NextGen Network

Next Gen’s mission is to establish a forum for the exclusive benefit of junior, working professionals in the fund finance industry ranging from entry level positions to Vice Presidents and Senior Associates. This collective of bankers, private market professionals, lawyers and others related to the fund finance industry, will gather to share market insights and benefit from educational, networking, and mentorship opportunities in an engaging atmosphere. Next Gen, established in 2018, will continue to host events in London and New York City. Events will include educational seminars, networking socials, and industry panels, which will be collectively aimed at achieving Next Gen’s goal of developing the junior professionals to be future leaders of the industry.

Podcast: Career Conversations

Find out more!

2024 NextGen Member of the Year Award Recipient

Annabella Kwei - Stifel Bank

nnabella Kwei, Vice President at Stifel Bank, has been selected as this years Fund Finance Association’s NextGen member of the year! Annabella is an emerging leader and mentor who is deeply dedicated to the fund finance industry. She is actively involved in the Fund Finance Association as part of the US leadership team for our NextGen group and contributes significantly to WFF initiatives and events. Renowned for her collaborative spirit and caring nature, Annabella is responsive to both clients and colleagues. She was elected to ACG New York Women's and Forward Committees, furthering her commitment to empowerment and growth within the industry. Additionally, Annabella is a member of Gaingels, embodying her dedication to diversity and inclusion. With her trajectory and commitment, Annabella's career is one to watch as she continues to make strides in the industry. Congratulations Annabella!

US Committee

Shen Mei Bolton

Managing Associate

Sidley Austin LLP

Shen Mei Bolton

Managing Associate | Sidley Austin LLP

Shen Mei Bolton is a managing associate in the Global Finance practice in the firm's New York office.

Prior to joining Sidley, Shen Mei was a banking and finance associate at a global law firm's Singapore and Melbourne offices. While there, she focused her practice on cross-border fund financing, corporate finance, structured share backed facilitates, and syndicated financing with a focus on real estate finance.

Shen Mei has also spent time on secondment at a Japanese international bank and an Australian international bank.

*Not yet admitted to practice in New York.

Casey, Sara (AB Private Credit Investors)

Sara Casey

Director

AB Private Credit Investors

Sara Casey

Director | AB Private Credit Investors

Sara Casey is a Director with AB Private Credit Investors, where she is one of the initial senior team members involved in the development of the NAV Lending strategy. Her responsibilities include deal sourcing, structuring, underwriting and execution, and portfolio management. Prior to joining AB in 2023, Casey was a Principal at Hark Capital, where she sourced and executed NAV loans. Prior to Hark Capital, she was an Associate at Wells Fargo Securities. Casey is a member of the Fund Finance Association’s NextGen Committee and was the Fund Finance Association’s 2023 NextGen Member of the Year. She holds a BS in finance from Providence College.

Annabella Kwei

Vice President

Stifel Bank

Annabella Kwei

Vice President | Stifel Bank

Annabella Kwei heads up North East originations at Stifel Bank’s Venture and Fund Banking Group. Annabella provides private equity and venture capital firms with various financing solutions, such as subscription lines, management company lending and GP capital commitment finance. She also provides venture debt to portfolio companies.

Annabella has over six years of experience in fund finance and is a member of Fund Finance Association’s Women in Fund Finance Committee, Next Gen Committee and Marketing Committee. She holds an accelerated B.A.-M.A. degree from Barnard College and Columbia University.

Ashlea McLelland

Senior Manager

TPG

Jordan Severro

Fund Finance Analyst

EverBank

EMEA Committee

Gül Akad

Supervising Associate

Simmons and Simmons

Greg Andrews

Associate Director

ANZ

Buckett, Joel (Deutsche Bank Wealth Management)

Joel Buckett

Vice President

Deutsche Bank

Emily Fuller

Partner

Haynes Boone

Emily Fuller

Partner | Haynes Boone

Emily Fuller is a counsel in the Finance Practice Group in the London office of Haynes and Boone. Emily acts on a full range of finance transactions, with a particular focus on fund finance, including syndicated and bilateral leveraged/NAV facilities, SMA deals, hybrid facilities, GP support lines and capital call facilities. Emily has experience in the formation of closed-ended and open-ended offshore fund structures and prior to joining Haynes and Boone undertook a secondment at a real estate fund. Emily’s practice focuses on acting for bank and non-bank lenders and a variety of sponsors (including corporate and non- corporate private equity funds, hedge funds, infrastructure funds, real estate funds, secondary funds, credit funds and sovereign wealth funds). Emily also holds the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment’s Certificate in Islamic Finance and the Chartered Banker Institute’s Certificate in Green and Sustainable Finance.

Emily is a ranked lawyer in Chambers UK, Chambers and Partners, 2022 in Banking & Finance: Fund Finance - London (Firms) in the ‘Associates to Watch’ category. They note “Emily Fuller is an impressive associate who advises on matters across the fund finance space. She typically acts for financial institutions including banks and private equity firms.” Also that "Emily Fuller is just extremely helpful, in the weeds of the deals and extremely technically able." "She is incredibly knowledgeable, very engaged, and the advice is very sensible and fully explained."

Emily was named as a ‘Rising Star’ in the 2020 Fund Finance Association’s Rising Star Awards.

Billal Malik

Director

Citibank

Billal Malik

Director | Citibank

Billal is a Director within Citi's Subscription Credit Finance team based in London, covering private equity fund clients across Europe. Billal has been with Citi for 11 years, and always had roles focussed on private equity clients. Billal established the Fund Finance Association's Next Generation network, which currently has chapters in the US, Europe and Asia. He was awarded the Fund Finance Next Generation Member of year in 2020 for his efforts in promoting mentorship, network, career enhancement and charity opportunities for future fund finance leaders. Billal holds a first class honours degree from Imperial College London and is a Chartered Alternative Investment Association professional. Billal takes a keen interest in sports, particularly football (soccer).

Ross Wilding

Senior Associate

Walkers

Ross Wilding

Senior Associate | Walkers

Ross Wilding is a Senior Associate based in Walkers' London office. He joined Walkers in 2022 and is a member of the firm's Global Finance and Corporate Groups. He has worked in offshore law (predominantly advising on Cayman Islands law matters) since 2017, having previously been with another leading offshore law firm.

Ross advises on a wide range of finance and corporate matters, providing Cayman Islands law, Bermuda law and BVI law advice. Ross has significant experience in all aspects of fund finance (subscription lines, NAV facilities and GP facilities), working on a variety of both lender-side and sponsor-side transactions. Other areas of expertise include acquisition/leverage finance, real estate finance, general corporate lending, Islamic finance and structured finance.

Ross regularly acts for leading international banks, other financial institutions and private equity sponsors.

Pierre-Henry Quantin

Corinthia Global Management Limited

Pierre-Henry Quantin

Corinthia Global Management Limited

Pierre is a Fund Finance Professional with 7 years of experience in arranging, structuring, negotiating and executing Fund Finance transactions.

These transactions include Subscription Credit Facilities, NAV Backed Facilities, Asset Backed Facilities (Private Credit/ABS/Infra) and Equity Bridge loans.

In addition, he contributes to managing the execution of ancillary business such as FX hedging, (ISDA/CSA negotiation for Fund level long-term net equity hedging and share class hedging programs) and cash management for vehicles that benefit from fund financing products.

Finally, as a member of the capital markets team, Pierre ensures that a “balance of trade” remains at the centre of his interactions with the service providers he works with.

Ed Cotter

Senior Associate

NLC

Phuong Dang

Analyst

Ares Management

Matthew Fildes

Vice President

Raiffeisen Bank Intl.

Iuliia Popova

Business Development Associate

Glas Agency

APAC Committee

Natalie Carter

Co-Chair APAC

Walkers

Natalie Carter

Senior Associate | Walkers

Natalie Carter is a senior associate in the Finance and Corporate Group at Walkers Singapore. Natalie has a general debt finance background with particular experience in secured and unsecured commercial lending and funds financing. She regularly acts for financial institutions, private equity sponsors, investors and corporates, and advises in relation to the laws of the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands and Bermuda. Natalie has experience working on fund financing matters in Asia for regional and global lender and sponsor clients, and has been involved in some of the largest and most innovative fund financing transactions in the region.

Natalie joined the Walkers Hong Kong office in 2017 and relocated to the Singapore office in 2022. Prior to joining Walkers Natalie trained and worked at SJ Berwin / King and Wood Mallesons in their London and Hong Kong offices.

Adrian Chiang

Co-Chair APAC

A&O Shearman

Adrian Chiang

Senior Associate | A&O Shearman

Adrian is a senior associate in the Debt Finance Group at Allen Overy Shearman Sterling’s Hong Kong office. Adrian advises on a wide range of financing and banking matters with a particular focus in financing for funds on all levels, ranging from GP lines, capital call lines and NAV financing at the fund level to leverage financing and asset financing at the portfolio level. Adrian’s regularly represents banks and non-bank financial institutions and sponsors (both corporate and non-corporate including funds in the venture capital, credit funds, private equity, real estate and infrastructure space) in all manners of structured financings across Asia.

Prior to joining A&O Shearman’s Hong Kong office, Adrian was trained at another magic circle firm in London before moving to the firm’s Hong Kong office as an associate and moving to work as an associate and later a senior associate at the Hong Kong offices of two US firms, during which his practice focussed on leverage financing, structured lending and fund financing. Adrian is admitted to practise as a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales.

*Not yet admitted to practise in Hong Kong.

Victoria Eriksson

Co-Chair APAC

Ashurst

Somdatta Basu

Director, Fund Finance APAC, Financial Institutions

ING

Somdatta Basu

Director, Fund Finance APAC, Financial Institutions | ING

Somdatta is a Director within ING’s APAC Fund Finance team with teams located in NYC, London, Luxembourg and Singapore. The team is part of the ING’s Financial Institutions Group and is responsible for the origination, execution and portfolio management of subscription facilities to funds managed by Financial Sponsors and Alternative Asset Managers across the APAC region.

Somdatta has been with ING for over six years and was previously part of ING’s TMT & Healthcare sector team, offering leveraged buyout, acquisition finance, project finance and corporate lending solutions. Prior to joining ING, Somdatta worked with Siemens Financial Services in their Corporate Lending team across India, US and Singapore. She has fifteen years of experience across Fund Finance, Corporate Lending, Leveraged and Structured Finance covering mid-sized corporate clients and sponsors across Asia and Australia.

Karen Chow

First Vice President, Private Equity

East West Bank

Pui Yee Lai

Lawyer, Banking and Finance

Mourant

Pui Yee Lai

Lawyer, Banking and Finance | Mourant

Pui Yee is a banking and finance lawyer who advises on a broad spectrum of cross-border transactions, particularly in the areas of fund finance, acquisition finance, real estate finance and general corporate lending. She regularly advises financial institutions on a range of fund finance transactions and her experience includes advising on BVI, Cayman Islands and Guernsey law.

Pui Yee has been recognised in the Legal 500 and IFLR publications for her work in the areas of banking, investment funds and capital markets.

Prior to joining Mourant in both their Hong Kong and Guernsey offices, Pui Yee worked at Clifford Chance in Singapore and DLA Piper in the UK.

Emily Tsoi

Associate

Jones Day

Emily Tsoi

Associate | Jones Day

Emily is an Associate in the Financial Markets Group at Jones Day’s Sydney office. She advises on a broad range of debt transactions, with a particular focus on cross-border and multi-jurisdictional leveraged finance and funds finance where she acts for a range of financial institutions, private credit funds, private equity sponsors and corporates. In the funds finance space, she has extensive experience advising on subscription lines and NAV facilities for a range of private capital funds.

She has recently been recognised as a "Senior Associate of the Year" finalist in the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Awards 2023, and is a current member of the FFA NextGen Committee in APAC.

Prior to joining Jones Day, she has worked at Clifford Chance (in their Sydney and Hong Kong offices) and Baker McKenzie (in their Sydney office)

Shutian Xu

Manager, Financial Institutions Department

Bank of China

NextGen Network

Want to join a committee?

Shen Mei Bolton

Managing Associate

Sara Casey

Director

Annabella Kwei

Vice President

Ashlea McLelland

Senior Manager

Jordan Severro

Fund Finance Analyst

Gül Akad

Supervising Associate

Greg Andrews

Associate Director

Joel Buckett

Vice President

Emily Fuller

Partner

Billal Malik

Director

Ross Wilding

Senior Associate

Pierre-Henry Quantin

Ed Cotter

Senior Associate

Phuong Dang

Analyst

Matthew Fildes

Vice President

Iuliia Popova

Business Development Associate

Natalie Carter

Co-Chair APAC

Adrian Chiang

Co-Chair APAC

Victoria Eriksson

Co-Chair APAC

Somdatta Basu

Director, Fund Finance APAC, Financial Institutions

Karen Chow

First Vice President, Private Equity

Pui Yee Lai

Lawyer, Banking and Finance

Emily Tsoi

Associate

Shutian Xu

Manager, Financial Institutions Department