Judges

Neil Faulkner

Neil is the founder of 4thWay, the ratings and research agency for peer-to-peer and other online direct lending, which has a dedicated investor base deploying £100m. Head of research for over a decade, Neil Faulkner has been consulted by the industry and the Financial Conduct Authority on a variety of topics. He was featured on the Peer2Peer Finance News P2P Power 50 and has been quoted many times in the national press.

Solomon Nevins

Solomon is the founder of The Fund Review, a specialist research firm focused on private market funds. He started his career at AXA Architas where he spent 12 years leading the research into private market investments and managing multi-asset portfolios. Following this, he worked for CCLA Investment Management where he was head of the Alternatives team and managed a £2bn allocation to private markets investments. He is a CFA Charterholder and holds degrees from University of Bristol and UCL.

Claire Madden

Claire is the founder and managing partner of Connection Capital, a private client investment business specialising in alternative investments. Claire’s career began as a private equity investor at 3i having graduated in Banking & International Finance from Loughborough University. After some years in financial recruitment, she co-founded a private client investment business which she sold out of in 2009 before co-founding Connection Capital in 2010. Connection Capital was established by a team who share the same aim: to give its private and family office clients access to alternative investments which are available to the institutional market but often closed to private investors.

Connection Capital’s team manages over £500m across these products. Due to the nature of Connection Capital’s business, Claire has experience of sitting on both sides of the private equity/private debt fence: as part of the investment committee overseeing Connection Capital’s own-led deals and also as an LP investor in other firms’ funds.

Shrimanth R. Adla

Shrimanth R. Adla is an accomplished credit risk professional and analytics leader with over 15 years of experience in leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance risk management and financial innovation. As the Senior Director of Credit Risk Analytics at Comcast, he oversees implementation of AI-driven credit strategies for Xfinity Mobile and Business Mobile portfolios, focusing on credit decisioning. Shrimanth has been a jury member for prestigious international and U.S. award programs, evaluating innovative consumer finance initiatives and products. His career spans pivotal roles at institutions like TransUnion, MUFG Union Bank, Barclays, and Citi Bank, where he developed predictive models to mitigate risks effectively. Shrimanth holds a Master of Science degree in Management Information Systems from Oklahoma State University.

Suzie Neuwirth

Suzie Neuwirth is the founder and editor-in-chief of Alternative Credit Investor magazine, having seen a gap in the market for good quality, focused coverage of the fast-growing alternative credit sector. She is an experienced journalist who has edited the business sections of two national newspapers and worked at London freesheet City AM. She has been interviewed on various broadcasting outlets including Sky News and Share Radio. Earlier in her career, she worked for a number of trade magazines and edited a Middle East-focused insurance publication for two years.

Selin Bucak

Selin Bucak is a freelance journalist with more than a decade of experience covering financial news. She was previously news editor at Citywire Wealth Manager and was editor of Private Equity News at Dow Jones. Freelancing since 2020, she has written for publications including Alternative Credit Investor, Citywire, The Wall Street Journal, Real Deals, Private Equity International, Sifted and The i Paper, among others.