EJF Investments Manager LLC

EJF Investments Manager LLC is a subsidiary of EJF Capital LLC (“EJF”), a global asset management firm focused primarily on regulatory event-driven investing within the financial sector.  EJF was founded in 2005 by Emanuel J. Friedman and Neal J. Wilson and is headquartered just outside of Washington D.C., with additional offices in London and Shanghai.

Key Professionals

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Neal J. Wilson

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chief Investment Officer

Mr. Wilson serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chief Investment Officer for EJF Investments Manager LLC and is a member of its Investment Committee. In addition to serving as the Chief Executive Officer for EJF Investments Manager LLC, Mr. Wilson is a founding member of EJF Capital LLC and serves as its Co-Chief Executive Officer.  Prior to forming EJF Capital LLC, Mr. Wilson served as a Senior Managing Director for both the Alternative Asset Investments and Private Wealth Management groups at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc. (“FBR”).  Prior to joining FBR, he was a senior securities attorney at Dechert LLP and a Branch Chief in the Division of Enforcement at the US Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of Urban Exposure Finance Limited and a member of the Board of Trustees of Hood College.  He served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Sidwell Friends School for five years until 2018.  He also served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools Employee Pension for nine years until 2013 and in 2014 received a Distinguished Service Award from Montgomery County for his contributions.  In June 2014, Mr. Wilson served as Co-Chair of the Bridges Gala for the Marriott Foundation for People with Disabilities Bridges from School to Work Program.  He received his BA from Columbia University and his JD from the University of Pennsylvania.

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Peter A. Stage

Co-Chief Investment Officer

Mr. Stage serves as the Co-Chief Investment Officer of EJF Investments Manager LLC and is a member of its Investment Committee. In addition to serving as the Co-Chief Investment Officer for EJF Investments Manager LLC, Mr. Stage serves as Senior Managing Director at EJF Capital Ltd and is a member of the Executive Committee for EJF Capital LLC. Mr. Stage is responsible for identifying investment opportunities in the European fixed income, equity and private markets with a focus on the banking sector.  Mr. Stage was previously Head of Credit Research at F&C Asset Management (“F&C”) where he also analyzed the banking sector.  Prior to joining F&C in 2008, Mr. Stage was Head of Credit at Gordian Knot Limited, an investment management company, which he joined in 1998 as a bank analyst.  Mr. Stage holds a BA in Economics from the University of Manchester.

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Jason Ruggiero

Investment Committee Member

Mr. Ruggiero is a member of the Investment Committee for EJF Investments Manager LLC. In addition, Mr. Ruggiero joined EJF Capital LLC (“EJF”) at its founding in 2005 and is a member of the Executive Committee. Prior to joining EJF, Mr. Ruggiero was an equity trader in FBR’s Alternative Asset Investment group, where he assisted Mr. Friedman in the day-to-day operations of FBR Ashton, L.P., a long/short hedge fund. In 2004, Mr. Ruggiero assumed co-portfolio manager responsibilities for FBR Ashton, L.P. Before joining FBR, Mr. Ruggiero was an auditor for Deloitte and Touche in Washington, DC, where he focused on the financial services industry. He holds a BBA in accounting from James Madison University and an MBA in finance from the University of Maryland.

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Omer Ijaz

Investment Committee Member

Mr. Ijaz is a member of the Investment Committee for EJF Investments Manager LLC. In addition, Mr. Ijaz serves as a Senior Managing Director, Portfolio Management, at EJF Capital Ltd (“EJF”). Mr. Ijaz joined EJF in 2011 and oversees the structured product strategy. Mr. Ijaz specializes in the specialty finance, insurance, and banking sectors, and currently leads the credit analysis and trust preferred CDO structuring for the Insurance and Bank Trust Preferred Securities (“TruPS”) team as well as the structuring for bank subordinated debt CDOs. Mr. Ijaz has spearheaded twelve EJF sponsored securitizations, totaling approximately $3.8 billion. Mr. Ijaz also manages the investments of legacy TruPS CDOs and some corporate debt. Mr. Ijaz came to EJF from Merrill Lynch, where he was employed as a summer research analyst in the Global Private Client Division. Prior to his time at Merrill Lynch, he worked for Citibank N.A. and Muslim Commercial Bank. Mr. Ijaz earned a BA in Business Economics from the College of Wooster.

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Emanuel J. Friedman

Investment Committee Member

Mr. Friedman is a member of the Investment Committee for EJF Investments Manager LLC. In addition, Mr. Friedman co-founded EJF Capital LLC (“EJF”), a global institutional alternative asset management firm that has been at the forefront of regulatory, event-driven investing in financials and real estate.  Over the course of his 40+ year career in capital markets and asset management, Mr. Friedman has structured and built numerous innovative investment strategies that have focused on some of the most powerful trends in the financial sector driven by regulatory change.  Prior to forming EJF, Mr. Friedman was a founder and the former Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc. (“FBR”).  At FBR, Mr. Friedman assisted in designing property and mortgage REIT vehicles.  Throughout the 1990s, Mr. Friedman was active in building out FBR’s alternative asset management platform.  He was instrumental in the creation of hedge, private equity and venture capital funds at FBR, and maintains an extensive network of contacts within the CDO, hedge fund, and private equity fund communities.  Mr. Friedman received his BA in Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his JD from Georgetown University.

 

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Jay Ghatalia

Finance Director

Mr. Ghatalia serves as the Finance Director for EJF Investments Manager LLC. Mr. Ghatalia joined EJF’s London affiliate (EJF Capital Ltd.) in 2023 and is responsible for operations and finance functions. In addition to serving as the Finance Director for EJF Investments Manager LLC, he also serves as Director of Accounting and Operations for EJF Capital Ltd. Prior to joining EJF, he spent 2 and a half years at Intermediate Capital Group PLC (‘ICG’), managing finance and operations for private funds in their Strategic Equity and LP Secondaries strategies. Prior to ICG, he spent 9 years in public accounting firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG managing assurance and advisory engagements for clients across financial services and latterly focusing on both listed and private alternate investment funds. Mr. Ghatalia is a Chartered Accountant (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India) and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University of Mumbai.