Income done differently

Brad Alvarez

Brad Alvarez joins Variant with experience underwriting commercial loans. Prior to Variant, Brad worked for JP Morgan in the Investment Bank as a credit analyst for the natural resources team, and then later as a credit associate for the power and utilities team. He received his BS in Finance and Accounting from Oregon State University in 2014.

Erik Baun

Erik Baun has five years of expertise in alternative assets and financial services. Before joining Variant, he led the portfolio valuation group at Carta (formerly eShares, Inc.), specializing in the valuation of privately held securities, including common and preferred equity, warrants, and hybrid securities for venture capital and private equity funds. Erik holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Oregon.

Lauren Bean, CPA

Lauren Bean is a CPA with 7+ years of experience in financial reporting, risk management, and compliance. In her previous role as Chief Financial Officer at Sortis LLC, Lauren oversaw all financial aspects of the company, including investment fund strategy, tax compliance, and treasury management. Lauren is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Portland State University. She is also a member of the Oregon Society of CPAs.

Louis Catone, CAIA®

Louis joins Variant with over 12 years of investment industry experience. Prior to Variant, Louis was a Sales Director at Wellesley Asset Management in Boston, MA. Previously, he served as an Associate Director at John Hancock Investments and a Sales Associate at Manning & Napier Advisors. Louis earned his BS in Business from the State University of New York at Geneseo and has been a CAIA charterholder since 2020.

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Kristi Combs

Kristi Combs is the Chief Operating Officer at Variant and has over 30 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Variant, she was a Managing Director and Head of Client Relations for Greycourt & Co., Inc, an investment advisor serving ultra high net worth families. She also previously worked at CTC | myCFO as a Director, and before CTC was a key Accounts Manager for Schwab Institutional. Kristi has her BS in Business from Miami University of Ohio.

Karina Convers

Karina Convers joins Variant with over 10 years of experience in the industry. Prior to Variant, Karina focused on distressed debt investments at Armory Capital, initially as an associate on the investment banking team, and later as a senior credit analyst in the distressed credit fund. Before Armory, Karina worked in the financial services industry with US Bank, Citigroup, and Capital One. Karina received her BS in Finance from the University of Florida and her MBA from the University of Chicago.

Bob Elsasser

Bob Elsasser is a principal and co-founder of Variant with over 31 years of experience in the industry. Prior to founding Variant, Bob was the Director of Fixed Income Research at CTC | myCFO. Before joining the organization in 2006, Bob was the Senior Vice President of Fixed Income and Foreign Exchange at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Bob received his BA in Finance from the University of Washington and his MBA in Finance from New York University.

Curt Fintel, CFA

Curt Fintel is a principal and co-founder of Variant with over 25 years of experience in the industry. Prior to founding Variant, Curt was the Chief Investment Strategist at CTC | myCFO. Before joining the organization in 1996 , Curt worked as a computer consultant for Iowa State University’s College of Business. Curt is a member of the CFA Society of Portland, and has been a CFA charterholder since 1999. He received a BS and MS in Economics from Iowa State University and constructed his graduate thesis on the empirical analysis of alternative option valuations.

Kai Golden

Kai Golden joins Variant with 2 years of experience in alternative products and business management. Prior to his position at Variant, Kai co-founded rideBelay, a financial services startup serving the gig economy, where he oversaw venture capital fundraising, product structuring, growth, and general management. Kai received his BA in International Relations with a minor in Economics from Tulane University.

J.B. Hayes, CFA

J.B. Hayes is a principal and co-founder of Variant with over 21 years of experience in the industry. Prior to founding Variant, J.B. was the Director of Private Markets at CTC | myCFO. Before joining the organization in 2001, J.B. was with the Private Client Group at Merrill Lynch. J.B. is a member of the CFA Society of Portland, and has been a CFA charterholder since 2004. He received a BS in Business with a focus on finance from the University of Oregon.

Edwin Huang

Edwin Huang joins Variant with 4 years of advisory and operation experience in the financial services industry. Prior to his position at Variant, Edwin worked in PwC’s Transaction Advisory group providing financial due diligence services to private equity and corporate clients. Edwin received his BS in both Accounting and Business Administration from the University of Southern California. 

Jordan Jenkins

Jordan Jenkins joins Variant with a variety of experience in the financial services industry, with time spent under brokerage firms and investment management groups. Jordan received his BA in Economics from Willamette University and his MBA in Finance and Investments from the Atkinson Graduate School of Management.

Tom Karwacki, CFA

Tom Karwacki joins Variant with over 10 years of experience with credit investments.  Prior to Variant, Tom focused on special situations investing in Wafra’s Alternative Investment Division. Before Wafra, Tom worked on the portfolio management team at the liquid alts firm PAAMCO-Prisma and started his career providing advisory services in PwC’s Financial Markets group. Since 2013, Tom has been a CFA charterholder and held the FRM designation.  He has a BS in Finance and Accounting from Georgetown University and his MBA from the University of Chicago.

Courtney Knight

Courtney Warren joins Variant with experience in Business Development at the Alternatives and Digital Assets Firm, NYDIG. Prior to that, Courtney built the foundation of her career at J.P. Morgan in Equity Derivatives. Courtney received her BA in Law, Letters, and Society from the University of Chicago, where she also competed on the women’s tennis team.

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Joey Kok

Joey Kok supports operations at Variant and has a variety of experience in the financial industry. Prior to Variant, Joey was most recently an operation officer at Bell Potter, an Australian brokerage firm.  Before this role, she was a project financial controller at HuaWei Technologies and fund accounting specialist at JP Morgan Chase. Joey earned her BS in Finance and MS in Finance from CUNY Baruch College in 2015 and 2020.

Kevin Kraeger, CFA

Kevin Kraeger joins Variant with over 9 years of investment experience. Prior to Variant, Kevin focused on opportunistic credit and specialty finance at Vida Capital. Prior to Vida, Kevin had worked on the portfolio management team at liquid alts firm PAAMCO-Prisma, and as a consultant at Booz Allen and Greenwich Strategy. Kevin started his career as a submarine officer in the US Navy. Kevin received his BA from the University of Pennsylvania and his MA and MBA from Columbia University.

Lorena Ledesma

Lorena Ledesma has six years of expertise in the finance industry. Prior to joining Variant, she worked as a Finance Manager at Aspiria, a Mexican SME fintech company that provides working capital solutions. During her time at Aspiria, Lorena led the Finance and Administration department, and played a primary role in negotiating, structuring and securing debt and equity from institutional and private investors for the company. She received her Bachelor of Administration and Finance degree with specialization in Corporate Finance, and also holds a Master’s of Financial Controllership degree from the Universidad Panamericana.

Brian Park

Brian Park is general counsel of Variant with over 12 years of experience in the industry. He is also a member of Variant’s Management Committee. Prior to Variant, Brian was an attorney in the New York office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, where he represented private equity sponsors and registered funds in connection with customized debt and structuring solutions. Brian received his BA in International Relations (Hons.) from New York University and his JD from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.

Corey Perlmutter, CFA

Corey Perlmutter joins Variant with over 15 years of investment industry experience. Prior to Variant, Corey was an underwriter in CIBC’s Innovation Banking group. Corey’s previous experience includes Hercules Capital, Point72 Asset Management and JP Morgan Chase. Corey received his BS from Tufts University, his MS from Columbia University and his MBA from the University of Chicago. Corey has been a CFA charterholder since 2013.

Lily Perryman

Lily Perryman joins Variant with experience in financial services and with time spent at a biotechnology company. Lily received her BA in Environmental Science from the University of Southern California, where she also competed on the women’s soccer team, and her MBA from the University of Georgia.

Morgan Pierce

Morgan Pierce joins Variant with experience in the financial service industry.  Prior to Variant, Morgan worked in the loan and credit finance department at California Business Bank.  Morgan earned his BA in Economics from Chapman University’s Arroyos school of Business in 2020. 

Sean Plotnick

Sean Plotnick joins Variant with experience in the financial services and government contracting industries. Prior to his position at Variant, Sean worked on business development initiatives within the federal finance space at Maximus Federal. Sean received his BA in Statistics and Economics (with concentrations in econometrics and finance respectively) from The University of Virginia in 2022.

Daljinder Singh

Daljinder Singh joins Variant with experience in Data Infrastructure and Analytics. Prior to Variant, Daljinder has worked with various firms helping them set up Analytics infrastructure to be able to analyze the company’s processes and performance quickly and easily. Daljinder has worked with firms in various domains looking to manage their operational data and get actionable insights out of it. Daljinder earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Applications from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University.

Jordan Skipper

Jordan is an operations associate with Variant. Prior to joining the team, he worked in business valuations and public accounting at Capstone CPA. Jordan started his career as an infantry officer in the US Army. He received his BA from Oregon State University and is currently finishing up his MBA at his alma mater.

Robert Thomas

Robert joins Variant with experience in financial services and investor relations. Prior to his position at Variant, Robert worked in investor relations consulting at Alpha Investor Relations. Robert received his BA in Economics from The University of Chicago in 2023.

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Ryan Warren, CFA, CFP®

Ryan Warren leads investor relations, marketing and business developments for Variant and has over 13 years of investment industry experience. Prior to Variant, Ryan was most recently an Investment Consultant at NEPC, LLC. This role followed spending nearly ten years at CTC | myCFO in a similar capacity. Ryan earned his BS in Business from the University of Oregon. He has been a CFA charterholder since 2011 and a CFP professional since 2013.

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Scott Zaleski

Scott Zaleski joins Variant with over 15 years of investment experience. Prior to Variant, Scott focused on opportunistic credit and private investment opportunities in dislocated markets, with Chicago Atlantic Group. Previously, he served as an investment professional and portfolio manager concentrating on complex securities and alternative investments, with a quantitative and fundamental analysis approach, at Fairway Capital. Scott began his career at Infinium Capital Management, managing high return on capital derivatives strategies, serving both as a cross asset-class portfolio manager and sector head. Scott received his BA in Finance from Michigan State University and MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Lisa Zhu, CPA

Lisa Zhu manages operations at Variant and serves as Chief Compliance Officer. Prior to Variant, Lisa was an experienced Assurance Senior at Delap CPA. During her 5 years at Delap, Lisa worked primarily on assurance projects in the financial institutions and healthcare industries. She received her BS in Accounting from the University of Oregon with a minor in economics.

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