NLC team

Experienced team with a proven fund finance track record

ALI AHMAD

Analyst

Previous Experience:

PhD Economics at the University of Cambridge

NICOS BIKAKIS

Vice President

Previous Experience:

Associate Director at Lloyds Bank, Financial Sponsors

ED COTTER

Vice President

Previous Experience:

Associate at Ares Direct Lending

LAURA COURTNEY

Executive Assistant

Previous Experience:

Executive Assistant and Office Manager for

LUIGI GRIFFO

Vice President

Previous Experience:

Senior Director and Head of European Investor Relations at KBRA
Associate Director at Fitch Ratings

BERNARD KANTOR

Senior Advisor

Previous Experience:

Co-Founder and Managing Director, Investec

 

ROBBY KOREMAN

Portfolio Manager

Previous Experience:

Alternative Fixed Income PM and Treasury Team Lead at Dutch Pension Fund
Alternative Fixed Income PM at Athora Netherlands

Shailen_NLC_B&W_© Nick Gregan 2024

SHAILEN PATEL

Head of Strategy and Product

Previous Experience:

Head of Corporate Advisory at Macfarlanes
Asset Management, Financial Advisory and Structuring Leader at EY

Ruth_NLC_B&W © Nick Gregan 2024

RUTH PEARSON

General Counsel

Previous Experience:

General Counsel and Company Secretary
at LendInvest plc
Managing Associate at Simmons + Simmons

NENO RAIC

Founding Partner

Previous Experience:

Head of Fund Finance Fundraising and Sales, Investec

 

IAN SHANKS

Senior Advisor & Chairman of Risk Committee

Previous Experience:

Established and led Bank Scotland and Lloyds Fund Finance
Head of Aberdeen Standard Fund Finance

MOL SHETH

Associate

Previous Experience:

Associate at Barclays

Kresimir Slugan

KRESIMIR SLUGAN

Chief Technology Officer

Previous Experience:

Data Engineer at Meta

SLADE SPALDING

Founding Partner

Previous Experience:

Co-Head of Capital Call Financing & Head of GP Financing, Investec

TIM STEELE

Partner

Previous Experience:

Managing Director and Head of the Structured Alternatives team, AIG Asset Management (Europe)

NLC team is supported by five professionals in Ireland looking after NLC’s operation and loan management.

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NLC Capital Partners LLP is an appointed representative of Robert Quinn Advisory LLP which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. NLC Capital Partners LLP is a limited liability partnership incorporated in England & Wales with registered number OC439364 and registered office at 1 Bolton Street, Bolton Street, London, England, W1J 8HY

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E: contact@nlc.co.uk

T: +44 203 911 6450

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Ali Ahmad

Analyst

E: ali.ahmad@nlc.co.uk
T: +44 (0) 2039 116460

Ali is part of the Investment Team at NLC, where he works across underwriting, structuring, origination support, and portfolio management.

Prior to joining NLC, Ali was a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, researching financial systems, market structures, monetary circulation, and patterns of monopolization. His academic journey also includes studies at Durham University, the London School of Economics, and the American University of Beirut, where he earned multiple degrees and certificates in finance, business, and economics—all awarded with distinction.

Ali’s experience extends beyond academia; he founded a retail company, overseeing its organizational structure and managing a supply chain spanning three continents. In financial services, he has experience in corporate banking, private sector financing, and equity and currency trade execution. At NLC, Ali is committed to leveraging his background to contribute to the firm’s investment activities and to advance his financial skills.

Nicos Bikakis

Vice President

E: nicos.bikakis@nlc.co.uk
T: +44 (0) 2039 116462

Nicos is part of the Investment Team at NLC, where he supports origination, underwriting, and portfolio management activities. With a robust background in financial services, Nicos brings significant expertise to the role.

Prior to joining NLC, Nicos was an Associate Director at Lloyds Bank covering Financial Sponsors. In this position, he was responsible for the origination, execution, and management of fund finance solutions and ancillary products for private funds, including private equity, private debt, infrastructure, secondary funds, and fund of funds. Over his 11-year tenure at Lloyds Bank, Nicos held various front-line roles, providing comprehensive coverage across mid-markets, global corporates, and financial institutions. 

Nicos holds a Masters in Finance from London Business School.

ED COTTER

Vice President

E: ed.cotter@nlc.co.uk
T: +44 (0) 2039 116455

Ed joined NLC in February 2023 with a focus to support on origination, underwriting, and portfolio management. Prior to joining NLC, Ed was a part of the Ares Direct Lending team, where he was responsible for monitoring and valuing investments, assisting with the restructuring and workout of underperforming assets, and managing investor reporting.

Ed began his career as a graduate trainee at MUFG, where he worked as a credit analyst in the Financial Institutions team, responsible for covering a portfolio of both bank and non-bank FIs across Europe.

He holds a first-class BSc in Economics from the University of Exeter.

LAURA COurTNEY

Executive Assistant 

E: laura.courtney@nlc.co.uk
T: +44 (0) 2039 116451

Laura is responsible for the smooth running of the office and Executive Assistant to the Partners, as well as giving support to the wider team.

She started her career working for one the subsidiary companies of the renowned Saatchi and Saatchi Group and has since acquired years of experience having worked at PR and architectural practices, Property Investment and Finance companies.

Laura is a member of the Association of Celebrity Assistants.

Luigi Griffo

Vice President

E: luigi.griffo@nlc.co.uk
T: +44 (0) 2039 116461

 

Luigi is part of the Investor Relations and Portfolio Management team at NLC, where he focuses on investor relations and supports the ongoing management of investment portfolios for NLC’s clients.

Prior to joining NLC, Luigi was Senior Director and Head of European Investor Relations at KBRA (Kroll Bond Rating Agency) where he established and expanded the European investor relations function and focused on developing strong relationships with fixed income investors, particularly across Fund Finance verticals, Private Credit and Structured Finance. Before joining KBRA, Luigi was an Associate Director at Fitch Ratings as part of the Non-Bank Financial Institutions origination team.

Luigi holds a BSc in Business Economics, summa cum laude, from Università Federico II di Napoli and a PGDip in Finance from University of London.

Tim Steele

Partner

E: tim.steele@nlc.co.uk
T: +44 (0) 2039 116454

Tim is responsible for Capital & Deal Execution.

Prior to joining NLC, Tim was Managing Director and Head of the Structured Alternatives team at AIG Asset Management (Europe) Limited. During his 16 year career at AIG he performed a variety of roles covering portfolio management, structuring, trading and investing across a range of public and private structured finance asset classes. His team managed a multi asset portfolio in excess of $10bn equivalent held across US, European, UK, Bermudian and Australian insurance companies.

Tim introduced Fund Finance as a new asset class in 2018, and with his team successfully built a diversified portfolio of $2bn+ equivalent in subscription lines and NAV deals. As a core member of AIG’s Product Development and Solutions group, Tim would use his structuring abilities to assist other AIG Investment teams to develop transactions to solve particular investment needs.

Tim began his career in the audit profession where he trained as a chartered accountant (ICAEW); he is a CFA Charterholder and graduated with a degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge.

Bernard Kantor

Senior Advisor

E: bernard.kantor@nlc.co.uk
T: +44 (0) 2039 116450

As a Senior Advisor, Bernard provides strategic advice and guidance to NLC Partners.

Bernard co-founded Investec Bank Plc in the late 1970s, marking the beginning of what would become a global financial institution. He served as Managing Director at Investec until his retirement in 2018.

Bernard moved to London in 1997 to lead Investec’s expansion beyond South African market. His leadership in the UK was characterized by strategic acquisitions that broadened Investec’s influence, including notable names like Allied Trust Bank, Carr Sheppards, and Guinness Mahon. Under his guidance, Investec’s footprint expanded to 8,000 employees across 14 countries, managing £125 billion in assets, and solidifying its presence with listings in Johannesburg and London. A defining aspect of Bernard’s leadership was his commitment to Investec’s culture and values, emphasizing a meritocratic approach where ideas could flow freely, irrespective of hierarchy.

Beyond the boardroom, Bernard’s personal interests, particularly in horse racing and football, mirrored his professional ethos of striving for excellence. His involvement in sports, especially the Investec Derby, underscored a blend of passion and strategic branding that helped elevate Investec’s profile on the global stage.

ROBBY KOREMAN

Portfolio Manager

E: robby.koreman@nlc.co.uk
T: +44 (0) 2039 116457

Robby is responsible for making investment decisions and ongoing management of investment portfolios on behalf of NLC’s clients.

Before joining NLC, Robby spent 12 years in the Netherlands. In the capacity of Portfolio Manager Alternative Fixed Income, and later Team Lead Treasury & Rates, at a EUR 30bln Dutch Pension Fund, he introduced Fund Financing as an asset class and put Subscription Financing specifically on the agenda for the fund’s Treasury strategy. Before that he was, as portfolio manager at an EUR 45bln Insurance Company, amongst other things responsible for a EUR 600mln portfolio of capital call facilities and ensured the strategy was recognised as a strategic asset class for allocations. 

Born and raised in Belgium, Robby started his career as financial markets consultant and later became a freelance Quantitative Analyst. A journey that took him to many different financial institutions and ended with a longer tenure in Amsterdam. 

Robby holds a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering form the University of Leuven and obtained the CFA, CAIA and CQF professional certifications.

shailen patel

Head of Strategy and Product

E: shailen.patel@nlc.co.uk
T: +44 (0) 2039 116459

Shailen is responsible for investment strategy, product innovation and origination.

Prior to joining NLC, Shailen headed the corporate advisory group at Macfarlanes and was an engagement partner at EY. These roles included the setup of new teams and covered transaction structuring, valuation and investment governance, ESG, technical accounting and regulatory capital advisory across asset management and private markets.

Shailen graduated in Economics from UCL and is an ICAEW qualified Chartered Accountant and Business Finance Professional.

Ruth pearson

General Counsel  

E: ruth.pearson@nlc.co.uk
T: +44 (0) 2039 116458

Ruth is responsible for advising on all strategic, legal and compliance matters at NLC.

Prior to joining NLC, Ruth was General Counsel and Company Secretary at LendInvest plc (a listed lending, asset management and investment advisory business). During her time there, Ruth designed and implemented the legal, risk, compliance and governance functions from its start up stage and led the business through its IPO. 

Ruth started out as a transactional banking lawyer at Simmons + Simmons and her finance experience includes advising investors, borrowers, issuers and lenders on alternative investment funds, retail bonds, securitisations, venture debt, secondary debt trading and real estate finance.

Ruth is a chartered company secretary and a fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute. She studied law at The University of Birmingham and qualified as a lawyer in 2009. 

NENO RAIC

Partner

E: neno.raic@nlc.co.uk
T: +44 (0) 2039 116452

Neno is responsible for the overall management of NLC and investor relations. Prior to forming NLC, Neno was Head of Investec’s Fund Solutions Sales and Distribution.

In this capacity, Neno built Fund Solutions fundraising capabilities, raising first institutional capital in 2018 and over three years scaled the business to over €3bn of third-party capital. During his time at Investec Neno also grew fund finance loan distribution by more then 20 times, from €200m to over €4bn. Neno was part of Fund Solutions investment committee.

Prior to becoming the Head of Fund Solutions Sales and Distribution, Neno was part of Investec’s New York Fund Solutions team responsible for origination and structuring of fund financing loans.

Originally from Croatia, Neno moved to New York to attend university. Neno started his career at Lloyds Banking Group, where he worked in financial institution team focusing on Fund Finance.

Neno holds Bachelor of Business Administration from Baruch Zicklin School of Business.

IAN SHANKS

Senior Advisor & Chairman of Risk Committee

E: ian.shanks@nlc.co.uk
T: +44 (0) 2039 116450 

Ian is senior Head of Risk & Chairman of Risk Committee. Ian started his career with Bank of Scotland (now Lloyds Banking Group), moving across to Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (the investment arm of Lloyds) which was sold in 2014 to Aberdeen Asset Management. In 2017 Aberdeen Asset Management merged with Standard Life, to create what is now called Abrdn.

In 1997, Ian was one of the founding team members of Bank of Scotland’s private equity team making LP investments into primary and secondary funds across Europe. During this period, Ian created the bank’s lending arm specifically focused on providing financing solutions to private equity funds that encompassed capital call facilities, general partner support as well as leverage to both primary and secondary funds. The team was one of the very first focused on this type of lending, later to be known as Fund Finance, and by 2006 the lending book was over £10bn with no recorded losses. 

During the global financial crisis (GFC) the business was split into equity and debt. Equity eventually became a part of Scottish Widows, while the debt business was carved out into another area of Lloyds Bank which is now one of the leading Fund Finance providers.

Over the next decade, Ian focused on the equity assets initially working on liquidating LP positions to help shrink the bank’s balance sheet exposure. Following the acquisition of Scottish Widows by Aberdeen, Ian helped re-build the equity business with new investment activities along with acquisitions of private equity fund of fund managers to increase and diversify the investment portfolio.

In 2018, post Aberdeen’s merger with Standard Life, Ian was asked to develop and build capital call financing capabilities to support a major UK insurance client called Phoenix to allow them to enter this market. Whilst persuading Phoenix to appoint Abrdn as a manager for their Capital Call Financing investments, Ian developed the strategy, designed the rating methodology, build the team and went onto source and execute significant deal flow. Within 12 months, Ian had fully deployed the initial Phoenix mandate and having established the business, proven its credentials as well as securing additional capital from new investors, Ian stepped aside to start his retirement before starting his role with NLC.

Mol Sheth

Associate

E: mol.sheth@nlc.co.uk
T: +44 (0) 2039 116456

Mol is part of the Investment Team at NLC, assisting on the origination, underwriting, and portfolio management of transactions.

Prior to joining NLC, Mol was an associate at Barclays in Debt Structuring covering non-bank FIs where he assisted the origination, structuring, and execution of lending solutions to key clients across private equity, asset managers, broker dealers, and insurance. During his time at Barclays, he also held various front office roles across insurance and public sector coverage as part of the graduate programme.

Mol holds a first-class BSc in Accounting and Finance from the University of Warwick.

Kresimir Slugan

KRESIMIR SLUGAN

Chief Technology Officer

E: kresimir.slugan@nlc.co.uk
T: +44 (0) 2039 116450

Kresimir is responsible for developing and implementing NLC’s technology strategy, as well as building and leading the technology team. Kresimir is a seasoned software engineer with a decade of experience specialising in software development, data engineering, and machine learning, working in both startups and large corporations.

Before his role at NLC, Kresimir spent six years at Meta as a Data Engineer. His work involved designing, constructing, and maintaining high-performance data management and visualisation systems. He was also leading projects and mentoring new engineers.

Kresimir started his career as a junior consultant at Poslovna Inteligencija in Zagreb. From there, he moved to a pivotal role at Contorion, a Berlin-based startup, where he developed the company’s data warehousing infrastructure and machine learning models, significantly boosting the company’s marketing revenue.

Originally from Croatia, Kresimir holds an MSc in Information and Communication Technology from the University of Zagreb.

SLADE SPALDING

Partner

E: slade.spalding@nlc.co.uk
T: +44 (0) 2039 116453

Slade is responsible for leading and managing GP relationships. Slade has over 17 years of private equity and banking experience.

Prior to co-founding NLC, Slade was Co-Head of Capital Call Financing and the Head of GP Financing at Investec’s Funds Solutions team. Slade was one of the original members to join Investec’s Fund Solutions team and during his time ran and executed over €5.5bn of fund finance transactions globally across 30 fund managers and 45 funds including capital call, secondaries, GP led, NAV, and GP financing.

Slade formed part of the Fund Solution’s investment committee and was instrumental in originating and developing deep client relationships which drove turnover growth by more than 8 times and saw the team increase from 4 to over 20.
 
Slade started his career in South Africa and moved to the UK in 2008 as part of Investec’s treasury team to build out the institutional deposit base.
 
Slade holds a Bachelor of Information Systems from Bond University and is a Chartered Management Accountant.
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