Meet the Team
Investment Team
Tim Ivers, CFA, Founder and CEO
Mr. Ivers has been active in the illiquid secondary fund market since 2010 when he co-founded Dakota Capital to directly target the space. He has led the due diligence, negotiation, and execution of over 700 individual transactions. Mr. Ivers is a CFA Charterholder, a CPA (Australia) member and received a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Queensland.
Grant Gillespie, CFA, Partner
Mr. Gillespie joined Warana at its founding in 2017 and leads the New York office, Investment Team and spans both the Secondary and Lending strategies. He has led and completed over 250 illiquid secondary transactions, including purchases, loans and other bespoke solutions. Before Warana, Mr. Gillespie worked at a New York City based asset manager that focused on the US residential real estate markets. He began his career at Merrill Lynch in the Institutional Client Coverage Group focusing on financings for financial institutions. Mr. Gillespie is a CFA Charterholder, received an MBA from Columbia Business School and has a Bachelor of Arts in History from Duke University.
Bjorg Klem, CAIA, Managing Director
Prior to joining Warana Capital in 2020, Ms Klem spent 16 years at LumX Asset Management, a global fund of hedge fund provider. Since 2008, Ms. Klem was exclusively focused workout situations, unwinding portfolios of illiquid and distressed hedge funds and side pockets and monitoring of such holdings across the firm. She received a Bachelor of Science in Economics with Economic History from the London School of Economics and Political Science and is a CAIA Charterholder.
Mark Downey, Vice President
Prior to joining Warana Capital in 2023, Mr. Downey spent over seven years at BlackRock, most recently covering private market investments (private equity, private credit, real estate, infrastructure) and investment manager research for the firm’s multi-asset and OCIO clients. He began his career within the institutional client service department at BlackRock. Mr. Downey received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Richmond.
Robin Dong, Investment Analyst
Prior to joining Warana Capital in 2023, Ms. Dong worked at ASG as a Portfolio Management Associate, covering VC, Art Funds and various other investments. She brings five years of corporate finance experience before her tenure at ASG.
Ms. Dong holds an MS in Financial Risk Management from the University of Connecticut and a BA in Finance from Shanghai University.
Origination
Dan Nolan, Managing Director, Head of Origination
Prior to joining Warana Capital in 2023, Mr. Nolan was Head of Private Markets at Tradition Group where he specialised in advising institutional investors on non-traditional and distressed secondary situations. Prior to this he was a Managing Director and EMEA Head of Secondary Market Advisory at Duff & Phelps. Mr. Nolan received a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and a Master of Arts in Economics from University College Dublin (UCD).
Finance & Operations Team
Sun Chin, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Operating Officer
Before joining Warana Capital as Controller in 2017, Ms. Chin was Director of Finance & Operations at Conifer Financial Services. She began her career at State Street Bank & Trust Company. Ms. Chin received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition Science, with an emphasis in Bio-Chemistry, from the University of California, Davis.
Ruchama Bin-Nun, Vice President
Ms. Bin-Nun is a CPA and joined Warana in 2021 from Anchin, Block & Anchin with extensive experience as an Audit Manager for investment funds. Prior to that, she was with PwC in the firm’s Alternative Investment Funds Group. Ms. Bin-Nun received a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from Queens College, City University of New York and is a licensed Certified Public Account with the State of New York.
Andrew Chen, Vice President
Prior to joining Warana Capital in 2021, Mr. Chen was a Tax Senior at Ernst & Young. He began his career at Conifer Financial Services in the tax department. Mr. Chen received a Master of Taxation and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from The State University of New York at Binghamton.
Brandon Lee, Vice President
Before joining Warana Capital in 2022, Mr. Lee worked at Crescent Capital, an alternative credit fund/BDC on the multi-strategy side. Prior to that, he worked for a distressed debt private equity firm and a FX quantitative hedge fund. Mr. Lee received his degree in Business Economics from the University of California, Irvine and earned an Accounting Certificate through the University of California, Los Angeles.
Vita Pan, Analyst
Prior to joining Warana Capital in 2023, Ms. Pan spent her career in Hong Kong at asset management firms varying in size, including boutique firms like Full House Asset Management Company Limited as well as China’s largest mutual fund, E Fund Management (Hong Kong) Co., Limited. Ms. Pan received her Master of Finance in Investment Management from Hong Kong Polytechnic University and her Bachelor of Arts in International Economics and Trade from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.