Executive Bios

Alim Kassam, Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Kassam is the Chief Executive Officer of Rama Capital Partners, LLC and the President of Athas Capital Group, Inc., both companies that he co-founded with Mr. O’Shaughnessy. Mr. Kassam began his career as an Investment Banker with Lehman Brothers, Inc. where he worked with private equity firms to source and finance leveraged acquisitions and to develop strategic alternatives for their existing portfolio companies. He also worked with global industrial companies across a broad range of corporate finance projects including mergers and acquisitions, all tranches of debt offerings/underwriting (bank loan, high yield, and mezzanine), and both public and private equity offerings.

Mr. Kassam then joined CapitalSource Finance, LLC where he focused on making secured debt and mezzanine investments in healthcare companies. After CapitalSource, Mr. Kassam joined Pacificor LLC, where he was the Senior Credit Analyst focusing on stressed, distressed and special situations credit opportunities. Over his tenure, Pacificor’s returns outperformed the high yield indices by over 10% per year and the firm’s assets under management grew to $600 million from $200 million.

Mr. Kassam then joined Quality Home Loans, the nation’s largest equity based residential mortgage lender, as its CEO one week after the company filed for Chapter 11 protection. In addition to managing the day-to-day operations of the company, Mr. Kassam was responsible for navigating the bankruptcy process and architected a $167M securitization.

Mr. Kassam serves on the Advisory Boards of LoanMLS, Inc. and iVision Mobile Inc. He graduated cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles with a B.A. in Business Economics and a minor in Accounting.

Brian O’Shaughnessy, President

Mr. O’Shaughnessy is the President of Rama Capital Partners, LLC and the Chief Executive Officer of Athas Capital Group, Inc., both companies that he co-founded with Mr. Kassam. Mr. O’Shaughnessy had his start in the mortgage banking industry with Title West Mortgage, Inc. in 1980 where he and quickly excelled to become President. During his tenure, he helped Title West grow from 20 employees to a company with over 250 employees and $160 million per month in production. Mr. O’Shaughnessy is also credited with building a wholesale division and pioneering subprime loans with Bank One in the days before credit scores were even established.

In 1998, Mr. O’Shaughnessy established his own company, Bankers Express Mortgage, with the vision of running a smaller subprime shop that put profit above production numbers. For 9 years, the entire span of its existence, Bankers Express Mortgage never had a quarter in which it did not post a profit. In June 2007, Mr. O’Shaughnessy sold his company to Quality Home Loans, his largest competitor, and joined the combined entity as its President. Unfortunately, two months after QHL acquired Bankers Express, the global credit crunch forced the securitization market to shut down and with no viable exits for its inventory of loans, QHL was forced to file for bankruptcy protection.

Subsequently, Mr. O’Shaughnessy was involved in the sale of the combined company to Michael Klein, a successful entrepreneur and the manager of Pacificor, LLC, a $600M hedge fund. After the change of guard, Mr. O’Shaughnessy helped QHL successfully securitize a pool of $167 million of mortgages.

Mr. O’Shaughnessy serves on the Advisory Board of LoanMLS, Inc. and the Private Money Lending Guide. LoanMLS enables members to buy notes and sell and fund loans. The Private Money Lending Guide provides lists of highly regarded hard money lenders.

Jay Gangwal, Fund Advisor

Mr. Gangwal is a Director of Asset Sales and Advisory for Douglas Wilson Companies where he is responsible for developing the company's advisory services and the disposition of client loan portfolios and real property assets. Mr. Gangwal has extensive experience in income analysis, equity and loan structures, due diligence review, cash flow projections, and asset valuations. He has a unique and comprehensive knowledge of real estate through his experiences as a lender, advisor, and principal.

Before joining DWC, Mr. Gangwal was a principal with the Chesapeake Equity Fund at Legg Mason Real Estate Investors where he was responsible for joint venture equity placements and principal investments. During his tenure, Mr. Gangwal acquired over $200 million of commercial real estate projects throughout the United States. Prior to LMREI, he was a Vice President at CWCapital LLC where he was directly responsible for originating senior and mezzanine bridge loans including the origination of over $350 million in mezzanine and debt investments for commercial real estate projects. While at GE, Mr. Gangwal worked on a team that structured nearly $600 million of senior and mezzanine debt to be held on GE’s balance sheet. He received his undergraduate degree in Finance and MIS from the California State University, Northridge. Mr. Gangwal is an active member of NAIOP and ULI.