Developed Markets
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Xiao Song
Managing Director & Portfolio Manager – Emerging Markets
Mr. Xiao Song joined Contrarian in 2003 and is a Managing Director and the Portfolio Manager for Contrarian's Emerging Markets Fund strategy. Mr. Song has been a driving force behind Contrarian's emerging markets activities since the inception of the strategy in 2006. He is responsible for all emerging markets sourcing, investing and research efforts across the firm, and has served on numerous informal and ad-hoc creditor committees. Prior to joining Contrarian, from 2001 to 2003, Mr. Song was an Analyst in the Mergers & Acquisitions Investment Banking Group at Merrill Lynch & Co, where he performed detailed fundamental analysis on current and prospective client companies across all industries. Mr. Song received a BS in Finance from the University of Illinois. Mr. Song is fluent in Mandarin.
Jeff Bauer
Managing Director & Assistant Portfolio Manager – Emerging Markets
Mr. Bauer joined Contrarian in 2011 and serves as Managing Director and Assistant Portfolio Manager for the Emerging Markets Fund strategy. Since joining the firm in 2011, Mr. Bauer has focused exclusively on global emerging market opportunities, and is involved in all aspects of the investment process, including sourcing, research, diligence, and monitoring existing and potential investment opportunities across the portfolio. Mr. Bauer has extensive experience involving complex cross-border restructurings on both the corporate and sovereign level, mainly focused on Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. He has also participated in a number of restructurings utilizing court-supervised processes under US Chapter 11, US Chapter 15, UK Schemes of Arrangement, and French Sauvegarde, among others. Mr. Bauer graduated from Brown University Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude with a BA in International Relations and Economics. Mr. Bauer is proficient in Spanish.
David Fink, CFA
Managing Director – Emerging Markets
Mr. Fink joined Contrarian in 2019 and is a Managing Director. Mr. Fink focuses on distressed and special situation corporate opportunities globally and has led a number of the firm's sovereign and quasi-sovereign investments. Prior to joining Contrarian, from 2016 to 2018, Mr. Fink was an Analyst at Perry Creek Capital, where he specialized in distressed investments in Argentina and the energy and power sectors. From 2011 to 2016, Mr. Fink was an Investment Associate at Bridgewater, where he held various investment positions. Mr. Fink began his career as a Research Analyst specializing in emerging market sovereign debt and currencies. In his last role, he worked as a Senior Analyst on a team responsible for the oversight of Bridgewater's portfolio construction, risk controls, and trade management processes. Mr. Fink graduated from Dartmouth College Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with a BA in Economics, and played on the Men's Varsity Tennis Team. Mr. Fink is also a CFA charterholder.
Josh Weisser
Managing Director – Corporate and Emerging Credit
Mr. Weisser joined Contrarian in 2015 and is a Managing Director focusing on legal strategy and credit analysis. Mr. Weisser has over 10 years of experience as a restructuring/bankruptcy attorney, most recently with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP where he was an Associate in the Business Restructuring Group from 2009 to 2015. At Gibson Dunn, Mr. Weisser worked on a wide variety of assignments in the restructuring/bankruptcy arena, including representations of parties in the OSG, Arcapita, Borders, and Madoff cases. Prior to Gibson Dunn, he was an Associate at O'Melveny & Meyers, LLP from 2007 to 2009, and an Associate at Jones Day, LLP from 2005 to 2007. Mr. Weisser received his JD/MBA from Duke University, and a BA in Economics and History with Distinction from Cornell University.
Dacker Chen
Vice President – Emerging Markets
Mr. Chen joined Contrarian in 2021 as a Vice President. He is responsible for generating, analyzing, and monitoring distressed and special situation investment opportunities. Prior to Contrarian, Mr. Chen was a Senior Associate with Falcon Investment Advisors, an opportunistic credit manager. From 2015 to 2019, Mr. Chen worked at Macquarie Group's principal investment team, focusing on public and private investments across the capital structure globally. Mr. Chen began his career as an Analyst at McKinsey & Company and as an Investment Associate with Bridgewater Associates. Mr. Chen graduated from Tufts University magna cum laude with dual BA and MA degrees in International Relations and Quantitative Economics. Mr. Chen is fluent in Mandarin. Mr. Chen is also a CFA charterholder.
Annick Gnock Fah
Managing Director (Hong Kong) – Emerging Markets
Ms. Gnock Fah joined Contrarian in 2007. Ms. Gnock Fah is a Managing Director and leads the firm's Asia operations. She specializes in distressed and special situations investments in emerging markets, with a primary focus on Asia. Ms. Gnock Fah has led a number of complex restructurings, including cross-border China restructurings, and has served on a number of ad hoc creditors' committees. Ms. Gnock Fah began her career as an investment banking analyst at JPMorgan in the Consumer, Retail & Healthcare Group. Ms. Gnock Fah graduated from the University of Notre Dame Beta Gamma Sigma and summa cum laude with a BA in Business Administration and Finance, double majoring in East Asian Languages. Ms. Gnock Fah is also a member of the Emerging Markets Foundation, which is a not-for-profit organization. Ms. Gnock Fah speaks several languages, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka and French.
Richard Strasser
Mr. Strasser joined Contrarian in 2007 and is a Managing Director responsible for generating, researching and monitoring corporate investments in emerging markets with a primary focus on Brazil and the rest of Latin America. Mr. Strasser lived and worked in Sao Paulo, Brazil from 1998 to 2017, and is currently based in Greenwich while continuing to travel to Brazil regularly. Prior to joining Contrarian, from 2006 to 2007, Mr. Strasser was an attorney at the law firm of Sherman & Sterling in São Paulo, Brazil, where he was responsible for originating and executing cross-border financing transactions. From 1998 to 2004, he was an Executive Vice President at the technology firm Veritel Group in São Paulo, Brazil. From 1988 to1998, he was a principal for a family investment company with a focus on the turnaround of a real estate portfolio of more than 800,000 square feet of office and retail space in New York City. From 1987 to 1988, he worked in investment banking in the Financial Institutions Group at Merrill Lynch Capital Markets, originating and executing financing and M&A transactions. Mr. Strasser received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School, an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics, and an AB magna cum laude in Economics from Harvard College. Mr. Strasser is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, and French, and is proficient in Arabic.
Tim Lantz
Mr. Lantz joined Contrarian in 2008 and is a Trader for the Firm. Prior to joining Contrarian, he was a Fixed Income Operations Associate with JPMorgan Hedge Fund Services from 2007 to 2008. From 2006 to 2007, he was a Market Administrator at Tullet Prebon, an inter-dealer broker. Mr. Lantz received a BS from Sacred Heart University.
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