Investment and Portfolio Management Team
Vincent Abruzzini, Senior Portfolio Manager, Investment Grade
Vincent Abruzzini has been a Senior Portfolio Manager at Primus Asset Management since 2002. Mr. Abruzzini is responsible for managing Primus Asset Management’s portfolios of credit default swaps. He joined Primus from Summit Bancorp/Fleet Financial Corporation, where he served as Vice President/Director of Specialized Industries Credit Risk Management and managed a corporate credit/capital markets portfolio with commitments in excess of $4 billion. Prior to that, Mr. Abruzzini served as Senior Group Credit Officer/Managing Director for Deutsche Bank/Bankers Trust Co. for over 14 years, where he was responsible for U.S. and Canadian financial institutions. Mr. Abruzzini holds a B.B.A. from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York and earned an M.B.A. from the State University of New York at Binghamton.
Steve Aronowitz, Senior Portfolio Manager, Investment Grade
Steve Aronowitz has been a Senior Portfolio Manager at Primus Asset Management since 2006. Mr. Aronowitz is responsible for managing Primus Asset Management’s portfolios of credit default swaps. Mr. Aronowitz joined Primus from Bank of America, where he worked in a number of senior credit management positions during his 11.5-year tenure including: leading the General Industrial Northeast portfolio, the Strategic Risk Assessment Team, as well as loan portfolio management responsibilities for the bank and the leveraged finance silo. Prior to joining Bank of America in 1994, Mr. Aronowitz spent 11 years at Continental Bank in a number of positions, last serving as Vice President and Credit Team leader for the Mideastern States Group. Mr. Aronowitz holds a B.A. in Economics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and earned an M.B.A. in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
David Kubie, Senior Portfolio Manager, Investment Grade
David Kubie has been a Senior Portfolio Manager at Primus Asset Management since 2002. Mr. Kubie is responsible for managing Primus Asset Management’s portfolios of credit default swaps. He joined Primus from Fieldstone Capital, where he served as Managing Director, with the responsibility for developing the firm’s CDO secondary market business. Prior to that, Mr. Kubie spent over 25 years with Dresdner Bank Group, where he was a member of the North American Management Committee and Credit Committees for 10 years. During this period he served in a number of senior positions including Chief Credit Officer for North America, Head of New Business Origination for the U.S. and Board Member of Dresdner Mexico. Mr. Kubie holds a B.A. from Williams College and earned an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Brian Venables, Senior Portfolio Manager, Investment Grade
Brian Venables has been a Senior Portfolio Manager at Primus Guaranty UK since 2007. Prior to joining Primus, he worked for a number of financial service institutions. During a 20-year career, Mr. Venables covered a wide range of credit market related areas, most recently as Head of European Credit Strategy at Calyon, the investment banking arm of Credit Agricole. He focused on cross sector strategies and model portfolio asset allocation recommendations. Previously, Mr. Venables held similar roles at ABN AMRO and WestLB. Earlier in his career, Mr. Venables covered European government bond markets and interest rate strategies, both at macro and micro levels. He holds a B.A. (Hons) in Economics and a diploma in Business and Finance.
Martha Hadeler, Senior Portfolio Manager, High Yield and Leveraged Loans
Martha Hadeler joined Primus Asset Management as a Senior Portfolio Manager in July 2009 and remains a Senior Portfolio Manager at CypressTree Investment Management. She oversees marketing and client service. Ms. Hadeler joined CypressTree from Citicorp (1988-1999) where she was Managing Director in charge of U.S. loan distribution. She started her career in investment banking at Drexel Burnham Lambert (1981-1988) where initially she spent four years as General Manager of the Tokyo office. Ms. Hadeler holds a B.A. from Brown University and earned an M.B.A. from Columbia University Graduate School of Business. Ms. Hadeler is fluent in Japanese.
Robert E. Weeden, Senior Portfolio Manager, High Yield and Leveraged Loans
Robert Weeden joined Primus Asset Management as a Senior Portfolio Manager in July 2009 and remains a Senior Portfolio Manager at CypressTree Investment Management which he joined in 2002. He oversees the development of structured products. Mr. Weeden’s 25 years of finance experience include LBO, merchant banking, high yield, mezzanine and private placement transactions. He also has extensive restructuring and workout experience. Before joining CypressTree, Mr. Weeden was Managing Director of the Global Industrial Group in the Corporate Finance Division of UBS Warburg. Prior to the merger of PaineWebber and UBS Warburg in 2001, he was Managing Director-Group Head in the Investment Banking Division of PaineWebber, Inc., managing the High Yield Origination and Global Industrial Groups. From 1992 to 1996 Mr. Weeden was managing Director for High Yield Origination at Dillon, Read & Co.. Prior to that, he was at Merrill Lynch Capital Markets. Mr. Weeden holds a B.A. from Stanford University and earned an M.B.A. from The Wharton School.
Bryan Dunn, Investment Grade and High Yield
Bryan Dunn joined Primus Asset Management as a Senior Portfolio Manager in November 2009. Mr. Dunn has over 15 years of portfolio management experience and has actively managed several corporate credit portfolios employing various strategies including extensive long/short. He has broad product experience and has been an end user in the CDS market since its inception. Prior to joining Primus, Mr. Dunn headed the Credit Portfolio Management Division at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi where he and was responsible for $10 billion of proprietary credit investments. Prior to that, Mr. Dunn headed Dresdner Bank’s Credit Asset Management team and oversaw a $7 billion investment portfolio. His additional experience includes roles in CIBC’s Loan Portfolio Management Group and JPMorgan’s Cash Management Group. Mr. Dunn holds a B.A. in Economics from Ithaca College and an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Nicholas Campbell, Portfolio Manager, High Yield and Leveraged Loans
Nicholas Campbell has been a Portfolio Manager at Primus Asset Management since 2006. Mr. Campbell is responsible for analyzing leveraged loans and high yield bonds across the healthcare, chemical, utility, transportation, business services forest products and metal and mining industries. He has 25 years of experience and joined Primus from Eaton Vance, where he was a Vice President and Senior Analyst for six years. Prior to joining Eaton Vance, Mr. Campbell was a Vice President and Team Leader at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi. He has also held various structuring and asset management positions at GE Capital and Citigroup. Mr. Campbell holds a B.S. in Accounting from Lehigh University and earned an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Bryan Barboni, Senior Trading Officer
Bryan Barboni is a Senior Trading Officer at Primus Guaranty UK. Mr. Barboni is responsible for managing vehicles in the European markets and developing relationships with Primus’ European based counterparties. Prior to joining Primus, he was a Director of CDS Trading at Calyon for four years. At Calyon, Mr. Barboni traded European single name CDS as well as managed the hedging of the loan portfolio. Prior to Calyon, he worked in various credit trading capacities at a number of institutions, including Tradition North America Securities, Cantor Fitzgerald, Sumitomo Finance International and JP Morgan. Mr. Barboni holds a B.S. in Business Administration from West Virginia University and earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University.