Key Biographies
Brett T. Graham - Managing Partner
Kem H. Blacker – Partner
Beth Ferraro – Partner
Chris Porcelli - Partner
Brett Graham - Managing Partner
Mr. Graham serves as a member of Vertical Capital Management's Investment Committee. He is a member of Vertical Capital, LLC's Board of Directors, is a co-founder of the firm and has managed the investment activities of Vertical Capital, LLC since inception. He was formerly a Senior Managing Director of Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc where he worked beginning in 1987. Most recently at Bear Stearns in London, he managed the firm's International Debt Capital Markets Department (Europe & Asia) from 1993 to 2001, and was co-head of the Global Debt Capital Markets (“DCM”) business. The Global DCM Group maintained broad responsibility for the origination and execution of all public and private debt financing, including structured transactions. This broad responsibility included committing the firm's capital for such financings. While in London Mr. Graham was also a member of Bear Stearns' European Management Committee. From 1990 to 1993, Mr. Graham initiated and directed Bear Stearns' European ABS/MBS business, and led the firm's efforts for the first ever French ABS transaction in 1991. Prior to this management position, Mr. Graham was in Bear Stearns' mortgage research department working on mortgage prepayment analysis and security valuations, including for RTC transactions. Mr. Graham worked at Morgan Stanley in New York from 1985 to 1987. He holds a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley.
Kem H. Blacker - Partner
Mr. Blacker serves as a senior portfolio manager focused in the ABS, RMBS and CDO market sectors. He has been with Vertical Capital, LLC since inception. Prior to Vertical Capital, Mr. Blacker was formerly a founding partner of CGA Group and Managing Director for CGA Investment Management ("CGAIM"), a firm that specialized in securitized asset investing (ABS, CDOs, CMBS). As a member of CGAIM's investment committee and as a Managing Director of CGAIM's portfolio management group, he participated in the firm's investment decisions and was also responsible for funding and hedging the firm's $3 billion investment portfolio of securitized assets. Prior to joining CGA in 1996, Mr. Blacker was at Financial Guaranty Insurance Company ("FGIC") since its inception in 1984. He served in a variety of functions at FGIC, most recently as Senior Product Manager in the Capital Markets Group, where he invested in securitized assets and organized AAA-rated, off-balance sheet investment vehicles. Mr. Blacker established FGIC's London office in 1990 and served as Director of Marketing & New Products in Europe for three years where he implemented several proprietary offshore investment vehicles. Before moving to London, Mr. Blacker was Director of FGIC's MBS business in NY and established the firm as a leader in the subprime mortgage market. He is a graduate of the University of California at Davis.
Beth A. Ferraro - Partner
Ms. Ferraro is a senior portfolio manager focused on the ABS and RMBS market sectors. She joined Vertical Capital, LLC in 2004 from Alliance Capital Management, LP ("Alliance"), where she was a senior portfolio manager and Vice President from 1997 to 2004 in the Structured Asset Strategies Fixed Income Group. Ms. Ferraro was responsible for investment managing investments comprised of senior and mezzanine ABS, MBS and CMBS in an aggregate amount of approximately $6 billion among several strategies. These strategies included a hedge fund, CDO, conduit, insurance, institutional, mutual fund and high net worth portfolios. Prior to Alliance, Ms. Ferraro was a Vice President and portfolio manager for Amalgamated Bank of New York, and was responsible for managing total return accounts specializing in mortgage-backed securities. Prior to Amalgamated Bank, Ms. Ferraro was a global fixed income analyst for Fiduciary Trust Company International. Prior to Fiduciary Trust Company, Ms. Ferraro was an economic analyst for the chief economist at Barclays de Zoete Wedd. Ms. Ferraro, a cum laude graduate of Clark University, holds a B.A. and B.S. in economics and Business Management and an M.B.A. in Finance from New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business.
Chris Porcelli - Partner
Mr. Porcelli leads and manages Vertical Capital, LLC's modeling and structuring efforts. He joined the firm in 2003 and is responsible for development and implementation of the firm's proprietary analytical and risk management systems. He was formerly a Vice President with American Capital Access (ACA) in the Structuring and Quantitative Group since its formation in 2001. His duties included responsibility for the development of ACA's collateral monitoring, surveillance and investor reporting systems. Prior to joining ACA, Chris was a Vice President with Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. within the FAST department where he modeled CDOs and supported the firm's secondary CDO trading activities. He has extensive experience modeling a wide variety of CDO transactions (emerging market, high yield, ABS) in addition to performing in-depth cash flow and stress analysis used to trade CDOs. He also streamlined the systems utilized by Bear Stearns and enhanced its secondary trading and risk monitoring capabilities. In addition to his expertise in the structured credit securities markets, Mr. Porcelli has an extensive computer programming and systems background. Prior to joining Bear Stearns in 1998, he graduated from Columbia University from the school of Engineering and Applied Sciences with a B.S. in Computer Science.