The Team
Art
DeGaetano
Mr. DeGaetano is the Chief Investment Officer and Founder of Bramshill Investments. Prior to founding Bramshill, in 2012, Mr. DeGaetano was a Senior Portfolio Manager at GLG Partners LP where he not only managed the predecessor to the Bramshill Income Performance Strategy, but also managed a levered US credit portfolio for the GLG Market Neutral Fund. Combined Mr. DeGaetano had approximately $375 million in assets under management for GLG Partners LP. Prior to joining GLG Partners in 2007, Mr. DeGaetano was a Managing Director and Head of US Credit Trading at RBS Greenwich Capital from 2005 through 2006. He traded and oversaw the credit trading desk, comprised of 14 traders across corporate bonds, credit default swaps and index products from investment grade to high yield averaging a $4 billion gross position. Prior to RBS Greenwich Capital, he traded credit for 12 years for Bear Stearns & Co. Inc. He was a Senior Managing Director and the Head Trader on the high yield trading desk from 2000 through 2004. He managed a group of 4 traders along with trading his own positions during this period overseeing a gross position of approximately $1billion. His expertise has been in high beta sectors such as telecom, financials, and special situations. Prior to trading high yield, he was a Managing Director on the investment grade trading desk at Bear Stearns from 1992 through 1999. Mr. DeGaetano has a B.A. from Colgate University.
Art actively supports student-athlete programs and scholarships through a family foundation.
Stephen Selver
Mr. Selver is the Chief Executive Officer of Bramshill Investments. Mr. Selver joined Bramshill in 2014. Mr. Selver was previously a Managing Director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Inc. in High Yield Sales where he covered many large institutional asset managers. Before joining Bank of America, Mr. Selver spent 14 years at JP Morgan as a Director, selling various credit products to funds including loans, bonds, credit derivatives and CDO’s. Prior to JP Morgan, Mr. Selver was an attorney at Squire, Sanders and Dempsey where he specialized in corporate finance and public finance. Mr. Selver is a graduate of Albany Law School and Holy Cross College. Mr. Selver serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Food Action in Englewood, NJ.
Gina Cifello
Ms. Cifello joined Bramshill Investments in September of 2017 and has over 20 years of accounting and financial management experience. Ms. Cifello was previously the Controller of R.G. Niederhoffer Capital Management, a twenty-year- old CTA firm based in New York City. Her responsibilities included managing the day-to- day operations and business affairs of registered investment advisors. In addition, Ms. Cifello worked as the Controller and CFO for a Single Family Office helping to establish an accounting system and developing processes and procedures to encompass all of the Family Office financial functions. Prior to joining Niederhoffer Capital, Ms. Cifello worked in public accounting from 1997 to 2004. Ms Cifello graduated cum laude, receiving a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from Caldwell University.
Kevin Jester
Mr. Jester is the Chief Operating Officer of Bramshill Investments. Prior to joining Bramshill in 2018, Mr. Jester’s roles included the Head of Prime Brokerage Client Services and Arbitrage Relationship Management over his 8 years at BNP Paribas. Mr. Jester has supported diverse trading teams including Long/Short US Equity, International Equity, Credit, Macro and Commodity portfolios. He has experience covering proprietary, quantitative and high frequency trading strategies and his group was responsible for settlement of all US instruments traded from BNP’s international sites. Prior to his career at BNP Paribas, Mr. Jester worked in Mortgage Backed Securities Operations for JP Morgan Chase. Mr. Jester has a B.A. from Ramapo College and brings over 15 years of financial service experience with him to Bramshill.
David Hedley
Mr. Hedley is the Chief Strategy Officer for Bramshill Investments. He joined the Bramshill team in 2021, bringing with him 29 years of Wall Street experience as an investment banker. As a senior investment banker, Mr. Hedley advised executive management teams on strategic initiatives, including M&A and organic growth strategies. Prior to joining Bramshill, Mr. Hedley was a Principal and Sr. Managing Director at Ernst & Young Capital Advisors, where he led the Technology Investment Banking Group. Prior to EY, he was a senior investment banker at Canaccord Genuity, UBS Investment Bank, Thomas Weisel Partners and Merrill Lynch. Mr. Hedley graduated in 1991 with a BA from Colgate University. Mr. Hedley has also served for several years as a Board member of GLAAD and as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Morristown Beard School in New Jersey
Nicolas Amato, CFA, CAIA
Nicolas (“Nico”) Amato is the Chief Risk Officer for Bramshill Investments. Mr. Amato has over 20 years of industry experience, mostly in Alternative Investments. Prior to joining Bramshill Investments in 2019, Mr. Amato was Head of Alternatives Portfolio Management at Wilshire Associates and also oversaw Manager Research for Alternative Investments within Wilshire’s Funds Management Group. Before joining Wilshire Associates, Mr. Amato was at Dorchester Capital Advisors, a Los Angeles-based Alternative Investments manager, from 2004 through 2014. While at Dorchester, Mr. Amato was a Partner of the firm and responsible for communicating with investors, overseeing investment portfolios, and managing the Research and Risk Management teams. Mr. Amato started his career in 1998 at the Merrill Lynch office in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Mr. Amato earned an Economics Licentiate degree, Cum Laude, from San Andres University, a Masters in Finance from CEMA University (both in Buenos Aires), and an M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson School of Management. Mr. Amato is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a Chartered Alternative Investments Analyst (CAIA).
MONA DARUWALA
Ms Daruwala is the Chief Compliance Officer for Bramshill Investments. Prior to joining Bramshill in May 2022, Ms Daruwala spent 7 years at Societe Generale with roles under the Global Markets COO and Compliance teams focused on risk assessment, governance management and varying regulatory matters. Prior to her time at SG, she held similar roles at Deutsche Bank while also helping build out AML processes in the Americas. Ms Daruwala is ACAMS certified and has earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and Criminal Justice from Rutgers University and her Juris Doctorate from New York Law School.
Paul van Lingen
Mr. van Lingen is a Senior Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Bramshill Investments specializing in Mortgage Backed Securities and all Structured Products. He is a member of the firm’s investment committee. Prior to joining Bramshill Investments in 2017, Mr. van Lingen was a Managing Director, Principal, and Portfolio Manager at Rimrock Capital Management, a west coast Hedge Fund. He served as Head of All Structured Products managing approximately 4 billion dollars in capital. Prior to that Mr. van Lingen was a Managing Director at RBS Greenwich Capital where he managed day to day trading activities overseeing several employees as well as worked with private and government agencies to help restore residential securitization markets. He served as Head of Non-Agency MBS Trading managing approximately four billion dollars in capital. Prior to RBS Greenwich, Mr. van Lingen was a Senior Managing Director at Bear Stearns where he oversaw one of the largest trading and issuance platforms overseeing many employees. He served as Head of Agency and Non-Agency ARM Trading managing over twenty billion dollars of capital. Prior to Bear Stearns, Mr. van Lingen served in various roles in managing, consulting, modeling and technology for all aspects of the securitization business at Bankers Trust, Bank of New York, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Mr. van Lingen has a B.S. from New York University, Stern School of Business.
Derek Pines
Mr. Pines is a Senior Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Bramshill Investments where he co-manages their flagship Income Performance Strategy with Bramshill’s CIO. Prior to joining Bramshill Investments in 2012, Mr. Pines spent over a decade as a Proprietary Trader and Portfolio Manager leading a multi-asset class strategy which specialized in quantitative modeling techniques and utilized fundamental research to determine relative value. The bulk of that time was with Assent (Sungard Financial) and Chimera Securities. He also spent a year with Accenture in their Core Trading Services Group. He has over 20 years of investment experience in fixed income and exchange traded securities within both long-only and long-short investment vehicles. Mr. Pines has been involved in charitable organizations such as NextStep, The Hoya Diamond Club, and Party with Purpose where he spent several years on the board. He holds a Masters Graduate Certificate in Algorithmic Trading from Stevens University. Mr. Pines graduated cum laude with a B.S. in finance from Georgetown University.
Ara Balabanian
Mr. Balabanian specializes in all areas of Real Estate, including Hotels, Lodging, Construction and Building. He also has significant expertise in the Structured Product sectors (MBS/ABS/CMBS) in which the firm invests. He is a member of the firm’s Investment Team. His primary focus is on investment management of the Structured Products Fund and the firm’s other Structured Product mandates. Prior to joining Bramshill Investments in 2019, Mr. Balabanian held positions as a Director at RBS and Performance Trust Capital Partners as well as a Vice President at Goldman Sachs. Mr. Balabanian’s background is in Structured Finance with over 21 years of experience with specific expertise in underwriting and originating mortgage backed, commercial mortgage backed and asset backed securitizations as well as arranging asset based financings, structured sales and advisory services. Mr. Balabanian has a B.S. in Engineering Management Systems (Operations Research) and Concentration in Economics from Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Jennifer Huynh, CFA
Ms. Huynh is a Credit Analyst at Bramshill Investments. Prior to joining Bramshill in 2020, Ms. Huynh was an Associate within the Fixed Income Group at First Republic Investment Management with experience in client service, portfolio management, and fundamental credit analysis. She also served as Secretary of the Asset Allocation Committee. Prior to First Republic, she worked at State Street Global Services where she provided portfolio reconciliation and accounting services to wealth management firms. Ms. Huynh earned a B.S., Cum Laude, from Boston University Questrom School of Business with a concentration in finance and international management. She received her CFA charter in 2021.
Jeff Leschen
Mr. Leschen is a Managing Director at Bramshill Investments. He is primarily responsible for infrastructure and analytics. Before joining Bramshill in 2013, he worked at the Institute for International Research where he lead research campaigns with private and institutional investors, focusing on best practices in hedge fund operations, compliance, and risk management. Mr. Leschen is a graduate from the University of Delaware and is a founding participant of the CFA Institute Investment Foundations Program.
Justin Byrnes
Mr. Byrnes is a Senior Portfolio Manager at Bramshill Investments specializing in income securities and capital structure analysis. Before joining Bramshill Investments in 2014, Mr. Byrnes worked for SAC Capital for 8 years where he co-ran an equity portfolio focused on the Energy, Power and Utility sectors for one of the largest portfolio managers at the firm. Prior to that, Mr. Byrnes was an analyst at CJS Securities specializing in small and midcap companies. Mr. Byrnes is a graduate of Vanderbilt University.
Ryan Guthrie, CAIA
Mr. Guthrie is an Executive Director within the sales team at Bramshill. Ryan has close to 20 years of business development experience spanning multiple channels of distribution. Prior to joining Bramshill in May 2022, Ryan spent 7 years as a Vice President at PineBridge Investments where he focused on both traditional and alternative investment strategies, catering to domestic and international clients within intermediary platforms, private banks, and RIA’s. Mr. Guthrie held additional sales roles at such firms as Tocqueville Asset Management, MassMutual, AXA Financial and UBS, where he was responsible for marketing emerging market strategies, private equity, hedge funds, real assets, and alternative fixed income, such as direct lending, leveraged loans and securitized products. Ryan earned a B.S. in Finance from Manhattan College and holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation. When he is not spending time with his wife and two children, Ryan devotes time to volunteering in his community coaching football, softball, and basketball.
Scott Cowin,FRM
Scott Cowin is a Director at Bramshill Investments focusing on risk management and quantitative analytics. Mr. Cowin has been the Director of Risk for Dorchester Capital Advisors, a Los Angeles-based Fund of Hedge Funds, where he was responsible for risk management for the firm’s investment products. Mr. Cowin also oversaw Risk Management for Nuveen’s West Coast affiliates and later worked within Risk Management roles at two institutional allocators. Mr. Cowin has two post-graduate degrees from UCLA Anderson, an MBA and a Masters in Financial Engineering (MFE), and also earned the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designation.
Brittney Van Calcar
Ms. Van Calcar is a Director at Bramshill Investments focusing on client relations and marketing. Prior to joining Bramshill in 2017, Ms. Van Calcar attended the College of Charleston, where she graduated with a B.A. in Communications and a minor in Business Administration. Ms. Van Calcar has both her Series 7 and Series 63 financial licenses.
Martin Burke, CIMA
Martin Burke is an Executive Director at Bramshill Investments having joined the firm in 2019. Mr. Burke has over 35 years of experience in Financial Services and has been focused almost exclusively in asset management distribution working with financial advisors. During his tenure he has worked for Allianz/PIMCO, Fidelity Investments, John Nuveen, and Calvert Group predominantly in sales, but has also spent several years as a divisional sales manager and national sales manager. Over the course of his career he has been responsible for the distribution of an array of investments strategies including mutual funds, closed-end funds, separately managed accounts, unit investments trusts and various other specialty strategies. Martin is a graduate of Towson University and achieved the CIMA designation in 1996.
Malcolm Selver
Mr. Selver is a Managing Director at Bramshill Investments and has over 50 years of experience in the securities industry. Mr. Selver joined Bramshill in 2014 focusing on equities and risk management across the firm’s asset allocation process. Prior to joining Bramshill, Mr. Selver was a Managing Director at JP Morgan for 14 years in Equity Sales where he sold all equity, equity derivatives, swaps and other cross products to large institutional clients worldwide. His prior experience was as a Director at Salomon Brothers (later Citigroup) for 21 years where he was responsible for equity sales and trading. Mr. Selver is a graduate of Bryant College (B.S.) and currently an active member in the Wall Street Chapter of St. Jude Charity.
Shannon Ruiz
Ms. Ruiz is an Associate Director at Bramshill Investments focusing on accounting and operations. Ms. Ruiz is also Head of the Firm’s ESG Strategy and Development. Prior to joining Bramshill in 2020, Ms. Ruiz worked in client relations at a Registered Investment Adviser for 3 years. Ms. Ruiz attended the Rutgers Business School, where she graduated with a B.S. in Finance and B.A. in Latin American Studies. She received her CFA Certificate in ESG Investing in 2022.
Roderick Jones Jr.
Mr. Jones is a Credit Analyst at Bramshill Investments and focuses on investments, analysis, and operations. Prior to joining Bramshill in 2016, Mr. Jones worked as a Business Development Associate at Commercial Finance Partners, where his responsibilities included sales of various financial products and underwriting. Mr. Jones attended Colgate University, where he graduated with a B.A. in Political Science.
Mr. Jones is currently a CFA Level II Candidate.
Patrick Murray
Mr. Murray is a Director at Bramshill Investments. Prior to joining Bramshill, Mr. Murray worked as an investment analyst for a large real estate investment firm primarily the disposition and acquisition of triple net-lease real estate properties. Most recently, he worked at UBS on a large wealth management team assisting the investment committee on portfolio construction and analysis while also assisting in business development. Mr. Murray graduated from the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University receiving a B.S. in Finance/Economics and a minor in Business Law. Mr. Murray then graduated from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University receiving an MBA in Finance and Management. Immediately after graduation from Fordham University. Mr. Murray signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. Mr. Murray spent 6 years in the NFL as a Kicker spending time with the Buccaneers, Browns, Saints, and Bears during his career.
Edward Lockwood
Mr. Lockwood is a Director at Bramshill Investments. His primary focus is on Structured Product investments, analysis, and operations. Before joining Bramshill in 2019, he worked for Nomura Securities on the Mortgage Backed Securities Desk as a Trading Assistant. Prior to being a Trading Assistant at Nomura he was a member of the Client Integration team. Mr. Lockwood graduated from the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University receiving a B.S. in Business Administration concentrating in Finance with a minor in Economics.
Paul Tasnady, CPA
Mr. Tasnady is the Director of Operations at Bramshill Investments. Prior to joining Bramshill in 2024, Mr. Tasnady worked as a Senior Operations Analyst at Echo Street Capital Management, a Global equity-focused, SEC-registered Investment Manager, where he was primarily responsible for trade operations as well as supporting Accounting, Compliance, and Investor Relations teams. Prior to his career at Echo Street, Mr. Tasnady worked as a Public Equities accountant at The Olayan Group, a private, multinational asset manager based in New York, and CohnReznick LLP, where he worked as an Audit Associate specializing in financial services. Mr. Tasnady has a B.S. in Accounting from Boston College and is a licensed CPA in the state of New York.
Danielle Van Calcar
Ms. Van Calcar is an Associate at Bramshill Investments, focusing on client relations and marketing. Prior to joining Bramshill in 2021, Ms. Van Calcar attended Colgate University, where she graduated Cum Laude, receiving a B.A. in Film & Media Studies and a minor in Art.
Cortney Mansour
Ms. Mansour is an associate at Bramshill Investments focusing on information management. Before joining Bramshill in 2021, Ms. Mansour attended the University of British Columbia, where she graduated on the Deans Honor Roll with a Bachelor of Management. Prior to attending University, Ms. Mansour competed in the ice dance discipline on behalf of the Czech Republic at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Peyongchang, Korea.
Peter Degaetano
Mr. DeGaetano is an associate at Bramshill Investments concentrating on investments, analysis, as well as operations. Prior to joining Bramshill full time, Peter interned at Bramshill from 2018-2020. Mr. DeGaetano attended Mount Saint Mary College where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and ran Track & Field.
Matt DeGaetano
Mr. DeGaetano is an associate at Bramshill Investments, focusing on investments, analysis, and operations. After interning during the summer of 2022, Mr. DeGaetano joined Bramshill full-time in 2023. He graduated magna cum laude from Colgate University, receiving a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Economics. While attending Colgate, Mr. DeGaetano competed on the varsity rugby team and served as a macroeconomic analyst for the university’s student-managed investment group.
Nina Udell
Ms. Udell is an Associate at Bramshill Investments. After interning for Bramshill during the summer of 2023, she returned for a full-time position in 2024. Prior to joining Bramshill, Ms. Udell attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she graduated with a B.B.A in Finance & Investment Banking.
DanDy
Mr. Dy is an Associate at Bramshill Investments, focusing on operations, investments, and analysis. Prior to joining Bramshill in 2024, he worked at Citigroup as an analyst specializing in equity operations. Mr. Dy attended Colgate University where he graduated cum laude with a B.A in Economics and a minor in Chinese Language and Literature.
Consultants
Steven Carhart, CFA
Mr. Carhart is a veteran investment and research professional with extensive portfolio management experience. Steve’s previous investment experience included three years as Vice President and portfolio manager of a major mutual fund at Pioneer Investment Management and five years as Vice President and portfolio manager of the Baker Fentress closed end mutual fund. In earlier stages of his investment career, he managed equity and balanced portfolios at the Northern Trust Company as well as founding the investment research firm Carhart Associates Inc. Steve is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with an SB in Electrical Engineering. He also earned an SM from the Program for the Social Application of Technology in the Sloan School of Management at MIT. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst, and a member of the CFA Institute and the Boston Society of Security Analysts.
Sean Wilke
Bramshill works closely with Mr. Wilke and his team of professionals at Greyline, which assists with the administration of the Firm’s compliance program. Sean, a Managing Director and Partner at Greyline, has been intimately involved with Bramshill’s operations since before its inception in 2012 and previously served as the Firm’s in-house general counsel and chief compliance officer for almost two years. Prior to his tenure at Bramshill, he was instrumental in the Firm’s initial corporate formation and also helped to build out the Firm’s compliance infrastructure while an attorney at an outside law firm. Before joining Greyline, Sean was a Director within the Governance, Risk, Investigations and Disputes group at Duff & Phelps where he specialized in compliance and regulatory consulting.
Woody Forns CPA, CGMA
Mr. Forns is currently serving as a consultant to the company after serving 5 years as the firm’s chief financial officer. As a former partner of J.H. Cohn & Company, now Cohn Resnick LP, he handled both public and privately held clients. As part of his career in private industry he has been the CFO for Sound Distributing, an Anheuser Busch distributor, Van Leer Chocolate, a chocolate manufacturing company, the United States CFO for Barry Callebaut, a multinational company following its an acquisition of Van Leer, the CFO for Pezrow, Inc., a food brokerage company and as Regional Director of Finance for Advantage Sales & Marketing following its acquisition of Pezrow. Mr. Forns holds an MBA with a concentration in Accounting/Taxation from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a BBA with a concentration in Accounting from Siena College. Following graduation from Siena, Mr. Forns was commissioned as a Finance Officer in the U.S. Army and after serving time on active duty and the reserves, was discharged at the rank of Captain. Mr. Forns is a Certified Public Accountant and is licensed in the State of New Jersey.
DISCLOSURE
The fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses must be considered carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other important information about the investment company and it may be obtained here or by calling (877) 272-6718. Read it carefully before investing.
Mutual fund investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible. Investments in debt securities typically decrease in value when interest rates rise. This risk is usually greater for longer-term debt securities. Investment by the fund in lower-rated and non-rated securities presents a greater risk of loss to principal and interest than higher-rated securities. The fund invests in foreign securities which involve greater volatility and political, economic and currency risks and differences in accounting methods. These risks are greater in emerging markets. Closed-end funds and ETFs are subject to additional risks that do not apply to conventional mutual funds, including the risks that the market price of the shares may trade at a discount to its net asset value (“nav”), an active secondary trading market may not develop or be maintained, or trading may be halted by the exchange in which they trade, which may impact a funds ability to sell its shares. In addition, the fund may incur higher expenses than if the fund did not invest in these types of securities. The fund may make short sales of securities, which involves the risk that losses may exceed the original amount invested
Bramshill investments, LLC is the investment adviser to the fund. The fund is distributed by Quasar Distributors, LLC.
*Morningstar Rating is for the Institutional Shares; other classes may have different performance characteristics. The Bramshill Income Performance Fund was rated against the following numbers of US Fund Nontraditional Bond funds over the following time periods: 4 Stars for the Overall period ending September 30, 2024 (272 funds rated in category), 3 Stars for the 5 year period ending September 30, 2024 (246 funds rated in the category), 3 Stars for the 3 year period ending September 30, 2024 (272 funds rated in the category), based on risk-adjusted returns. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
The Morningstar Rating™ for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.©Morningstar 2020. All rights reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied, adapted or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information, except where such damages or losses cannot be limited or excluded by law in your jurisdiction. Past financial performance is no guarantee of future results.
The Bramshill Funds are offered only to United States residents, and information on this site is intended for such persons. Nothing on this website should be considered a solicitation to buy or an offer to sell shares in any jurisdiction where the offer or solicitation would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.
For the Fund’s most recent Proxy Voting Record – Form N-PX, please click here.