Speakers

Sofiya Kichkova
Managing director and chief accounting officer

Ares Management European Credit Business

Sofiya Kichkova has 20 years’ experience specializing in fund control and fund finance, leading operational change and driving process excellence in the credit, real estate, and private equity markets. She has been working with Ares Management for the past 12 years and is a key member of the credit leadership team providing financial, strategic and operational direction. Additionally, Sofiya is a committee member of the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA). 

Prior to joining Ares, Sofiya was an associate director at GlobeOp Financial Services, where she managed the daily operational activities in the Private Equity and Product Control Departments. Previously, she was a financial controller at Palmer Capital, a real estate investment management company. 

Sofiya holds a BS from the University of National and World Economy in accounting and control. She is also a fellow member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

Lida Sun
Director of business operations, private debt and loans

Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo)

Prior to joining AIMCo, Lida had twelve years of capital market experience from Jefferies International as business manager and head of product.

Lida holds a Master of Science in Mathematics Finance from the Imperial College (London).

Tim Hynes
Global head of credit research

Debtwire (an ION Analytics service)

Tim Hynes oversees detailed credit research on stressed, distressed, or restructuring companies.

With over 20 years of experience analysing distressed companies, Tim leads a team of analysts at Debtwire that provides same-day analysis of market-moving events, bankruptcy filings, and related court proceedings, valuation of distressed debt instruments, and recovery scenarios. His areas of expertise include private credit, distressed real estate, and retail trends.

Before joining Debtwire, Tim held senior leadership roles at several firms in the private credit industry, including Gleacher & Company, Loeb Capital Management, Cerberus Capital Management, and GE Capital.

Alessandra Fumarola
COO – Private Markets

M&G Investments

Alessandra Fumarola is chief operating officer for private markets at M&G Investments. Prior to that, Alessandra acted as head of the corporate trust business at M&G.

Alessandra’s experience over the past 25 years covers a wide range of products and transactions in the capital markets space. Alessandra joined M&G in 2018 from the Bank of New York Mellon where she spent 10 years covering different roles, most recently as head of the EMEA transaction management team.

Alessandra originally trained as a lawyer at Clifford Chance in the structured finance team and then moved to Dresdner Bank (now Commerzbank) in the EMEA securitisation and principle finance group, responsible for the structuring and origination of lending and structured products in the region.

Marion Buten
Managing director and chief operating officer

Blackstone’s European Credit and Insurance (BXCI) business

Marion Buten is a managing director and the chief operating officer for Blackstone’s European Credit and Insurance (BXCI) business. In this role, she focuses on business strategy, team management, as well as fund liquidity for the European direct lending strategies. 

In her prior roles at Blackstone, she was involved in the origination, structuring and monitoring of various European direct lending deals and was also a member of the European and US CLO franchise.

Before joining Blackstone in 2003, she worked at UBS as an Associate Director within the Leveraged Finance and Corporate Finance teams in Zurich, London and New York.

Chris Woodford
Chief operating officer and chief financial officer

Fintex Capital

Chris Woodford is COO & CFO at Fintex Capital, a UK-based private debt fund, responsible for the firm’s financial, operational, legal, and regulatory strategy. He oversees investor and fund portfolio reporting, ensuring strong governance and performance across the platform.

He brings over 20 years of senior experience in finance and operations, with a focus on real estate structuring and funding. He previously held leadership roles at HSBC, Deutsche Bank, and Standard Chartered (as global CFO for the real estate portfolio), and served as finance director at Mount Street LLP and Reditum Capital, leading a management buyout, supporting acquisitions, and strengthening core finance and treasury functions.

Benjamin Lamping
Founder and chief executive

Reframe Capital

Benjamin launched Reframe Capital in late 2020, having identified a clear and growing gap in the private markets industry for an investment solutions provider that can lead managers through the entire go-to-market process. He is a regular speaker at industry events and thought leadership contributor.

Benjamin has spent 20+ years in financial services, with 10+ years as a global product leader, building traditional and alternative investment platforms, launching products across the full asset class spectrum and securing in excess of $18bn of capital for some of the world’s largest asset management firms, including Winton Capital and Nuveen.

Prior to that, Benjamin was a member of investment bank structuring and solutions teams with J.P. Morgan, Merrill Lynch and HSBC, after starting his career in legal practice with Allen & Overy LLP and then a role as senior funds counsel with RBS/ABN AMRO.

Benjamin is also a proud patron of the Salmon Centre, a youth charity in Bermondsey, South East London, which empowers young people to fulfil their potential and contribute positively to their community.

Steve Judge
Motivational speaker

As an award-winning, professional speaker, author, coach, and workshop facilitator, he shares his journey that took him from wheelchair to world champion and beyond in business.

What sets Steve apart is his ability to connect with audiences on a deep, relatable level. This distinguishes him, making his presentations a transformative experience that leave an indelible mark and a catalyst towards achievement at an executive level.