Company

Eric Thompson is Chief Operating Officer at Kroll Bond Rating Agency. Prior to this role, he oversaw the Global Structured Finance Group, which encompassed ABS, CMBS, RMBS, Structured Credit, and REIT ratings. Eric has over 20 years of structured finance experience which he leveraged, along with his senior CMBS team, to develop KBRA’s offerings in the Real Estate sector. Prior to joining KBRA in 2011, Eric was a managing director and lead analytical manager for U.S. CMBS surveillance at Standard & Poor’s (now S&P Global Ratings). Earlier in his career, he worked in the accounting and corporate finance fields at The McGraw Hill Companies and Standard & Poor’s, the latter of which entailed coordinating the global financial efforts of offices in multiple jurisdictions. Eric received a B.S. in accounting from Rutgers University and is a former CPA. He previously served on the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council’s Executive Committee in several roles, including Chair.

William Cox is Chief Rating Officer at KBRA. Bill has over 30 years of experience in credit ratings. Before joining KBRA, Bill led DSA Capital, LLC, a provider of consulting services and investment capital for private companies, government agencies, private equity platforms, and philanthropies working to improve K-12 public education in the United States. Previously, Bill was an executive managing director of strategic operations at Standard & Poor’s (now S&P Global Ratings), where he led global teams responsible for market development, quantitative analytics, project management, and data operations. During his time at S&P, Bill also served as a managing director in School Evaluation Services and in the Public Finance Ratings Group and managed the Infrastructure Finance Group. Bill holds a B.A. in history, cum laude, with a minor in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in business administration from New York University. He also completed executive management programs at Columbia University, the University of Virginia, and at INSEAD in France.

Dev Parekh is Chief Financial Officer of Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA). Prior to joining KBRA, Dev spent 12 years with Broadridge Financial Solutions in various finance and operating roles. More recently, he served as CFO of Corporate Functions and Enterprise Operations, responsible for FP&A, Global Supplier Management, Finance Systems, and Real Estate. Other experiences include serving as COO of the Mutual Fund and Retirement Solutions business, Head of Global FP&A, and CFO of its largest segment, Investor Communication Solutions. Dev holds a CPA and previously was a Senior Manager with Ernst & Young. He graduated with a B.S. in Accounting from Binghamton University’s School of Management and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Kate Kennedy is Chief Corporate Strategy Officer at Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) focusing on Investor Relations. Kate also oversees KBRA Analytics, the company’s platform of high-quality data and advanced analytics products. Prior to joining KBRA in 2011, Kate was a senior director at Fitch Ratings for 12 years, where she spearheaded the investor relations initiative across U.S. Structured Finance. The role included specializing in identifying, planning, and executing strategic new investor development and business campaigns as well as maintaining strong relationships with the largest institutional investors. Prior to Fitch Ratings, Kate worked for two years at the Norinchukin Bank, where she was responsible for portfolio management reporting and trade settlement with U.S. investment banks, brokers, and custodians.

Ira Powell is Vice Chairman at Kroll Bond Rating Agency. Prior to joining the company in 2015, Ira spent 15 years at Goldman Sachs, where he served as the global head of money market origination within the Investment Banking Division. In this role, he advised structured finance clients, financial institutions, and industrials on debt issuance as well as engaged with a broad range of buyside institutions on credit discussions. Additionally, Ira liaised with regulators around the globe concerning funding markets and was deeply involved in a number of government programs aimed at enhancing liquidity in the wake of the global financial crisis.Previous to his role at Goldman Sachs, Ira was a vice president at Merrill Lynch, where he served as head of liquidity origination for money markets. Ira began his career practicing corporate law at Clifford Chance LLP, followed by a stint at Fitch Ratings, where he was a founding member of the company’s Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Group and sat on the Firmwide Credit Policy Committee. Ira holds a B.S. with Honors from Cornell University and received his J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Angela Liang is General Counsel at Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA), and previously served as the company’s assistant general counsel. Prior to joining KBRA in 2010, Angela held an associate role at Greenberg Traurig LLP; Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP; and Steefel, Levitt & Weiss PC (now Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP). Angela earned a B.A. in history and a B.S. in city and regional planning from Cornell University, as well as a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Bill Wright is Chief Technology Officer at Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA), where he brings over 20 years of experience in the financial technology space. Prior to joining KBRA in 2010, Bill was the technology product manager for the Center for Financial Research & Analysis (CFRA), which was acquired by the RiskMetrics Group. CFRA is an independent global leader in forensic accounting risk research, legal/regulatory risk assessment, due-diligence, and educational services. Prior to CFRA, Bill held the technology director role at Criterion Research Group. Bill began his career at ING Barings, where he managed the company’s research distribution systems and website. Bill earned a B.A. in political science from the University of Vermont.

Lenny Giltman is Chief Credit Officer at Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA). Most recently, Lenny was a senior managing director and head of KBRA’s Ratings Legal team, where he served for eight years. Prior to joining KBRA, Lenny was an associate at the law firm of Dechert LLP, a legal analyst at Bloomberg LP, and vice president/senior analyst at Moody’s Investors Service. Lenny earned a B.A. from the University of Florida and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Van Hesser is Chief Market Strategist at Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA), where he is responsible for commenting on market and economic developments and their impact on credit markets. Van is also the creator and host of KBRA’s weekly podcast, 3 Things in Credit. Previously, he led KBRA’s Financial Institutions and Corporates credit rating groups, where he leveraged over 30 years of experience as an institutional investor, sell-side research analyst, investment banker, and regulator. During his professional career, Van was named to Institutional Investor Magazine’s All-America Fixed Income Research Team rankings 10 times across three categories, and has marketed his investment views extensively across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. He has also served as an expert witness in important industry litigation. Prior to joining KBRA, Van was a managing director in the Financial Institutions Group at Wells Fargo Principal Investments. Previously, he worked at HSBC Securities for 10 years, serving as managing director and global head of Credit Research and head of U.S. Fixed Income Research. He also served on HSBC’s six-person Global Research Management Committee. In addition to his managerial responsibilities, Van served as a senior corporate bond research analyst covering U.S. banks, brokers, and specialty finance companies. Van also held senior sell-side corporate bond research roles covering financial institutions at Credit Suisse First Boston and Goldman Sachs, as well as a corporate finance position in Salomon Brothers’ Financial Institutions Group. Van started his career as a bank examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Van earned a B.S., cum laude, from Fordham University and an MBA from Yale University.

Dana Bunting is a Senior Managing Director and Head of Business Development at Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA). Dana’s responsibilities include the firm’s global business development strategy as well as managing the team’s ongoing issuer relations efforts across all asset classes. She brings over 30 years of investment banking, rating agency, and human resources experience. Prior to joining KBRA, Dana worked in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs, where she spent 21 years in the Public Sector and Infrastructure Group. During her time at Goldman Sachs, Dana served as the lead banker for numerous state and city governments, and with clients in the infrastructure, transportation, housing, and higher education sectors. She also ran recruiting for several divisions including banking for her last four years at the firm. Dana began her career at Standard and Poor’s (now S&P Global Ratings), where she spent nine years as a credit analyst in the ratings groups responsible for mortgage-revenue bonds, asset-backed and other structured finance transactions. She also served on the structured finance criteria and rating committees. Professional highlights include being named as the first recipient of the She’s Our Hero Award from the Women in Public Finance. The award is given to public finance professionals, who demonstrate excellence in their field. Dana holds a B.S. in business administration from Gettysburg College.

Jackie Lau is the Head of Human Resources at KBRA, bringing 20 years of experience in human capital management. Prior to joining KBRA in 2023, Jackie served as an executive director at Morgan Stanley focused on workforce strategy, HR operations, talent management, and M&A. Previous to her role at Morgan Stanley, Jackie was a consultant at Deloitte, advising clients on HR transformation, process optimization, and change management strategies. Jackie holds a B.S. in marketing and international business from New York University.

Patrick Welch is Senior Managing Director at KBRA, where he provides senior leadership for ratings activities across the Corporate, Financial, and Government (CFG) organization, with a particular focus on the broad landscape of transactions in Private Credit. Previously, Pat led KBRA’s credit ratings policy for four years and served as Chief Credit Officer for five years, shaping the firm’s analytical frameworks and risk governance. Prior to joining KBRA, Pat spent 19 years at Goldman Sachs, focusing on structured finance within the Credit Risk Management and Advisory Department, and served as deputy chief credit officer at Goldman Sachs Bank USA. Earlier in his career, Pat spent seven years in the Structured Finance Group at Standard & Poor’s, where he managed the Credit Card Ratings Group and held roles within the RMBS and International Ratings groups. He began his career as an analyst at Security Pacific National Bank. Pat holds a B.S. and MBA from Cornell University.