Our Team

Gerald Baker – Analyst

Prior to joining Westport in 2017, Mr. Baker was a Financial Analyst at Faris Lee Investments/ ValueRock Realty Partners. Mr. Baker holds a B.S. in Mathematical Finance from Babson College.

Jane Ding – Senior Associate

Prior to joining Westport in 2017, Ms. Ding was an Investment Associate at Colony NorthStar, Inc. where she analyzed and closed healthcare investments and secondary real estate private equity fund interests as well as joint-venture investments and dispositions. Prior to Colony NorthStar, Ms. Ding was an Acquisitions Analyst at Castellan Real Estate Partners. Ms. Ding holds an Honors Business Administration Degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, Canada and Masters of Science in Real Estate from New York University.

Ryan Huning, Analyst

Prior to joining Westport in 2017, Mr. Huning was an Analyst at Douglas Emmett.  Mr. Huning holds a B.B.A. with a concentration in Finance and Real Estate from the University of Denver.

Amy Balogh – Operations Administrator

Prior to joining Westport in 2017, Ms. Balogh was an Office Manager with G3 Architecture Interiors Planning.  Ms. Balogh holds a B.A. in Psychology from Franklin Pierce College.

James Starr – Investor Relations

Prior to joining Westport in 2017, Mr. Starr worked for Great Oak Advisors, LLC, where he was responsible for all aspects of marketing fund managers to potential investors, including presentation of investment strategies, guiding due diligence and closing fund commitments.  Mr. Starr also served as Director of Business Development for Perennial Capital.  Mr. Starr holds a B.S./B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of Richmond, Robins School of Business.

Harry Ramnath – Technology Specialist
Prior to joining Westport, Mr. Ramnath was a Technical/Network Support Analyst with ITOCHU Chemicals America Inc. where he provided support for five office locations, home users and traveling sales managers. He has a B.B.A. in Management Information Systems from Marshall University.

Hy Adelman – Investor Relations
Mr. Adelman has over 19 years of 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.

Trish Murphy – Administrative Specialist
Before joining Westport in 2006, Mrs. Murphy worked for Oaktree as an Administrative Assistant. Mrs. Murphy holds a B.A. degree in Political Science from California State University, Fullerton.

Lizette Cervantes – Accounts Payable Specialist
Prior to joining Westport in 2016, Ms. Cervantes managed various treasury functions for The Trayner Group, Ltd. Ms. Cervantes holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from John Jay College.

Joy Bondoc – Investment Accountant
Prior to joining Westport in 2016, Ms. Bondoc was a Staff Auditor with Armanino LLP. Ms. Bondoc holds a Masters of Accounting and a B.S. in Accounting, both from University of the Pacific.

Kinga Czwartosz – Assistant Vice President
Prior to joining Westport in 2012, Ms. Czwartosz was a Property Accountant with Urstadt Biddle Properties. Ms. Czwartosz holds a Bachelor of General Studies degree from the University of Connecticut. She is a Certified Public Accountant.

Michael Musante – Vice President
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.

Ryan Payne – Investment Accountant
Prior to joining Westport in 2017, Mr. Payne worked as an Audit Associate with Deloitte LLP.  Mr. Payne has a BBA in Accounting and Business Administration from Western State Colorado University and a Masters of Accountancy from College of William and Mary.

Jennifer Albero – Vice President, Fund Controller
Prior to joining Westport in 2013, Ms. Albero held prior positions as Controller with Meadow Partners and Latus Partners (currently known as 40 North Properties), where she led the design and implementation of accounting policies and procedures, accounting systems and investor reporting systems. Prior to Latus Partners, Ms. Albero held Controller positions at Stockbridge Real Estate Funds (formerly a division of UBS) and Starwood Capital Group, where she was responsible for finance, control and investor reporting. Ms. Albero holds a B.S. in Accounting from Virginia Tech.

Sang Kim – Senior Vice President, Fund Controller
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.

Bruce Nuzie – Principal
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.

Steven Russell – Principal and Chief Administrative Officer
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 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.

Sophie Melniker, Esq. – Asst. Vice President, Compliance & Legal Officer
Before joining Westport in 2012, Ms. Melniker was an associate at the law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf, LLP for two and a half years, where she represented fund sponsors, investment advisers and institutional investors in a variety of real estate funds and private equity funds. Ms. Melniker holds a B.A. in Economics from Yale University and a J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law. Ms. Melniker is admitted to the New York State Bar.

Marian V. Curtis, Esq. – Senior Vice President, Legal
Before joining Westport in 2011, Ms. Curtis 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. Curtis was an associate at the law firm of Herrick Feinstein, LLP for two years. Ms. Curtis holds a B.A. in Sociology magna cum laude from Bowdoin College and a J.D. cum laude from Brooklyn Law School. Ms. Curtis is admitted to the New York State Bar.

Marc Porosoff, Esq. – Principal and General Counsel
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.

Erin Kerr – Investor Relations
Ms. Kerr joined Westport in 2016 after spending four years at Tishman Speyer, where she was a Senior Director working on equity capital raising campaigns for funds and direct investment joint ventures. Prior to Tishman Speyer, Ms. Kerr was a Director at Eurohypo AG. Ms. Kerr has also worked at The Bank of New York and the Citigroup Private Bank. Ms. Kerr holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Rochester.

Reggie Kronstadt – Analyst
Mr. Kronstadt joined Westport in 2016 after graduating from Emory University with a Bachelor of Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and Real Estate.

Mathieu Durand – Analyst
Mr. Durand joined Westport in 2016 after graduating from Claremont McKenna College with a Masters in Finance. He also has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Waseda University.

Justin Reindel – Analyst
Mr. Reindel joined Westport in 2015 after graduating from Amherst College with a B.A. in Economics.

Kevin McTavish – Director, Westport Capital Partners (UK) LLP
Prior to joining Westport Capital Partners (UK) LLP in 2016, Mr. McTavish spent twelve years as the Managing Partner of Summit Capital, LLC, where he acquired and managed distressed and value-added real estate assets. Prior to joining Summit, Mr. McTavish was a Principal and the Chief Operating Officer of Colony Capital, LLC. Prior to Colony, Mr. McTavish was an Acquisitions and Portfolio Manager at Brazos Asset Management, which was later renamed Lone Star Opportunity Fund. Mr. McTavish also served in the United States Navy for seven years. Mr. McTavish holds a B.S. from the United States Naval Academy and an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania – Wharton School of Business.

Stephen Woodard – Vice President
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.

Noam Sheps – Senior Vice President
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.

Chad Goodman – Senior Vice President
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. Other experience at Bear Stearns included positions in the Financial Analytics and Structured Transactions group providing analytic support and modeling RMBS/ABS securitizations, and the Internal Audit Department specializing in assessing the risks and controls of the Firm’s trading applications and other information technology. Prior to Bear Stearns, Mr. Goodman worked in the Technology Risk Consulting group at Arthur Andersen LLP. Mr. Goodman earned a B.S. in Computer Science from Binghamton University.

Eric Clapp – Managing Director
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.

Jordan Socaransky – Principal and Portfolio Manager
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.

W. Gregory Geiger – Principal and Portfolio Manager
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.

Howard Fife – Principal
Prior to joining Westport in 2006, Mr. Fife was with the institutional high yield and distressed debt department at Jefferies & Co. — where he 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, becoming 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. At Westport, Mr. Fife continues to draw on Wall Street contacts and the broader 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.

Peter Aronson – Principal
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 also 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. He has extensive experience dealing with multiple cultures, legal regimes and foreign business practices. 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.

Sean Armstrong – Principal and Portfolio Manager
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. Before joining the real estate group, Mr. Armstrong worked for two years as a credit analyst in TCW’s high yield bond group, where he developed and applied very strong credit analysis skills, in many investment opportunities for 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.

Russel S. Bernard – Managing Principal
Prior to founding Westport Capital Partners LLC in 2005, 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. Before 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.