Decision Makers
Board of Directors
Jonathan Ashley has been our Chief Operating Officer since our inception. Mr. Ashley is a Managing Director of our manager, an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC, since its formation in May 1998. Mr. Ashley is also a Vice President and the Chief Operating Officer of Newcastle Investment Holdings LLC (the predecessor of Newcastle). Mr. Ashley previously worked for Union Bank of Switzerland from May 1997 to May 1998. Prior to joining Union Bank of Switzerland, Mr. Ashley worked for an affiliate of BlackRock Financial Management, Inc. from April 1996 to May 1997. Prior to joining BlackRock, Mr. Ashley worked at Morgan Stanley, Inc. in its Real Estate Investment Banking Group. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Ashley was in the Structured Finance Group at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.
Brian C. Sigman has been our Chief Financial Officer since August 2008. Mr. Sigman is a Vice President of our manager, an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC. Mr. Sigman has served as our Vice President of Finance since 2006. Prior to that time, Mr. Sigman served as our Assistant Controller from 2003 through 2006. From 1999 to 2003, Mr. Sigman was a Senior Auditor at Ernst & Young LLP.
Randal A. Nardone has been our Secretary since our inception. Mr. Nardone is the Chief Operating Officer and a member of the board of directors of Fortress Investment Group LLC. Mr. Nardone has been a principal and a member of the Management Committee of Fortress since co-founding Fortress in 1998. Mr. Nardone oversees Fortress’s structured finance and legal matters. Mr. Nardone is a director of Alea Group Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd, GAGFAH S.A. and Eurocastle Investment Limited. Mr. Nardone is also a Vice President and the Secretary of Newcastle Investment Holdings LLC (the predecessor of Newcastle). Mr. Nardone was previously a managing director of UBS from May 1997 to May 1998. Prior to joining UBS in 1997, Mr. Nardone was a principal of BlackRock Financial Management, Inc. Prior to joining BlackRock, Mr. Nardone was a partner and a member of the executive committee at the law firm of Thacher Proffitt & Wood.
Mr. Miller has been a member of our board of directors and a member of the Audit Committee, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and Compensation Committee of our board of directors since February 2003. Mr. Miller is CEO of Whitehead Miller Advisors, Inc., a financial advisory firm which provides advice to investors, creditors, or management in connection with distressed businesses and assets in both the U.S. and Latin America. Previously, Mr. Miller was a Principal of MatlinPatterson Global Advisors LLC. From 2004 through 2007, Mr. Miller was a Managing Director at Dresdner Kleinwort Securities LLC and the Head of Latin American Credit Asset Management in New York. Previously, he was at ING Financial Markets LLC for 15 years, where, most recently, he was a Managing Director and Head of their Latin Debt Advisory Group. Mr. Miller joined ING after seven years at Bankers Trust where he held various positions in the Latin American Merchant Banking Group.
| Organization |
Position |
Status |
| Miller Advisors, Inc. |
CEO |
Current |
| Newcastle Investment Corp. |
Executive Sessions of Non-Management Directors |
Current |
| Newcastle Investment Corp. |
Board of Directors |
Current |
| Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein |
Managing Director |
Former |
| Ing Financial Markets |
|
Former |
Erik P. Nygaard has been our Chief Information Officer since our inception and Chief Information Officer of our manager, an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC, since its inception. Mr. Nygaard co-founded our manager. Mr. Nygaard is also a Vice President and the Chief Information Officer of Newcastle Investment Holdings Corp. Mr. Nygaard was previously a Managing Director of Union Bank of Switzerland from May 1997 to May 1998. Prior to joining Union Bank of Switzerland, Mr. Nygaard was a principal of BlackRock Financial Management, Inc. From April 1990 to July 1994, Mr. Nygaard was a Director at Nomura Securities International.
| Organization |
Position |
Status |
| Deep Springs Capital Partners, LLC |
|
Current |
| Newcastle Investment Corp. |
Chairman, Federal City Bancorp, Inc. |
Current |
| National Building Museum |
Board of Directors |
Current |
| Sterling Eagle LLC |
Board of Directors |
Current |
| Skyline Financial Services, Inc |
CEO |
Former |
| Skyline Financial Services, Inc |
President |
Former |
| Fannie Mae |
Officer |
Former |
| Federal Home Loan Bank |
|
Former |
| Skyline Corporation |
|
Former |
| General Electric Capital Corporation |
|
Former |
| Newcastle Investment Corp. |
Director |
Former |
| Lafayette College |
B.A. In Government and Law |
Former |
Wesley R. Edens is the Chairman of the board of directors and the Chief Executive Officer of Fortress Investment Group LLC ( Fortress ). Mr. Edens has been a principal and the Chairman of the Management Committee of FIG LLC ( FIG ) since co-founding FIG in May 1998. Mr. Edens is responsible for the Fortress private equity and publicly traded alternative investment businesses. He is also the Chairman of the board of directors of each of Aircastle Limited, Brookdale Senior Living Inc., Eurocastle Investment Limited, GateHouse Media, Inc., Mapeley Limited and Newcastle Investment Corp. and a director of GAGFAH S.A. Mr. Edens served as the Chief Executive Officer of Newcastle Investment Corp. since inception until February 2007. Mr. Edens was the Chief Executive Officer of Global Signal Inc. from February 2004 to April 2006 and the Chairman of the board of directors from October 2002 to January 2007. Mr. Edens serves in various capacities in the following five registered investment companies: Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Trustee of Fortress Registered Investment Trust and Fortress Investment Trust II; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fortress Brookdale Investment Fund LLC and Fortress Pinnacle Investment Fund LLC and Chief Executive Officer of RIC Coinvestment Fund LP. Prior to forming Fortress, Mr. Edens was a partner and a managing director of BlackRock Financial Management Inc., where he headed BlackRock Asset Investors, a private equity fund. In addition, Mr. Edens was formerly a partner and a managing director of Lehman Brothers. Mr. Edens received a B.S. in Finance from Oregon State University.
Kevin J. Finnerty has been a member of our board of directors and a member of the Audit Committee, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and Compensation Committee of our board of directors since August 2005. Mr. Finnerty has been a director of Newcastle Investment Holdings LLC (the predecessor of Newcastle) since its inception in 1998. Mr. Finnerty is the Founding Partner of Galton Capital Group, a residential mortgage credit fund manager. Mr. Finnerty is a former founder and the Managing Partner of F.I. Capital Management, an investment company focused on agency-mortgage related strategies. Previously, Mr. Finnerty was a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., where he headed the Residential Mortgage Securities Department. Mr. Finnerty joined Chase Securities Inc. in December of 1999. Prior to joining Chase Securities Inc., Mr. Finnerty worked at Union Bank of Switzerland from November 1996 until February 1998, where he headed the Mortgage Backed Securities Department, and at Freddie Mac from January 1999 until June 1999, where he was a Senior Vice President. Between 1986 and 1996, Mr. Finnerty was with Bear Stearns & Co. Inc., where he was a Senior Managing Director and ultimately headed the MBS Department and served as a member of the board of directors from 1993 until 1996. Mr. Finnerty was Co-Chair of the North American People Committee at JPMorganChase and Chairman of the Mortgage and Asset-Backed Division of the Bond Market Association for the year 2003.