Lane42 Appoints Industry Leaders to Drive Opportunistic Investment Strategy

New appointments bring decades of collective experience across public and private markets

SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Lane42 Investment Partners, LLC ("Lane42" or "the Firm"), an alternative asset management firm focused on public and private markets opportunities across asset classes, today announced the appointments of six accomplished investment professionals who, alongside Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Investment Officer Scott Graves, will lead the launch of the Firm's Capital Opportunities investment strategy. This strategy seeks to source and execute investments across public and private credit markets, including bespoke capital solutions, event-driven situations, and other special opportunities. These seasoned investment professionals mark the Firm's first appointments since its founding in March 2025, with additional investment and executive hires expected as Lane42 continues to grow and scale.

The first members of the Lane42 Capital Opportunities investment team include:

• Scott Graves, Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Investment Officer, most recently with Ares Management, where he was the Co-Head of the Private Equity Group and Portfolio Manager and Head of the Ares Special Opportunities funds.
  
  
• Rob Ruberton, Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager, joining in late November 2025, most recently with Apollo Global Management, where he was a Partner and Co-Head of Hybrid Value.
  
  
• Kaj Vazales, Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager, most recently with Oaktree Capital Management, where he was Managing Director and Co-Head of North America Distressed Opportunities.
  
  
• Damon Fisher, Co-Founder and Chief Legal Officer, most recently with Kirkland & Ellis, where he was a Partner focused on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, financings, and restructurings.
  
  
• David Bernfeld, Partner, most recently with Citadel, where he was a Portfolio Head focused on principal investments and opportunistic credit.
  
  
• Trevor Winstead, Partner, most recently with Oak Hill Advisors, where he was a Managing Director and helped lead hybrid, special situations, and distressed investing as well as strategic opportunities.
  
  
• Joe Scheuer, Principal, most recently with Oaktree Capital Management, where he focused on opportunistic credit and special situations investing.

"One of our founding goals at Lane42 is to create a bespoke and differentiated platform, capable of pursuing the most compelling opportunities in the market today. We can only achieve that with the right team, and Rob, Kaj, Damon, David, Trevor, and Joe represent the highest caliber talent in the industry. By bringing them on board to lead our firm and our Capital Opportunities strategy, we are many steps closer to achieving our goals," said Scott L. Graves, Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Investment Officer. "We are building not only a differentiated business but an exceptional culture that prioritizes integrity, collaboration, and alignment with our clients' best interests. Our newly appointed team embodies these values to their core, and I am honored to welcome them to Lane42."

Rob Ruberton 
Upon commencement of employment in late November 2025, Robert Ruberton will be a Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager of Lane42, based in the New York office. He joins after 21 years at Apollo Global Management, where he played a key role in establishing and growing various credit and special situations businesses. He was most recently a Partner and Co-Head of Hybrid Value, a $14 billion capital solutions and structured equity business which he co-founded in 2017.

Prior to Hybrid Value, Mr. Ruberton was a Partner, business head, and portfolio manager across multiple strategies, including Illiquid Opportunistic Credit, European Credit, the ALME European CLO platform, Asia Credit, Energy Credit, and Apollo Investment Corporation, a listed BDC. Mr. Ruberton was the chair or member of numerous Apollo investment committees and was a member of the firm's Partner Committee. He joined Apollo in 2004 after four years at Arsenal Capital Partners, a middle-market private equity fund. Before Arsenal, he was an investment banker at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette from 1997 to 2000.

Mr. Ruberton graduated cum laude from Harvard College with an A.B. in Economics. 

He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Peddie School and of Montclair Kimberley Academy, where he chairs both schools' Investment Committees and sits on their Executive Committees. 

Kaj Vazales
Kaj Vazales is a Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager of Lane42, based in the Santa Monica office. He previously worked at Oaktree Capital Management, most recently serving as Co-Head of North America for the Global Opportunities strategy, a role he held from 2020 through his departure in January 2023. In his role as Co-Head for North America, Mr. Vazales was part of a leadership team driving all aspects of a $20B+ AUM business, including investment strategy and portfolio management, talent recruiting and development, marketing/capital formation, and back office. Prior to joining Oaktree in 2007, Mr. Vazales began his career in the Financial Restructuring Group at Houlihan Lokey.

Mr. Vazales has extensive experience investing in private and syndicated credit, private and public equities, leveraged finance, hybrid capital, and real estate assets across a broad set of industries. Mr. Vazales has also successfully led corporate restructurings and turn-around strategies in numerous sectors. He has served on many public and private corporate boards (including audit and compensation committees thereof), as well as Ad Hoc and Official Creditors Committees. 

Mr. Vazales holds a A.B. from Harvard College where he graduated with honors and served as captain of the golf team from 1999-2001.

Damon Fisher
Damon Fisher is a Co-Founder and the Chief Legal Officer of Lane42, based in the Santa Monica office. He joined Lane42 at its launch and serves on the Executive Committee.  Previously, Mr. Fisher was a Partner in Kirkland & Ellis LLP's Los Angeles office for 20 years, where his practice focused on complex business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity, financings, and restructurings. Prior to Kirkland & Ellis, Mr. Fisher was a corporate lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.  Mr. Fisher has been recognized by Chambers USA:  America's Leading Lawyers for Business every year since 2014 in the area of Corporate/M&A: Private Equity.

Mr. Fisher received a B.A. in Political Science from University of California, San Diego, and a J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. 

David Bernfeld
David Bernfeld is a Partner at Lane42, based in the New York office. He previously worked at Citadel, where he was a Portfolio Head of CEM Principal Investments focused on public and private credit and distressed debt investing. Prior to Citadel, Mr. Bernfeld worked as an Associate Portfolio Manager at Elliott Management, an Associate at Ardshiel, and an Analyst at Bear Stearns. Mr. Bernfeld has served on the board of directors of PureWest Energy, SemGroup Energy Partners, and various other private companies.

Mr. Bernfeld received a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from Haverford College and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Trevor Winstead 
Trevor Winstead is a Partner at Lane42, based in the New York office. He previously worked at Oak Hill Advisors where he was a Managing Director and helped lead hybrid, special situations, and distressed investing as well as strategic opportunities. Before that he was a Managing Director and part of the founding team for Hybrid Value at Apollo Global Management, where he also served on the Global Illiquid Credit Investment Committee and the board of AmeriHome Mortgage. Earlier in his career, Mr. Winstead invested in opportunistic credit, distressed, and private equity opportunities for Strategic Value Partners and worked at Morgan Stanley as an analyst.

Mr. Winstead graduated with an A.B. in Politics & Economics from Princeton University.

Joe Scheuer 
Joe Scheuer is a Principal at Lane42, based in the Santa Monica office. He previously worked at Oaktree Capital Management as a Vice President in the Global Opportunities group, where he played a key role in investment efforts in the Telecommunications and Technology sectors. Before Oaktree, Mr. Scheuer was an investment banking analyst at Miller Buckfire & Co., where he advised companies and creditors on financial restructurings across various industries.

Mr. Scheuer graduated as Valedictorian from Claremont McKenna College with a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, in Economics with a concentration in financial economics. He was also a Robert Day Scholar and a Cascade/Michael Larson Asset Management Fellow.

About Lane42 Investment Partners
Lane42 Investment Partners is an alternative asset management firm specializing in capturing the most compelling opportunities for value creation from inefficiencies in public and private markets and the convergence of debt and equity financing across asset classes. Lane42's mission is to deliver value to investors and exceptional partnership to portfolio companies, driven by a culture of integrity, collaboration, and alignment. Founded by Scott L. Graves, an accomplished investment professional with more than 30 years of public and private credit and equity investing, Lane42 was seeded with a $2 billion capital commitment and a minority equity investment from affiliates of Millennium Management LLC. Lane42 is headquartered in Santa Monica and New York. www.Lane42.com

Media Contact 
Prosek Partners for Lane42
[email protected]

SOURCE Lane42 Investment Partners