Team

David is Apex’s Chief Investment Officer and is a member of the Investment Committee.  He has been involved with Apex or its predecessor since 2004.  Prior to joining Apex in 2015, David was a senior portfolio manager of CLOs in the U.S. High Yield Investments Group at Babson Capital Management LLC (now Barings LLC), which he joined in 2002.  At Babson Capital he helped found Apex’s parent, Jefferies Finance LLC.  David has more than 30 years of experience in high yield research and capital markets.  Prior to joining Babson, he was employed by Lehman Brothers, Inc., SG Cowen Securities Corporation, and Bear Stearns & Co., Inc. as a senior fixed income analyst responsible for investment recommendations of high yield bonds and leveraged loans.  Previous experience includes Fitch Investors Service and Merrill Lynch Capital Markets.  He began his career in the management training program at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company.  David holds a B.S. from New York University College of Business and Public Administration and an M.B.A. from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.  He has been voted to Institutional Investor magazine’s All-American Fixed-Income Research Team.

Daniel is Director of Research and a member of the Investment Committee.  He has been with Apex or its predecessor since 2006. Prior to becoming Director of Research Dan was a research analyst with responsibility for coverage of the technology and telecommunications sectors.  Before becoming a research analyst at Apex Dan led an underwriting team at Jefferies Finance where he was responsible for arranging, executing, and investing in broadly syndicated and middle market leverage loan transactions.  Dan received his B.S. in Finance and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Rutgers Business School.

Ruby is a research analyst responsible for coverage of building products & real restate, and business services sectors. She joined Apex in June 2015. Ruby has over 6 years of experience in the leveraged finance market. Prior to working at Apex she was an Associate Director at Babson Capital Management responsible for coverage of credits in the Retail, Entertainment, Consumer Products and Food and Beverage industries. Ruby graduated Summa Cum Laude from Emory University with a B.A. in Economics.

Jim has been with the firm since 2010. He is a research analyst responsible for coverage of the medical device, pharmaceutical, and financial service sectors. Jim has 13 years of experience in leveraged finance research, portfolio management and underwriting. Previous experience included distressed credit portfolio management at Laurus Capital and underwriting and origination at GE Capital on the Healthcare Sponsor Finance team. Jim received his B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering and Electrical Engineering from Duke University and his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Russell has been with Apex since June 2015. He is a research analyst responsible for coverage of the energy and chemicals industries. Russell has over 9 years of experience in the leveraged loan market. Before joining Apex, Russell was an Investment Executive with CVC Credit Partners responsible for coverage of the Aerospace & Defense, Leisure, and Logistics sectors, as well as monitoring the firm’s Structured Credit portfolio. Russell began his career as a Portfolio Analyst for CVC prior to becoming a Credit Analyst. He received his B.A. from Bowdoin College.

Justin is an analyst on our research team covering the gaming, leisure, lodging, and food and beverage industries.  Prior to joining Apex Justin was in the Corporate Finance and Strategy Group at Blue Owl and before that an investment analyst at Blackstone Credit.  He started his career as an investment banking analyst at Credit Suisse and CIT Group.  Justin earned a B.S. in finance and accounting from Fordham University.

Jacob joined the firm in 2018 and covers the media, high tech, and business services sectors on the research team.  Before joining Apex he underwrote and managed a leveraged loan portfolio at MidCap Financial Services LLC.  Jacob received his B.A. in Economics from Vanderbilt University.

Morris joined Apex in February 2015 and heads our operations team. Morris has been in loan operations for over 21 years in various capacities. He previously worked in portfolio control and operations at CIFC Corp. and Callidus Capital Management, LLC. Morris received his B.S. in Finance from CUNY – Bernard M. Baruch College.

Lauren Eng is an operations analyst at Apex. Before joining Apex she was an analyst on the operations team at Jefferies Finance LLC. Lauren received her B.S. from the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Aaron is an operations analyst at Apex and joined in 2022.  Before joining our operations team Aaron was at FIS (Virtus Partners, LLC) for eight years and was involved in all aspects of CLO compliance including monthly reporting, hypo-testing, cash and trade activity, and fund tie-outs.  Aaron earned his B.B.A. in Finance and Marketing from University of Kentucky Gatton College of Business and Economics.

Gabe is on our operations team which he joined in 2022.  His primary responsibility is trade and cash portfolio reconciliation.  Gabe received his B.B.A in Accounting & Finance from Abilene Christian University and earned his M.S. in Finance from the University of Miami Herbert Business School.