Our people

Mr. Adrien is the Founder and CEO of the general partners managing the Lafayette funds, and the Founder and President of Brandywine Homes USA. He oversees all investment decisions, property management and loan servicing operations, fundraising and investor relations.
​
While founding Lafayette, Mr. Adrien was a Senior Analyst at Sureview Capital, a long/short equity hedge fund, where he covered the U.S. Real Estate and Home Building sectors.

Previously, Mr. Adrien was a Vice President at Fortress Investment Group in the Private Equity area. Among many responsibilities, Mr. Adrien was a Board Member at Alea North America, a run-off insurance company, overseeing a $1 billion portfolio of asset-backed securities. Prior to joining Fortress, Mr. Adrien was a Mergers & Acquisitions investment banker at Lehman Brothers in London and before that, he was an attorney at Ashurst in Paris.

Mr. Adrien received a Post-graduate degree (DESS) in Business & Tax Law from Paris II University, and graduated with an MSc in Finance.

Christopher Mataja is the Chief Operating Officer at Lafayette. He oversees the underwriting and acquisition of all real estate. Over the last eight years, Mr. Mataja has contributed to establishing Lafayette’s reputation as one of the most reliable buyers and lenders in the single family home industry.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Mr. Mataja was an investment banking analyst with MD Global Partners in New York City, where he conducted due diligence and screened target companies for M&A, restructuring and capital market transactions.

Mr. Mataja received a Master of Management Studies from Duke University and a B.A. in Economics from Rollins College.

Mr. Crandall serves as Lafayette’s Chief Financial Officer, overseeing all the firm’s financial affairs, including financial reporting, FP&A, accounting, treasury, tax, and audit compliance.

Before joining Lafayette, Mr. Crandall served as Executive Vice President of Finance at Tricon American Homes, the non-traded SFR REIT subsidiary of Tricon Residential; he is responsible for all accounting, budgeting, financial reporting, investor reporting, treasury, tax, and audit compliance. During his tenure, Tricon’s portfolio grew to over $7B and ~34,000 homes.

Previously, Mr. Crandall served as the CFO for MBK Real Estate, the North American real estate subsidiary of Mitsui & Co. Ltd., where he was responsible for three operating divisions with over 1,800 employees. Mr. Crandall started his career with Price Waterhouse, working in audit and structure finance practices. Mr. Crandall was named the 2016 CFO of the Year by the OCBJ.

Mr. Crandall received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting from Colorado State University and is a CPA inactive.

Linh Ha is a Managing Director at Lafayette, focused on developing credit initiatives and strategy for single-family home investors. Prior to joining Lafayette in 2023, Ms. Ha built and lead finance teams and scaled consumer finance platforms.

Her most recent role was at Sunlight Financial, a point-of-sale company offering financing options for residential solar systems. Ms. Ha helped build Sunlight’s financial operations from scratch and as head of Capital Markets, she was instrumental in forming partnerships with institutional capital providers. At Aura, a provider of unsecured credit to the underbanked, she drove capital market strategies to provide diversified, reliable, and cost-efficient sources to fund loan originations.

Previous to operational finance roles, Ms. Ha was a Vice President at Fortress Investment Group’s Private Equity practice where over a span of eight years, she invested in and managed residential mortgage companies and assets.

She started her career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch.

Josh Nathan is a Managing Director at Lafayette, with a focus on the single-family rental strategy, asset management, growth initiatives, and capital-raising efforts.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Mr. Nathan was a founding executive of FirstKey Homes, Cerberus Capital’s $5B single-family rental platform, where he was Senior Vice President of Portfolio Management and Corporate Strategy. Previously, he was a Senior Associate at Cerberus in the strategic advisory group (COAC), responsible for private equity due diligence, restructuring, and M&A across the funds’ real estate and consumer businesses. He started his career in investment banking at Houlihan Lokey, where he specialized in restructuring, credit, and valuation.

Mr. Nathan received a Bachelor of Business Administration with majors in Finance and International Business from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Andy Peluso is General Counsel at Lafayette.  He oversees Lafayette’s legal affairs and is a member of the company’s senior management team.

Before joining Lafayette, Mr. Peluso was a real estate transactions attorney with Foley & Lardner LLP in Tampa, Florida. He counseled clients regarding acquisitions, dispositions, development, and leasing of various real estate asset classes, including single-family, multi-family, office, and retail—additionally, Mr. Peluso’s prior practice involved representing lenders and borrowers in connection with commercial financing.

Mr. Peluso earned a J.D. from Duke University School of Law, graduating magna cum laude, and a B.S.B.A. in Finance from the University of Florida, graduating cum laude.

Liya Mo is a VP of Originations and Acquisitions, focused on the build-for-rent strategy. She is in charge of building the BFR pipeline and presenting opportunities to our Investment Committee.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Ms. Mo worked at Deloitte Consulting in Real Estate & Location Strategy, helping companies find optimal space for geographic expansion and relocation. Before that Liya was with Rockefeller Group, FortBridge Capital Management and Goldman Sachs in real estate development, real estate acquisitions and asset management, respectively.

Liya graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in accounting and finance from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MBA/MA degree from the Wharton School and the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in Real Estate and Entrepreneurship & Innovation (MBA) and East Asia and Chinese language (MA).

Cyrus Shahabi is Chief of Staff & VP of Strategy at Lafayette, implementing and coordinating the firm’s strategy and initiatives across different verticals and business functions, including asset management, underwriting processes, and deal execution.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Cyrus was an Associate at Gramercy Funds Management, an Emerging Markets Hedge Fund, working mostly on private debt investments across a wide range of industries. Before that, Cyrus was a consultant at McKinsey & Company and an advisor to the Governor of Buenos Aires.

Cyrus received a B.A. from Yale University double majoring in Economics and Latin American Studies, an MBA from Wharton and an M.A. in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

Cristina Rudiez is a VP of Business Development at Lafayette, running financial projections for all Lafayette funds with a focus on credit and growth initiatives.
Throughout her career, Ms. Rudiez has directly worked on $10bn of closed Distress Debt and CRE transactions. Prior to joining Lafayette, Ms. Rudiez was a Vice President at The Carlton Group where she was focused on identifying new business initiatives, designing and implementing the firm’s strategy to achieve designated goals, and leading the execution team through the sale processes of different CRE assets.

Prior to that, she worked as a Manager at EY FIG Services, where she led the execution of M&A transactions. She also worked for 3 years within Alantra’s M&A Team, a top-tier Spanish Investment Bank, where she worked on some of the most important and complex distressed RE transactions in Europe. She was responsible for overseeing every phase of processes: developing financial analysis, operating models, and market analysis while managing client relationships and junior professionals. Before that, she worked at CBRE as a valuation advisory analyst and was involved with SAREB’s portfolio which amounted to 21bn euros of non-core assets.

Cristina holds a BBA in Business, Finance, and Accounting from CUNEF (Colegio Universitario de Estudios Financieros) in Madrid (Spain).

Anand Kumar is a senior associate at Lafayette, primarily responsible for location analysis, underwriting, and research for the acquisition of new communities, as well as preparing financial models and marketing materials for new ventures.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Anand worked as an investment analyst at Savills Investment Management in their Paris office, where he prepared financial models for real estate acquisitions of industrial, office, and retail assets completing transactions with a combined value of ~EUR 150 million. Prior to that, he founded a supply chain company called Green Orchid Supply Link in Delhi, India.

Anand holds a B. Tech. in Civil Engineering from Vellore Institute of Technology (India) and a MSc. in Management from ESSEC Business School in Paris (France), where he majored in Real Estate Finance.

Tyler Hamels is a BFR Senior Acquisition Associate at Lafayette. His responsibilities include researching markets, analyzing sites, underwriting new investments, drafting marketing materials, and tracking due diligence.

Before Joining Lafayette, Tyler worked at a boutique real estate consulting firm in Tampa, conducting market feasibility studies for multifamily assets on behalf of developers, lenders, and government agencies. He also assisted with property valuations and rent comparability studies.

Tyler holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of South Florida.

Felix Schuhbauer is an associate at Lafayette, primarily responsible for business planning and financial modeling. He also contributes to origination and capital-raising efforts.

Before joining Lafayette, Felix worked in investment banking where he focused on M&A across sectors and also had exposure to restructuring projects. Previously, he gathered work experience in management consulting and software programming.

Felix holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Business from TH Rosenheim in Germany and an M.Sc. in International Finance from HEC Paris in France.

Mridul Dawar is an associate at Lafayette. His primary responsibilities entail conducting research, location analysis, and underwriting for new investments.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Mridul worked as an M&A analyst at Vicente & Partners in London, where he gained live deal experience and worked on financial analysis of companies in the consumer goods space. Before that, he worked in Paris at BNP Paribas as a Debt Capital Markets analyst covering financial institutions and at Natixis in the Infrastructure Investment Banking origination team.

Mridul holds a Master’s in Management with a specialization in International Finance from HEC Paris (France) and a B.A. (Hons.) in Economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce (India).

Alex Peck is a senior associate at Lafayette primarily responsible for conducting research, location analysis, and underwriting.

Alex joined the Lafayette lending team while working towards his bachelor’s degree. He assisted with broker communication, marketing efforts, and loan origination. Prior to joining Lafayette, Alex interned at Forte Capital on the wealth management team.

Alex attended New York University where he played on the university hockey team and holds a B.A. in economics.

Edward Platts is a BFR Acquisition Analyst at Lafayette. He is primarily responsible for location analysis, underwriting new investment opportunities, tracking due diligence, and conducting market research.
Before joining Lafayette, Edward interned as a Financial Analyst in Tallahassee where he conducted market research, created financial models, and assisted with future expenditure budgets, whilst working towards his M.S.
Edward holds a M.S. in Finance with a Specialization in Real Estate from Florida State University and a B.S. in Finance and History with Honors from Florida State University.

Alex Patton is a BFR Senior Acquisition Analyst, focusing on the acquisition of build-for-rent opportunities, managing the existing deal pipeline, and underwriting development opportunities.

Before joining Lafayette, Alex was an Investment Sales Analyst at Northmarq on their institutional investment sales team focused on Central Florida. There, he led the financial valuation for dispositions of multifamily, build-for-rent, and land assets, with a combined transaction value of approximately $400 million. Prior to that, he was an Associate at a Tampa-based real estate private equity firm and Merrill Lynch.

Alex holds a B.S. in Business Management from the University of Tampa.

Dennis Cisterna and Thibault Adrien launched the BFR strategy for Lafayette in 2019 and immediately became one of the most active investors in the sector. While he has stepped away from his day-to-day responsibilities, he still serves as an advisor for Lafayette. One of the most well-known executives in the real estate investment sector, he is also the co-founder and Chief Investment Officer for Sentinel Net Lease.

Dennis was previously the CEO of Investability Solutions and Managing Director of FirstKey Lending, a portfolio company of Cerberus Capital Management. Before that, he held various management positions in real estate finance and development, including key roles at notable firms such as Johnson Capital, Lennar, and Toll Brothers.

Mr. Cisterna received his B.A. in Political Science from San Diego State University.

Heidi Coppola is responsible for managing Operations and developing and implementing HR policies and best practices for Lafayette’s Property Management business. Ms. Coppola also assists in the development and growth of new lines of business that leverage the company’s core competencies.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Ms. Coppola worked for a single-family investment firm, Key Property Services, where she oversaw the valuation and brokerage businesses and provided operations expertise to the construction business, in addition to business development. Prior to that Ms. Coppola co-founded REO Clearinghouse to help servicers and nonprofits collaborate better around the disposition of low-value single family homes, and consulted for National Community Stabilization Trust (NCST), where she oversaw the acquisition and resolution of their first pool of non-performing loans (NPLs), and spent over two decades at Citigroup/Citicorp, where she helped establish policies and procedures for a new investment banking servicing platform.

Ms. Coppola holds a B.A. in Political Science from SUNY Binghamton, New York and a J.D. from American University Washington College of Law.

Jackie Lee helps manage Operations for Brandywine Homes USA.

Ms. Lee was previously an Operations Director at FirstKey Homes, a Cerberus Capital Management company. Prior to that she held various senior property management positions at Altisource, Travel Advantage Network, and Zerekon Holdings.Before that, Ms. Lee founded her own PM company, Clear Creek Properties, in 2003.

Ms. Lee studied Business management at le Tourneau University in Texas. She is a  real estate broker licensed in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, and Texas.

Neven Simikic is responsible for overseeing the REO portfolio of Lafayette. He supervises the recovery and renovations of at-risk properties and ensures that maximum returns are recovered.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Mr. Simikic managed multifamily renovation projects in New York, and before that, he had more than eight years of experience as a portfolio manager for a commercial real estate development company in Belgrade, Serbia.

Mr. Simikic holds a B.A in Business Administration from Bocconi University (Italy).

Michael Bergh is the Director of Transaction Management at Lafayette, implementing and managing the processes for the successful completion of real estate transaction closings.

Mr. Bergh began his career in the financial sector as a stockbroker with extensive experience in M&A. He went on to commercial and residential property valuation, owning his own appraisal firm and serving on the Board of NAREA – a national appraisal organization. Progression into the SFR REIT space followed with Waypoint Homes in their valuation, underwriting & property tax areas. Relocation to Georgia capitalized on Mr. Bergh’s valuation and property knowledge as he became Property Tax Director of Cold River which eventually led him to FirstKey Homes as Asset Manager, Director of Acquisitions, and Acquisition Transaction Manager. His valuation and transaction skills were applied at Zillow Offers as Eastern Region Resale Manager before joining Lafayette.

liana Valencia is a Transaction Coordinator at Lafayette, overseeing all aspects of a real estate transaction from executed purchase agreement to closing.

Previously taking on the role of Transaction Coordinator at Lafayette, Iliana Valencia, in her role of Underwriting Associate, was responsible for the preparation and initial underwriting of loan files. She acted as a liaison between all parties, including borrowers, attorneys, title companies, inspectors, and appraisal companies overseeing the closing and funding of over 700 loans.
Her ten-plus years of real estate industry experience includes time in American
Residential Properties, Capital Fund 1, and Patch Lending as Senior Loan
Administrator and Senior Closer, respectively.

Iliana Valencia holds a B.A. in Business Administration from CETYS University.
(Mexico)

Sarah Emerick is a Transaction Coordinator at Lafayette, working as part of a stellar Transaction Team to ensure each transaction is smooth and successful from contract to closing. In addition, she is helping to create, define, and implement best practices for the team as it continues to grow.

Ms. Emerick has more than a decade of experience in real estate and several facets of the real estate world, and she gained new perspectives and insights from each one. Before joining Lafayette in 2022, she spent many years as a Transaction Coordinator in commercial brokerage in both sales and leasing, working for CBRE. In that role, Ms. Emerick supported several top 1% of brokers company-wide and processed $50M in commissions annually, focusing on the Chicago market. Before that, she also gained experience in residential development sales, working for Garrison Partners corporate office. In that role, she worked closely with the operations and training teams, brokers, and buyers.

Ms. Emerick studied English and Theater at Millikin University, honing her creative skills and entrepreneurial spirit, and for 11 years owned and operated an online shop selling her handcrafted jewelry. That experience of being the sole proprietor was instrumental in developing the well-rounded skill set she brings to Lafayette.

Jason Besse, CFA, serves as Head of BFR for Lafayette and Marquis Homes.  He oversees our BFR activity, including sourcing, entitlement, development, and homebuilding.

Before joining Lafayette, Mr. Besse worked across multiple departments within public homebuilding, including land acquisition, land development, and operations, reaching the role of VP of Operations for Taylor Morrison.  Most recently, Jason was with Century Communities as Division President, overseeing all aspects of the homebuilding operations across the West Florida region.

Mr. Besse holds an MBA and a B.A. in Finance from Florida Gulf Coast University.

Dave Truxton, MBA, serves as Head of Land Operations for Lafayette and Marquis Homes. He oversees our BFR land activity, including sourcing, entitlement, and development.
Prior to joining Lafayette, Mr. Truxton worked for some of the top national homebuilders and private developers throughout the state of Florida, acquiring over $1B of real estate over the last 20 years. Most recently, Dave was with Lennar Homes as Vice President of Land, overseeing all aspects of land acquisitions and dispositions across the West Florida region, and has a wealth of experience in land acquisition, capital financing, entitlements, development, and operations.
Mr. Truxton holds an executive MBA from the University of South Florida and a B.S. in Finance with an emphasis in Real Estate from Missouri State University.

Steve Kraguljac serves as the VP of Vertical Operations.  Steve oversees vendor relations with national manufacturers and purchasing and construction functions.

Mr. Kraguljac started his career as a custom home builder, later moving to national home builders such as Taylor Morrison Homes, K. Hovnanian, and Morrison Homes…  Mr. Kraguljac has been a VP of Purchasing, Regional Purchasing Manager, and Regional Production/Construction Manager.

Mr. Kraguljac is a licensed Florida Contractor.

Mr. Kraguljac received a B.S. in Business Management from The Ohio State University.

Brad Stanis is a land acquisition, entitlement, and development professional with over 18 years of experience in the development and redevelopment of residential communities. Over this period, Brad has held positions with several national homebuilders, including over ten years with Lennar homes.

During his time with Lennar, Brad was responsible for all aspects of land, from the sourcing to the entitling as well as the developing of finished homesites for the homebuilding divisions. In addition, Brad was selected to open the land operations for Lennar in Jacksonville following the acquisition of a local builder. Most recently, he was tasked with purchasing and entitling land from northern Broward County to Indian River County. His success in doing so caused the company to re-open the Palm Beach Division, which had been closed since the recession in the fall of 2008.

Throughout his career, Brad has been responsible for the acquisition and development of over 30,000 homesites throughout Florida. Brad has an undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and a Master’s Degree from Columbia University.

Heather Wildasin is the Purchasing Coordinator for Marquis Homes. Heather’s main responsibilities include coordinating bids from trades, creating and maintaining construction budgets, vendor onboarding, as well as creating and maintaining vendor relationships. Mrs. Wildasin is also the liaison between our construction team, office staff, and accounting departments.

Ms. Szczypkowski is a Senior Project Manager for Marquis Homes. In her role, Jessica monitors construction projects from planning to completion, including tasks such as troubleshooting, budgeting, and scheduling. In addition to overseeing quality standards, Jessica ensures all safety measures are implemented and reinforced throughout construction sites. Jessica also collaborates with subcontractors to identify project needs and monitor ongoing performance.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Jessica held the role of Construction Manager for Toll Brothers, in which she oversaw the construction of new homes, as well as the home warranties for over 100 customers with closed homes.

Jessica holds a B.S. in Construction Management from Michigan State University.

Mr. Crandall serves as Lafayette’s Chief Financial Officer, overseeing all the firm’s financial affairs, including financial reporting, FP& A, accounting, treasury, tax, and audit compliance.

Before joining Lafayette, Mr. Crandall served as Executive Vice President of Finance at Tricon American Homes, the non-traded SFR REIT subsidiary of Tricon Residential, is responsible for all accounting, budgeting, financial reporting, investor reporting, treasury, tax, and audit compliance. During his tenure, Tricon’s portfolio grew to over $7B and ~34,000 homes.

Previously, Mr. Crandall served as the CFO for MBK Real Estate, the North American real estate subsidiary of Mitsui & Co. Ltd., where he was responsible for three operating divisions with over 1,800 employees. Mr. Crandall started his career with Price Waterhouse, working in audit and structure finance practices. Mr. Crandall was named the 2016 CFO of the Year by the OCBJ.

Mr. Crandall received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting from Colorado State University and is a CPA, inactive.

Chris Grosselfinger oversees fund management and administration as well as financial reporting for the firm’s funds.

Previously Mr. Grosselfinger was a Vice President of Finance at Pretium Partners, a real estate-focused private equity firm, where he worked with both the funds and corporate accounting. Prior to that, he was an Assistant Vice President at the Blackstone Group where he worked in various capacities with both the funds and the firm’s corporate finance group. Before that Mr. Grosselfinger was a Manager at Bisys/RK Alternative Investments in their fund administration group.

Mr. Grosselfinger holds a BS in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

John Cachay serves as Lafayette’s VP of Finance, overseeing all FP&A, Reporting, Analytics, and Data Warehouse functions within the parent, subsidiaries, and affiliate companies.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Mr. Cachay served as Patch Lending’s Director of Finance, a lender in the non-QM space specializing in Long-Term Rental Loans, Short-Term Loans (Straight Bridge or with Renovation Component), and New Construction Projects. Previously, John held numerous analyst roles overseeing nationwide portfolios tackling data, risk, and financial analytics for Westlake Financial Services, a privately held company focused on acquiring and servicing prime to sub-prime retail installment contracts, having 12b~ in AUM.

Mr. Cachay received his MBA and MS in Leadership from Grand Canyon University, graduating top of his class, earned his B.S. in Finance from California State University Northridge, and is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA).

Sheri Evans assists the Senior Fund Controller with financial reporting for the firm’s funds.

Previously Sheri worked for seven years with Greystar in their Property Management division and was responsible for overseeing 40 residential apartment complexes’ financial reporting. Sheri also has Big four accounting experience working for Deloitte in the Property Tax Division in Philadelphia.

Sheri holds a BS in accounting and Finance from Rider University in New Jersey. Sheri is also a CPA inactive.

Andy Mieles is Property Controller, responsible for overseeing the accounting for all Lafayette rental properties, reconciling and maintaining bank accounts and preparing, coordinating and reviewing year-end closing of books and records. In addition, he assists the chief financial officer with fund-level accounting and reporting, and coordinates with outside tax and auditing consultants.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Mr. Mieles accumulated 12 years of experience as assistant financial controller and senior accountant with various real estate investment and property management companies, including the Related Companies, L.P.

Mr. Mieles holds a B.S. in Accounting and an MBA in Accounting, both from Nyack College in New York.

Rohail Ahuja works in both the Lafayette finance and investor relations teams to prepare financial reports and analyses for investors. He also supports the fund controller with financial reporting and management.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Mr. Ahuja was an audit associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in the firm’s Qatar office, where he was involved in the external audits of major financial services companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. He also worked on the real estate team of Castlelake L.P. in Luxembourg, where he prepared and updated financial models to support investment projects.

Mr. Ahuja holds a BSc in Finance from Lahore University of Management Sciences in Pakistan and an MSc in Management from HEC Paris (France). He is also a qualified chartered accountant (ACCA, UK).

Melissa Fort is responsible for all aspects of accounts payable. She is also Lafayette’s office manager which includes duties such as travel arrangements, cash expenses and ordering supplies.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Ms. Fort worked in real estate, including both residential and commercial properties. She has had various responsibilities ranging from accounts payable to accounts receivable, as well as lease administration, and she has also had assistant property manager duties. Her ten-plus years of real estate industry experience includes time with Forest City Ratner, TF Cornerstone, and Cushman Wakefield.

Ms. Fort holds an A.S. degree in Accounting from New York City College of Technology.

Priya is primarily responsible for managing Homeowners Association activities, contracts, and legal obligations for all the operating markets of Lafayette. In addition, she assists with Accounts Payable, Property Licenses, and Taxes.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Priya had Real Estate Accounting experience along with operations experience in the retail and food & beverage industries.

Priya holds a BS in Accounting from Thomas Edison State University.

Charlene Delia is responsible for various duties in assisting Lafayette’s Office Manager with Accounts Payable & Accounts Receivable.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Ms. Delia was in the accounting field for over 30 years. She has knowledge of various industries including Residential & Commercial Construction Companies, Accounting Firms, and Restaurants & Distributors.

Christopher Mataja is the Chief Operating Officer at Lafayette. He oversees the underwriting and acquisition of all real estate. Over the last eight years, Mr. Mataja has contributed to establishing Lafayette’s reputation as one of the most reliable buyers and lenders in the single family home industry.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Mr. Mataja was an investment banking analyst with MD Global Partners in New York City, where he conducted due diligence and screened target companies for M&A, restructuring and capital market transactions.

Mr. Mataja received a Master of Management Studies from Duke University and a B.A. in Economics from Rollins College.

Alex Peck is a senior acquisition associate at Lafayette primarily responsible for conducting research, location analysis, and underwriting.

Alex joined the Lafayette lending team while working towards his bachelor’s degree. He assisted with broker communication, marketing efforts, and loan origination. Prior to joining Lafayette, Alex interned at Forte Capital on the wealth management team.

Alex attended New York University, where he played on the universities hockey team and held a B.A. in economics.

Vincent Molinari is the VP of Investor Relations, responsible for managing client relationships as well as leading Lafayette’s fundraising efforts across the firm.

Prior to joining Lafayette in 2023, Mr. Molinari was a Director at Sixpoint Partners, a global investment bank that provides diversified services to the middle-market private equity industry. During his time at Sixpoint Partners, Mr. Molinari focused on primary fund placement and secondary and co-investment transactions across a wide range of industries, sectors, and geographies. Before joining Sixpoint Partners, Mr. Molinari was a Vice President at Man Group, a global alternative asset manager, where he focused on managing and cultivating the firm’s US West Coast institutional relationships. During his time at Man Group, Vincent Molinari collaborated on the capital raising efforts for the formation of Man Global Private Markets, which included single-family residential debt and equity strategies.

Vincent received a B.A. from Gettysburg College, majoring in Economics. Mr. Molinari also holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation.

Marie Fedotov is the Investor Relations Manager at Lafayette, responsible for developing and leading international client development across Europe, Latam, the Middle East, and Asia, managing client relationships and supporting Lafayette’s fundraising efforts.

Ms Fedotov is a seasoned professional with 20 years in Financial Services, specializing in investment banking, brokerage, and asset management with a special focus on deal flow origination. After 10 years on the sell-side as an Equity Analyst and Equity Sales covering European markets (Credit Suisse in London, Unicredit and FIdetiis in Milan), Ms. Fedotov moved to a Business Development role for a Boutique Investment Bank in Istanbul (ATA Invest), where she helped develop its presence in Europe and the Middle East. After having co-founded an advisory firm to support M&A and fund-raising operations mainly in Tech (early/mid-stage) out of Dubai, Ms Fedotov participated in the expansion of an advisory firm for FO/MFO providing access to Private Markets (Funds and Direct) out of Luxembourg.

Ms Fedotov graduated with a Master of Science in Economics and Business from EM Lyon Business School, majoring in Finance.

Rohail Ahuja works in both the Lafayette finance and investor relations teams to prepare financial reports and analyses for investors. He also supports the fund controller with financial reporting and management.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Mr. Ahuja was an audit associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in the firm’s Qatar office, where he was involved in the external audits of major financial services companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. He also worked on the real estate team of Castlelake L.P. in Luxembourg, where he prepared and updated financial models to support investment projects.

Mr. Ahuja holds a BSc in Finance from Lahore University of Management Sciences in Pakistan and an MSc in Management from HEC Paris (France). He is also a qualified chartered accountant (ACCA, UK).

Maylis de Lacoste is in charge of Lafayette’s marketing outreach strategies. In this capacity, she oversees all marketing communications for Lafayette private equity, Brandywine PM, and Brandywine Care; she is in charge of each business line’s CRM platform implementation and lead acquisition.

​Before joining Lafayette in 2017, Ms. de Lacoste spent ten years in the financial services industry as a sales trader, then worked in the real estate market as a real estate retail and sales consultant at Crown Acquisition and a real estate residential salesperson at CORE.

​Ms. de Lacoste graduated with a Master’s degree in Management from Bordeaux Business School in France and studied at New York University, where she majored in finance.

Isabelle Levilain develops and implements HR strategies and initiatives for Lafayette and Brandywine Homes USA. Additionally, she maintains the firms’ pay plans and benefit program, and oversees and manages a performance appraisal system to drive individual and team success.

Prior to joining Lafayette, Ms. Levilain was an investment banker at BNP Paribas, covering large corporations in the Luxury Goods sector, in France. Before that Ms. Levilain was a Senior Associate, also at BNP Paribas, in both London and Tokyo.

Ms. Levilain holds a Post-graduate degree (DESS) in Corporate Finance from Paris I Sorbonne University.

Miriam Fitzpatrick is responsible for developing and implementing HR initiatives to help identify and create streamlined and scalable HR policies and processes. 

She is also responsible for overseeing Lafayette’s Office Manager and Executive Assistant.

Before joining Lafayette, Ms. Fitzpatrick worked for the New York Times, responsible for Sales Operations for the EMEA & APAC Advertising team.

Ms. Fitzpatrick received a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Management and Marketing from Technological University Dublin, Ireland.