Hedge Funds Consultants: 4

Centennial Advisory Group is a boutique consulting firm specializing in Investment Management and Financial Services. They are a member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches and hold the Certified Professional Resume Writer designation. Their goal is to enhance the career success and earnings potential of investment industry executives.

Services:

Frank Carr is a Certified Professional Resume Writer, a former Hedge Fund Chief Financial Officer, a Corporate Banker, and a 20-year executive search veteran for the Financial Services and Investment Management industries. Mr. Carr has advised thousands of junior, mid-level and senior executives on how to position and maximize their careers within the financial world. With over 4,800 investment industry connections on Linked In, his reach throughout the financial services world is extensive. He has written articles for and has been frequently quoted by publications such as Bloomberg News, CNN Money, Fund Fire, Ignites, Absolute Return, Hedge Fund Alert, and Hedge Fund Manager Week. Prior to forming Centennial, Mr. Carr had been a Managing Director in the Global Asset Management practice at A.T. Kearney Executive Search, a top 10 U.S. search firm. He began his search career at LAI Ward Howell which was later acquired by TMP Worldwide (owners of Monster.com). 

Prior to entering executive search, Mr. Carr was Chief Financial Officer of a Connecticut-based equity long-short hedge fund. He managed investor relations, accounting, and compliance, including registration with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Frank had spent eight years in commercial bank lending, initially with Citibank in their Wall Street Commodities division and later was a banker to the feature film and TV industries.

View Frank Carr's Expert Witness Profile.

James W. Lovely, BBA, MBA, JD, is an experienced provider of consulting advice, case analysis and expert witness testimony. He has more than 30 years of business and legal experience in the financial markets with particular expertise in:

• Complex financial products, including swaps, swaptions, options, futures, repurchase agreements, foreign exchange, commodities, prime brokerage arrangements, securitizations, structured notes and municipal bonds;
• Secured commercial lending and hedging arrangements often (but not exclusively) involving those complex financial products; and
• U.S. commercial, commodities, securities and banking law and regulations governing those financial products; and
• LIBOR transition to SOFR, Ameribor and other reference rates.

Mr. Lovely is a very capable writer and public speaker and currently maintains his own consultancy in the above-described areas of expertise. He assists his consulting clients and their legal counsel with: (i) structuring and documenting transactions involving financial products; (ii) evaluating and complying with, and educating personnel concerning, applicable law and regulation; and (iii) tailoring client business practices, compliance programs, and operating procedures to facilitate adherence to both law and corporate policy. He is adept at simplifying or clarifying complex financial products, disputes, and compliance obligations and translating between a client’s legal team and its executive/financial officers while delivering insightful analysis and sound practical guidance. He is intimately familiar with ISDA, NAESB, EEI, ICOM, IFEMA and SIFMA financial product documentation, forms and protocols. 

Consulting Engagements:

• Mr. Lovely has consulted with regional and community banks that provide derivative and/or foreign exchange products to customers and hedge residual risks with the major money-center banks. In this capacity, he has been involved with the evaluation, structuring, documentation, collateralization and occasional modification or novation of a wide range of financial products, typically in the context of a larger commercial lending relationship.
• Mr. Lovely has provided consulting services to family offices, hedge funds and CFTC licensed commodity pool operators in connection with a wide range of financial products and prime brokerage arrangements and concerning both SEC and CFTC compliance programs and obligations arising from that activity.

View James Lovely's Expert Witness Profile.

David Tilkin is a Litigation Support and Consulting Specialist with over 20 years of experience in the Securities Industry and over ten years of experience in the Compliance Software Industry. Mr. Tilkin was the founder and CEO of Protegent, the first company to deliver automated exception reporting, auditing and sales practice review technology to the financial services industry. Protegent was sold to SunGard, Inc.

Currently the President and CEO of the Tilkin Group, Mr. Tilkin offers consulting and strategic leadership to lawyers, regulators, and companies seeking support in litigation, software procurement, and strategic planning. He maintains a Series 65 license and has previously maintained a Series 63, 7, 8, 4 and insurance licenses. He has extensive training in the securities industry as a broker, manager and regional director.

Mr. Tilkin has leveraged his intensive background in all aspects of broker-dealer operations to provide insightful, resourceful, and practical support. He has published numerous articles on the issues of suitability, supervision and financial services software and was recently asked to speak on the issue of financial services supervision at the Securities Law Clinic at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Consulting Services Include:

View David Tilkin's Expert Witness Profile.

Craig A. Wolson acts as a Structured Finance and Derivatives Expert Witness and Consultant. He specializes in cases involving credit default swaps (CDS), collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and other types of derivatives and securities.

Background Experience Includes: Acting on behalf of 40,000 investors in $1.6 billion class action suit against bankrupt sponsor of special purpose issuer of notes secured by notes issued by CDO and credit default swaps with sponsor; acting on behalf of class led by two major pension funds against a major bank and numerous large underwriters involving mortgage-backed securities issued by several vehices established by the bank, and securities issued by the bank; acting on behalf of large investment bank defendant in arbitration proceeding brought by another large investment bank involving nine CDOS established by defendant; acting on behalf of large bank that had invested in now-worthless notes issued by SIV established by defendant banks; acting on behalf of large bank against another large bank that had sold the former CDOs and CDS.

Areas of Expertise:

• Securitizations
• Derivatives
• Securities Law and Corporate Finance
• Loans and Credit Facilities
• Due Diligence