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Company Profile

Senior Management

Joshua Zegen - Managing Principal
Mr. Zegen is a founding member of Madison, responsible for deal originations and the structuring of all investments. Since Madison's inception in 2005, he has been a member of the investment committee and has closed over 154 discrete loan transactions comprising $682 million in assets. Prior to co-founding Madison, Mr. Zegen founded and was president of Alpine Commercial Capital, a mortgage advisory firm that has successfully closed over $1 billion in real estate financings. Prior to forming Alpine, he was an investment banker in Salomon Smith Barney's financial sponsors/private equity group where he focused on leveraged buyouts, equity and debt financings, mergers and acquisitions and private placement transactions. Mr. Zegen began his career as an analyst in Merrill Lynch's debt capital markets division where he executed both mortgage backed and asset backed debt offerings. He is president and co-founder of the Brandeis Entrepreneurs Network, as well as a co-founder and board member of The New York Private Equity Network ("NYPEN" www.nypen.org). He graduated cum laude from Brandeis University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics in 1997.
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Brian Shatz - Managing Principal
Mr. Shatz is a founding member of Madison, responsible for raising institutional capital, overseeing the debt portfolio and asset management. Since Madison's inception in 2005, he has been a member of the investment committee and has closed over 154 discrete loan transactions comprising $682 million in assets. Prior to co-founding Madison, Mr. Shatz established Bluegrass Growth Fund Partners, LLC, a private investment fund which focused on investing in structured equity and debt investments for U.S. public companies. Mr. Shatz began his career at BlackRock where he worked closely with fixed income portfolio managers and developed institutional client relationships with some of the country's largest pension funds. Mr. Shatz graduated cum laude from Brandeis University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics in 1998.
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Adam Tantleff - Principal, Investor Relations
Mr. Tantleff joined Madison in 2005 as a Principal. Mr. Tantleff focuses on marketing the Fund to institutional investors and investor relations and has raised in excess of $300 million of institutional equity. Prior to joining Madison, Mr. Tantleff was an equity partner at Suffolk Capital Management, a $3 billion institutional money manager, where he was employed from March 1998 through April 2005. At the time of his departure from Suffolk Capital Management, Mr. Tantleff held the dual roles of senior equity analyst and director of marketing. Mr. Tantleff graduated from George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in small business management in 1997.
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Michael Stoler - Managing Director, Originations
Mr. Stoler joined Madison in January 2009 as a Director. Mr. Stoler's responsibilities include transaction originations, financial institution syndications and relationship management. Prior to joining Madison, he served as a senior principal at Apollo Real Estate Advisors from 2006 through 2008, where he focused on originations for acquisitions, development and lending across all of Apollo's funds (AREA). Mr. Stoler was a senior vice president at First American Title Insurance Company of New York and founded Princeton Commercial Corporation, a management consulting and financing firm. He is the creator and host of "The Stoler Report-Real Estate Trends" and "Building New York", New York's only television broadcasts featuring real estate and business. He serves as a columnist and web contributor for The Real Deal Magazine. Mr. Stoler is currently an adjunct professor at the NYU Real Estate Institute and co-chairs the annual capital markets symposium. Mr. Stoler received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Long Island University in 1969.
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Greg Hersly - Managing Director, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Hersly joined Madison in December 2007 as a Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer. His responsibilities include oversight of the Fund's cash management function, Fund leverage, and overall financial reporting. Prior to joining Madison, Mr. Hersly was managing director and Chief Operating Officer of Alpine Commercial Capital, where he oversaw day-to-day operations and originated in excess of $400 million in commercial real estate loans during his three and a half years. Prior to joining Alpine, he was a vice president at Epic Partners, a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyouts and growth capital investments. Mr. Hersly began his career as an investment banker in the mergers & acquisitions group at Salomon Smith Barney. Mr. Hersly is a co-founder and is on the board of directors of NYPEN and NYPEN Real Estate (www.nypenre.org). Mr. Hersly graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics and business management in 1999.
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David Schwartz - Managing Director, Loan Acquisitions
Mr. Schwartz joined Madison in 2008 as a Managing Director. He is responsible for loan acquisitions, underwriting and asset management. Prior to joining MRC, Mr. Schwartz was a co-founder of Rush Brook Partners where he was responsible for the construction and development of five multi-family, rental apartment buildings. In addition, he was also actively involved in property management of numerous apartment units in the NYC area. Prior to Rush Brook, Mr. Schwartz worked at Crescent Heights, a national residential/hotel development firm, where he was involved in the development of over $1 billion worth of condominium and hotel units. Overall, Mr. Schwartz has developed and asset managed over 2 million square feet of real estate in the local New York City marketplace as well as on a national basis in areas such as Northern California, Texas, South Florida and Hawaii. Throughout his career, Mr. Schwartz has acquired an array of contacts in the construction, development, leasing and zoning areas. Mr. Schwartz began his career at JP Morgan where he was an investment banking analyst. Mr. Schwartz received a Bachelor of Science degree from Syracuse University in 1999.
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Julie Breslin - Managing Director, Operations
Ms. Breslin joined Madison in June 2005 as a Managing Director. Her responsibilities include portfolio management, accounting and loan servicing. Since 2005, Ms. Breslin has overseen the servicing of 154 discrete loans on behalf of Madison. In addition, she has been a key liaison in working with Madison's various leverage providers and Madison's credit facility. In her capacity as a Director, she also handles financial reporting and preparation of financial statements in conjunction with the Fund's third party administrator and accountants. Prior to joining Madison, Ms. Breslin worked at Columbia University where she was an officer in the admissions and alumni relations departments. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in psychology in 2001.
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Andrew Smeltz - Vice President, Underwriting
Mr. Smeltz joined Madison in January 2008 as a Vice President and is responsible for underwriting, credit and market analysis, valuation and portfolio management. Prior to joining Madison, Mr. Smeltz worked at Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. as an associate in the CMBS group where he acted as the primary underwriter of over $350 million of commercial real estate loans. His professional experience also includes three years with M&T Bank, where he most recently served as operations manager for the bank's residential construction and rehabilitation mortgage offices in Buffalo, New York and Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Smeltz graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in government in 2001 and graduated from the Yale School of Management with a Master of Business Administration degree in finance in 2006.
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Eli Wolfhagen - Vice President, Underwriting
Mr. Wolfhagen joined Madison in January 2009 as a Vice President and is responsible for underwriting, distressed debt analysis and valuation. Prior to joining Madison, Mr. Wolfhagen worked at Alpine Commercial Capital as a vice president and primary underwriter where he underwrote in excess of $500 million in commercial real estate transactions. Mr. Wolfhagen graduated cum laude from Brandeis University with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics, receiving the Bertha and Nathan Richter and Ernest Grunwald Award for mathematical research. Mr. Wolfhagen holds a Master of Science in mathematics from New York University. Mr. Wolfhagen is a member of NYPEN Real Estate.
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Itai Amidor - Vice President, Closing Team
Mr. Amidor joined Madison in July 2008 as a Vice President and is responsible for legal structuring, document review and administration of the loan closing process. Prior to joining Madison, Mr. Amidor received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan with a concentration in finance and business strategy. He also holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the Hebrew University Law School in Jerusalem and has been a member of the Israel Bar Association since 2005. Mr. Amidor served in the Intelligence Corps of the Israel Defense Forces for five years in various operational and leadership roles.
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Shoshana Carmel - Vice President, Operations
Ms. Carmel joined Madison in July 2006 as a Vice President. Her responsibilities include loan servicing, cash management and working with Madison's various leverage providers. Prior to joining Madison, Ms. Carmel spent three years at Fairmont Funding LTD., a licensed mortgage lender offering both residential and commercial loans, as Wire Desk Coordinator and Cash Manager. In that capacity, Ms. Carmel was charged with the management of pre-closing responsibilities including the evaluation of pricing and fees, facilitating relationships with large banks to ensure proper funds and lines of credit for closing, as well as various activities relating to post-closing maintenance. Ms. Carmel graduated Summa Cum Laude from Yeshiva University, Sy Syms School of Business with a B.S. in Finance in 2003.
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