DEE DEE SKLAR
CO-CHAIR
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Dee Dee Sklar is a Board and Advisor Candidate. As a senior banking executive with global experience in banking and alternatives, she has managed global businesses providing financing and other solutions to private equity firms, portfolio companies, and asset managers across three international banks. Dee Dee retired from her role as Vice Chair, Subscription Finance at Wells Fargo. She is the current Global Co-Chair of Women In Fund Finance and is a part of the Fund Finance Association’s business development initiatives. She is a member of the Cerberus Operating and Advisory Company Competitiveness Council , 17Capital’s Strategic Advisory Board and Tealbook’s AI Supply Chain Technology’s Business Advisory Board.
MARY TOUCHSTONE
Co-CHaIR
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Mary is a Partner and Head of the Fund Finance Practice at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Mary has helped to establish Simpson Thacher in the representation of financial sponsors in fund financings. She is widely acknowledged as a leading lawyer in the subscription credit facility market and represents many of the world’s preeminent sponsors of private equity, real estate, energy, infrastructure, debt and other investment funds on the largest and most complex fund facilities. Mary is Vice Chairman of the Fund Finance Association.
fazillah durante
Americas COMMITTEE
Co-Head
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Fazillah is a Managing Director in Scotiabank’s U.S. Financial Sponsors & Fund Finance group. She has over 20 years of Financial Markets expertise in the U.S., Canada and Bahamas, with specializations in both Capital Markets and Corporate & IB. She has held progressively senior roles in Short-Term Fixed Income Trading & Origination, ABCP Securitization, Structured Credit & CDO Management, Hedge Fund Allocation and TRS. She is currently a Senior Relationship Manager providing Fund Level and Portfolio Company financing, investment and hedging solutions to some of the largest U.S. Private Equity, Infrastructure and Private Credit Sponsors. Fazillah is a CFA charter-holder, and completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree (majoring in Finance & Economics) from the University of British Columbia in 2003. Fazillah was a founding member and Co-Chair of the Scotiabank Women’s Advocacy Group (“SWAG”) between 2015-2020 and is still actively involved as a Steering Committee Member. She is also an active member of the Scotiabank Women’s Initiative (“SWI”) Education Pillar, and Co-Chair of the U.S. Women in Fund Finance Committee.
ann knox
americas COMMITTEE
Co-head
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Ann is a Partner in the Finance practice at Mayer Brown. She has over 20 years of experience financing private funds, sponsors and portfolio companies at every level of the capital stack and every phase of their existence. Ann represents major domestic and foreign banks on subscription credit facilities, net asset value facilities, and other fund financings - regularly acting on the largest and most complex facilities to the world’s preeminent sponsors.
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holly loftis
americas COMMITTEE
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Holly Loftis is a partner in the Finance Practice Group at Haynes and Boone. Holly has over 13 years of experience representing lenders on the structuring, negotiation and documentation of complex and cross-border subscription credit facilities and other fund finance adjacent secured and unsecured lending arrangements, including management fee lines, GP lines, hybrid facilities, employee co-invest loans and SBIC loans. In Holly’s representation of such lenders, she has advised on some of the largest subscription facilities to hit the market dating back to 2008 and has worked across from some of the largest PE sponsors in the world. Holly has an LL.M. in Financial Services Transactions from Boston University School of Law and a J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law, where Holly served as the Executive Editor of Law Review.
kate downey
europe COMMITTEE
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Kate is a Corporate Partner resident in Fried Frank's London office, and head of the firm's European Private Equity Funds Practice. Kate advises fund sponsors and financial institutions across a broad range of asset classes, and counsels fund managers on carried interest, co-investment and other incentive arrangements, including leveraged co-investment arrangements. She also has considerable experience advising on a broad range of other international private equity transactions.
fantine jeannon
europe COMMITTEE
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Fantine Jeannon is responsible for the investment operations across ICG’s Private Debt, Real Assets and Structure and Private Equity products, and manages all elements of the deal execution process. She is based in ICG’s London office. In addition, with the significant growth of Fund Finance in ICG, Fantine’s role has evolved to include permanent membership of the team that source, structure, negotiate and settle all debt deals for ICG Funds.
emma russell
europe COMMITTEE
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Emma Russell is a Partner and Head of the Finance Practice Group in the London office of Haynes and Boone. Emma is an experienced loan finance lawyer with extensive knowledge in global fund finance, real estate finance transactions, and structured and specialty finance, as well as more general experience in acquisition, leverage, and general corporate finance. Her practice focuses on the full range of fund lending products across all fund sectors.
Fi Dinh
asia COMMITTEE
co-head
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Fi is MUFG's Head of Fund Finance for the APAC Region. Prior to this, Fi was a Director of Investment Industry Finance and Insurance Sector Finance Asia-Pacific at ING, based in Singapore. Before ING, Fi spent nearly a decade at Barclays in London and Dubai, where she was Director, Financial Institutions Group and helped build a successful Private Equity coverage franchise supporting financial sponsors and alternative asset managers in EMEA and the US.
Niamh targett
asia COMMITTEE
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Niamh Targett is a Director at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) based in Hong Kong, where she heads the Institutional Funds Coverage team for Asia. Niamh and her team cover private capital firms providing subscription facilities and real estate financing, hedging support and cash management solutions, as well as acting as the primary co-ordination point for such funds ‘engagement with structured and leverage finance teams across the bank. Niamh has over 20 years of banking experience, having worked in London and Hong Kong, covering financial institutions, with a particular focus in the Funds segments across markets and financing products. Niamh holds a Bachelor’s degree in commerce, and has her CFA Level 2.