About

Mr. Levenson is a visionary leader and strategist with deep expertise in financial services and a demonstrated ability to achieve high-growth objectives. He is a proven builder of successful companies with over twenty-five years of hands-on experience in fast-growth organizations.

Most recently, he was the CEO and a founding officer of Strategic Holdings, where Mr. Levenson started and grew a very successful fund worth over $150 million, which raised over $60 million in Investor equity, and purchased over 20 multi-family properties. To date, this fund continues to perform well, and has consistently made payments to its investors. Prior to Strategic Holdings, Mr. Levenson was a Managing Director at PennyMac, which originally purchased large pools of mortgage notes from financial institutions and is now the largest correspondent lender in the country.

Prior to PennyMac, Mr. Levenson co-founded Countrywide Bank (a division of publicly traded Countrywide Financial, later acquired by Bank of America), where Mr. Levenson helped establish the start-up bank as the fastest organically growing depository in the history of U.S. banking, achieving a rank of the eleventh largest national bank in the United States and responsible for a third of Countrywide Financials' pretax income. Among other things, he was responsible for scaling deposit production from zero to over $10 billion annually with an overall annualized efficiency of 4 basis points; while amassing a 750,000 customer deposit and loan portfolio.

Prior to Countrywide Bank, Mr. Levenson has been a Chief Officer of several companies including Move/Realtor/Apartments.com and Stern Marketing Group (acquired by NewGround), where he launched Ameritrade and Telebanc and was a Senior Consultant in the Real Estate Consulting Group at Deloitte Consulting.

Mr. Levenson is a board member of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA, has been a board member of BAI (Bank Administration Institute), the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley, and the National Literacy Network; has been a featured speaker at BAI, ABA, and UW Graduate School of Banking; and interviewed by CNN, Bloomberg, USA Today, Fund Marketing Alert, Advertising News, US Banker and others.

He earned an MBA from the Anderson Graduate School of Management, UCLA in Finance, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship and a BS from the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley, in Finance and Real Estate. While at UC Berkeley, he co-founded the Cal Berkeley Federal Credit Union.

Mr. Kessler is recognized as an active deep value investor, financier, and venture capitalist. He has extensive experience with emerging growth companies, both public and private, which for a variety of factors, trade below their fundamental value, and, when necessary, will lead activist efforts with both company boards and executives focused on corporate governance and oversight, strategy, and alignment of interests with shareholders. He is well-versed at identifying deep value activist opportunities in a variety of industries including biotechnology, technology, energy, education and consumer products. He has broad experience in operations and finance, actively sourcing and identifying investment opportunities, and negotiating, structuring and re-structuring investment transactions. Mr. Kessler has guided and overseen over 650 investment transactions, whether as lead, co-lead, or syndicate investor, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, venture capital, private equity, re-structuring and other capital market activities. Mr. Kessler’s vast networks of relationships have consistently provided the Fund with excellent investment opportunities.

His investments have focused on emerging growth public companies, private companies on the path to becoming public, and a select group of distressed companies (acting as either the Stalking Horse bidder or DIP lender).  As an investor he has invested, provided seed capital, and/or founded numerous successful companies including Cheniere Energy, Inc., Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc., Cantango Oil and Gas Company, The Los Angeles Film School, Allis-Chalmers Energy Inc., Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Octa Therapeutics, Genspera, Inc., Research Solutions, Inc., Wizard World, Inc., Energous Corporation, Tellurian Inc., Bristol Luxury Group, Sugarfina, to name a few.  Additionally, Mr. Kessler co-founded Start Engine, LLC, which at the time of its founding was the largest technology incubator in Los Angeles, having launched over 50 technology companies, and is now a leading equity-based crowdfunding platform.

Mr. Kessler has been a guest speaker on the subject of financing emerging growth public companies at a variety of forums, including The Pipe's Conference, Los Angeles Venture Association (LAVA), Wall Street Reporter's Pipe Conference, UCLA Anderson School of Management, and Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management.  He has attended courses at various colleges and universities, including Harvard Business School's Executive Education Program and UCLA's Extension Program. Mr. Kessler has passed the Series 65 Uniform Investment Advisor Examination.

Ms. Wang oversees the negotiation, documentation, and closing of investment transactions; monitors compliance with investment terms and securities regulations; supervises portfolio activity and operations; and manages the activity of outside counsel. During her tenure at BCA, Ms. Wang has overseen the negotiation and documentation of over 450 financing transactions utilizing various investment structures and instruments including common stock, preferred stock, convertible debt instruments and warrants. Ms. Wang has also worked on numerous restructurings, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and private equity financings.

Ms. Wang earned her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and her undergraduate degree in Political Science, with a specialization in Business Administration, from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Ms. Wang is a member of the State Bar of California and the American Bar Association (Business Law Division). Ms. Wang has also passed the Series 65 Uniform Investment Advisor Examination.

Ms. Derycz-Kessler is a Founder and Director of LK Secured Lending, INC. Ms. Derycz-Kessler has an extensive background in law, business, finance, and real estate. She has been investing in private and public companies since 2000, including as a principal of Bristol Capital Advisors, LLC, an investment advisory firm that she co-founded with her husband Paul Kessler.

Her investments span a variety of sectors, including real estate, oil and gas, biotechnology, technology and education. She has assumed active operational roles related to her investments, such as managing commercial property partnerships; Founder and Special Counsel to Bristol Capital Advisors, LLC; and a 17-year tenure building the media arts college Los Angeles Film School as its CEO and President. Ms. Derycz-Kessler is a director of Tellurian, Inc. (NASDAQ:TELL), a natural gas company primed to provide low cost gas globally through production, liquefaction, transport and logistics.

Ms. Derycz-Kessler's early career began as a lawyer in New York. Subsequently she joined Occidental Petroleum Corporation, overseeing legal for its Latin American exploration and production properties. She then served finance and energy clients through her Los Angeles based law practice until founding Bristol Capital Advisors in 2000. Ms. Derycz-Kessler enjoys contributing to global education, and from 2016-2018, Ms. Derycz-Kessler acted as a partner in UNESCO's TeachHer program, a private-public sector partnership bridging the global gender gap in education.

Ms. Derycz-Kessler earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School, and her master's degree from Stanford University. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Matthew Keyworth earned his degree in Economics from the University of New Hampshire and studied International Finance in Hong Kong.

He has nearly two decades of executive-level experience in the mortgage industry where he has gained recognition for creating, cultivating, and leading large-scale sales teams. Recent positions include Vice President of Retail Sales and Channel Management at PennyMac Loan Services and Managing Director of Consumer Direct Sales for Castle & Cooke Mortgage. He has also held management positions at Countrywide Home Loans and been a licensed Mortgage and Real Estate Broker for ten years. Matthew has overseen teams responsible for the successful funding of billions of dollars in mortgage loans, driving innumerable sales teams to success and exponential growth. A key to his success has been his familiarity working with multiple departments to create and improve business processes and optimize the customer experience.

From 2006 to the present, Mr. Nguyen has served as an analyst and operations supervisor at Bristol Capital Advisors, LLC. He is responsible for sourcing and analyzing new investment opportunities, performing fund valuations and other portfolio accounting duties, securities trading and portfolio management. Mr. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics.

Mr. Welk attended Loyola Marymount University and has an extended background in Real Estate. Mr. Welk is the co-Founder of Champagne Estates, a real estate investment, and virtual wholesale company. As well as starting his own company, Jeffrey is also an active shareholder for Welk Hospitality and Welk Group Inc.

Sheila A.R. Meredith supports LK Secured Lending operations by maintaining accounting and administrative systems. She supervises office services which include the preparation of company payroll, personnel records and accounting reports. She implements standards and procedures for offices policies and designs office systems, layouts and equipment procurement and maintenance. Ms. Meredith is also a California Commissioned Notary Public. She received her B.A. degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Tami Marciano is the Founder of Family Chateaux, LLC, a Los Angeles based firm focused on providing the Family Office and High Net-Worth Investor Community access to a private peer-to-peer investment network. Mrs. Marciano launched the Family Chateaux community in 2012 and serves as its CEO and Managing Partner.

Mrs. Marciano and her husband Armand Marciano act as Co-Managing Principals of Kautzman Alliance, LLC, the Marciano Family’s holding company. The holding company owns Family Chateaux and Armand’s Cellar, a high-end wine and spirits retailer. They also hold an interest in a number of private companies to include LK Secured Lending, INC., a private REIT; BlockNexus Consulting, and Xcellerate Mobile, LLC, a mobile technology company. Mrs. Marciano serves as a Partner in LK Secured Lending, INC. and BlockNexus, and was acting CEO of Xcellerate Mobile, companies which she owns with her partners.

Mrs. Marciano is an entrepreneur, relationship management, marketing and business development professional with over twenty years of experience working in the financial services community. Throughout her career she has worked with a vast number of affluent entrepreneurs and investors and has developed a very comprehensive network of industry experts, business owners and investors. Mrs. Marciano advises a number of technology, consumer products and retail companies with a focus on the media, influencer, celebrity and branding community.

Prior to starting the Kautzman Alliance and Family Chateaux, she was a Director at Rothstein Kass and for over five years led the firm’s national efforts to cultivate and build relationships within the Family Office and High Net-Worth communities. As an entrepreneur, she founded and ultimately sold, Right Move and KautzMorgan, LLC, a financial recruiting firm located in Beverly Hills which she ran for over eight years. The firm concentrated on servicing financial clients in Southern California. Mrs. Marciano’s corporate experience includes, Citicorp/Quotron Systems, Merrill Lynch, National Partnership Investment Co. and Oppenheimer.

The Marciano’s enjoy time with their family of seven children/step-children, three grandchildren and their two dogs, Sofi and Charlie. Together they share interests in contemporary art, traveling, golf and are active in a number of philanthropic organizations.