Ms. Cooley joined Crestline in 1998 and is Managing Partner and CIO of Crestline Summit Strategies, a multi-strategy, multi-PM, market neutral hedge fund manager. She also serves on Crestline Inc.’s (parent company) Management Committee. A veteran in the alternative investment industry, Ms. Cooley has experience as a portfolio manager, risk manager and trader in equity, fixed income and derivative markets. Ms. Cooley previously was the CIO of Crestline’s Hedge Funds of Fund business, which grew to $4bn AUM at its peak, overseeing manager selection and portfolio management, since joining the firm. From 1986 through 1997, Ms. Cooley was a derivatives trader and risk manager with Taylor and Company, an investment firm associated with the Bass Family of Fort Worth, TX (one of the earliest multi-asset, multi-strategy alternative asset managers). Ms. Cooley began her career in the investment industry at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company (later merged into JP Morgan) where she specialized in futures markets in both New York and Chicago after receiving her BA in Economics from The College of William and Mary in 1983. Ms. Cooley serves on the Advisory Board of Texas Wall Street Women and the Investment Advisory Committee of Texas Employee Retirement System. Ms. Cooley serves on the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities of Fort Worth.
Mark Walker, President, Crestline Summit Strategies. He has 30 years of experience in the investment business managing both businesses and assets. Prior to joining Crestline, initially as a Senior Advisor focused on corporate strategy in 2012, Mr. Walker was a Partner and portfolio manager at Ranger Investments. He was formerly Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer and Founder of the BNP Paribas Global Relationship Management business in both New York and London with responsibilities for all hedge fund counterparty credit, legal, and operational risks. Prior to that, Mr. Walker was Managing Director of Fund Linked Derivative structuring and distribution at Zurich Capital Markets in New York. He also served as Director of Equity Derivatives at Credit Suisse First Boston, where he co-founded its Capital Introductions Group. Mr. Walker is a former U.S. Army Captain and has a B.B.A. from Texas Christian University. Outside of work, Mr. Walker is the Chairman Emeritis of Pathways, a charitable organization dedicated to life management with more than 22,000 graduates.
Mr. Arbour joined Crestline in 2007 and currently leads Crestline Summit Strategies, a multi-strategy, multi-PM, market neutral hedge fund manager. Prior to Summit’s inception in 2015, he was the Head of Equity Strategies for Crestline Partners, the firm’s fund of hedge funds which grew to $4 BN AUM at its peak. Prior to joining Crestline, Mr. Arbour held various positions within equity sales and trading at JPMorgan with an emphasis on equity research and capital market transactions. His primary focus at JPMorgan was generating and tailoring equity trades for hedge funds and institutional clients. Mr. Arbour’s previous experience includes equity research at an institutional, long-only investment firm. He holds a BBA in Finance from Texas Christian University, is a CFA charterholder, and is a member of the Dallas-Fort Worth Society of Financial Analysts.
Alex Didych, CFA, FRM, PRM joined Crestline in 2007 and is Managing Director of Crestline’s Investment Risk team. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Didych was Head of Market Risk Management, New York, at AMRO Bank N.V. Mr. Didych led the team responsible for the market risk management of trading activities that cover Credit, Local Markets, Equity and IR Derivatives Desks. In addition, he aggregated risk across the various products and trading desks to assess broader portfolio risks. Mr. Didych graduated summa cum laude with a M.S. in Applied Math-operations Research from National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Ukraine and also has a M.B.A. with high honors from the University of Chicago.
Melinda Lilly joined Crestline in 2015 and is the Chief Operating Officer for the Crestline Summit Equity Alpha fund. Prior to joining Crestline, Ms. Lilly was the Director of Operations at Paradigm Advisors with responsibilities in various capacities of the business including compliance, research, operations, and Investor Relations. Prior to joining Paradigm Advisors, Ms. Lilly was a Financial Representative at Fidelity Investments working in trading, client service, and branch operations, as well as serving as a point person to Fidelity’s high net worth clientele. Ms. Lilly graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Psychology from Lee University.
Scott Nelson joined Crestline Summit in 2022 and is a Managing Director, Head of Client Partnership Group. Mr. Nelson has 30+ years of investment industry leadership and distribution experience. In his role at Crestline Summit, he is responsible for distribution as well as investor and consultant relations. Prior to joining Crestline Summit, he was Global Co-Head of Business Development & Investor Relations at Eisler Capital. Previously, he was Head of the Investor Group at Autonomy Capital, a global multi-asset class, global macro alternative investment manager. Prior he was the Chief Operating Officer at Deephaven Capital Management, a global multi‐strategy alternative investment manager. Prior to Deephaven, Mr. Nelson was Chief Operating Officer at Provident Advisors LLC, a multi‐strategy alternative investment manager. He previously served as the Executive Vice President of Allianz Dresdner Asset Management where he was the head of the single strategy hedge fund business and as President of American Express Asset Management’s Advisory Capital Strategies Group, and Senior Managing Director of Alternative Investments where he led the single‐manager hedge fund and multi‐manager, fund of hedge funds businesses. Scott holds a B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College.