Leadership

Founder & Managing Partner

Rudy
Sahay

Rudy Sahay is the Founder and Managing Partner of Aquarian Holdings, a diversified global holding company with a portfolio of insurance and asset management solutions. He sets the organization’s strategic vision and oversees its portfolio, driving the evolution and growth of high-quality businesses.

Mr. Sahay serves as Chairman of the Boards of Directors for Investors Heritage Life Insurance Company and Somerset Reinsurance, providing leadership on strategic and operational initiatives across Aquarian’s insurance and reinsurance platforms. He also serves on the Investment Committees for Aquarian Strategic Opportunities, Aquarian Credit Partners, and Aquarian Private Credit. 

Prior to founding Aquarian, Mr. Sahay co-founded 54 Madison Partners, a real estate private equity investment firm. He was also a founding member of Guggenheim Partners’ principal investments, real estate private equity, and venture capital and growth equity groups.  Mr. Sahay previously worked as an investment professional at H.I.G. Capital, Albright Capital Management, and Jupiter Partners.  He began his career as a consultant for The Boston Consulting Group. 

Mr. Sahay is a supporter of several philanthropic organizations in New York City including Ronald McDonald House, The Children’s Brain Tumor Project Foundation, and the New York City Ballet. 

He received an M.B.A., with honors, from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an A.B., cum laude, from Harvard University. 

Head, Aquarian Credit Partners

Bo
Williams

Bo Williams is the Head of Aquarian Credit Partners, a syndicated high-yield credit investment manager. Mr. Williams has served as a Portfolio Manager of Gallatin Loan Management LLC (2017-2021) and Aquarian Credit Partners (2021-Present) which Creditflux named Boutique CLO Manager of the Year in 2020, 2022, and 2023.  Previously, Mr. Williams was Founding Partner of Hildene Leveraged Credit. Before that, he served as an Operating Partner for several of Goldman Sachs’ portfolio companies. He was Vice President and Investment Analyst at Marathon Asset Management, and began his career in Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs.

He earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA from Harvard College.

Chief Accounting Officer

Brian
Cook

Brian Cook is the Chief Accounting Officer at Aquarian Holdings. Prior to joining Aquarian, Mr. Cook was Controller at Investcorp. He served as Manager of Global Fund Accounting at GSO Capital Partners (Now Blackstone Credit and Insurance), Fund Accountant at Och-Ziff Capital Management, and Senior Associate in Financial Services and Business Advisory Services at Rothstein Kass (Now KPMG). He began his career as an analyst at Huron Consulting Group.  

He is a Certified Public Accountant and earned his M.A. in Taxation and B.S. in Accounting from the University of Albany.

Principal, Aquarian Private Credit

Brian Safstrom

Brian Safstrom is a Principal at Aquarian Private Credit. Before joining Aquarian, he spent nine years at Guggenheim Partners as a Vice President, where he specialized in originating, structuring, and underwriting private credit and structured equity investments.

Mr. Safstrom earned his BA in Economics from Amherst College.

Principal in Corporate Development, Aquarian Holdings

Daniel Emerson

Daniel Emerson is a Principal in Corporate Development at Aquarian Holdings. Mr. Emerson joined Aquarian from Bayview Asset Management where he spent five years as a senior investment professional on the Private Equity / Special Situations team. Prior to Bayview, he worked as an investment banker in the Financial Institutions Group at Citi focused on M&A and capital raising transactions for insurance and fintech companies. He started his career on the global consulting team at Aon. 

Mr. Emerson has an MBA from Georgetown University and a BA in Economics from Trinity College. 

Vice President & Associate General Counsel, Aquarian Holdings

Elyssa Eisenberg

Elyssa Eisenberg serves as Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Aquarian Holdings. Prior to joining Aquarian, Ms. Eisenberg worked at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz as a Restructuring and Finance Associate.

Ms. Eisenberg received her JD and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and received her BA from the University of Connecticut.

Partner, Aquarian Strategic Opportunities

Eric
Murzyn

Eric Murzyn oversees the Strategic Opportunities team at Aquarian Holdings. Before joining Aquarian, Mr. Murzyn served as a Partner and Deputy Investment Officer of Silverman Capital and its associated real estate private debt and equity investment entities, Athos Capital Partners and 54 Madison Capital. Over his career, he has been responsible for the origination, analysis, capital formation, execution and monitoring of various investments and strategies including growth equity and venture capital, private equity and private credit, public markets, real estate and investments with asset managers/emerging managers. Previously, Mr. Murzyn worked as the Director of Capital Markets for a single-family office and its associated real estate investment and operating businesses. He started his career J.P. Morgan in the Real Estate and Lodging Investment Banking group.

Mr. Murzyn holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Indiana University where he serves on the Executive Committee for the Private Equity Workshop.

Chief Human Resources Officer

Hope
Cooper

Hope Cooper serves as the Chief Human Resources Officer at Aquarian Holdings, where she is responsible for managing the company’s talent and its development. Prior to joining Aquarian, Ms. Cooper served as Chief Human Resources Officer at safeXai. She had previously served as Vice President of Human Resources at Genpact, Head of Human Resources at Bridgewater Associates, and a Managing Director at UBS. She has also spent several years in public service, serving as Chief Executive Officer for the State of New Jersey Civil Service Commission.  She began her career as a lawyer, serving as a Litigation Associate at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP.

Ms. Cooper earned her B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, her M.A. from New York University, and her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law.

Principal, Aquarian Strategic Opportunities

Jad
Salha

Jad Salha is a Principal at Aquarian Strategic Opportunities. Mr. Salha joined Aquarian from Parasol Capital, where he was a Principal. He was Founder of OOMA, formerly MyAhmed, a fintech platform; Senior Investment Manager at Pictet Asset Management; Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager of Lelantos Capital; and Partner and Portfolio Manager at Hermitage Capital Management. He began his career at KPMG and PwC.

He earned an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his B.B.A. from the American University of Beirut.

Chairman of Aquarian Credit Partners

Justin
Driscoll

Justin Driscoll is the Chairman of Aquarian Credit Partners, a syndicated high-yield credit investment manager. Mr. Driscoll has served as a Portfolio Manager of Gallatin Loan Management LLC (2017-2021) and Aquarian Credit Partners (2021-Present) which Creditflux named Boutique CLO Manager of the Year in 2020, 2022, and 2023.

In 2009, he founded UrsaMine Credit Advisors LLC as a spin-out of the Bear Stearns Asset Management bank loan business and served as CEO. In 2012, when UrsaMine rebranded as MP Senior Credit Partners, LP, Mr. Driscoll then served as CEO and Portfolio Manager of the leveraged loan business. From 2000 to 2009, Mr. Driscoll was a Senior Managing Director at Bear Stearns Asset Management and founder of the senior loan team, serving as Portfolio Manager. Prior to that, he worked in high-yield credit at Trust Company of the West following its acquisition of Crescent Capital Group and in acquisition finance at Chemical Bank following its acquisition of Manufacturers Hanover Trust.

Mr. Driscoll earned his BA in Economics from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA in Accounting and Finance from the Columbia Business School.

Senior Vice President, Investment Operations

Ken
DePre

Ken DePre is a Senior Vice President at Aquarian Holdings, where he heads Investment Operations. Previously, Mr. DePre acted as project manager and blockchain solutions expert for several start-ups and large institutions, including Bank of New York Mellon. Prior to that, he was part of the four-person group that created the investments team at Security Benefit Life Insurance, which later became Eldridge Industries. He previously served as Vice President at Guggenheim Partners and Securities Lending Associate at JP Morgan.

Prior to his career in finance, Mr. DePre served in the United States Air Force and earned his BS from the University of Virginia.

Head of Client Services

Kristen
Dickey

Kristen Dickey is the Head of Client Services at Aquarian Holdings. Prior to joining Aquarian, Ms. Dickey was Non-Executive Director at Somerset Reinsurance. Prior to that, she served as a Managing Director at BlackRock in various senior roles including Global Head of Financial Institutions Group, Global Head of Investor Relations, and Global Head of Equity Index Product Strategy. She is on the boards of several companies, including Aperture Investors and Marstone, and is a member of the board of trustees at BNY Mellon.

Ms. Dickey earned her MBA from the Anderson School of Business at the University of California, Los Angeles, and her BA from Pitzer College.

Director of Compliance

Lisa Passanante

Lisa Passanante is the Director of Compliance at Aquarian Holdings. Ms. Passanante previously served as Senior Associate at Wafra. Prior to that, she was an Associate at GCM Grosvenor, a Legal Specialist at Warburg Pincus, a BDC/Fund Compliance officer at Apollo Global Management, and an assistant vice president at Barclays Capital. She earned her B.A. from the University of Delaware.

Co-Head, Aquarian Private Credit

Matt
Bristol

Matt Bristol is Co-Head and Partner at Aquarian Private Credit. Prior to joining Aquarian, Mr. Bristol was a Managing Director at Guggenheim Partners where he focused on originating, structuring, and underwriting private credit and structured equity investments for the firm. He previously led the Healthcare and Education verticals for Guggenheim’s Corporate Credit Group. He earned his B.S.B.A. from the Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
 

Chief Operations Officer

Sasha
Sanyal

Sasha Sanyal is the Chief Operations Officer at Aquarian Holdings. Prior to joining Aquarian, Ms. Sanyal acted as Business Leader of Financial Services in the Americas at Microsoft. Prior to that, she spent 19 years at Genpact in various senior roles including Global Business Leader of Insurance, Global Leader of DEI & CSR, and Chief Strategy and Operations Officer. She started her career as a consultant at E&Y.

Ms. Sanyal earned her BS from Southern Methodist University.

Interim Chief Financial Officer

Steve Robb

Steve Robb serves as the Interim Chief Financial Officer for Aquarian Holdings and the Chief Financial Officer for Somerset Re. He is responsible for the company’s financial, risk, and capital management, as well as for its financial reporting functions.  Mr. Robb formerly served as EVP and CFO at AXA XL, overseeing financial, actuarial, and investment matters, as well as tax activities and global treasury functions, including capital, cash, FX, collateral, and liquidity management. Mr. Robb joined XL as VP of SEC Reporting in 2004 and held various positions including SVP of Accounting Policy, Chief Accounting Officer, and Group Controller before being named CFO in March 2017. Prior to XL, he was with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Bermuda as Senior Manager and Insurance Industry Group Leader, where he specialized in financial services, particularly insurance and reinsurance companies. He started his career at Pricewaterhouse in Montreal where he served in multiple leadership roles in their Insurance Group. 

Mr. Robb graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience from McGill University.

Co-Head, Aquarian Private Credit

Taylor
Barrise

Taylor Barrise is Co-Head and Partner at Aquarian Private Credit. Prior to joining Aquarian, Mr. Barrise was a Director at Guggenheim Partners where he focused on originating, structuring, and underwriting private credit and structured equity investments for the firm. He previously led the Industrials and Transportation verticals for Guggenheim’s Corporate Credit Group. He earned his B.A. from Amherst College.