The Team

Levoyd Robinson co-founded CFIP in 2005. He is responsible for firm-wide management and monitors overall portfolio construction and risk management. Prior to forming CFIP, Levoyd was a Managing Director at Citadel Investment Group, LLC, where he was the Head of Global Private Debt and was responsible for managing teams in the US and London that made mezzanine and special situations debt investments, including high-yield and distressed loans, asset-based and structured financings, and cash and synthetic CLOs and CDOs. He also was responsible for structuring, negotiating, and credit selection for $3.8 billion of cash and synthetic CDOs comprised of leveraged loans, investment grade, and high-yield credit default swaps. Further, he managed activist distressed positions and served on several ad hoc creditor committees. Prior to Citadel, Levoyd was a Senior Managing Director at PPM America in the Special Investment Group. He began his career at First Chicago Corporation, where he ultimately rose to become the Portfolio Manager of its proprietary distressed trading group. Levoyd earned his Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance, Investment, and Banking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and obtained his Bachelor of Business Administration, magna cum laude, from Howard University. Levoyd is a CFA® charterholder. He is very civically engaged and serves on several nonprofit boards, further he is a member of the Federal Reserve’s Bank of Chicago’s Working Group on Financial Markets, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a member of The Economic Club of Chicago.

Eric Baer is a founding principal of CFIP and the Co-Head of Alternative Credit. He shares responsibility with David Dieffenbacher for portfolio construction and management of all private debt, opportunistic credit, leveraged loan and high-yield portfolios. Prior to CFIP, Eric worked for Citadel Investment Group, LLC, where he was a Fundamental Research Sector Head in cable, media, and telecom; and before that, a Senior Analyst in distressed and special situations. Prior to Citadel, Eric worked for the Bank of Montreal as a Distressed Securities Analyst, at Federated Investors as a Corporate Bond Analyst and at First Chicago Corporation as a Federal Funds Trader. Eric earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Indiana University and his Master of Business Administration with honors from the University of Chicago. He is a CFA® charterholder. Eric is a member of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago in the Health and Human Services Commission and serves as the President of the Philly Baer Foundation.

David Dieffenbacher is a founding principal of CFIP and the Co-Head of Alternative Credit. He shares responsibility with Eric Baer for portfolio construction and management of all private debt opportunistic credit, leveraged loan and high-yield portfolios. Prior to CFIP, David worked for Citadel Investment Group, LLC, where he was the Fundamental Research Sector Head for the industrial and material sector and a Senior Analyst in distressed and special situations. Prior to Citadel, he worked for PPM America as the Vice President of the Special Investment Group. He began his career at First Chicago Corporation as a Corporate Finance Associate. David earned his Bachelor of Science in Finance, magna cum laude, from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and his Master of Business Administration with a concentration Finance from Washington University in St. Louis. He is a CFA® charterholder.

Sean Haas is a founding principal of CFIP and the Head of Research. He is responsible for managing the Fundamental Credit Research and Analysis Group for the Firm. Prior to CFIP, Sean worked for Citadel Investment Group, LLC, where he rose from a Senior Analyst to Portfolio Manager in the Credit Group and finally Head of Credit Research in London. Prior to Citadel, he worked for the Bank of Montreal as a Distressed Securities Analyst. He began his finance career at First Chicago Corporation as an Auditor. Sean earned his Bachelor of Science with highest honors in Finance from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and his Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Chicago. He was awarded the CFA Institute’s Certificate in ESG Investing and is a CFA® charterholder.

Mr. Couri co-founded CFI Partners. Prior to forming CFIP, Mr. Couri was a Managing Director at Citadel Investment Group, LLC; he was the founder of Citadel’s distressed investment and fundamental credit group and was responsible for overall portfolio construction and risk management for Citadel’s multi-billion-dollar fundamental credit portfolios. He was also a member of the firm-wide Portfolio Management Committee. Before Citadel, Mr. Couri was a Portfolio Manager at the Bank of Montreal, and he began his career at First Chicago Corp. where he was an Assistant Portfolio Manager/ Senior Counsel & Legal Analyst. Mr. Couri earned a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and a J.D. from the University of Illinois. Mr. Couri has been involved in several educational charities as a board member and board chair.

Mr. Marshall retired as associate director of research, director of the financial markets group and a senior vice president in the economic research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in March 2018. Prior to this appointment in July 2010, he was senior vice president of the financial markets group and, previously, a vice president and economic advisor in the economic research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. In that position, Marshall served as the team leader for the department's macroeconomics group. His research focused on linkages between financial markets, financial institutions, and macroeconomic performance. Before coming to the Federal Reserve System, Marshall was on the faculty of the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He also served as adjunct professor of finance at the University of Chicago and was an associate editor for Macroeconomic Dynamics. Marshall received a B.A. from Yale University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from Carnegie-Mellon University.

Mr. Walter is the Chief Executive Officer of Guggenheim Partners and Chairman and controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He also serves as a trustee or director of several organizations including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Security Benefit Corporation and the EquiTrust Life holding company. Mr. Walter grew up in Iowa and received a B.S. from Creighton University and a J.D. from Northwestern University.

As the Chief Operating Officer, Stephon Barnes is responsible for all non-investment functions of the Firm. Prior to CFIP, Stephon worked for Cyrus Capital Partners, where he was the Chief Administrative Officer and Director of Operations and oversaw Human Resources and Technology. There, he was a member of the Operating Committee, managed vendor relationships, and oversaw portfolio finance and all post-trade functions. He began his career at Brencourt Advisors, LLC, where he was the Global Head of Operations and Training – Middle Office. Stephon earned his Bachelor of Science in Finance and Economics from Temple University. He serves on the Board of Governors for St. John’s University, is an Executive Board Member of the LaSalle Academy, and is a member of the Board of Trustees for Team First.

As the Chief Technology Officer and Head of Data Analytics, David is responsible for overseeing the Firm’s strategic use of technology, including the research and development of its financial engineering and risk management platforms. He also oversees the Data Analytics team. David has over 29 years of experience using his scientific background to develop technologies, 20 years of which were in the financial services industry. Prior to CFIP, David worked for Citadel Investment Group, LLC where he was a Senior Technology Manager and was responsible for generating valuations for credit instruments and producing P/L for Citadel’s multi-billion-dollar credit business, as well as pricing convertible bonds. He rose from back-office to front-office leveraging his ability to translate between technology and trading. Prior to Citadel, he worked in a variety of research labs and an internet start-up. David earned his double Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University in Astrophysics and Physics and his Master of Science in Media Technology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a member of MENSA® and volunteers as a Mentor Angel at Imerman Angels.

As Managing Director of Alternative Credit, Jared is responsible for originating, evaluating, executing, and monitoring opportunistic credit investments. Prior to CFIP, Jared worked for Golub Capital as a Principal on the Credit Opportunities team. Before Golub, he worked for the Carlyle Group where he was Principal on the Distressed & Special Situations team. Jared began his career at Pegasus Capital Advisors. Jared earned several degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, including a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a concentration in Finance, magna cum laude, from The Wharton School; a Bachelor of Science in Engineering as a Bioengineering major, magna cum laude, and a Master of Biotechnology from the School of Engineering and Applied Science. He is a CFA® charterholder.

As the Head of Portfolio Optimization and Risk Management, Steve is responsible for comprehensive portfolio optimization and risk management across the Firm’s investment strategies, utilizing the Firm’s proprietary, integrated risk system. Prior to CFIP, Steve worked for Bank of America where he was a Trader in Global Portfolio Strategies. Before Bank of America, he worked for Ritchie Capital Management as a trader. Prior to Ritchie Capital, Steve worked for Bank of America where he held several positions as Trade Support on Energy Derivatives, Credit Analyst in Derivative Products and Foreign Exchange, Market Risk Manager of Commodities, and Trader in Portfolio Analysis. He began his career at Saliba Partners, LLC as a Trader’s Assistant and Trade Support Manager. Steve earned his Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

As the Head of Marketing and External Affairs, Chanel is responsible for business development, investor relations, marketing, and strategic communications for the Firm. Prior to CFIP, she worked in business development for GCM Grosvenor. Chanel earned her Bachelor of Arts in Religion from Princeton University. She is very civically engaged, serving on several nonprofit boards including the Grand Victoria Foundation and The Academy Group. She has received multiple awards for her civic engagement including the 2020 Association of Fundraising Professionals Annual Faces of Philanthropy “Emerging Philanthropist” Award, the 2016 Crain’s Chicago Business “20 in the 20s” designation, and the 2022 Black Woman’s Expo’s “Phenomenal Woman” Award.

As the Director of Technology and Chief Information Security Officer, Michael is responsible for overseeing the Firm’s technology functions, ensuring that systems and applications are reliable, secure, and scalable to support the Firm’s activities. Prior to CFIP, Mike worked for Thoma Bravo for over 10 years as the Senior Vice-President of IT Operations and Security. There he provided strategic leadership and direction to the enterprise’s technology function and oversaw all information security and cybersecurity initiatives. Mike earned his Bachelor of Science in Finance from Eastern Illinois University. He is a member of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), the Chicago Chapter of InfraGard, and Venture Capital Private Equity IT (VCPEIT).

As the Chief Financial Officer, Gavin provides oversight for all operational functions supporting the Firm’s active strategies, including, but not limited to accounting, portfolio metrics, vehicle structuring, and trade settlement. Gavin has over 14 years of experience in financial accounting at CFIP, and previously worked for KPMG. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Business with a major in Accounting and a minor in Finance from Miami University. Gavin is a CFA® charterholder.

As the Head of Equities and Sustainable Investing, Perry oversees public and private equity sustainable investing strategies and the integration of ESG best practices across the Firm’s equity and fixed-income portfolios. Prior to CFIP, Perry worked for Guggenheim Partners as a Managing Director and Enhanced Equities Portfolio Manager where he managed over $500 million across Guggenheim’s flagship mutual funds in equity derivative strategies. He began his career at Goldman Sachs where he was a Global Macro Portfolio Manager and Vice President. Perry earned his Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting from Georgetown University and his Master of Business Administration in Econometrics and Statistics from the University of Chicago. The World Economic Forum has recognized Perry as a Young Global Legal in 2022. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and an alumnus of the Robert Toigo Fellowship, which recognized Perry as a 40 under 40 honoree in 2015. He currently serves on the board of the Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic Chapter, the Smithsonian’s D.C. Regional Council, and the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum. Perry is a charterholder of the following designations: Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®), Chartered Market Technician® (CMT), Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst® (CAIA®), CAIA®, EFFAS® Certified ESG Analyst® (CESGA®). He was also awarded the CFA Institute’s Certificate in ESG Investing and the Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR) Certificate. He is also an IFRS® Fundamentals of Sustainable Accounting (FSA) credential holder.

As the Head of Institutional Business Development, Curtis leads the Firm’s business development activities for institutional investors and investment consultants across CFIP’s investment strategies. Prior to CFIP, Curtis worked for the Carlyle Group as a Managing Director. Before Carlyle, Curtis held similar institutional roles at Schroder Investment Management North America, BlackRock, and Prudential Investment Management. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from the University of Rochester and his Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Michigan.

As the Chief Legal Officer, Todd oversees the legal functions at CFIP and has over 25 years of experience in fixed-income strategies. Prior to CFIP, Todd held the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer positions at several credit-focused investment advisers, worked in the Credit Products Group at Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated, and worked at several large law firms in structured credit. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Bates College and his Juris Doctorate from Cornell Law School.

As the Head of Public Investment Grade, Jabari is responsible for Core and Core+ portfolio construction and management. Prior to CFIP, he worked for the City of Chicago as Chief Investment Officer, where he was responsible for the in-house management of an $8.8 billion portfolio of investment grade corporates, ABS, treasuries, agencies, municipals, and cash. Before City of Chicago, Jabari worked for Northern Trust Corporation as a Portfolio Manager, Bank of New York Mellon as an MBS/Structured Product Analyst, and Allstate Investments as a Fixed Income Specialist and Quantitative Analyst. Jabari earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin. He earned his Master of Science in Finance with a major in Financial Engineering as well as a Financial Trading and Analysis Certificate from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Jabari serves on the Chicago Regional Advisory Board for Bottom Line.

As the Chief Compliance Officer and Assistant General Counsel, Joe is responsible for ensuring the Firm adheres to government regulations, legal obligations, and internal compliance policies. He has over 20 years of experience working in legal, compliance and operations for Registered Investment Advisers and Broker Dealers. Prior to CFIP, he held the Head of Operations and Chief Compliance Officer position for AMP Capital Investors US and the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer position for Brookfield Investment Management. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Business from Indiana University and his Juris Doctorate from DePaul University.

As an Investment Associate, Evan is responsible for underwriting and monitoring investments within the healthcare and financial service sectors where he develops investment theses, conducts research, assists with portfolio management, and contributes to Investment Committee decisions. Prior to joining the Firm, Evan held an internship at CFIP. Evan earned his Bachelor of Business Administration, summa cum laude, in Finance from Howard University. He was awarded the CFA Institute Certificate in ESG Investing and is a CFA® Level III candidate.

As a Risk Analyst on the Data Science Team, Jessica shares responsibility for data manipulation, creation, and development of data-related analytical tools for the Firm. Prior to this role, Jessica was an Investment Analyst for CFIP. Prior to joining the Firm, Jessica completed an internship at CFIP. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Finance with a minor in Data Analytics, cum laude, from the University of Illinois at Chicago, earning college honors and high distinction.

As an Investment Analyst, Neil is responsible for underwriting and monitoring investments within the technology and software sectors, where he develops investment theses, conducts research, assists with portfolio management, and contributes to Investment Committee decisions. Prior to joining the Firm, Neil completed an internship at CFIP. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance, Information Systems and Supply Chain Management, magna cum laude, from Loyola University Chicago.

As an Investment Analyst, Danny is responsible for underwriting and monitoring investments within the automotive industry, where he develops investment theses, conducts research, assists with portfolio management, and contributes to Investment Committee decisions. Prior to joining the Firm, Danny completed an internship at CFIP. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Illinois, earning highest honors.

As the Vice President of Marketing & Investor Relations, Rachel shares responsibility for investor relations, business development, and production of the Firm’s marketing materials. Prior to CFIP, she worked at GCM Grosvenor as an Associate in business development and client services. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Ohio University with concentrations in Marketing, Finance and Pre-Law.

As a Financial Analyst on the Operations Team, Ahmed assists with internal and external reporting requirements, risk analysis, and general maintenance related to structured products. Prior to CFIP, he worked for Ernst and Young’s Indirect Tax Practice as a VAT Consultant. Ahmed earned his Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Government from Ohio Wesleyan University.

As Office Manager, Cindy shares responsibility for general office management. As Executive Assistant, she directly supports the Chief Executive Officer & Chief Investment Officer of the Firm and assists the other partners and analysts. Prior to CFIP, Cindy worked for Citadel Investment Group, Lehman Brothers, and others. Cindy earned her Bachelor of Science in Education from Northern Illinois University.

As Lead Data Engineer, Steve is a member of the Data Science Team and is responsible for managing the Firm’s enterprise-wide data architecture, as well as designing data systems to aid the Firm’s data science initiatives. Prior to CFIP, Steve worked for Orion First Financial as a Data Engineer, where he managed and built multiple ingestion and reverse ETL pipelines, data flows, and custom API applications. Before Orion, he held the Business Intelligence Developer positions at CA Ventures and Cushman & Wakefield. He began his career at Argonne National Laboratory of the U.S Department of Energy as a Financial Reporting Analyst and a Budget Analyst. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Applied Psychology with a minor in Statistics as well as his Master of Public Administration from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also holds several certifications including: a Certificate in Data Science from Northwestern School of Professional Studies, a Power BI Data Analyst Associate Certificate and Azure Data Fundamental Certificate from Microsoft.

As an Investment Analyst, Aurelio is responsible for underwriting and monitoring investments within the industrial, packaging, retail, food, and gaming/casino sectors, where he develops investment theses, conducts research, assists with portfolio management, and contributes to Investment Committee decisions. Prior to joining the Firm, Aurelio completed internships at CFIP, Cabrera Capital Markets, LLC, and Heitman, LLC. Aurelio received a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is an alumnus of The Academy Group and sits on The Alumni Committee as Treasurer. He also serves as a Junior Board Member at Bottom Line.

As Controller, Erin oversees the Firm’s financial reporting and daily accounting operations. Prior to CFIP, she worked for EY as a financial services tax manager. Erin earned her Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Master of Science in Accounting from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

As Technology Engineer, Dan supports and manages the Firm’s technical infrastructure. He has over 15 years of experience working in IT, including time at TransMarket Group and Optiver. Dan honorably served in the United States Marine Corps for four years.

As an Investment Analyst, Jose is responsible for underwriting and monitoring investments within the healthcare and leisure/entertainment sectors, where he develops investment theses, conducts research, assists with portfolio management, and contributes to Investment Committee decisions. Prior to joining the Firm, Jose completed an internship at CFIP. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Business Organizational Management, magna cum laude, from Gettysburg College.

As an Accounting Specialist, Monica shares responsibility for the Firm’s accounting operations. Prior to CFIP, she contracted at Cameo as an Accounting Specialist. Before Cameo, Monica worked at Rise Interactive Media & Analytics as Controller. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Purdue University.

As an Investment Analyst, Adrian is responsible for underwriting and monitoring investments within the building production and industrial sectors, where he develops investment theses, conducts research, assists with portfolio management, and contributes to Investment Committee decisions. Prior to joining the Firm, Adrian completed internships at CFIP, S.C. Johnson, Boeing Co., and Ameriprise Financial. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance, summa cum laude, with a certificate in Cybersecurity from Howard University.

As Senior Financial Associate on the Operations Team, Jake shares responsibility for the ongoing administration of collateralized loan obligations including reporting procedures, daily operational requests, and project-based responsibilities. Prior to CFIP, He worked for PWC as an Assurance Associate. Jake earned his Bachelor of Science of Accounting, magna cum laude, and his Master of Science in Accounting from Northern Illinois University.

As an Investment Associate, Jabari is responsible for underwriting and monitoring investments within the technology and software sectors, where he develops investment theses, conducts research, assists with portfolio management, and contributes to Investment Committee decisions. Prior to joining the Firm, Jabari held an internship at CFIP. Jabari earned his Bachelor of Science from The Kelley School of Business at Indiana University as a Dean’s Council Scholar.

As a Financial Analyst, Kevin shares responsibility for building out the Firm’s separately managed accounts. Prior to CFIP, Kevin worked for PwC as a Tax Associate for the State and Local Tax Financial Services Team where he worked primarily with Private Equity clients and collaborated with offshore teams. Prior to joining PwC, Kevin held internships at PwC, BDO, and the University of Notre Dame’s Accounting and Financial Services. He earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Accounting from The University of Notre Dame.

As a Data Analyst on the Data Science Team, Farukh develops various data analytics and programming tools for internal operations and analysis. Prior to CFIP, held internships at the Pritzker Family Foundation and the Centre for Financial Accountability. Farukh earned his Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Depauw University and his Master of Applied Science in Applied Mathematics from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

As an Investment Associate, Kandice is responsible for underwriting and monitoring investments within the technology and software sectors, where she develops investment theses, conducts research, assists with portfolio management, and contributes to Investment Committee decisions. Prior to joining the Firm, Kandice held an internship at CFIP. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance, summa cum laude, from Howard University.

As a Marketing & Investor Relations Analyst, Dominique shares responsibility for marketing collateral as well as office maintenance. Prior to CFIP, she worked for a local nonprofit where she was responsible for bookkeeping and social media management. She also held an internship at CFIP.  Dominique earned her Associate of Arts in Early Childhood Education from Harold Washington College. Dominique is an alumnus of The Academy Group and sits on its Alumni Committee as Co-Chair.

As a Structured Finance Manager on the Operations Team, Dylan shares responsibility for the execution of collateralized loan obligation structures and oversees accounting, settlement, and general operational processes related to structured products. Prior to CFIP, he worked for Deloitte as an Audit Senior Associate. Dylan earned his Bachelor of Science from Indiana University with concentrations in Accounting and Finance and a minor in Spanish.

As a Portfolio Risk Manager on the Investment Team, Bill focuses on measuring risk in the fixed income portfolio. Bill has over a decade of experience in modeling, analyzing, and managing fixed-income assets as well as actuarial experience. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Clark University and his Master of Science in Finance from Boston College. Bill is a CFA® charterholder.