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Lynn Hopton & Yvonne Stevens
On seizing the moment
This month, co-founders and managing partners of HalseyPoint Lynn Hopton and Yvonne Stevens join Brian Bejile on The Ramp Up. Lynn and Yvonne are veterans of the CLO market. They've been securitizing assets since the market's early days in the '90s. After decades of working together at SunAmerica and then at American Express, they seized the moment and started their own shop, HalseyPoint in 2018. To get HalseyPoint off the ground, they built on their resilience, the relationships they curated, and a lengthy track record of success. The launch of HalseyPoint was fully embraced and celebrated by the street. And now, the business is thriving.
About Lynn
Prior to founding HalseyPoint, Lynn was the Co-Head and Senior Managing Director of the Leveraged Debt Group at Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (and its predecessor companies) for 18 years from April of 2000 through March 2018. She was responsible for running the leveraged debt business of Columbia which had approximately $9 billion in assets under management at its peak, including over $8 billion in CLO vehicles. She also was the lead portfolio manager for all funds and chair of the credit committee.
Lynn previously worked as a Managing Director at AIG/ SunAmerica for nine years where she was responsible for the management and trading of over $3 billion of assets across a variety of fixed income asset classes.
She began her career as a banker covering private equity sponsors on the west coast for Security Pacific Merchant Bank.
Lynn received a BA in Economics with distinction from Northwestern University and an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society.
About Yvonne
Prior to founding HalseyPoint, Yvonne was the Co-Head and Senior Managing Director of the Leveraged Debt Group at Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC (and its predecessor companies) for 18 years from April of 2000 through March 2018. She was instrumental in building the platform to be one of the early CLO managers recognized for consistency and performance.
Prior to joining Columbia, Yvonne was a portfolio manager at SunAmerica/AIG for seven years where, among other responsibilities, she developed a structured finance expertise in CLO mezzanine investments beginning in the early 1990s. In addition to managing a $2 billion CLO mezzanine portfolio, she expanded that focus from investing to issuing CLOs as a manager, helping to raise and create the first SunAmerica-managed CLO named Galaxy in 1999.
Prior to SunAmerica, Yvonne started her career in the bank training program at Irving Trust Bank and then subsequently worked at GE Capital in a loan underwriting and origination role.
Yvonne received a BA from Wellesley College and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Episode 4: Brett Jefferson on refusing to fail
This month, Brett Jefferson, Founder and Co-Chief Investment Officer at Hildene Capital Management, joins your host Brian Bejile, CEO of Octaura, on The Ramp Up. Brett has charted an impressive career by looking at things differently. From the early days of navigating his education and passion for lacrosse at Syracuse University to landing on Wall Street and teaching himself the world of structured credit, Brett's refusal to fail and his focus on innovation has led Hildene to become a multi -award winning asset manager, and there's a lot more on the horizon for the firm.
Episode 3: Andy Gordon on being intellectually curious
Andy Gordon, co-founder, former CEO, and current Executive Chair of the Board of Managers at Octagon Credit joins Brian Bejile on The Ramp Up. Andy has had an illustrious career on Wall Street. From being one of the first analysts on the leveraged buyout desk at Manufacturers Hanover Trust to successfully spinning out Octagon – he did all of this while finding opportunity through two recessions and building a business that champions diversity and inclusion.
Episode 2: Thomas Majewski on doing things differently
Thomas Majewski, Founder and Managing Partner at Eagle Point Credit joins your host Brian Bejile, CEO of Octaura on The Ramp Up. Tom has been at the center of some of the most impactful innovations in the CLO market. On this episode, we cover a wide spectrum – including how Tom executed one of the earliest known CLO equity trades and what led him to start one of the first CLO equity funds.
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Episode 1: Scott McKay on being "the guy"
What do you say when someone asks you if you want to “be the guy?” On this month’s episode of The Ramp Up, Scott McKay, Head of Blue Owl Liquid Credit, fills us in on what he said next and shares why long-lasting relationships and perseverance were key to his career thus far.