OUR TEAM
Teamwork and cognitive diversity are foundational to the Piney Lake philosophy to promote objectivity, creativity, and flexibility
Experience matters and we have a cohesive and tenured team with extensive individual and collective knowledge across asset classes and market cycles. The firm was founded by Mike Lazar, who has over 30 years of experience investing in credit and private equity markets.
OUR TEAM
Teamwork and cognitive diversity are foundational to the Piney Lake philosophy to promote objectivity, creativity, and flexibility
Mr. Baron is currently the Managing Principal at Crystal Ridge Partners, a private equity firm. He is a former Senior Partner of JP Morgan Partners, a global private equity firm, and its predecessors. He was responsible for marketing, new business development and the management of certain investments and personnel within the firm. Mr. Baron previously held senior management positions in banking and investment banking with JP Morgan and its predecessors prior to joining the private equity unit 15 years ago.
Mr. Baron holds a BS from Lehigh University and an MBA from Fordham University and is currently an executive in residence to the MBA program at Lehigh University.
OUR TEAM
Teamwork and cognitive diversity are foundational to the Piney Lake philosophy to promote objectivity, creativity, and flexibility
Alex Duka was Executive Vice President of Corporate Development for Acceleration Bay LLC, a patent investment and technology acceleration business headquartered in San Mateo, CA until December 2019, and remains a senior advisor to the firm. He joined the firm in September 2017. Mr. Duka previously spent 20 years at Citigroup and was a Managing Director in the Financial Institutions group in Global Banking, retiring in February 2017. Mr. Duka was the senior banker responsible for managing Citi’s banking relationships with a number of high profile traditional and alternative asset management companies. Mr. Duka oversaw all financings, capital markets activity, M&A and the provision of other banking services and advice for this client base. Mr. Duka also worked with these asset managers to develop a new generation of permanent capital vehicles, including BDCs, real estate investment trusts, SPACs, closed-end funds, and European listed vehicles. Prior to Citi, Alex worked at Bank of New York and United Jersey Bank.
Mr. Duka received his B.A. from Rutgers College and his MBA from Rutgers Graduate School of Management. Mr. Duka currently serves as a member of the board of directors of BC Partners Lending Corporation and Portman Ridge Finance Company, two BDCs affiliated with BC Partners, and BondHouse Investment Trust, a family of Fixed Income Mutual Funds. Mr. Duka is also a senior advisor to Texas Fabco Solutions.
OUR TEAM
Teamwork and cognitive diversity are foundational to the Piney Lake philosophy to promote objectivity, creativity, and flexibility
Mr. Pujadas currently serves as a board member of the Credit Committee, Finance Committee, and Risk Committee of Wells Fargo. He is a retired principal of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) LLP and served as vice chairman, Global Advisory Services, of PwC International from 2008 to 2016 and leader of PwC’s U.S. firm Advisory Practice from 2003 to 2009. Mr. Pujadas held several other senior management positions at PwC, including as a Managing Partner for Strategy and leader of the Global Risk Management Solutions practice for the Americas, the Financial Services GRMS practice, and the global Financial Risk Management Group. Before joining PwC, Mr. Pujadas was the chief risk officer of Santander Investment, the international investment banking arm of Banco Santander from 1995 to 1998. He was a member of the executive committee of Santander Investment and the management committee of the commercial banking division of Banco Santander. Before joining Santander, Mr. Pujadas was a principal in the Capital Markets and Treasury Group of PwC’s U.S. firm financial services industry practice, specializing in the development and application of financial and information technology to balance sheet risk management and capital markets and treasury activities. He is a member of the board of directors of UST Global Inc. and serves as a senior advisor to the Eurasia Group Ltd. He also is a member of the board of overseers of The School of Social Policy and Practice of the University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Pujadas received a B.S. in Economics (BSE) in Finance and a Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) in Applied Science/Technology, with a concentration in Computer Science, from the University of Pennsylvania.
