty finance and market infrastructure.

Ana joined Moody’s in 2013 with an extensive experience in analyzing financial institutions and managing credit professionals. Prior to joining Moody’s, Ana’s most recent role was at UBS, where she spent the last several years as Executive Director in Credit Risk, responsible for financial institutions including North American banks, broker dealers, exchanges and clearinghouses. Prior to UBS, she was Head of Global Portfolio Management-Credit Risk Management at Morgan Stanley, focusing on comprehensive coverage, identification and analysis of risks across the firm’s trading and lending businesses as well as leading key risk management initiatives for Morgan Stanley Bank N.A.

Ana began her career in Credit Risk Management at Lehman Brothers in various credit risk roles, ultimately heading up the North American Financial Institutions and Structured Finance team, and subsequently worked on Lehman’s bankruptcy resolution.

Ana holds a master’s degree in Management (with a specialization in Financial Services and Banking) from Boston University, and a bachelor’s degree in Business from Pace University, New York. Ana also holds certificate on board governance from Harvard Business School.

Mark Wasden Senior Vice President, North America Finance Companies Moody's Ratings

Mark Wasden is a Senior Vice President in the Financial Institutions Group. Based in New York, Mark oversees the ratings of a portfolio of US commercial finance companies, including commercial aircraft leasing companies, business development companies (BDCs), non bank commercial real estate lenders, and equipment leasing companies.

Prior to joining Moody’s in 2004, Mark was a director in Bank One’s large corporate banking division in Chicago, where he covered finance companies as a senior underwriter. During his 15-year career in commercial banking, Mark held positions in relationship management, credit management, and professional development.

Mark holds a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Michigan anda Bachelor of Science in Economics from Brigham Young University

Colbert Cannon Managing Director HPS Investment Partners

Mr. Cannon is a Managing Director at HPS Investment Partners. Prior to joining HPS in 2017, Mr. Cannon was a Partner and Director of Research at Wingspan Investment Management, a distressed credit investment firm launched in 2013. Prior to Wingspan, Mr. Cannon was a Managing Director at Glenview Capital, where he led the Credit Investment effort from 2009 to 2012.  Prior to joining Glenview, Mr. Cannon was a Principal at Audax Group, a Boston-based Private Equity firm.  Mr. Cannon began his career in Mergers and Acquisitions Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs.  Mr. Cannon holds an AB in Social Studies from Harvard College.

Christina Padgett Associate Managing Director, Corporate Finance Moody's Ratings

Christina Padgett is an Associate Managing Director in Moody’s Corporate Finance Group and leads the Leveraged Finance Research and Analytics team and Private Credit research. She spearheads in-depth, cross-team research on credit trends in the leveraged finance market and private equity. Christina also remains very focused on facilitating global private credit research. She brings an established multi-cycle expertise in credit markets to her research role, which is regularly informed by meetings with investors, regulators, alternative asset managers, bankers, media and others. In addition, as rating chair for speculative grade rating committees, she participates in key credit discussions spanning a broad range of industries within Moody’s rated universe.

Before joining Moody’s, Christina was a vice president at JPMorgan Chase in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group. Prior to her investment banking role, Christina completed the bank’s Credit Training program and worked in Europe Corporate Finance and Credit Audit. She received a Master in International Political Economy from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs and a B.A. in History from William Smith College.

Evan Friedman Senior Vice President – Head of Covenant Research, Corporate Finance Group Moody's Ratings

Evan M. Friedman is a Senior Vice President – Head of Covenant Research in Moody’s Ratings Corporate Finance Group. Evan specializes in covenant analysis and research, with particular focus on leveraged loans and high yield bonds.

Prior to joining Moody’s in September 2013, Evan was of counsel in the banking and finance practice group at Otterbourg P.C. and was previously an associate in the banking and finance practice group at Bryan Cave LLP and Emmet, Marvin & Martin, LLP. His practice focused primarily on representing agents and lenders in asset-based lending and other commercial transactions.

Evan holds a BA summa cum laude from S.U.N.Y. Stony Brook and a JD from New York University School of Law.

Jian (Jay) Hu Managing Director, Structured Finance Moody's Ratings

Jian Hu is currently Managing Director and Head of New Ratings and Surveillance for Americas Corporate Structured Finance, which includes collateralized loan and bond obligations backed by corporate bank loans (CLOs), corporate bonds, middle market/private credit, and project finance/infrastructure loans, asset-backed securities (ABS) backed by commercial and novel assets such as equipment, aircraft, small business, wireless tower/digital infrastructure, utility cost recovery, rental vehicles, and music royalty/intellectual property, asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP), Latin America structured finance and other structured credit products at Moody’s Investors Service. He also oversees structured finance research, is a member of Moody’s Decentralized Finance and Digital Assets leadership team, and a Director on the Board of China Chengxin Credit Rating Group (CCXI), China’s leading credit rating company and a Moody’s joint venture. From September 2008 to September 2016, Jian was Global Head of Structured Credit Surveillance. Between August 2007 and August 2008, he was a Senior Vice President responsible for structured credit research at Moody’s. From 2002 to 2007, he was Director of Global Structured Finance Default Research within Moody’s Credit Policy Group, leading a research team that analyzed structured finance securities’ credit performance and published the findings regularly as Moody’s Special Comments as well as articles in the Journal of Fixed Income. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2002, Jian was a senior financial economist in the credit finance department of Fannie Mae in Washington, DC, where he was lead researcher on mortgage portfolio credit risk analytics. Jian previously also conducted academic research on the relationship between job market conditions and capital markets, and the research results were published in the Journal of Finance. Jian holds a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management in Minneapolis, and a Bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management in Beijing.

Kevin McLeod Head of Fund Development and Senior Managing Director Cerberus Business Finance

Mr. McLeod joined Cerberus in 2006.  Mr. McLeod is involved in a senior role in the strategic planning and operations of Cerberus Business Finance, including, among other activities, the development and management of investor relationships and the formation, structuring, marketing and reporting of the investing funds and fund-level leverage facilities.  Prior to his current role, Mr. McLeod had various responsibilities at Cerberus Business Finance, including loan origination, underwriting, portfolio monitoring, and capital markets activities.  Prior to joining Cerberus, Mr. McLeod managed the leveraged finance origination and execution activities at CIBC World Markets from 1998 to 2006, where he originated, structured and executed transactions involving high yield debt securities, leveraged loans, privately placed mezzanine securities and merchant banking investments. From 1996 to 1998, Mr. McLeod was a member of the Investment Banking division of PaineWebber Group Inc. From 1986 to 1994, he worked as a mechanical and aerospace engineer for various organizations including the Pratt & Whitney Division of United Technologies Corp. Mr. McLeod is a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and received an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Tom Yanagi Managing Director, Global Head of Debt Capital Markets DigitalBridge

Tom Yanagi is Managing Director, Global Head of Debt Capital Markets at DigitalBridge Investment Management. Mr. Yanagi is an experienced investment professional with over 25 years of principal investing and asset management experience. Mr. Yanagi leads the Capital Markets activities for DigitalBridge and has raised over $60 billion of financings supporting DigitalBridge’s acquisition activities and portfolio company capital needs.

Prior to joining DigitalBridge, Mr. Yanagi was the Head of the Communications Infrastructure Team in New York for Macquarie Infrastructure Partners (“MIP”). During his 13 years with MIP, Mr. Yanagi led a number of investments in sectors including telecommunications, energy and transportation.  Most notably, he was responsible for MIP’s investment in Global Tower Partners (GTP) and was involved with the oversight and management of that investment through to the sale to American Tower in October of 2013.  In addition to leading transactions, Mr. Yanagi maintained an asset management role and served on the Board of Directors for a number of MIP portfolio companies, including GTP. Prior to MIP, Mr. Yanagi worked in private equity at Nomura Securities and Madison Investment Partners.

Mr. Yanagi received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Rutgers College and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Tracy Rice VP – Senior Credit Officer, US Corporate ABS New Ratings Moody's Ratings

Tracy Rice is a VP – Senior Credit Officer, US Corporate ABS New Ratings in Moody's Ratings. Tracy joined Moody’s in 2005, and is currently part of a team that assigns new ratings to securities backed by esoteric assets. She is a committee chairperson and covers a variety of asset classes including solar, PACE, aircraft, container, whole business, utility cost recovery and more. She has written numerous reports covering these sectors. Tracy continues to be actively involved in methodology development and many analytical projects. Previously, Tracy covered various other ABS sectors, including student loans and equipment leases and loans. She also authored Moody’s approaches to rating private (non-guaranteed) student loan securitizations. Prior to Moody’s, Tracy occupied positions at Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase in risk and decision management. Tracy holds a M.S. in Statistics and a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook

Ana Arsov Managing Director, Global Head of Private Credit & Global Financial Institutions Co-Head Moody’s Ratings

Ana Arsov is a Global Managing Director, co-heading of the banking rating franchise for Moody’s Investor Service which includes rating coverage for banks, securities firms, specialty finance and market infrastructure.

Ana joined Moody’s in 2013 with an extensive experience in analyzing financial institutions and managing credit professionals. Prior to joining Moody’s, Ana’s most recent role was at UBS, where she spent the last several years as Executive Director in Credit Risk, responsible for financial institutions including North American banks, broker dealers, exchanges and clearinghouses. Prior to UBS, she was Head of Global Portfolio Management-Credit Risk Management at Morgan Stanley, focusing on comprehensive coverage, identification and analysis of risks across the firm’s trading and lending businesses as well as leading key risk management initiatives for Morgan Stanley Bank N.A.

Ana began her career in Credit Risk Management at Lehman Brothers in various credit risk roles, ultimately heading up the North American Financial Institutions and Structured Finance team, and subsequently worked on Lehman’s bankruptcy resolution.

Ana holds a master’s degree in Management (with a specialization in Financial Services and Banking) from Boston University, and a bachelor’s degree in Business from Pace University, New York. Ana also holds certificate on board governance from Harvard Business School.

Gilles Dellaert Global Head of Blackstone Credit and Insurance Blackstone

Gilles Dellaert is the Global Head of Blackstone Credit and Insurance (BXCI) based in New York.

Prior to joining Blackstone in April 2020, Mr. Dellaert served as Co-President and Chief Investment Officer of Global Atlantic Financial Group. He previously worked at Goldman Sachs in its Reinsurance Group which became Global Atlantic upon its separation in 2013. Prior to that he was with Goldman Sachs in its Credit Trading business and with JP Morgan.

Mr. Dellaert holds a bachelor’s degree from Ghent University in Belgium

Rory Callagy Associate Managing Director, Financial Institutions Moody's Ratings

Rory is currently responsible for Moody’s Funds & Asset Management ratings practice in the Americas. This includes ratings on over 60 asset managers and 400 investment funds across 5 countries. He joined Moody’s Global Managed Investments Group in1998, working on analysis of investment funds. Rory regularly speaks at industry conferences on trends and developments in the asset management sector. He holds a BA in Government from Georgetown University

Craig Sabal Senior Managing Director, Deputy Chief Investment Officer and Head of Fixed Income Investors New York Life

Craig Sabal is a Senior Managing Director and Deputy Chief Investment Officer of New York Life and Head of Fixed Income Investors. He is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Office of the Chief Investment Officer, which oversees asset allocation and portfolio management for the General Account investment portfolio. He also oversees all public fixed-income portfolio management, trading, and research functions.

Prior to joining New York Life, Craig was the Deputy Chief Investment Officer at AIG responsible for strategic asset allocation and tactical investment decisions for the Life & Retirement and Property & Casualty operating businesses. Craig has more than 20 years of financial consulting leadership experience in strategic portfolio and risk management transactions across fixed income and equity markets to insurance companies. He served as Managing Director – Head of Insurance and Credit Solutions Group for Goldman Sachs, and previously held senior financial and consulting positions for several investment bank and accounting firms.

Craig earned his B.S. degree in accounting from Rutgers University.

Matt Gallino Head of Corporate Ratings Advisory, Redding Ridge & Managing Director, Apollo

Mr. Gallino serves as Head of Corporate Ratings Advisory at Redding Ridge and concurrently serves as a Managing Director in Apollo's Financial Institutions Group. Prior to joining Redding Ridge and Apollo in 2023, Mr. Gallino spent 17 years at J.P. Morgan where he was a Managing Director and Head of Ratings Advisory, focused on Corporate Ratings of non-bank financials, technology, telecom, and real estate/gaming. Prior to that, he was an analyst at Fitch Ratings. He has completed several hundred first time ratings and hundreds of rating offense/defense exercises including over 75 RES/RAS processes during his career. Mr. Gallino graduated from Columbia University where he received his B.S. in Economics and Political Science.

Stephen Smith, CFA, FSA Managing Director Neuberger Berman

Stephen Smith, CFA,FSA, Managing Director, joined Neuberger Berman in 2016. Steve is the Global Head of Insurance Analytics, responsible for strategic and quantitative analysis for insurance clients, especially strategic asset allocation, capital management, and asset-liability management. Steve also chairs the American Academy of Actuaries C-1 Subcommittee, which provides public policy analysis, covering insurance capital charges for life insurers' investments. Previously, Steve held positions in Insurance Strategy at Goldman Sachs and in Asset- Liability Management, Annuity Modeling, and Corporate Tax at MassMutual. Steve earned his BS in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of South Carolina.

Scott Robinson, CFA Associate Managing Director, Financial Institutions Moody's Ratings

Mr. Robinson is an Associate Managing Director in the Life Insurance Group at Moody’s Ratings. He is responsible for managing analysts who cover a broad array of life and health insurance companies. Prior to joining Moody’s in 1999, Mr. Robinson worked in the Investment Policy and Strategy Group of the Trust Company of the West. Previously he had been with AXA Financial. Mr. Robinson holds a degree in economics from Duke University and a Masters Degree in Actuarial Science from Georgia State University. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a CFA charterholder.

Ana Arsov Managing Director, Global Head of Private Credit & Global Financial Institutions Co-Head Moody’s Ratings

Ana Arsov is a Global Managing Director, co-heading of the banking rating franchise for Moody’s Investor Service which includes rating coverage for banks, securities firms, specialty finance and market infrastructure.

Ana joined Moody’s in 2013 with an extensive experience in analyzing financial institutions and managing credit professionals. Prior to joining Moody’s, Ana’s most recent role was at UBS, where she spent the last several years as Executive Director in Credit Risk, responsible for financial institutions including North American banks, broker dealers, exchanges and clearinghouses. Prior to UBS, she was Head of Global Portfolio Management-Credit Risk Management at Morgan Stanley, focusing on comprehensive coverage, identification and analysis of risks across the firm’s trading and lending businesses as well as leading key risk management initiatives for Morgan Stanley Bank N.A.

Ana began her career in Credit Risk Management at Lehman Brothers in various credit risk roles, ultimately heading up the North American Financial Institutions and Structured Finance team, and subsequently worked on Lehman’s bankruptcy resolution.

Ana holds a master’s degree in Management (with a specialization in Financial Services and Banking) from Boston University, and a bachelor’s degree in Business from Pace University, New York. Ana also holds certificate on board governance from Harvard Business School.