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Fixed Income Team

James B. Kauffmann
Head of Fixed Income

Global Rates

U.S. Credit

Quantitative Research and Portfolio Analytics

Senior Loan

Chris Diaz, CFA
Allison Weed

Tanweer Akram, Ph.D.

Ernie Tang, FSA

Andrew Higley, CFA

Esther Yang, CFA

Sara Sullivan, CFA

Chris Daniel, CFA

Greg Jacobs, CFA
Kurt Kringelis, CFA, CPA, J.D.
Travis King, CFA

Anil Katarya, CFA

Todd Schomberg, CFA

Mike Hyman

Shannon Servaes, CFA, CPA

Matt Brill, CFA

Spencer Phua, CFA

Fitz Wickham, CFA

Corinne Krincek, CFA

J.D. Rieber, CFA

Rob Turner

Cliff Andrus

Michael A. Mata
Ali-Antoun Nakhle, CFA
Brian Timberlake, Ph.D.
Raj Makhija
Matthew Diamond

Dan Norman
Jeff Bakalar
Curtis Lee
Robert Wilson
Michel Prince, CFA
Chuck LeMieux, CFA
Brian Horton
Jim Essert
Mohamed Basma, CFA
Mark Haak, CFA
Ted Haag
Jason Esplin
Stan Zou, CFA
Kelly Byrne
Josh Mahon
Joseph Laguna
Rob Chambers
Romain Catois
Kris Trocki

Structured Finance

High Yield

Emerging Markets

Money Market

Christine Hurtsellers, CFA

Katy Wojciechowski
Jeff Dutra

Justin McWhorter

Denis P. Jamison, CFA

Roseann G. McCarthy
Tim McCrady, CFA
Dave Goodson
Jake Lowery

Ripal Patel

Anthony Routh

Peter Guan, Ph.D.

Ken Haim, CFA

Paul Chen, CFA

Yingli Zhu, CFA

Ed Groote, CFA

Tracy McCullough

Virma Allen

Tao Tang

Dan Doyle

Randall Parrish, CFA
Robert Stiles, CFA

Banu Elizondo

Scott A. Frost, CFA
Jeff Nicholson
Rick Cumberledge

Gorky Urquieta
Daniel Eustaquio

Marcelo Assalin

Ken Hessel, CFA

David Yealy
Todd Bates, CFA
Aprille Johnson

Portfolio Specialists and Implementation

Managed Accounts

Chief of Staff

Sean Banai

Cynthia Dempsey, CFA, CPA
Albert "Bud" Hancock III
Bob Kase, CFA

Richard Kilbride
Karen Cronk
Jeffrey Boundy
Robert Schonbrunn

Carlos Guillen

Carlos Guillen

James Kauffmann
Head of Fixed Income

Jim Kauffmann is the Head of Fixed Income for ING Investment Management. Under his leadership assets managed by his group have grown to over $40 billion in over two dozen strategies that include hedge funds, currency overlay, and global bond funds. He is the portfolio manager for several of ING’s flagship funds. In 1996 he developed ING’s proprietary valuation algorithms, the investment methodology used to identify value in fixed income markets. Prior to joining ING in 1996, he was a Vice President and senior portfolio manager at Alfa Investments Inc. He began his career in 1986 in the capital markets securities group of Drexel Burnham Lambert where he was responsible for developing fixed income strategies for clients. Jim has over 21 years of investment experience and received his B.S. in industrial management from Purdue University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. He is a frequent commentator for several news organizations, including “The Wall Street Journal,” “The Financial Times,” “Barron’s,” “Credit Magazine,” “Financial Advisor,” and is also a featured speaker at various industry conferences.

Todd Bates, CFA
Portfolio Manager, Money Market

Todd Bates is an Assistant Portfolio Manager for all of the ING Money Market Funds and several cash management accounts. He has over 11 years of investment experience. Prior to joining ING Investment Management, he was associate director for taxable money market research at Evergreen Institutional Asset Management. He has also held analysts positions with Mariner Post-Acute Network, Inc. and ABN AMRO Bank. He received his B.A. in political science and certificate in market and management studies from Duke University. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Chris Daniel, CFA

Portfolio Manager

Investment Grade Credit

Chris Daniel is a Portfolio Manager with seven years of investment experience. He is responsible for the investment-grade component of separately managed institutional accounts, mutual funds, and several proprietary portfolios. Prior to joining ING Investment Management, he was a portfolio manager with The Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System. Chris began his career with Jumper Securities. He received a B.S. in business administration from the University of Tennessee. Chris also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Cynthia Dempsey, CFA
Senior Portfolio Specialist

Cynthia Dempsey is a Senior Portfolio Specialist with over 15 years of investment experience, which includes designing and implementing portfolios. Previously, Cynthia consulted to ERISA clients for Wachovia (then First Union). Her earlier experience includes work as an analyst for both Goldman Sachs' Equity Division and Calibre Financial Securities, a boutique fixed income manager. She earned a B.S. in accounting from the University of Alabama and is a Certified Public Accountant and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Chris Diaz, CFA
Senior Portfolio Manager, Interest Rate Strategy

Chris Diaz is a Senior Portfolio Manager with over nine years of investment experience and is primarily responsible for the Treasury and agency securities component of ING Investment Management’s institutional, mutual fund and proprietary portfolios. Prior to joining ING Investment Management in 2000, Chris was a fixed income portfolio analyst for SunTrust Equitable Securities Corporation. He received a B.S. in finance from the University of South Carolina and M.B.A. from Emory University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Jorge Espinoza, CFA
Emerging Debt Specialist, Latin America focus

Jorge Espinoza is a Research Analyst responsible for the analysis of Latin American Credits (countries and corporates), Latin American Currencies and Local Fixed Income, research and recommendations. He joined ING Investment Management in 2004, and has 11 years of investment experience. Previously, he was a Pension Fund Portfolio Manager at ING AFP Santa Maria, Chile. He was responsible for managing more than $5 billion in a global balanced Pension Fund Portfolio, as well as asset decisions, and was a member of the Investment Committee. Jorge received his B.A. degree in corporate finance in 1996 from the Catholic University of Chile. He also completed an M.B.A. with a specialization in investments in 2001. He has been a Chartered Financial Analyst designation holder since 2006.

Daniel Eustaquio
Emerging Debt Specialist, Latin America focus

Daniel Eustaquio joined ING Investment Management in October 1998 and has 20 years of investment experience. He is a Senior Portfolio Manager responsible for managing emerging markets portfolios. Previously, he was at DEKS Management and Banco Rio de la Plata. Daniel attended Northwestern University where he received a B.S. in mechanical engineering and an M.B.A. (Kellogg).

Scott Frost, CFA
Senior Credit Analyst, High Yield

Scott Frost is a member of the high yield fixed income research team, covering the gaming, lodging, homebuilding, technology, health care, and finance sectors with over 14 years of investment experience. Prior to joining ING Investment Management, he was a high yield analyst at PNC Capital. Scott received a B.S. in business administration from Bowling Green and M.S.I.A. from Carnegie Mellon University. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Bud Hancock
Head of Stable Value and Senior Portfolio Specialist

Bud Hancock is a Senior Portfolio Specialist and Head of Stable Value. He has over 20 years of investment experience. Prior to his current role, Bud was head of product development. Before joining ING Investment Management in 1997, he was head of fixed income at Banque Indosuez. Earlier, he was with Westdeutsche Landesbank with various capital market responsibilities. He began his career at Manufacturer's Hanover Bank. Bud received a B.A. in economics from the University of Vermont and an M.B.A. from the American Graduate School of International Management.

Ken Hessel, CFA
Senior Analyst, Emerging Market

Ken Hessel is a Senior Analyst on the Global Emerging Markets Debt team with 12 years of investment experience. He focuses on non-sovereign fixed income investments within emerging markets. Prior to joining Global EMD, he was responsible for bank, finance and broker credit research for ING’s Proprietary Fixed Income group. Before joining ING Investment Management in 2004, Ken covered bank and finance companies as a Research Analyst and Vice President at Trusco Capital Management in Atlanta. Ken holds a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Georgia and an M.B.A. from Goizueta Business School of Emory University. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Greg Jacobs, CFA
Senior Portfolio Manager, Investment Grade

Greg Jacobs has over 12 years of investment experience and is a member of the investment grade team. Prior to joining ING Investment Management in 1998, Greg was an associate portfolio manager at Equitable Investment Services. He received a B.A. in economics from Depauw University and M.B.A. from the University of Illinois. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Denis Jamison
Portfolio Manager

Denis P. Jamison is a specialist in government, corporate and municipal bonds and is responsible for GNMA portfolio management at ING Investment Management. He has over 35 years investment experience. Before joining ING in 2000, he was senior vice president and director of fixed income investment strategy at Lexington Mutual Funds. He joined Lexington in 1981. Before Lexington, Denis spent nine years at Arnold Bernhard & Company, an investment counseling and financial services organization. At Bernhard he was a vice president supervising the security analyst staff and managing investment portfolios. He is a graduate of the City College of New York with a B.A. degree in economics. He has received the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts.

Aprille Johnson
Portfolio Manager, Money Market

Aprille Johnson has over 18 years of investment experience and a Portfolio Manager on the money market desk. Prior to assuming her current responsibilities, she was head of U.S. equity trading. Before joining ING Investment Management in 1998, Aprille was with CIBC and Kidder Peabody. She received a B.A. in chemical engineering technology from Trident College.

Anil Katarya, CFA
Senior Portfolio Manager, Investment Grade Credit

Anil Katarya is a Senior Portfolio Manager with ING Investment Management’s investment grade team. He has over nine years of investment experience. Prior to joining ING Investment Management in 2000, Anil was a financial analyst for Mirant Inc. He received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Kurukshetra University, India and an M.B.A. from Georgia State University. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Travis King
Portfolio Manager, Investment Grade Credit

Travis King is a Portfolio Manager with seven years of investment experience. He is responsible for the investment-grade component of separately managed institutional accounts, mutual funds, and several proprietary portfolios. Prior to joining ING Investment Management he was a senior fixed income analyst with Reams Asset Management. Travis received his B.B.A. from James Madison University and M.B.A. from Memorial University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Corinne Krincek
Credit Analyst, Investment Grade Credit

Corinne Krincek is a Credit Analyst on the investment grade fixed income research team and has 10 years experience in the investment industry. She is responsible for research in the telecom and media sectors. Prior to joining ING Investment Management in June 2006, she held various positions at Moody’s Investor’s Service. For three years she monitored and maintained credit ratings for telecommunication companies, provided business risk assessment and monitored changes in credit quality. Before that she was a market research associate focused on syndicated loan ratings. Her experience also includes three years at Mizuho as assistant vice president in the Syndication Department "supporting primary and secondary trading activity as well as" coordinating credit derivative transactions and four years as an economist at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis. Corinne holds a B.S. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, a Masters of International Business from the University of South Carolina and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. She has also received the Moody’s Corporate Credit Training Certification.

Kurt Kringelis, CFA
Senior Portfolio Manager, Investment Grade

Kurt Kringelis has 11 years of investment experience and is a member of the investment grade team. Prior to joining ING Investment Management in 1998, Kurt was at Equitable Investment Services. He received his B.S. degree in finance, M.B.A., and Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois. Kurt is a Certified Public Accountant and also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Jake Lowery
Analyst, Investment Grade

Jake Lowery is an Analyst on the portfolio management team for investment grade corporates. He is responsible for assisting portfolio managers with research, reporting, and data analysis. Jake joined ING Investment Management in May 2006. He began as an intern in May 2004 and for a second internship in 2005. He received a B.A. in economics with honors from Vanderbilt University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst level two candidate.

Raj Makhija
Quantitative Analyst, Quantitative Risk Management

Raj Makhija is an Analyst on the quantitative risk management team. Raj holds a B.Eng . in computer engineering from the University of Bombay, India and a M.S. in quantitative and computational finance from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to joining ING Investment Management in May 2005, Raj was a market risk analyst for SunTrust Capital Markets Inc.

Jose Marquez
Portfolio Manager, Synthetic CDO

Jose Marquez is a Portfolio Manager responsible for managing the synthetic CDO portfolios for ING Investment Management. Prior to joining ING Investment Management in September 2007, he worked for Deerfield Capital Management as a Portfolio Manager/Quantitative Analyst, where among other things he was responsible for managing synthetic CDO tranches. Jose was also involved with the quantitative analysis and development of a credit derivatives product company. His previous experience includes positions at ABN AMRO Bank and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in the area of quantitative risk management. Jose received an M.B.A. from the University of Miami and a M.S. in financial mathematics from the University of Chicago.

Michael Mata
Head of Quantitative Risk Management

Michael Mata is Head of Quantitative Risk Management for the fixed income group, responsible for the design and development of sophisticated risk models and their application in the portfolio construction process. Michael has over 18 years of experience and joined ING Investment Management in 2004 from Putnam Investments where he was the senior risk manager for fixed income portfolios. His previous experience includes risk management for fixed income derivative and bond arbitrage trading at Lehman Brothers. He earned a B.S. in finance from Florida International University and an M.B.A. from DePaul University.

Roseann McCarthy
Portfolio Manager

Roseann McCarthy is responsible for the management of the ING GNMA Income Fund. She has over 10 years of investment management experience. Prior to joining ING Investment Management in 2000, Roseann held similar responsibilities at Lexington Mutual Funds. She joined Lexington in 1990. She has a B.A. from Hofstra University and an M.B.A. from Seton Hall University.

Tim McCrady, CFA
Portfolio Manager

Tim McCrady is a Portfolio Manager in Structured Finance and has 17 years of investment experience. Since joining ING Investment Management in 1998, he has managed collateralized debt obligations and asset-backed securities and has also been involved in Product Development. Previously he was a portfolio manager at Banc One Capital Corporation and an asset-backed securities analyst at Banc One Corporation. Tim received his B.S. in business administration from The Ohio State University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Kevin Moose
Research Analyst, Mortgage-backed Securities

Kevin Moose is a Research Analyst on the mortgage-backed securities team. Since joining ING Investment Management in 1999, he has held both actuarial and risk management positions. Kevin earned his B.S. in mathematics from Southern Polytechnic State University.

Ali-Antoun Nakhle
Portfolio Construction Analyst

Ali-Antoun Nakhle joined ING Investment Management in March 2007. He has over seven years of investment experience and was previously a risk and performance analyst for fixed income portfolios at Putnam Investments. Prior to that, he was a consultant in the risk management division of California Public Employees' Retirement System. He began his career at Accenture as a junior analyst. He received a Bachelor of Science and Masters of Science degree in electrical and communications engineering from the Ecole Centrale Paris. He gained a Masters of Science degree from Stanford University. He also holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Jeff Nicholson
Senior Credit Analyst, High Yield

Jeff Nicholson is a member of the high yield fixed income research team covering the metal, paper, energy, mining, packaging and transportation sectors. He has nine years of investment experience. Prior to joining ING Investment Management in 2001, he was a high yield analyst at PNC Capital. Jeff received a B.S. in management from West Virginia Wesleyan College and an M.B.A. from Pennsylvania State University.

Luis Olguin
Senior Credit Analyst, Investment Grade Credit

Luis Olguin is a Senior Credit Analyst covering the oil and gas industry for both investment grade and high yield portfolios. Luis has five years of investment experience. He began his career at ING in 2002 as a trading assistant for the investment-corporate team. Luis received a B.B.A. in finance from Emory University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Randall Parrish, CFA
Portfolio Manager

Randall Parrish is a High Yield Portfolio Manager with over 14 years of investment experience. For the past 6 years, Randy has been a senior analyst on the high yield team focused on the media and retail/consumer sectors. Prior to joining ING Investment Management in 2001, he was a corporate banker in leveraged finance with SunTrust Bank and predecessors to Bank of America. Randy received a B.B.A. in business administration from the University of Georgia. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Bill Peck, CFA
Senior Credit Analyst, Investment Grade Credit

Bill Peck is a Senior Credit Analyst on the fixed income research team, covering transportation, basic industry and industrials with 16 years of investment experience. Prior to joining ING Investment Management in 2001, he was a fixed income analyst at First Union National Bank of North Carolina and held investment analyst and mutual fund administrator positions at Boston Security Counselors. He began his career as a portfolio accountant at State Street Bank. He received a B.S. in finance from Babson College and an M.B.A. from Suffolk University. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

J.D. Rieber, CFA
Senior Credit Analyst

J.D. Rieber joined ING Investment Management in May 2007 as a Senior Credit Analyst on the high yield fixed income research team, covering the consumer and retail sectors. Prior to joining ING, he held analysts positions with AEGON USA Investment Management and Principal Global Investors. He received a B.A. in Finance from University of Northern Iowa and an M.B.A. in Finance from University of Iowa Tippie School of Management. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Todd Schomberg, CFA
Portfolio Manager, Investment Grade Credit

Todd Schomberg is a Portfolio Manager for ING Investment Management's investment grade team. He has 7 years of investment experience. Prior to joining ING Investment Management, Todd worked as a Senior Fixed Income Investment Analyst for Wells Capital Management. Todd received a B.S. degree in Finance and Economics from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and an M.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Brian Timberlake
Quantitative Analyst, Quantitative Risk Management

Brian Timberlake joined ING Investment Management in 2003. Brian received a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Maryland, M.S. in quantitative and computational finance from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Gorky Urquieta
Global Head Emerging Markets Debt

Gorky Urquieta, head of the Emerging Market Debt Team since May 2007, is responsible for global emerging market debt portfolios. Prior to becoming head, he was Deputy Head of the EMD team since 2002, with broad asset allocation, research and trading responsibilities. Gorky joined ING Investment Management as a member of the Emerging Markets Debt team based in Atlanta in June 2000. He joined ING in 1997 as a member a member of Emerging Market Investors, a hedge fund manager affiliated with ING Furman Selz Asset Management. His experience there included analysis of sovereign and corporate bonds and loans, local currency investments and equities. Previously with Dart Container Corporation, he formed part of a research and trading team active in emerging and developed markets. Gorky received a masters degree in Finance from the University of Wisconsin in 1993.

Allison Weed
Analyst, Interest Rate Strategy

Allison Weed is an Analyst on the fixed income interest rate strategy team, responsible for the Treasury and agency securities component of ING's institutional, mutual fund, and proprietary portfolios. Allison joined ING Investment Management in 2005. She received her B.A. in economics from Vanderbilt University.

Fitz Wickham, CFA
Credit Analyst, Investment Grade Credit

Fitz Wickham has 18 years of credit and investment experience and is a member of the investment grade fixed income research team. His coverage responsibilities include electricity and natural gas utilities, project finance, midstream energy, REITS and tobacco. Prior to joining the Investment Grade team, Fitz spent six years with ING’s private placement group, where he managed privately negotiated investments in the energy, utility, banking/brokerage and project finance sectors. Prior to joining ING, Fitz was a corporate banking relationship manager with Wachovia Securities where he was responsible for credit underwriting and corporate finance transactions for clients in a wide range of industries. Fitz holds an M.B.A. with a finance concentration from the Freeman School of Business at Tulane University and a B.S. in Commerce from the McIntire School at the University of Virginia. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Katy Wojciechowski
Senior Portfolio Manager, Mortgage-backed Securities

Katy Wojciechowski is Senior Portfolio Manager primarily responsible for the mortgage-backed securities/collateralized mortgage obligations component of ING Investment Management's institutional and mutual fund portfolios. She joined ING in 1996 and has over 18 years of investment experience. Previously, she was mortgage strategist with First Union Capital Management Securities and a senior trader at Household International. Katy received a B.S. in finance and B.A. in economics from Drake University.

David Yealy
Senior Portfolio Manager, Money Market

David Yealy has over 21 years of investment experience and is responsible for managing the ING money market mutual funds and cash management accounts. Prior to joining ING Investment Management in 2004, he was a managing director and fixed income portfolio manager with Trusco Capital Management where he was responsible for managing over $9 billion of assets under management. He received a B.A. in economics from Wake Forest University.

Rick Kilbride
Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager

Rick Kilbride has 26 years of fixed income investment experience. He joined ING Investment Management's predecessor firm Furman Selz in 2001 as head of fixed income. Upon integration into ING Investment Management he assumed responsibility for the investment grade managed account business. Previously, he spent 12 years at Merrill Lynch, most recently leading an investment team managing leveraged loans and high-yield bonds. He also was the London-based managing director of Merrill's global institutional separate account fixed income portfolio management business. Before that, he was responsible for Merrill's initial efforts to build a U.S. institutional fixed income separate account presence, served as chief investment strategist of its captive insurance company, and was the asset-liability manager of Merrill Lynch Bank and Trust. He served on the board of directors of that bank for five years. Previously, he was a vice president in Paine Webber's institutional fixed income sales and trading business and began his career as an analyst on General Motors' New York treasury staff. Rick holds a B.A. from Colorado College (where he has also taught) and an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College. He is a member of the CFA Institute and the New York Society of Security Analysts.

Dan Norman
Senior Vice President and Group Head

Dan is Senior Vice President and Group Head of the ING Investment Management Senior Debt Group. He co-manages the Group with Jeff Bakalar, and he is co-chairman of the Group’s Investment Committee and the Loan Pricing Committee.

Dan has over twenty years of investment experience. He began managing senior bank debt portfolios in 1995 when ING’s predecessor acquired the management rights to ING Prime Rate Trust. Dan became the co-head of ING’s senior bank loan business in January of 2000 and with Jeff Bakalar created and implemented the ING Senior Debt Strategy and the ING Senior Debt Group in January of 2001.

Dan has a wide variety of business and investment experience, having begun his career at Arthur Andersen & Co. in 1981. He joined ING’s predecessor in 1992.

Dan received his B.A. degree in 1980 from the University of Nebraska and completed the University of Nebraska M.B.A. program in 1981. He maintains several NASD securities licenses including: Financial and Operations Principal (Series 27), General Securities Principal (Series 24), Registered Options Principal (Series 4), and General Securities Representative (Series 7).

Jeff Bakalar
Senior Vice President and Group Head

Jeff is Senior Vice President and Group Head of the ING Investment Management Senior Debt Group. He co-manages the Group with Dan Norman, and he is co-chairman of the Group’s Investment Committee and the Loan Pricing Committee.

Jeff has over nineteen years of investment and banking experience. Jeff joined ING’s predecessor in 1998 and became part of the investment team for what is now ING Prime Rate Trust. He became the co-head of ING’s senior bank loan business in January of 2000 and with Dan Norman created and implemented the ING Senior Debt Strategy and the ING Senior Debt Group in January of 2001.

Jeff began his career as an associate with Continental Bank in 1987, serving in various credit and corporate finance roles, including establishing and managing derivatives trading lines with international bank counterparties, and structuring and monitoring various classes of asset-backed transactions. In 1994, Jeff joined the Communications Division within The First National Bank of Chicago, ultimately serving as a senior underwriter responsible for structuring and managing leveraged transactions for issuers in the broadcasting and media sectors.

Jeff received his B.S. degree with honors in finance from the University of Illinois Chicago, and his M.B.A. in finance with highest distinction from DePaul University.

Curtis Lee
Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer

Curtis serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer for the ING Investment Management Senior Debt Group. His primary responsibilities are to approve senior loan credit limits, oversee the problem loan management function and serve as valuation manager. Curtis is also a member of the group’s Investment Committee and Loan Pricing Committee. Curtis joined ING’s predecessor in 1999.

Prior to joining ING, Curtis held a series of positions with Standard Chartered Bank in the credit approval and problem loan management functions starting in 1992. In his last position at Standard Chartered Bank, he served as the Regional Head of Risk for the bank’s Global Special Asset Management unit where he approved workout strategies, restructuring proposals and loan loss provisions for the bank’s troubled assets throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East and South Asia.

From 1984 to 1992, Curtis lived and worked in Guayaquil, Ecuador, initially as a credit officer with Citibank and later providing consulting services to various Ecuadorian banks on credit analysis techniques in an inflationary environment. Curtis started his banking career in 1982 at United New Mexico Financial Corporation in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Curtis holds a B.A. degree in journalism, a M.A. in Latin American Studies and an M.B.A. in International Management from the University of New Mexico, where he graduated with honors. Curtis is also fluent in Spanish.

Robert Wilson
Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Team Leader

Robert is a Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Team Leader in the ING Investment Management Senior Debt Group. Robert joined ING’s predecessor in June 1998 and became a Senior Vice President within the Group in March of 2003. Robert covers the technology and telecommunications sectors for the Group.

Robert began his financial services career in 1987 as an Associate National Bank Examiner at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the federal bureau that regulates national banks. From 1990-1994, Robert served as a Vice President of Strategic Planning for Bank of California, an $8 billion regional bank in San Francisco, California. From 1994-1997, Robert was a Vice President with Union Bank of California’s Corporate Banking Group, charged with underwriting and syndicating senior debt transactions for media and telecommunications companies. From 1997 to 1998, Robert served in a similar debt origination capacity with the Bank of Hawaii in Phoenix, Arizona.

Robert received his B.S. degree in finance in 1986 from Golden Gate University.

Michel Prince, CFA
Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Team Leader

Michel is a Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Team Leader in the ING Investment Management Senior Debt Group. He joined ING’s predecessor in May 1998 and became Senior Vice President in March 2005. Michel primarily covers the healthcare and agriculture industries.

Prior to joining ING, Michel was a Vice President of Rabobank International, Chicago branch (from 1996 to 1998) and The Fuji Bank, Chicago Branch (from 1992 to 1996). During his tenure at Rabobank, Michel was involved in the marketing, structuring and syndication of various types of corporate transactions, including asset-based lending, cash-flow lending and off-balance sheet financing.

Michel graduated from the Université de Toulouse Paul-Sabatier with a business degree in 1980. He received his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago in 1990. He has been a Chartered Financial Analyst since 1996. Michel is also fluent in French.

Charles Lemieux, CFA
Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Team Leader

Chuck is a Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Team Leader in the ING Investment Management Senior Debt Group, and joined ING’s predecessor in in 1998. Chuck’s industry specialization includes chemicals, packaging, metals and mining, oil and gas and utilities.

Chuck has a wide variety of business and investment experience across several major industries. He began his career with Ernst & Whinney in 1987. He continued in corporate finance with progressively more responsible positions, working as a Controller for a small chemical company, a Senior Metals Trader for a global mining company and then as an Assistant Treasurer for a local power and water utility where he managed a staff of 15 professionals and was in charge of investing working capital funds of over $1 billion.

Chuck is a 1985 graduate of the University of Arizona, and received his M.B.A. from the University of Arizona in 1987. Chuck is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (C.F.A.) since 1997 and has been very active in the local Phoenix Society of Financial Analysts, acting as its President in 2002/2003.

Brian S. Horton
Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Team Leader

Brian joined the ING Investment Management Senior Debt Group in September 2001 and serves as a Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Team Leader in the Group. Brian manages investments in the retail, consumer products, restaurants and financial services sectors. Prior to joining ING, Brian was a Vice President in the Corporate and Investment Banking group at Banc of America Securities LLC, where he worked in the Consumer and Retail Industry Group, providing clients in those industries with services including debt and equity capital funding, mergers and acquisitions, credit, derivatives, and other corporate and investment banking products. Brian also served in various other corporate finance and relationship management positions during his seven years at Banc of America Securities.

Brian received his M.B.A. from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1990, and is a 1988 graduate of Arizona State University. Brian has his Series 7 and 63 securities licenses.

Jim Essert
Vice President and Portfolio Manager

Jim is a Vice President and Portfolio Manager in the ING Investment Management Senior Debt Group. He covers primarily the real estate and technology sectors. Prior to assuming his portfolio management duties, Jim was a senior analyst on the Group’s Structured Finance team. Jim began working with structured finance when he joined ING’s predecessor in 1999. Jim has a variety of treasury investment experience. He began his career with two financial software companies: Bennett Management Services and later IPS Sendero Corporation. Both companies developed software applications that managed treasury risk for financial institutions around the world.

Jim is a 1988 graduate of Arizona State University with a degree in finance and a secondary emphasis in mathematics.

Mohamed Basma, CFA
Vice President and Portfolio Manager

Mohamed is a Vice President and Portfolio Manager in the ING Investment Management Senior Debt Group. He covers the cable broadcasting and other media sectors. Prior to joining ING in January 2000, Mohamed was a Senior Auditor/Consultant in the audit and business advisory group with Arthur Andersen, LLP (1995-1997) where his primary responsibilities included executing corporate financial audits and performing financial consulting engagements.

Mohamed received an M.B.A. from Arizona State University in 1999 and a Bachelor of Business Administration from American University of Beirut, Lebanon, in 1995. He received his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in August 2001 and is currently a member of the CFA Institute and Phoenix Society of Financial Analysts. Mohamed is also fluent in Arabic.

Mark F. Haak, CFA
Vice President and Portfolio Manager

Mark is a Vice President and Portfolio Manager in the ING Investment Management Senior Debt Group. He covers the automotive and aerospace/defense sectors. Mark joined ING’s predecessor in 1999. Prior to that, Mark was an Assistant Vice President in the Corporate Banking Group of Norwest Bank in Phoenix, Arizona, from 1997 to 1998. He was a lead financial analyst and Portfolio Manager with Bank One in Phoenix, Arizona, from 1996 to 1997 and a Credit Manager with Norwest Financial in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Chicago, Illinois, and Phoenix, Arizona, from 1994 to 1996.

Mark is a 1994 graduate of Marquette University with a B.S. degree in business administration with majors in finance and human resource management. He received his M.B.A. in 1999 from the University of Notre Dame where he graduated cum laude. Mark also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, which he received in September 2001.

Theodore M. Haag
Vice President and Portfolio Manager

Ted is a Vice President and Portfolio Manager in the ING Investment Management Senior Debt Group. He covers the building products, transportation and general manufacturing sectors. Ted joined ING's predecessor in June 2000 as a Vice President and Portfolio Manager, responsible for managing high yield bond investments in ING’s legacy structured finance vehicles. Ted has served ING’s senior debt business as a workout officer on non-public transactions since early 2001, and currently also serves as a portfolio manager.

From 1997 to 2000, Ted was a Vice President and Portfolio Manager for Gen Re-New England Asset Management where he served as co-manager and investment committee member, responsible for managing the high yield investment activities of insurance clients. From 1995-1997, Ted was a Director of Fixed Income Securities and Securities Policy Committee member for Providian Capital Management where he was responsible for the active management of over $1 billion of high yield investments. Prior to working at Providian, Ted was a high yield portfolio manager at ICH Corporation.

Ted holds a B.S. degree and an M.B.A. from Florida State University received in 1975 and 1976 respectively.

Jason Esplin
Senior Research Analyst

Jason is a Senior Research Analyst and joined the ING Investment Management Senior Debt Group in 2004. He supports the portfolio management team in credit underwriting and monitoring, portfolio analysis, and reporting. Prior to joining ING, Jason worked in the portfolio management group for a division of GE Commercial Finance where his main responsibilities included monitoring the credit quality of its loan portfolio.

Jason received his M.B.A. from Thunderbird, The Garvin School of International Management in 2001, and is a graduate of Utah State University in 2000 with a degree in finance. Jason is fluent in Spanish and is presently enrolled in the CFA program.

Zhiyong (Stan) Zou, CFA
Research Analyst

Stan is a Research Analyst and joined the ING Investment Management Senior Debt Group in 2004. He supports the portfolio management team in credit underwriting and monitoring, portfolio analysis, and reporting. Prior to joining ING, Stan worked for Synergy Research Group as a research analyst in charge of broadband and switching programs. Prior to that, he served as an assistant manager for Zhu Kuan (HK) Co. Ltd., Hong Kong, managing the treasury operation of the multinational company.

Stan received an M.B.A. degree (with honors) from Thunderbird, The Garvin School of International Management in 2002. He also received Masters and Bachelors degrees from the University of International Business & Economics, Beijing, China, in 1998 and 1995 respectively, with a major in economics. He speaks fluent English, Mandarin and Cantonese. Stan holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the Board of the Phoenix CFA Society.

Kelly Byrne
Research Analyst

Kelly is a Research Analyst and joined the ING Investment Management Senior Debt Group in 2005. He supports the portfolio management team in credit underwriting and monitoring, portfolio analysis, and reporting. Prior to joining ING, Kelly worked in the Business Development and Licensing group at Amgen, where his main responsibilities were deal analysis and financial modeling. Kelly is a 2000 graduate from Arizona State University and received his M.B.A. from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University in 2005. Kelly is currently enrolled in the CFA program.

Joshua Mahon
Research Analyst

Josh is a Research Analyst and joined the ING Investment Management Senior Debt Group in 2005. He supports the portfolio management team in credit underwriting and monitoring, portfolio analysis, and reporting. Prior to joining ING, Josh was a Senior Financial Analyst for Honeywell International. Between college and business school, Josh served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years.

Josh received his B.A. degree from Arizona State University in 1998 and his M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 2004.

Joseph Laguna
Research Analyst

Joseph is a Research Analyst and joined the ING Investment Management Senior Debt Group in 2007. He supports the portfolio management team in credit underwriting and monitoring, portfolio analysis, and reporting. Prior to joining ING, Joseph worked at Intel Corporation in finance starting in 2005. From 1998 to 2004, Joseph worked for the US Department of Defense in the Space Flight Acquisition Division (2002 to 2004), the Military Strategic Tactical and Relay (MILSTAR) Satellite Program (2000 to 2002) and in the Global Broadcast Service Satellite Program (1998 to 2000).

Joseph received an M.B.A. degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2006, and is a 1998 graduate of the United State Air Force Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Management.

Rob Chambers
Research Analyst

Rob is a Research Analyst and joined the ING Investment Management Senior Debt Group in 2006. He supports the portfolio management team in credit underwriting and monitoring, portfolio analysis, and reporting. Prior to joining ING, Rob worked in the Economic & Valuation Services practice of KPMG LLP in San Francisco, where his main responsibilities included performing valuations of business enterprises, securities, financial instruments, and intangible assets. Rob received his M.B.A from Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Management in 2004, and graduated cum