Wharton Restructuring and Distressed Investing Conference 2015

Phil Barkhorn

Phil is a student in the Wharton MBA Class of 2015 majoring in Finance and Strategic Management. Prior to Wharton, Phil spent two years as an Associate at the Gores Group in LA focused on making private equity investments in businesses experiencing financial or operational distress. Prior to Gores, Phil was an investment banking analyst at Citigroup and Sagent Advisors where he advised industrial companies on M&A, restructuring, debt and equity issuances and general corporate finance. Phil graduated from the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis with majors in Finance and Accounting and Honors in Management. This past summer, Phil interned at Mount Kellett Capital Management where he focused on distressed and special situation investment opportunities, primarily in retail and metals & mining.

William Evarts

William is a 2015 candidate in the 3-year JD/MBA program at Penn Law and Wharton. During the summer of 2014, he interned at The Blackstone Group in the Restructuring & Reorganization practice. Prior to returning to school, William was an analyst and an associate in Morgan Stanley’s Public Finance group, where he covered the State of California and other large West Coast issuers. He graduated from Harvard College in 2007 with a degree in History and Literature.

Matthew Pietroforte

Matt is a 2015 MBA student at The Wharton School. During the summer of 2014, he interned at Davidson Kempner Capital Management in the Distressed Credit group. Prior to Wharton, Matt was an associate in the financial restructuring group at Centerview Partners, a boutique investment bank and an analyst at Miller Buckfire, a boutique investment bank focused on financial restructuring. Matt graduated with a B.A. in Economics and a B.A. in Psychology from Amherst College.

Paul Sipio

Paul is a second-year MBA student at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania majoring in Finance and Accounting. Prior to Wharton, Paul received his JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he focused on Corporate Law and Intellectual Property Law. During law school, Paul was a Summer Associate at Kirkland & Ellis in New York and a Judicial Intern at the U.S. District Court for the District of NJ. Previously, Paul graduated from Northeastern University, where he received his BS in Music while taking Master of Music courses in Composition and Jazz Studies at the New England Conservatory of Music. This past summer, Paul was a Summer Associate at Goldman Sachs in New York and will be returning to the firm's Technology, Media, and Telecommunications group in the Investment Banking Division after graduating from Wharton.

Jenepher Schulte

Case Study

Jenny is a second year student in the 3-year JD/MBA program at Wharton and Penn Law. Prior to Penn, she was an analyst for Unifund SA, where she focused on direct and fund investments, and PEX Global, Inc., focusing on the secondary market for fund investments. Jenny graduated from University of Washington, where she received a B.A. degree in Finance and International Business.

Scott Schultz

Case Study

Scott is a 2016 MBA candidate at The Wharton School. Prior to Wharton, Scott spent three years as an Associate at Rhône Capital in New York and London, focusing on private equity investments across a variety of industries in Europe and North America. Before Rhône, Scott worked for two years as an investment banking analyst in J.P. Morgan’s Financial Sponsor Group, advising private equity firms and their portfolio companies on M&A, leveraged financings, and equity issuances. Scott graduated with highest honors and the Bronze Tablet designation from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he received B.S. degrees in Finance and Accountancy.

Zachary Dauber

Distressed Hedge Fund

Zach is a first year MBA student at The Wharton School majoring in Finance and Management. Prior to Wharton, Zach spent three years as a Private Equity Associate at First Reserve. Prior to First Reserve, Zach served as an Investment Banking Analyst in the Global Energy Group at Credit Suisse. Zach graduated with distinction from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, where he received a B.B.A. degree with concentrations in Finance and Accounting.

Imran Halani

Distressed Hedge Fund

Imran is a 2016 MBA candidate at the Wharton School pursuing majors in Strategic Management and Finance. Prior to Wharton Imran worked at Napier Park Global Capital, a multi-strategy hedge fund in New York City, where he focused on finding attractive investments in the public equity markets. Prior to this, he worked as an investment banking analyst at Citigroup. Imran graduated from Emory University in 2007 with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from the Goizueta Business School.

Trey Milburn

Distressed Hedge Fund

Trey is a student in the Wharton MBA Class of 2016 majoring in Finance. Prior to Wharton, Trey spent two years as an Associate at the Gores Group in LA focused on making private equity investments in businesses experiencing financial or operational distress. Prior to Gores, Trey was an investment banking analyst at UBS in LA where he worked across the financial sponsor, leveraged finance and TMT groups advising companies and PE firms on M&A, restructuring, and debt and equity issuances. Trey graduated from the Marshall Business School and the Leventhal School of Accounting at the University of Southern California with majors in Finance and Accounting.

Vrej Tajirian

Distressed Private Equity

Vrej Tajirian is a first year MBA student at The Wharton School pursuing majors in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management. Prior to Wharton, Vrej was a partner at Kazazian Asset Management, a cross capital structure fund in New York City, where he researched and traded equity and fixed income securities as a generalist. Vrej graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and is a CFA charterholder.

Will Im

Distressed Private Equity

Will is an MBA candidate in the Class of 2016 at the Wharton School. Prior to Wharton, Will was a distressed debt & special situations hedge fund analyst at Strategic Value Partners. Before SVP, he worked at Apax Partners as a private equity associate, focusing on the Retail & Consumer sector across the Americas, specializing in Fashion & Apparel and Food & Beverage-related investments. Prior to Apax, Will was an investment banking analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the Financial Sponsors Group, advising private equity clients with capital raising, M&A, and restructuring engagements. Will graduated with honors from the Stern School of Business at New York University, with a B.S. in Finance and Accounting. His team recently placed as a finalist at the 11th Annual ABI Corporate Restructuring Case Competition.

Ben Cirlin

Financial Restructuring

Ben is a student in the Wharton MBA Class of 2016 majoring in Finance and Real Estate. Prior to Wharton, Ben spent one year working in acquisitions and strategic asset management at Kushner Companies, a real estate developer and operator in New York. Prior to that, Ben spent four years as a Delta One Trader at Credit Suisse in New York where he co-managed the US index swap book. Ben graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a major in Economics.

Stephane Essama

Financial Restructuring

Stephane is a second year student in the 3-year JD/MBA program at The Wharton School and Penn Law. Prior to returning to school, Stephane was a trader at the DRW Trading group responsible for market making and portfolio management in an array of fixed income derivatives. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in Aerospace Engineering.

Christopher Dahan

Legal Restructuring

Chris spent four years prior to Wharton as an attorney in the New York office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in their Mergers & Acquisitions group, where he advised clients in a variety of public and private company transactions. During that time, he also served on secondment as in-house counsel to Moelis & Company, a boutique investment bank with private equity and asset management affiliates. Chris received his B.A. from the University of Virginia with concentrations in Government and Middle East Studies, and has a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Alex Burdulia

Legal Restructuring

Alex is a second-year law student at the University of Pennsylvania Law School where he focuses on Bankruptcy and Corporate Law. This past summer, he was a Judicial Intern for The Honorable Judge Kevin J. Carey at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. He will spend next summer as a Summer Associate at Kirkland & Ellis in New York. Prior to Penn Law, Alex worked as a Paralegal at a boutique labor and employment law firm in New Jersey. He graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Rutgers University.

Evan Levine

Operational Restructuring

Evan is a JD/MBA student at the University of Pennsylvania. While at Penn, he has interned as a summer associate at Skadden, Arps and as a judicial clerk for Judge Allan L. Gropper of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Prior to returning to school, he was an investment banking analyst at BMO Capital Markets. He graduated with highest distinction from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

William Harvey

Operational Restructuring

Will is a student in the Wharton MBA Class of 2016 majoring in Finance and Public Policy. Prior to Wharton, Will spent two years as an Associate at Denham Capital Management in Houston focused on private equity investing in the Oil and Gas industry. Prior to Denham, Will was an investment banking analyst at Greenhill & Co. also in Houston, where he advised Oil and Gas companies on mergers and acquisitions. Will obtained a B.B.A. in Finance from the McCombs Business School at The University of Texas at Austin where he was also a member of the Texas Longhorn football team.

Akilah Crichlow

Operations

Akilah is a first-year student in the 3-year JD/MBA program at The Wharton School and Penn Law. Prior to graduate school, Akilah was an analyst in Credit Suisse’s Private Fund Group, where she focused on private equity fundraising and secondary transactions. Prior to Credit Suisse, Akilah was a Teach For America corps member, teaching middle school mathematics, at Uncommon Schools. She earned an A.B. in Economics from Harvard College and an M.S. in Education from Hunter College.

Stephen Iacovo

Operations

Stephen is a second year JD/MBA student at Penn Law & Wharton. Before entering the JD/MBA program, he was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army for four years, including a deployment to Afghanistan and an assignment in Central America. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2009 with a B.B.A. in Finance and completed Notre Dame's Army ROTC Program. Stephen will be a Summer Associate in the Restructuring Group at the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis in 2015.

Michael Thorsen

Operations

Michael is a student in the Wharton MBA Class of 2016. Prior to Wharton Michael spent two years as an Associate at AEW Capital Management, a Boston-based real estate investment advisory firm with $52.8 billion of real estate assets and securities under management. Michael worked in the Los Angeles office focusing on managing real estate equity and debt investments across the risk/return spectrum. Michael started his career at Ravenswood Bank in Chicago, underwriting commercial loans and managing a portfolio of distressed commercial mortgages. Michael received his Master of Science degree in Real Estate from Columbia University and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Northwestern University.

Warner Sallman

Marketing

Warner is a first year JD/MBA student at Penn Law and Wharton. Before entering the JD/MBA program, Warner worked for 3 years as a legal analyst for Kobre & Kim LLP in the Washington, D.C. and Hong Kong offices. He specialized in research related to complex mortgage backed securities litigation, corporate internal investigations, and international arbitration. Warner graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in International Relations.

Andrew Lee

Marketing

Profile coming soon.

Varun Maithel

Media Management

Varun Maithel is a first-year MBA student at Wharton. Prior to Wharton, Varun worked as an Associate covering financial institutions and technology at Accordion Partners, MatlinPatterson Asset Management, and Cyrus Capital Partners. He began his career as an Analyst in the investment banking division of Lehman Brothers. Varun graduated cum laude with a B.S. in Computer Science from Columbia University.