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Filed by a Party other than the Registrant o | |
Check the appropriate box: | |
o | Preliminary Proxy Statement |
o | Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2)) |
x | Definitive Proxy Statement |
o | Definitive Additional Materials |
o | Soliciting Material Pursuant to Section 240.14a-12 |
(Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter) |
(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if Other Than the Registrant) |
x | No fee required. |
o | Fee paid previously with preliminary materials. |
o | Fee computed on table in exhibit required by Item 25(b) per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(1) and 0-11. |
Sincerely yours, | |
/s/ Timothy Lower | |
Timothy Lower | |
Chief Executive Officer and President |
By order of the Board of Directors, | |
/s/ Justin Lee | |
Justin Lee | |
Chief Compliance Officer and Secretary |
Name | Age | Background Information | Number of Companies in Fund Complex Overseen By Director | |||
Timothy Lower | 48 | Timothy Lower has served as our Chief Executive Officer, President and a member of our Board of Directors since 2022. Mr. Lower has been the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer and member of the Investment Committee of the Investment Manager since inception. Mr. Lower has been the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Willow Tree since its founding in 2017. Before founding Willow Tree, Mr. Lower was a founding member of the direct lending business at Ares Management, which grew from $165 million in AUM at inception in 2004 to over $30.7 billion by 2016. He served on the investment committee for the firm’s flagship direct lending vehicle, Ares Capital Corporation. Prior to joining Ares in 2004, he was a member of the investment team at the Royal Bank of Canada where he focused on making senior and junior debt investments to private middle market companies across a wide variety of industries. He began his career in the Investment Banking division of Salomon Brothers/Citigroup. Mr. Lower graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University with a B.S. in Business Administration, Accounting and Finance. | 1 |
Name | Age | Background Information | Number of Companies in Fund Complex Overseen By Director | |||
James Roche | 62 | James Roche has served as the Chief Credit Officer and member of the Investment Committee of the Investment Manager since inception. Mr. Roche has been the Chief Credit Officer of Willow Tree since 2017. Mr. Roche has thirty years of experience in leveraged finance and has analyzed, originated and structured numerous transactions and served on several investment committees. Mr. Roche’s background also includes leading restructuring efforts at a number of large institutions. Prior to joining Willow Tree in February 2017, he was a Managing Director at GSO, Blackstone’s credit arm. While at Blackstone/GSO, he led the private origination and execution effort for the firm’s sub-advised business development company (“BDC”) platform, FS Investment Corp. and related funds, through its formative period. During his tenure, this platform grew to become the world’s largest manager of BDCs with $17.2 billion in AUM as of December 31, 2016. He previously held other senior roles at Blackstone/GSO, including as a Portfolio Manager for GSO’s CLO business. Before joining Blackstone/GSO, he was a member of the investment team at the Royal Bank of Canada from 2001 until 2005. Prior to his tenure at the Royal Bank of Canada, Mr. Roche held positions at Fitch Ratings, Inc., Nations Credit, and MetLife Capital. He graduated from the University of Connecticut with a B.A. in Economics. | 1 | |||
Independent Director | ||||||
Boris Onefater | 57 | Boris Onefater is a seasoned executive with over 35 years of investment management experience. Mr. Onefater has served as a Principle and Co-Founder of Stable Rock Solutions since 2022, an outsourcing firm dedicated to small and mid-sized businesses. He was the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Constellation Advisers LLC from 2008 to 2022, an investment advisory services business. Since he founded Constellation in 2008, Mr. Onefater has focused his efforts on working with alternative and traditional investment management clients, and assisting investors with their accounting, compliance, middle office, governance, due diligence and operational infrastructure needs. Previously Mr. Onefater served as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Dreman Value Management, a $20 billion asset management firm, and as Partner and National Hedge Company Director at Deloitte & Touche LLP, where he built and managed the firm’s investment management consulting practice. He currently serves on the board of Redwood Enhanced Income Corporation and has served on the board of Pine Grove Alternative Institutional Fund from 2013 to 2020. Mr. Onefater received his B.S. degree in Accounting and Finance at New York University and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York. | 1 | |||
Name | Age | Background Information | Number of Companies in Fund Complex Overseen By Director | |||
Jane Siebels | 64 | Jane Siebels has over 37 years of experience in investment management including positions with portfolio managers and founding her own investment company. She is the founder of Homer Technology, a patented technology that tracks secures, authenticates and retrieves valuables. She is also the founder of Siebels Asset Management Research, an open out-sourced platform for investment research developed over 15 years. She was the founder of Green Cay Asset Management that managed assets invested in global equities commodities and corporate bonds. She has served on boards of Blackstone Senior Floating Rate 2027 Term Fund, Blackstone Long-Short Credit Income Fund, Blackstone Strategic Credit 2027 Term Fund, and Blackstone Floating Rate Enhanced Income Fund since 2021. Ms. Siebels holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa, a masters from Thunderbird School of Global Management and a doctorate from University of St.Gallen. | 1 | |||
Todd Centurino | 50 | Todd Centurino has over 20 years of experience managing portfolios for institutions, non-profits, high-net worth individuals and family offices. Since 2019, Mr. Centurino has been a Senior Director of Investments and Head of Private Markets for the Memorial Hermann Health System, a Houston based hospital system with over $5 billion in assets. In the role, he is involved in all investment office matters and focuses on managing and overseeing the buildout of the systems private market allocation. From May 2017 to August 2019, Mr. Centurino served as Chief Investment Officer to New Capital Management, a registered investment advisor, where he had the responsibility for investment research, portfolio management, investment reporting, and trading. Previously, Mr. Centurino spent four years at Salient Partners, L.P., a wealth advisory and asset manager, where he was an acting Chief Information Officer for a $10 billion public pension plan. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Clemson University and an MBA from Rice University. | 1 |
Name | Age | Background Information | ||
Mark Klingensmith | 40 | Mark Klingensmith has served as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer since 2022. Mr. Klingensmith has served as the Chief Financial Officer at Willow Tree since 2020. Prior to joining Willow Tree, Mr. Klingensmith was a Senior Manager at Constellation Advisers LLC in their National Accounting and CFO Practice Group from May 2019 to December 2019. Prior to Constellation, for approximately eleven years, Mr. Klingensmith held various positions in the Financial Services Audit Practice at EisnerAmper LLP, including Senior Manager. Mr. Klingensmith holds a BS from the University at Buffalo in Business Administration, is a CFA Charterholder and a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of New York. | ||
Justin Lee | 40 | Justin Lee has served as Chief Compliance Officer and Secretary since 2023. Mr. Lee joined Willow Tree in 2023 and serves as the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Willow Tree. Prior to joining Willow Tree, Mr. Lee was a Director in the Legal & Compliance Department at BlackRock from July 2017 to July 2023, where he advised on legal and regulatory matters in connection with debt investments across BlackRock’s credit platform. Prior to BlackRock, Mr. Lee was an Associate General Counsel at Illumin Capital Management from May 2016 to June 2017. Prior to Illumin Capital Management, Mr. Lee was an associate in the Banking & Finance group at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP where he represented private equity sponsors, corporate borrowers and underwriters in various credit transactions. Mr. Lee is a member of the New York State Bar and earned a B.A. in both Economics and International Studies from The Johns Hopkins University and a J.D. from The George Washington Law School where he was a member of The George Washington Law Review. |
Name | Fees Earned or Paid in Cash by the Company(1) | Total Compensation from the Company | ||||
Independent Directors | ||||||
Boris Onefater | $28,750 | $28,750 | ||||
Jane Seibels | $25,000 | $25,000 | ||||
Todd Centurino | $26,875 | $26,875 | ||||
Interested Directors | ||||||
James Roche | None | None | ||||
Timothy Lower | None | None | ||||
Name of Beneficial Owner | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned(1) | Percentage of Class | Dollar Range of Equity Securities Beneficially Owned by Our Directors and Director Nominee (2) | ||||
Interested Directors: | |||||||
James Roche | 34 | * | $1- $10,000 | ||||
Timothy Lower | 34 | $1- $10,000 | |||||
Independent Directors: | |||||||
Boris Onefater | — | n/a | None | ||||
Jane Seibels | — | n/a | None | ||||
Todd Centurino | — | n/a | None | ||||
Executive Officers who are not Directors: | |||||||
Justin Lee | — | n/a | None | ||||
Mark Klingensmith | — | n/a | None | ||||
All Directors and Executive Officers as a Group (5 Persons) | 68 | * | |||||
1 | The material in this report is not “soliciting material,” is not deemed “filed” with the SEC, and is not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of the Company under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, whether made before or after the date hereof and irrespective of any general incorporation language in any such filing. | |
Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2024 | |
Audit Fees | $200,000.00 |
Audit Related Fees | 25,000.00 |
Tax Fees | 105,053.00 |
All Other Fees | 150,000.00 |
TOTAL FEES | $480,053.00 |
By order of the Board of Directors, | |
/s/ Justin Lee | |
Justin Lee | |
Chief Compliance Officer and Secretary |

