What’s Next for Private Credit After the Pandemic

Michael Arougheti

Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and President

Ares Management Corporation

Mr. Arougheti is Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and President, as well as a Director of Ares Management Corporation. He serves on the Ares Executive Management Committee. He additionally serves as Co-Chairman of ARCC and as a director of ACRE. Mr. Arougheti also is a member of the Ares Credit Group's U.S. Direct Lending Investment Committee. Prior to joining Ares in 2004, Mr. Arougheti was employed by Royal Bank of Canada from 2001 to 2004, where he was a Managing Partner of the Principal Finance Group of RBC Capital Partners and a member of the firm's Mezzanine Investment Committee. Mr. Arougheti oversaw an investment team that originated, managed and monitored a diverse portfolio of middle-market leveraged loans, senior and junior subordinated debt, preferred equity and common stock and warrants on behalf of RBC and other third-party institutional investors. Mr. Arougheti joined Royal Bank of Canada in October 2001 from Indosuez Capital, where he was a Principal and an Investment Committee member, responsible for originating, structuring and executing leveraged transactions across a broad range of products and asset classes. Prior to joining Indosuez in 1994, Mr. Arougheti worked at Kidder, Peabody & Co., where he was a member of the firm's Mergers and Acquisitions Group. Mr. Arougheti serves on the Board of Directors of Operation HOPE, a not-for-profit organization focused on expanding economic opportunity in underserved communities through education and empowerment. He is additionally a member of the PATH Organization Leadership Council. Mr. Arougheti received a B.A. in Ethics, Politics and Economics, cum laude, from Yale University.

Susan Kasser, CFA

Co-Head of Private Credit and Managing Director

Neuberger Berman

Susan Kasser, CFA is a Managing Director of Neuberger Berman and Co-Head of the Private Credit business for Neuberger Berman Private Equity. She is a member of the Private Debt and Credit Opportunities Investment Committees. Prior to joining Neuberger Berman, she was a founding member of Carlyle Mezzanine Partners, the corporate mezzanine business of The Carlyle Group. At Carlyle, Ms. Kasser originated, executed and realized privately negotiated junior debt and equity securities of middle market and large cap leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations and growth financings across multiple industries. Ms. Kasser has been a member of the board of directors of several private companies. Prior to joining Carlyle, Ms. Kasser worked at Goldman Sachs in several roles, including investment banker in the Leveraged Finance group, fund investor and direct co-investor in the Private Equity Group and as a financial analyst in Global Investment Research. Ms. Kasser received an MA in International Economics and Finance and a BA in Philosophy from Brandeis University, where she graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She holds the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst.

Jérôme Marquis

Managing Director and Head of Corporate Credit

CDPQ

Jérôme Marquis is responsible for all corporate credit activities at CDPQ. With offices in Montréal, New York and London, the team he leads is responsible for targeting investment opportunities in public and private debt from issuers with an investment-grade risk profile and offering high returns. Mr. Marquis sits on the investment committees of the Credit, Infrastructure and Private Equity portfolios. He joined CDPQ in 1999 and has over 15 years of experience in corporate finance. He previously held the position of Managing Director, Global Specialty Finance. Between 2003 and 2007, he worked for the Government of Québec in various roles. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from Université de Montréal, a Master’s from University of Oxford and a Master’s of Business Administration from HEC Montréal. He is a member of the Québec Bar and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Cecile Mayer-Levi

Head of Private Debt

Tikehau

Cécile Mayer-Lévi joined Tikehau Capital in 2013 as Head of Private Debt activity. Previously, she worked at Ardian (previously AXA Private Equity) where she notably broadened the investment scope to include unitranche debt, with a strong focus on forming partnerships. She began her career in 1988 at Merrill Lynch (Corporate Finance and M&A) in Paris and New York. In 1991, she joined Elig, a pioneer private equity fund in France. In 2001, she moved towards mezzanine debt investments, being appointed CIO at Omnes (formerly CAPE - Mezzanis).

Kelsey Butler

Private Credit Reporter

Bloomberg LP

Kelsey Butler is a private credit reporter at Bloomberg News in New York. Previously, she covered leveraged finance at S&P Global Market Intelligence and corporate restructuring at The Deal, where her reporting contributed to an award from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW). Her work has also appeared in Women's Wear Daily, NBC News, Women’s Health, Men’s Health and Brides. She’s a member of the board of directors of The Casey Feldman Memorial Foundation, a Pennsylvania non-profit that promotes safe driving, and has a degree in Communication and Media Studies from Fordham University in New York.

Lisa Lee

Global Credit Reporter

Bloomberg LP

Lisa Lee is a Global Credit Reporter at Bloomberg News. Lee joined Bloomberg in 2016 and has deep experience in credit markets. Prior to Bloomberg, she was a senior correspondent for Reuters LPC, covering some of the most complex debt stories in the leveraged loan market. She was also a columnist at Reuters Breaking views and for Dow Jones where she opined on M&A, private equity and financial institutions. Prior to entering journalism, she was a leveraged finance banker at GE Capital and an M&A associate doing cross-border transactions in Korea. She has also spent time working as a research aide for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on international trade policy. She has a MBA degree from Columbia Business School and BA from Yale University.