Matthew Weitz

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Matthew Weitz is General Counsel at Manhattan West where he oversees the company’s legal affairs. With a decade of experience in transactional, regulatory, and litigation matters across a diverse range of business and legal sectors, Mr. Weitz’ keen legal and business mind is focused on a practical approach managing a wide variety of legal and business matters.

Mr. Weitz has extensive experience in Media and Entertainment, Gaming and Hospitality, Real Estate, M&A, and Regulatory Law. Among his achievements, he represented Meruelo Media before the FCC in a first-of-its-kind purchase and sale of television spectrum, negotiated the financing and relocation of Magic Mike Live Las Vegas to the SAHARA Las Vegas, and served as legal counsel for global concert tours of U2, Sting, Justin Timberlake, and Phil Collins.

Mr. Weitz previously served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel for the Meruelo Group, a family-owned asset management company, where he oversaw legal matters for its Media and Entertainment, Gaming and Hospitality, and Real Estate divisions as well as intellectual property matters for the entire portfolio. He also served as Senior Director of Legal Affairs for Global Touring at Live Nation Entertainment, as a law clerk for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, and as a judicial extern in Los Angeles Superior Court. Mr. Weitz also had his own private practice representing professional players, coaches, and companies in the Esports sector.

A Los Angeles native, Mr. Weitz graduated with a B.A. from UCLA and Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University School of Law. An entrepreneur at heart, he also owns and operates his family’s real estate business with his sister. In his free time, Mr. Weitz enjoys exploring cities across the globe, cycling, and cooking.

Maryam Howland

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Maryam S. Howland is the Director of Marketing at Manhattan West, where she heads the firm’s marketing strategy, planning and execution. With over a decade of experience, she brings with her a wide array of marketing knowledge within the private equity, investment banking M&A, private wealth, and commercial real estate markets.

Prior to joining Manhattan West, Maryam worked at Houlihan Lokey, a global investment bank headquartered in Century City, where she led marketing and communications for the firm’s Business Services, M&A, Consumer, Food and Retail, Healthcare, and Private Funds Groups throughout the U.S. Prior to Houlihan Lokey, Maryam worked at Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a Fortune 500 global commercial real estate services company, where she ran the firm’s Retail Group marketing in the southwest region. Prior to JLL, Maryam worked at General Atlantic, a global private equity firm headquartered in New York, where she co-managed the firm’s global marketing and communications. She began her career in marketing for financial services firms in Los Angeles and New York.

Maryam received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature and French Language from the University of California, Berkeley. Maryam was born and raised in London, is fluent in French and enjoys traveling with her husband and son.

Gabriel Garcia

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Gabriel Garcia is the Chief Financial Officer at Manhattan West where he is responsible for all aspects of the firm’s financial affairs. Mr. Garcia possesses an expert level of financial acumen in his day-to-day oversight of accounting, financial reporting, audit oversight and strategic planning for Manhattan West and its affiliated entities. With over a decade of experience in high level financial roles, Mr. Garcia is integrally involved in all aspects of Manhattan West’s global business.

Mr. Garcia’s domestic and international experience across a wide range of asset classes in finance makes him ideally suited to oversee the complexity of Manhattan West’s operations. Prior to Manhattan West, Mr. Garcia worked for Los Angeles based Oakmont Corporation where he was responsible for the financial affairs of Cabo del Sol, a luxury master-planned real estate development in Los Cabos, Mexico. Prior to Oakmont, Mr. Garcia worked at Saban Capital Group, an $8 billion Los Angeles based private investment firm. At Saban, Mr. Garcia was responsible for managing a broadly diversified portfolio of investments in equities, fixed income, real estate, and alternatives.

Prior to Saban Capital, Mr. Garcia worked in the private equity industry with Silver Canyon, a growth equity investment firm based in San Diego, California. He also worked at Platinum Equity, a global Private Equity firm based in Beverly Hills, California where he worked on M&A transactions, transformations of businesses in work outs and complex situations. A CPA by training, Mr. Garcia began his career at KPMG in Audit and Transaction Services.

Mr. Garcia received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics from the University of California at Los Angeles and a Master of Business Administration in Finance and Entrepreneurship from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Born and raised in Southern California, Mr. Garcia enjoys golf and international travel.

Jim McCoy

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Jim McCoy is the Chief Operating Officer at Manhattan West where he is responsible for managing all operational aspects of the firm. As a member of the Executive Committee, he is also responsible for managing the interdisciplinary efforts of the firm on a global basis. Having founded and/or managed several investment firms over two decades, Mr. McCoy is uniquely qualified to lead our firm in delivering world class investment products and services to our client partners.

Mr. McCoy began his career at J.P. Morgan and worked closely with traditional and alternative investment firms where he provided research and capital markets expertise. Following his tenure with J.P. Morgan, he Co-Founded an alternative investment firm and as Chief Operating Officer, he successfully guided the firm and its investors through the 2008 Financial Crisis. Next, he held senior level positions with several investment firms primarily focused on operations and business development. His investment management experience with a variety of investors, including individual, family office, wealth management, and institutional investors, makes him ideally suited to manage the complexity of our operational and business development efforts.

Mr. McCoy graduated with a double major and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Washington, where he played Football and enjoyed two Rose Bowl Championships and a Co-National Championship. Mr. McCoy currently resides in Hancock Park with his wife and daughter. He has visited and/or transacted business in over 20 countries. In his free time, he enjoys reading, teaching financial literacy through Operation Hope, trail running, traveling with his family and watching his daughter play beach volleyball.

Vik Sasi

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Vik Sasi is the Chief Strategy Officer at Manhattan West where he is responsible for corporate strategy, business development, partnerships, strategic investments, and acquisitions.

Mr. Sasi is a seasoned venture capitalist, leading Manhattan West’s inaugural Digital Assets fund in addition to having previously consummated 100+ deals at Dreamers, TMC Tech Fund, AmFam Ventures and Healthbox. Following his impressive transaction experience and investment acumen, Mr. Sasi was invited to be the Chief Instructor of Venture Capital at Wall Street Oasis and continues to be a trusted advisor to startups, investment funds and private companies.

Prior to graduate school, Mr. Sasi served as a Strategic Advisor to the Ministry of Health in Haiti, where he lived for several years, having started as an Analyst with the Clinton Foundation. In both roles, he was trusted to represent the government to foreign embassies and development agencies, and lead teams conducting highly technical scientific projects building solutions to contain the spread of cholera and HIV in a post-disaster environment.

Mr. Sasi earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology and a Minor in Spanish from Washington University in St. Louis and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Mr. Sasi is a former state chess champion, FAA-licensed Private Pilot and speaks French, Spanish and Haitian Creole. Originally from Wisconsin, Mr. Sasi currently resides in Marina del Rey with his wife and their Brussels Griffon.

Bill Ryan

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Bill Ryan is the Chief Compliance Officer at Manhattan West, where he is responsible for ensuring the firm complies with all outside regulatory and legal requirements, as well as internal policies.

Mr. Ryan began his career working in the client service group at Nuveen Investments where he worked closely with the Portfolio Managers and Compliance team to build marketing and client service presentations for the firm’s investment managers and institutional client base. Thereafter, Mr. Ryan worked in operations & compliance at Argosy Wealth Management and Steel Peak Wealth Management, where he worked as the Chief Compliance Officer.

Mr. Ryan received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Arizona. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, playing golf, bicycling, and snowboarding.

Kate Kurz

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Kate Kurz is the Chief Administrative Officer at Manhattan West where she is charged with overseeing the company’s functions in operations, reporting, human resources, technology, client service, vendor negotiation, accounts payable, external auditors and banking relationships.  With over 19 years of experience in the financial services industry, Ms. Kurz is focused on delivering an exceptional client experience across a broad range of areas at the firm.

Among her duties, Ms. Kurz is in charge of managing the firm’s day-to-day business operations. Her objective is to ensure that Manhattan West operates efficiently so the firm’s employees operate in accordance with both internal and external regulatory standards.

Prior to Manhattan West, she worked at several global financial services firms, including Lehman Brothers, Bank of America Private Bank, Deutsche Bank Securities, and J.P. Morgan Securities.

A graduate of Boston College, Ms. Kurz earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry.

 

Lorenzo Esparza

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Lorenzo Esparza is the Chief Executive Officer and Founding Principal at Manhattan West where he leveraged his legal, corporate, and financial experience to form the modern version of an investment firm.

With an investor-centric mindset, Mr. Esparza manages the firm’s strategic direction while overseeing day to day operations. He is focused on building the firm using a top-down approach to working with clients across a broad suite of services and investment categories. Leading a culture of excellence and inclusion at Manhattan West, Mr. Esparza seeks to deliver returns for clients, partners, and shareholders. Embracing the core values of integrity, respect and honesty, Mr. Esparza’s efforts seek to position the firm as a leader in the investment industry serving ultra-high net worth clients, family offices and institutions across the United States.

A respected Investor in his own right, Mr. Esparza chairs the firm’s Investment Committee. He has capitalized and led numerous private investment funds in real estate, venture capital, private equity/credit in addition to overseeing liquid portfolios across a broad set of asset classes. Mr. Esparza serves as the general partner or managing member of over 30 investment Funds with portfolio investments across the country. He sits on the Board of numerous portfolio companies and serves as Special Advisor to several large institutions.

Mr. Esparza began his career in financial services at Alliance Bernstein before joining JP Morgan Securities. He launched Manhattan West immediately following his tenure at JP Morgan. Mr. Esparza is an avid Philanthropist where he supports numerous causes that benefit underprivileged youth. Active in the community, he is a former Board Member of the Richstone Family Center, the former Board Chair of the Cancer Support Community-Benjamin Center in Santa Monica, and is a former Board Member of the Stroke Association of Southern California.

Mr. Esparza received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. A workout enthusiast, golfer and surfer, he resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons.