Senior Team
Senior Team
Arash Nazhad is a Managing Director at Moelis & Company, where he co-leads the Clean Technology Group. Arash has nearly 20 years of experience and deep expertise in clean energy technology and across the energy landscape, having served as a strategic and capital markets advisor to growth- driven technology companies. His extensive investment banking experience includes originating and executing transactions across the corporate lifecycle including M&A, IPOs, public and private debt and equity capital raises, defense and other strategic mandates. Arash works with both private and public companies across clean technology and sustainability subsectors.
Prior to Moelis & Company, Arash was a Managing Director in the Clean Energy Transition team at Citi, where he was instrumental in establishing the firm’s coverage efforts across the ecosystem. He led coverage for companies in various sectors including Electrification, Grid Modernization, Clean Power, Transition Metals, Alternative Fuels, Carbon Tech and Climate Software. Before that, Arash held various operational and leadership roles at Equinor, a Norwegian international energy company and began his career working on Clean Development Mechanism projects across East Asia.
Arash holds an M.A. in Energy & Earth Resources from the University of Texas at Austin, and a B. Comm in Business Administration and Management from Concordia University.
Senior Team
Claire Newson
Managing Director
Head of Human Capital Management - EMEA & APAC
London
Claire Newson is a Managing Director and Head of Human Capital Management at Moelis & Company specializing in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and APAC (Asia Pacific) where she’s responsible for driving HR strategy in the region. Claire has over 20 years of Human Resources experience as a strategic HCM partner across various advisory and financial institutions.
Prior to joining Moelis & Company, Claire held several senior Human Capital Management roles in BNP Asset Management in London, ICAP, UFJI international and Goldman Sachs. She began her career at the Institutional Sales Group at Goldman Sachs Asset Management and ED&F Mann in London and Bahrain.
Senior Team
James Nichols is a Managing Director at Moelis & Company where he specializes in providing strategic and financial advice to clients across the services sector. James has extensive experience across M&A, equity capital markets, recapitalizations and other strategic advisory transactions.
Prior to joining Moelis & Company, James was a Managing Director at DC Advisory where he co-led Business and Healthcare Services in the U.K., having previously advised financial sponsor clients. Before DC Advisory, he was a member of the U.K. Team at Credit Suisse and began his investment banking career at Investec. James holds a B.A. (Honours) in History and a M.A. (Distinction) in Finance Management, both from the University of Durham.
Senior Team
William Nook is a Managing Director at Moelis & Company where he focuses on advising institutional and global asset management firms. Bill has over 20 years of investment banking experience with specialized expertise in asset management and alternative investments advisory.
Prior to Moelis & Company, Bill was a Managing Director and Head of Asset Management in the Americas Financial Institutions Group at Deutsche Bank. Previously, he was a member of the Global Financial Institutions Group at UBS.
Bill holds a B.A. from Union College and an M.B.A. (Finance) from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.
Senior Team
Rebecca Ong
General Counsel – MA Financial Group
Sydney
Rebecca Ong is General Counsel and Company Secretary at MA Financial Group. She is responsible for legal, compliance and company secretarial activities of Moelis Australia with over 15 years of experience as a lawyer in the financial services industry.
Prior to joining MA Financial Group, Rebecca was Regional Counsel at UBS, with primary responsibilities for advising its Asset Management businesses across Asia Pacific from both Sydney and Hong Kong.
Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance)/Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales and is a Fellow with the Governance Institute of Australia.
Senior Team
Michael Openlander is a Managing Director at Moelis & Company where he advises clients in the energy infrastructure sector including midstream, downstream, LNG and energy transition. Michael has over 15 years of investment banking and corporate finance experience and has advised on a wide variety of strategic advisory, M&A, capital markets and restructuring transactions in the U.S. and globally.
Michael previously worked in the Global Energy & Power Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Earlier in his career, he held financial roles in the investment banking group at Baird, the Corporate Finance and Accounting Group at Marsico Capital Management and the Audit and Assurance Practice at PwC.
Michael holds a B.S. in Finance and a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Missouri–St. Louis and an M.B.A. from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame.
Senior Team
Richard Orders is a Managing Director at Moelis & Company where he specializes in advising clients across the Asia Pacific region. Richard has over 25 years of investment banking experience, with deep expertise in originating and executing multi-jurisdiction mandates across the full spectrum of corporate finance matters. Having advised clients on many notable and defining transactions in the region, Richard was instrumental in expanding the Firm’s presence in the Asia Pacific.
Prior to Moelis & Company Richard was the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Asia Pacific Advisers (“APA”). Before that, he was a Managing Director in the RBS/ABN AMRO group in Asia Pacific and Vice Chairman and Head of Global Clients Asia Pacific for ABN AMRO. Richard started his career at Barings Investment Bank where he held several roles including Managing Director and Head of Asia Investment Banking in addition to working in the firm’s Australia and London offices.
Richard holds a B.A. (Honours) degree from the University of Oxford.
Senior Team
Mayank Pagaria is a Managing Director at Moelis & Company where he focuses on advising corporate and financial sponsor clients in India. Mayank has extensive experience executing a wide variety of corporate finance transactions, including M&A, private financing and equity capital markets deals across a variety of sectors.
Prior to joining Moelis & Company, Mayank worked in the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley. He holds a B. Com. with honors from Calcutta University and an M.B.A. in finance from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai.
Senior Team
Bash Parameswaran is a Managing Director and Senior Business Manager at Moelis & Company where he leads the U.S. Business Manager team, focusing on U.S. group management and Firm coordination around business and client opportunities. Bash has worked as an operations executive in the investment banking industry for over 20 years.
Prior to joining Moelis & Company, Bash was the Business Manager for the Mergers & Acquisitions Group and Real Estate Investment Banking Group at Citigroup. He also previously worked at National Starch & Chemical as part of the Accounting Systems and International Accounting Groups.
Bash holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Delaware.
Senior Team
Will Peters is a Managing Director at Moelis & Company, where he focuses on clients in the tech, media, and telecom sectors, specializing in communications infrastructure and FinTech. Prior to joining Moelis & Company, Will worked at Barclays where he was a Managing Director and a senior member of the firm’s tech, media, and telecom coverage team in London.
Prior to starting his investment banking career at Barclays, he spent six years in the British Army, serving with the 1st Battalion, The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment in Europe and the Middle East. Will holds an M.A. with honours in Modern History from The University of St Andrews.
Senior Team
Dom Petrosino is a Managing Director at Moelis & Company. Mr. Petrosino has extensive capital markets and investment banking experience and was most recently Head of Leveraged Finance Capital Markets at Bear Stearns. While at Bear Stearns, he managed a leading business focused on providing capital structure solutions, including underwriting, structuring and executing leveraged loans, high yield notes and mezzanine financings. In this role, Mr. Petrosino advised clients across a broad range of industries on leveraged buyouts, acquisition financings, recapitalizations and other capital structure matters. Prior to Bear Stearns, Mr. Petrosino was a Vice President of High Yield Corporate Finance at Chase Securities and previously a Vice President in Chase’s Global Mining & Metals Group.
Mr. Petrosino holds a B.S. from New York University and an M.B.A. from Baruch College.
Senior Team
Douglas Pierson is a Managing Director at Moelis & Company, where he specializes in advising clients in the Industrials sector, with a particular focus on Metals & Mining. Doug has nearly 20 years of investment banking experience with extensive expertise on a wide range of M&A transactions, as well as equity and debt-related financings across the sector.
Prior to Moelis & Company, Doug was the Global Head of Metals & Mining and the Americas Head of the Industrials Group at Credit Suisse based out of New York City. Prior to his time at Credit Suisse, Doug was a corporate attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in New York City.
Doug holds a B.S. in Psychology from Duke University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Senior Team
Kate Pilcher Ciafone
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer
New York
Kate Pilcher Ciafone is a Co-Founder and the Chief Operating Officer of Moelis & Company where she is responsible for the Firm’s global strategy and operations. She previously served as the Firm’s Chief Operating Officer of Investment Banking where she led business management and other corporate functions. Kate has over 20 years of experience in the investment banking industry both as a banker and as an operating executive.
Prior to Moelis & Company, Kate worked in the office of the CEO and President at UBS Investment Bank where she helped analyze growth opportunities and develop strategy for the firm. She began her career as an investment banker in the Financial Institutions Group at UBS where she advised clients on mergers and acquisitions and raising equity and debt financing.
Kate holds a B.S. in Commerce with distinction from The McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia. She serves on the Board of Directors of MA Financial Group Limited (ASX: MAF) and is a David Rockefeller Fellow through the Partnership for New York City.
Senior Team
Rick Polhemus is a Managing Director at Moelis & Company where he co-leads the Clean Technology Group. Rick has nearly 25 years of investment banking experience, specializing in advising clients across a range of growth-driven clean technology, industrial technology and services sectors. In particular, his clean technology expertise spans a number of sub-sectors including electrification, mobility, grid modernization, sustainability services and circular/environmental services. His experience includes originating and executing transactions throughout the corporate lifecycle, including M&A, leveraged buyouts, IPOs, debt and equity capital raising, shareholder defense and other strategic mandates for public and private companies.
Prior to joining Moelis & Company, Rick was a Managing Director and Head of Western Region Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley, where he led sector coverage of industrial technology, various areas of clean tech, environmental/sustainability services and infrastructure services. Before that, he was a Managing Director in the Industrials and Technology Groups at J.P. Morgan, where he was instrumental in establishing the firm’s coverage efforts in the industrial growth sector, including early innovation in clean energy, in addition to several adjacent subsectors. Rick started his investment banking career at Hambrecht & Quist.
He holds a B.A. in Economics from Pomona College and an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Senior Team
Matthew Prest
Managing Director
Co-Head of Europe
London
Matthew Prest is a Managing Director and Co-Head of Europe at Moelis & Company. Matthew has over 25 years of financial restructuring experience advising companies, financial sponsors, secured lenders and bondholders. Additionally, he has provided clients with other investment banking services including raising debt and equity finance for distressed and non-distressed companies. He has performed key advisory roles in some of the most high-profile, sensitive and complex situations in EMEA and Asia.
Prior to joining Moelis & Company, Matthew was a Managing Director in the Corporate Finance Restructuring team at Close Brothers Corporate Finance. Before that, Matthew was a Director of Restructuring at M&G Investment Management and a Senior Manager in the restructuring team at KPMG.
Matthew is a qualified chartered accountant and holds a B.A. in History from the University of Warwick.
