Team

Russ Bernard is the Managing Principal at Westport Capital Partners LLC, an investment management company focused exclusively on opportunistic and distressed real estate investments.  The company was founded in 2005, and invests in real estate through direct and indirect property ownership and through public and private real estate securities and financial instruments.  It focuses specifically on distressed assets, value-added transactions, and domestic and international development opportunities.  Westport Capital Partners was Endowment and Money Management Magazine’s 2010 Real Asset Manager of the Year.

Prior to founding Westport Capital Partners, Mr. Bernard was a Principal at Oaktree and the Portfolio Manager for Oaktree’s real estate funds.  He was responsible for the management of a series of closed-end real estate funds with over $2 billion in total committed capital.  Prior to joining Oaktree in 1995, Mr. Bernard was a Managing Director at TCW and Portfolio Manager of the TCW Special Credits Distressed Mortgage Fund.  Prior to that, he was a partner at Win Properties, Inc., a national real estate investment company for eight years.  Before joining Win Properties, Mr. Bernard was with Time Equities, Inc., a New York real estate company for three years.  He began his career as a Staff Accountant at Price Waterhouse in New York.  Mr. Bernard has been on several corporate, university and charity boards.  Mr.
Bernard holds a B.S. in Business Management and Marketing from Cornell University.

Prior to joining Westport in 2006, Mr. Armstrong was a Managing Director at Oaktree Capital Management and one of the real estate group’s senior professionals. His responsibilities included the acquisition and management of numerous property and debt investments, and he participated in several complex asset-level and company-level debt restructurings. Mr. Armstrong also spearheaded Oaktree’s real estate investments in Japan and Europe. Prior to joining Oaktree in 1995, Mr. Armstrong was a Vice President in the TCW Special Credits real estate group. Mr. Armstrong was among the first professionals hired at the creation of the Special Credits real estate group in 1994. Before joining the real estate group, Mr. Armstrong worked for two years as a credit analyst in TCW’s high yield bond group. During that time, Mr. Armstrong developed very strong credit analysis skills, which were employed in the analysis of many investment opportunities in the TCW and Oaktree real estate funds. Mr. Armstrong was formerly a director of Lodgian, Inc., a Delaware corporation listed on the American Stock Exchange. Mr. Armstrong graduated with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering magna cum laude from the University of Southern California, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He went on to earn an M.B.A. in Finance magna cum laude, also from the University of Southern California. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Before joining Westport in 2006, Mr. Aronson was a Managing Director at Oaktree Capital Management’s Japanese and German affiliates. Mr. Aronson joined Oaktree in 1998 and helped lead Oaktree’s real estate efforts in Japan and Germany. Mr. Aronson helped open Oaktree’s Tokyo office in 1998, where he worked until 2004 when he moved to Oaktree’s Frankfurt office. In both locations, Mr. Aronson was responsible for leading the sourcing, underwriting, acquisition, management and disposition of both distressed debt and property investments. His experience dealing with multiple cultures, legal regimes and foreign business practices will make him invaluable to Westport’s overseas efforts. Prior to joining Oaktree, Mr. Aronson was an associate for five years at the law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, where his practice focused on general real estate transactions. Mr. Aronson received a B.A. degree magna cum laude from The American University and a J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center. He is a member of the State Bar of California.

Prior to joining Westport in 2006, Mr. Chernoff was a Senior Vice President in the real estate group at Oaktree Capital Management. Mr. Chernoff has significant experience with a wide variety of property types in multiple geographic locations, and he has developed a particular expertise in retail properties, and residential and resort golf development projects. Before joining Oaktree in 1995, Mr. Chernoff was an Assistant Vice President in the TCW Special Credits real estate group. Before TCW, Mr. Chernoff spent six years at Win Properties, Inc., where he worked with Mr. Bernard and specialized in the leasing, management and operation of a national portfolio of commercial properties. Mr. Chernoff holds a B.S. in Business Management and Economics from Cornell University.

Prior to joining Westport in 2006, Mr. Fife worked in the institutional high yield and distressed debt department at Jefferies & Co. At Jefferies, Mr. Fife worked with some of the largest hedge funds, providing trading and investment ideas. From 1994 to 2000, he worked at Lazard, Freres & Co. in their distressed debt sales and trading group, finishing as a Director and Sales Manager. In 2002, Mr. Fife was part of the team that successfully launched the Lazard Debt Recovery Fund, a vehicle that focused on investments in distressed corporate debt. From 1985 to 1994, he worked as an institutional bond salesman for Prudential Securities and DLJ, focusing on distressed and corporate debt, respectively. At Westport, Mr. Fife continues to use his contacts around Wall Street and the investment community to generate investment ideas. Mr. Fife holds an M.B.A. from the Stern School of Finance at New York University and a B.A. from Brown University.

Before joining Westport in 2006, Mr. Geiger was a Managing Director at Oaktree Capital Management and one of the real estate group’s senior professionals. He was principally responsible for making property investments, including several large development and entitlement projects that required complex negotiations with private and governmental agencies to achieve successful outcomes. He also has worked on numerous debt restructurings that have required resolving bankruptcy and other litigation issues. Mr. Geiger joined Oaktree in 1995 after serving as a Vice President in the TCW Special Credits real estate group. Prior to joining TCW, Mr. Geiger spent two years with the national real estate consulting and brokerage firm of Julien J. Studley, Inc. and six years with Langdon Rieder Corporation, a Los Angeles-based consulting firm, where he represented corporate clients in the acquisition of office and industrial facilities. Mr. Geiger holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University and an M.B.A. in Real Estate Finance from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA. Mr. Geiger is a licensed Professional Engineer and an instrument rated pilot.

Prior to joining Westport in 2006, Mr. Socaransky spent four years as an associate in the real estate group at Oaktree. His experience includes the acquisition, management and disposition of both property and debt investments. Prior to Oaktree, Mr. Socaransky was an Analyst in Salomon Smith Barney’s Global Real Estate and Lodging Investment Banking Group for two years, specializing in mergers, acquisitions and capital raising. Mr. Socaransky holds an Honors Business Administration Degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

Prior to joining Westport in 2006, Mr. Clapp spent seven years working in investment banking and real estate finance in New York, Los Angeles and Sydney, Australia. In investment banking, Mr. Clapp focused on the energy and power industries and mergers and acquisitions for Salomon Smith Barney and Bank of America Securities. Mr. Clapp graduated with a B.S. in Commerce with a concentration in Finance from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce. He went on to earn an M.B.A. and Master of Real Estate Development (M.R.E.D.) from the University of Southern California.

Prior to joining Westport in 2008, Mr. Goodman was an Associate Director in the Mortgage Sales Department at Bear Stearns, providing trading and investment ideas on mortgage and asset backed products to a diverse account base that included hedge funds, money managers, insurance companies and proprietary trading desks. Mr. Goodman worked at Bear Stearns for six years; the first three of which he worked in their Internal Audit Department specializing in assessing the risks and controls of the Firm’s trading applications and other information technology. He spent the next two years in the Financial Analytics and Structured Transactions group providing analytic support and modeling RMBS/ABS securitizations. Prior to Bear Stearns, Mr. Goodman also worked in the Technology Risk Consulting group at Arthur Andersen LLP. Mr. Goodman earned a B.S. in Computer Science from Binghamton University.

Prior to joining Westport in 2006, Mr. Sheps was an Analyst at Racebrook Capital, LLC, a Warburg Pincus portfolio company focused on distressed real estate and non-performing real estate loans. At Racebrook, he was responsible for investment analysis, asset management and business development functions. Prior to Racebrook, Mr. Sheps was a Senior Analyst at Shattuck Hammond Partners LLC, a healthcare investment bank. Mr. Sheps earned a B.S. in Finance and B.A. in Economics, with honors, from Rutgers University.

Prior to joining Westport in 2010, Ms. Chester was a Senior Associate at Reynolds Capital Group, where her responsibilities included underwriting real estate investments. Prior to Reynolds Capital, Ms. Chester was an analyst in Morgan Stanley’s real estate merchant banking group and an analyst in the natural resources group at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Ms. Chester holds a B.S. in Finance and International Business cum laude from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.

Prior to joining Westport in 2011, Mr. Woodard was a Vice President in the Commercial Real Estate Department at CIT Group, Inc., where he guided acquisitions, joint-venture investments, and dispositions. Prior to CIT, Mr. Woodard was an Acquisitions Associate at Lexington Realty Trust.  Mr. Woodard holds a B.A. in Economics from Union College and an M.P.S. in Real Estate Finance and Investment from Cornell University.

Prior to joining Westport in 2010, Mr. Campbell worked at Mesa West Capital, LLC as a real estate asset manager. Prior to Mesa West, Mr. Campbell was a financial analyst at The Ayco Company, L.P., a subsidiary of Goldman, Sachs & Co. Mr. Campbell holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Northeastern University.

Prior to beginning his work with Westport in 2006, Mr. Gopalkrishnan worked at Ernst & Young, Mumbai for over five years, where he was most recently a Vice President in the Transaction Advisory Services group and head of the Real Estate practice in the Western Region. Prior to joining Ernst & Young in 2001, Mr. Gopalkrishnan worked at Enron India for two years, and he has held positions at CRISIL Advisory Services and the Industrial Development Bank of India. Mr. Gopalkrishnan holds a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from the Government College of Engineering, Pune, India, and an M.B.A. from the Symbiosis Institute of Management, Pune, India.

Mr. Adelman has over 19 years experience in the marketing and development of hospitality, resort, agricultural, golf, and ranch properties.  Prior to joining Westport Mr. Adelman was the Project Director of Kuilima Resort Co. where he oversaw the redevelopment and renovation of Turtle Bay Resort.  Before joining Kuilima Resort Co. Mr. Adelman spent 12 years in marketing for Xerox Corporation.  Mr. Adelman graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Maine.

Prior to joining Westport in 2005, Mr. Russell spent seven years as the Global Chief Information Officer for Christie's International where he had responsibility for all aspects of information technology across Christie's operations in 35 countries. Mr. Russell was responsible for planning and executing an IT strategy in support of maintaining Christie's prominence as the world's largest and most prestigious auction house. Prior to joining Christie's, Mr. Russell was the Vice President of Information Services with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) where he was responsible for information technology with particular emphasis on executing a strategy in support of a corporate re-engineering effort. Prior to ASCAP, Mr. Russell was with Bankers Trust Company, managing the design, development, and maintenance of a variety of systems which provided domestic cash management services to the bank's corporate customers. Mr. Russell received a B.S. in Computing and Information Science and an M.S. in Information Science, both from Lehigh University.

Prior to joining Westport in 2006, Mr. Nuzie was a Senior Vice President in the real estate group at Oaktree Capital Management, where he was principally responsible for overseeing the group’s property accounting and administration efforts. Before joining Oaktree in 1995, Mr. Nuzie was with Win Properties, Inc. for nine years, where he was responsible for accounting and reporting with respect to a national real estate portfolio. Before joining Win Properties, Mr. Nuzie was a Senior Manager in the audit department of Ernst and Young in New York for seven years. Mr. Nuzie holds a B.A. in Accounting, cum laude, from the City University of New York at Queens College. He is a Certified Public Accountant.

Before joining Westport in 2006, Mr. Porosoff was a Senior Vice President, Legal in the real estate group at Oaktree Capital Management LLC. At Oaktree, Mr. Porosoff was primarily responsible for legal aspects of the due diligence, acquisition, management, financing and disposition of the real estate group’s domestic and international property and debt investments. Prior to joining Oaktree in 1996, Mr. Porosoff was an associate at the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton for five years, specializing in real estate and corporate matters. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Wesleyan University and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. Mr. Porosoff is admitted to the New York State Bar and is registered as Authorized House Counsel in Connecticut.

Before joining Westport in 2011, Ms. Presti was an associate at the law firm of Goodwin Procter, LLP for over four and a half years, where she represented domestic and foreign investors, fund sponsors, institutional investment advisors and investment banks in a variety of real estate transactions.  Prior to Goodwin Procter, Ms. Presti was an associate at the law firm of Herrick Feinstein, LLP for two years.  Ms. Presti holds a B.A. in Sociology magna cum laude from Bowdoin College and a J.D. cum laude from Brooklyn Law School.  Ms. Presti is admitted to the New York State Bar.

Before joining Westport in 2006, Mr. Kim was a Supervising Senior in the accounting firm of Rothstein, Kass & Company, P.C., where he led the external audit engagements for a number of domestic and offshore hedge funds. Prior to joining Rothstein, Kass in 2002, Mr. Kim worked as a Senior Investment Accountant at Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P., a Los Angeles based private equity fund manager, for three and a half years. Mr. Kim holds a B.A. in Economics from UCLA. He is a Certified Public Accountant.

Before joining Westport in 2008, Ms. Torres worked as an auditor at Deloitte & Touche LLP. Ms. Torres holds a B.S. in Accounting from Loyola Marymount University.

Before joining Westport in 2010, Mr. Musante worked as a real estate fund accountant at Lazard Alternative Investments LLC. Mr. Musante holds a B.S. in Accounting from Fordham University.

Prior to joining Westport in 2012, Ms. Tatroe was an Accounts Receivable Associate with T. Parker Host and an Accounts Receivable/Credit Associate with Unilock.  Ms. Tatroe attended Western Connecticut State University.