The Palisades Team

Mr. Macdowell is the Co-Founder, Managing Member & Chief Investment Officer at Palisades. He is responsible for leading the Firm’s investment activities, including research, asset allocation, and risk management functions. Prior to founding Palisades in 2012, he served as the Chief Investment Officer of Carrington Capital Management, where he oversaw the teams responsible for investment strategies, quantitative analysis, mortgage credit analytics, trading, and risk management. Prior to Carrington, Mr. Macdowell served as Senior Portfolio Manager at Old Hill Partners where he was responsible for the Firm’s investments in mortgage- and asset-backed securities. Mr. Macdowell held various investment banking titles in the Asset Securitization Group at both RBC Capital Markets and Credit Suisse First Boston, where his primary focus was on non-agency mortgage and manufactured housing-related securitizations. Mr. Macdowell was formerly on the Board of Trustees for Vertical Capital Income Fund (VCIF), a NYSE listed closed-end fund. He is also a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charterholder, is a member of the CFA Institute and serves on the Board of CFA Society Austin. Mr. Macdowell earned his BBA from The University of Texas at Austin, and he is a member of the Executive Council of the Texas McCombs Real Estate Center at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin.

Mr. Ghosh is Partner & Senior Portfolio Manager at Palisades. He is responsible for the oversight and execution of the Firm’s investment and risk management mandates. Prior to joining Palisades in March 2013, Mr. Ghosh was a Senior Portfolio Analyst in the Capital Markets Group at MCM Capital Partners, LLC, where he was responsible for the quantitative analysis, valuation, trading and oversight of distressed residential mortgage loans. Prior to MCM Capital Partners, Mr. Ghosh served as an Associate and Analyst at Citigroup Global Markets’ Finance Desk. While at Citigroup, he was responsible for marketing short-term funding solutions to hedge funds, concentrating on U.S. Treasury and mortgage-backed securities. Mr. Ghosh earned both his Master of Science in Financial Engineering and his BS in Finance and Economics from New York University. During his Master’s studies at NYU, he also served as Teaching Assistant for Nassim Taleb, author of “The Black Swan." Mr. Ghosh is a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charterholder, has earned the FRM designation, and he is a member of the CFA Institute, CFA Society of Chicago, and the Global Association of Risk Professionals.

Mr. Mustich is Partner, Business Development at Palisades. He is responsible for overseeing capital formation, investor relations, and driving business development initiatives. Previously, he served as Partner, Head of Asset Management at Palisades where he implemented high-touch credit strategies to generate investment returns in alignment with the Firm’s overall strategy. Prior to joining Palisades, he held roles at C&A Consulting as a Senior Vice President and at Interactive Data Corporation as a Senior Evaluator of Whole Loans and Agency CMOs. Throughout his career, Mr. Mustich has gained diverse experience in Loan Trading, Transaction Management, Asset Management, and Business Development. As the acting Transaction Manager at Hudson Advisors, he oversaw the acquisition of over $6 billion in non-performing loans. Mr. Mustich began his whole-loan career in 2003 as an Analyst on the trading desk at The Winter Group.  During his tenure there, he oversaw the repurchase department and managed outstanding obligations exceeding $200 million. Before departing in 2008, Mr. Mustich held the position of Head Distressed Whole Loans Trader, where he was responsible for overseeing a portfolio valued at over $100 million.  He earned a BS in Business Administration from The University of Delaware.

Mr. Rahman is Partner, Trading & Analytics at Palisades. He is responsible for overseeing the deployment and management of various fund strategies and vehicles, ensuring their effective implementation. As co-leader of the Portfolio Management Team, Mr. Rahman plays a vital role in shaping and executing the Firm's investment strategy. Additionally, he has been actively involved in all aspects of People Operations, and he has spearheaded the Firm's impact initiatives. Prior to joining Palisades, Mr. Rahman worked as a Senior Analyst in the Investment Banking Division at Raymond James. During his tenure there, he executed transactions within the Financial Institutions Group, focusing on the Asset Management, Banks, and Insurance sectors. Mr. Rahman's transaction experience includes advisory services for private equity and debt placements, sell-side and buy-side advisory, as well as public debt and equity transactions. He earned a BA in Applied Mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis.

Mr. Reed is Partner, Data Science & Analytics at Palisades. He is responsible for leading the Firm’s data and technology initiatives, including data science and analytics, model development, application development, enterprise data management, and business intelligence. Prior to joining Palisades in 2014, he worked at Fannie Mae in Washington D.C. During his tenure at Fannie Mae, Mr. Reed worked in a variety of roles, including Multifamily FP&A, Structured Transactions, Single Family Credit Analytics, and Securities Accounting. Mr. Reed earned a B S in both Quantitative Finance and Mathematics from James Madison University. He is a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charterholder, and he is a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society Los Angeles.

Mr. Armstrong-Watters is Partner, Chief Financial Officer at Palisades. He is responsible for leading the Firm’s Finance and Accounting department, operational strategy, and internal business initiatives with a focus on clear, accurate and timely financial reporting and optimizing the deployment of Firm resources. Prior to joining Palisades in 2020, Mr. Armstrong-Watters worked as a CFO consultant, and launched two UK-based financial technology companies (Settled and Dot Residential) acting as the CFO/Finance Director at both companies from inception. Prior to these ventures, Mr. Armstrong-Watters worked in investment management at ANZ Wealth (Australia) and Legal & General Investment Management (United Kingdom), where he was responsible for financial planning and analysis, business expansion initiatives and operational strategy. Mr. Armstrong-Watters earned a double major in Applied Finance and Psychology from Macquarie University (Australia). Mr. Armstrong-Watters is a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charterholder, and he is a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society Austin.

Mr. Fisher is the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Palisades. He is responsible for the Firm’s legal and compliance functions. Prior to joining Palisades in 2022, Mr. Fisher served as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Atom Investors, an Austin-based alternative asset firm that managed over $1 billion utilizing a proprietary market neutral investment strategy. Prior to joining Atom in 2018, Mr. Fisher served as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Capital Z Partners, a New York-based private equity manager that specialized in the financial services sector. Prior to joining Capital Z Partners in 2002, Mr. Fisher was a member of the investment management groups of the law firms Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP and Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP. Since 2022, Mr. Fisher also is an adjunct professor at The University of Texas at Austin School of Law, where he teaches a class on alternative assets, and he is a member of the College of Liberal Arts Advisory Council at The University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Fisher earned a Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law and a BA with high honors in history from The University of Texas at Austin.

Ms. Mamedova is the Managing Director of Risk Management at Palisades.  She co-leads the Firm’s transaction management, due diligence, asset management and collateral management activities while providing strategic direction and leadership for financial risk strategy, roadmap, and enterprise-wide execution. Prior to joining Palisades in 2013, Ms. Mamedova served as Vice President, Business Control Manager of Bank of America, where she utilized her experience in operational risk management and business control to support line of business groups with policies, procedures, and controls to ensure that compliance programs are properly executed and within regulatory guidelines. Prior to Bank of America, Ms. Mamedova held various roles with Countrywide Home Loans in Treasury, Secondary Marketing, and Enterprise Risk Management. Ms. Mamedova earned her FEMBA with a concentration in Finance from Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, and a BBA in Finance from California State University, Northridge.

Ms. Whitney is Managing Director of Business Development at Palisades. She is responsible for establishing and executing the Firm’s investment strategy development, investment vehicle structuring, capital formation, business development, investor relations, and other investor-facing activities for Palisades. Ms. Whitney brings over thirty years of alternative investment experience to Palisades. Prior to joining Palisades, Ms. Whitney was Director of Alternative Distribution with Lazard Asset Management. She has held various roles with JANA Partners, Highside Capital and Tudor Investment Corporation. Ms. Whitney earned a BBA from The University of Texas at Austin.

Mr. Dunn is the Chief Accounting Officer at Palisades. In this role, he oversees the Firm's accounting, tax, and financial reporting initiatives. Before joining Palisades, Mr. Dunn served as Controller of Atom Investors, an Austin-based alternative asset firm that managed over $1 billion utilizing a proprietary market neutral investment strategy. Mr. Dunn played a key role in leading Atom’s accounting, tax, regulatory, and financial reporting efforts. He was responsible for both internal and external performance reporting for the fund and its managers. Prior to Atom, Mr. Dunn was Vice President, Accounting at Hunt Capital, where he led a team in the preparation of all accounting requirements for investment, strategic, and infrastructure initiatives within the organization. Mr. Dunn gained valuable investment accounting experience during his five-year tenure at Highland Capital Management, where he was responsible for managing certain accounting and reporting functions of Highland's institutional investment practice. To start his career, Mr. Dunn worked in KPMG’s audit and advisory practice, primarily focusing on energy clients. Mr. Dunn holds a BBA and MPA from The University of Texas at Austin, and he is a Certified Public Accountant.

Mr. Friskics is Director of Business Intelligence at Palisades.  He is responsible for leading the Firm’s data quality control efforts, including cash flow reconciliation and data validation. In his role, he has developed solutions to automate and streamline complex operational processes. Prior to joining Palisades in 2014, Mr. Friskics worked at Western Asset Management, Ares Management, and The Bank of New York Mellon.  Mr. Friskics earned his BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from The University of Central Florida.

Ms. Harkins is Director of Collateral Management at Palisades. She is responsible for leading the Collateral Team, which manages all collateral documents and requirements for the Firm’s entire portfolio of assets. She was actively involved in the creation and development of Tract, Palisades’ collateral management tracking system that has been licensed to external clients. Ms. Harkins has been with the Firm since 2016 and has twenty years of industry experience, previously having worked for some of the top investment banks in the industry. Ms. Harkins is also the Co-Founder of The Greenstone Horse Rescue.

Mr. Nee is Director, Data Science & Business Intelligence at Palisades. He is responsible for implementing effective data management solutions that seamlessly integrate complex data with over 40 mortgage servicers and other partners/vendors. Prior to joining Palisades, Mr. Nee held several key IT positions at several financial companies throughout the United States, including Bank of America, Countrywide, Fannie Mae, and Banc of California.

Mr. Casey is Director of Consultant Relations at Palisades. He is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships among the investment consultant community in support of the Firm’s capital formation and investor relations efforts. Mr. Casey brings over fifteen years of experience from institutional asset management and investment consulting. Prior to joining Palisades, Mr. Casey held various roles at Dimensional Fund Advisors starting in the research group and culminating as Vice President on the consultant relations team. His industry career began at Angeles Investment Advisors based in Santa Monica, California. Mr. Casey earned a BS in Business Administration from California State University, Northridge.

Mr. Ho is Vice President of Risk Management at Palisades. He is responsible for supporting transaction management and asset management functions, contributing to the successful settlement and oversight of billions of client and discretionary assets.  Mr. Ho is a member of Habitat Young Professionals, an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity Austin, facilitating and participating in charitable giving, advocacy, and volunteering.  He joined Palisades in 2018 after earning his BA in Economics from The University of California, Los Angeles.

Mr. Spielman is a Senior Associate on the Data Science Team at Palisades. He is responsible for building out tools and processes that help to streamline data processes and data science between business users and the Business Intelligence Team. Mr. Spielman earned his BBA from Loyola University Chicago, and his Master of Science of Finance (MSF) from Loyola University Chicago.

Ms. Heinlein, Talent & Operations, leads the human resources activities of the Firm. In this role, she drives the Firm's human resources strategies to attract, retain, engage, and develop top talent. Additionally, she is actively involved in all aspects of the Firm's impact initiatives as a Director on the Impact Committee. Prior to joining Palisades in 2022, Ms. Heinlein served as a Human Resources Specialist at the State of Wisconsin where she guided recruitment, staffing, compensation, and employee relations for technical, professional, and management staff within the Department of Safety and Professional Services. Ms. Heinlein earned her BS in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and she is pursuing the SHRM-SCP certification.

Mrs. McBryar serves as the Administrative Assistant to the CIO and CFO, ensuring seamless day-to-day office operations. With a diverse professional background spanning over a decade of experience at companies like Procter & Gamble, she brings valuable expertise to her role. Mrs. McBryar earned her BS in Health Science from Lee University.

Ms. Diaz-Rodriguez is Assistant Vice President of Collateral Management at Palisades. She is responsible for handling all collateral-related items and for managing, reconciling and reporting collateral for both purchase and sale trades. In addition, since she is bilingual, Ms. Diaz-Rodriguez is responsible for the collateral relating to the Firm’s cross-border portfolio. She works closely with the Firm’s advisory clients in connection with their pre- and post-collateral portfolios. Prior to joining Palisades, Ms. Diaz-Rodriguez worked at Countrywide Home Loans for 17 years, most recently as Vice President in the Correspondent Lending Division.

Ms. Mwangi is a Collateral Specialist on the Collateral Team at Palisades.  Her responsibilities include reviewing collateral documents to ensure compliance with all procedures and evaluating material information to ensure accuracy.  She is also responsible for reviewing mote and assignment chains to ensure that they are recorded correctly and that there are no breaks in chains. She also holds a notary license to help with notary needs for the department and company. Before joining Palisades in 2022, Ms. Mwangi worked in mortgage origination for eight years, most recently as a Senior Loan Processor for New American Funding. Her responsibilities there included supporting several branches and the Vice President of Multi State Lending and his team of high producing loan officers. Ms. Mwangi gained valuable knowledge in several loan scenarios through extensive processing and of all loan products. Ms. Mwangi holds a NMLS license and is currently pursuing her BS in Business & Entrepreneurship from Colorado Christian University.

Ms. Bluege-Rust is a Collateral Specialist at Palisades. She is responsible for the review and resolution of collateral exceptions within the Firm’s portfolio of assets. Before joining Palisades in 2023, Ms. Bluege-Rust spent over 30 years in the finance industry with a focus on post-closing activities. She was a recipient of the Top Operations Manager award on multiple occasions while working at several of the top investment banks in the industry.

Ms. Andrews is a Collateral Specialist on the Collateral Team at Palisades. Her responsibilities include reviewing and resolving exceptions within the Firm’s asset portfolio. Before joining Palisades in 2024, Ms. Andrews worked in the mortgage finance industry with an emphasis on post-closing operations for 24 years. Most recently, she served as VP, Client Service Manager at the Bank of New York. She earned her BA in Business Administration from The University Autónoma de Aguascalientes in México.

Ms. Varona is a Loan Servicing Specialist at Palisades. She is responsible for supporting the Asset Management Team in the management of residential whole loans and real estate-owned properties, with a focus on loss mitigation, default management and construction projects. Prior to joining Palisades, Ms. Varona spent over 20 years in the finance industry, with a focus on commercial real estate lending and capital equipment lease financing. Prior to joining Palisades, she worked at Wells Fargo Bank for 11 years, most recently as Senior Residential Mortgage Loan Processor and Operations Associate, with a focus on remediation analysis. Ms. Varona is currently renewing her Notary Public commission and has earned a B.S. in Microbiology from California State University, Long Beach.

Mr. So is an Investment Associate at Palisades and is a member of the Firm’s Asset Management team. He focuses on portfolio strategy, reporting, and counterparty engagement with the goal of optimizing the performance of both discretionary and non-discretionary accounts. Mr. So joined Palisades in the wake of COVID and integrated new third-party servicers and data into the Firm's reporting to provide transparency on the impact of the pandemic. Mr. So earned his BBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he pursued a double major in Finance and Risk Management. During his time there, Mr. So supplemented his finance studies with a semester studying abroad at University College Dublin in Ireland.  He is a CFA charter holder, member of the CFA Institute, and member of CFA Society Austin.

Mr. Wik is an Investment Associate on the Trading & Analytics Team at Palisades. He is responsible for supporting the Investment Team and its processes. He is actively involved in various aspects of the acquisition process, including due diligence, modeling, and pricing of residential whole loans, business purpose loans, home equity options, and other asset classes. He is also actively involved in the enhancement of proprietary investment models, market analytics, and the Palisades database enterprise warehouse. Mr. Wik holds a bachelor's degree from Drexel University, where he pursued a double major in Finance and Business Analytics with a minor in Software Engineering.  He is a CFA charter holder, member of the CFA Institute, and member of CFA Society Austin.

Mr. Langdon is a Senior Accounting Analyst on the Finance & Accounting Team at Palisades.  He is responsible for the monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reporting, the debt covenant reporting and the liquidity management related to discretionary funds that Palisades manages.  During the year-end process, he is responsible for the audit project and tax correspondence related to his assigned discretionary funds.   Mr. Langdon also handles tax-related projects that come up throughout the year.  Prior to Palisades, Mr. Langdon worked for four and a half years at a boutique real-estate focused public accounting firm, where Mr. Langdon’s responsibilities included outsourced controller services, fund accounting, tax preparation, tax resolution, and management of two bookkeepers.  Prior to this position, Mr. Langdon worked as an intern at a small public accounting firm for three and a half years while attending Campbell University and earning a BBA in Accounting, a minor in Finance, and a Master’s in Business Administration.

Mr. Cabello is a Senior Accounting Analyst on the Finance & Accounting Team at Palisades. He is responsible for preparing monthly financial reports, assisting with treasury management, and building out supporting work papers. Additionally, Mr. Cabello manages the Firm’s accounts payable and receivable functions to maximize working capital and cash conversion. In his previous role as a Tax Intern at Deloitte, Mr. Cabello worked on a variety of projects, including developing new service proposals for clients, analyzing the tax implications of existing equity awards in M&A deals, and filing partnership tax returns. Prior to Deloitte, Mr. Cabello attended The University of Texas at Austin where he earned his BBA and Master’s in Professional Accounting from the McCombs School of Business, and he is a Certified Public Accountant.

Mr. De Gregorio is an Investment Analyst on the Trading & Analytics Team at Palisades. He plays a key role in various aspects of the trade cycle, from initial analysis to final closing, along with other related tasks. Before joining Palisades, Mr. De Gregorio worked as a research analyst at Business Intelligence Advisors, where he was responsible for producing proprietary research reports utilized by institutional investors. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Bentley University, where he graduated summa cum laude with a major in finance. During his time at Bentley, Mr. De Gregorio served as the fund director for Bentley’s TAMID chapter, an organization focused on providing students with insights into the Israeli start-up economy through student-led investment and consulting activities. Additionally, he served as a portfolio manager within Bentley’s own student-led fund, where he conducted security and portfolio analysis, while also mentoring new members. He is a CFA charter holder, member of the CFA Institute, and member of CFA Society Austin.

Mr. Richard is a Data Analyst on the Data Science & Business Intelligence Team at Palisades. He specializes in data reconciliation, database management, data visualization, and application development. Prior to joining Palisades, Mr. Richard earned a BS from The University of California, Los Angeles in 2022 with BS degrees in both Statistics and Mathematics of Computation. Through numerous quantitative courses, he gained exposure to cutting edge theories and applications in data science and analytics. In 2021 Mr. Richard served as a data analyst for Bruinshack, a Los Angeles-based startup aimed at streamlining the online search process for rental properties. He also spent time in 2019 as an intern at Bickmore Actuarial, a casualty actuarial consulting firm in Northern California.

Mr. Roper is a Junior Full Stack Developer on the Business Intelligence Team at Palisades. In his role, he builds and maintains robust software solutions that are utilized across various teams within the Firm. Prior to joining Palisades in 2024, Mr. Roper honed his skills through hands-on experience at a residential home energy startup in Seattle. His expertise in developing integrated systems ensures seamless data flow and enhanced operational efficiency. Mr. Roper earned his BS in Computer Science from Western Washington University.

Mr. Swain is an Investment Analyst on the Asset Management Team at Palisades. His primary responsibilities include default management, investor reporting, and implementing effective loss mitigation strategies. Prior to joining Palisades, Mr. Swain was an Investment Analyst at AlphaFlow, a technology-driven investment manager that provided professionally managed portfolios of real estate loans to institutional investors. He earned a BS in Public Financial Management from Indiana University.

Mr. Pandey is an Investment Analyst on the Trading & Analytics Team at Palisades. He is responsible for loan pricing, acquisitions, settlement, analysis, and reporting. He is also involved in creating efficiencies and enhancements for Palisades' enterprise data warehouse, in addition to a variety of other processes. Prior to joining Palisades, Mr. Pandey worked at Allegheny Technologies as an Accounting Intern supporting general accounting, finance, and digital technologies. Mr. Pandey earned BS degrees in both Finance and Computer Science from Oregon State University. Mr. Pandey is an Eagle Scout.

Mr. Crookes is an Investment Analyst on the Asset Management Team at Palisades. He focuses on default management, investor reporting, and implementing effective loss mitigation strategies. During the summer of 2023, he gained hands-on experience as an Investment Analyst Intern at Palisades where he supported the Asset and Transaction Management Teams with various matters relating to the Firm’s managed loan and real estate portfolio. Mr. Crookes earned his BA in Management Consulting & Analytics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Mr. Stelling is an Investment Analyst on the Transaction Management and Asset Management Teams at Palisades. He is responsible for loan acquisitions, diligence, pricing, and deploying effective loss mitigation strategies. He is also actively involved in enhancing Palisades’ proprietary models and diligence processes. Prior to joining Palisades, Mr. Stelling worked as a Business Intelligence Intern at Hilti North America where he focused on financial forecasting and process automation. He graduated cum laude from Southern Methodist University with his BBA in Finance and BS in Data Science.

Mr. Luyten is an Investment Analyst on the Transaction Management Team at Palisades. He is primarily responsible for due diligence, loan pricing, acquisitions, and process automation. Before joining Palisades, Mr. Luyten held data science internship roles at CarePoint Health and the Metropolitan Chicago Data Science Corps. He also interned at Kawa Capital Management and worked as a Private Equity Research Intern at CORE Industrial Partners. He graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in Data Science and a minor in Economics.

Ms. Balaji is an Intern on the Legal & Compliance Team at Palisades. She supports the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, and she researches and develops legal and compliance strategies to support Palisades' strategic initiatives. Ms. Balaji earned her BS and MBA in Business Administration from The University of Texas at Dallas and is currently attending The University of Texas at Austin School of Law.