Team
Raymond H. Kraftson, Managing Director
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Raymond H. Kraftson, Managing Director
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Ray founded Ariane in 1999. He is considered one of the most knowledgeable placement professionals in the alternative investment industry, frequently leading conference panels and seminars on fundraising. In addition to fundraising engagements he serves as a management consultant for a number of general partnerships of private equity funds.
Prior to founding Ariane, Ray’s career experiences include 10 years as Vice President and General Counsel of Safeguard Scientifics, a publicly backed investment firm based in Wayne, PA. While with Safeguard, he was a founder of Novell, Inc., a pioneer in corporate network software. Ray led numerous public offerings of securities for Safeguard, Novell and other Safeguard portfolio companies, among many other responsibilities. When Safeguard sponsored its first private venture capital fund, he was responsible for bringing in half of the total. Earlier, Ray was General Counsel to the Investment Group of INA Corporation (now CIGNA), and served as Senior Counsel to the Electronic Products Group of Monsanto Corporation.
During an 18-year period, Ray held positions as President, General Counsel and Director of Ailes Communications, a New York-based political and corporate media and communications consulting firm. His relationship with Roger Ailes (now President and CEO of FOX News Channel and Chairman of the FOX Television Stations Group) brought the art of clear, compelling and accurate communications to his work, which is a significant component of his role with Ariane clients.
He has served on the Boards of more than 20 public and private corporations as well as those of number of eleemosynary and religious organizations, and has lead major fundraising efforts for many of those.
Ray began his career as a lawyer for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. He received his J.D. degree from the College of William and Mary, Marshall Wythe School of Law, where he was Managing Editor of the Law Review, and his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Donald W. Kraftson, Managing Director
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Donald W. Kraftson, Managing Director
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Don joined Ariane in 2003. Previously, he was a general partner with Dolphin Equity Partners, a private equity firm based in New York, which he helped form in 1998. During his tenure at Dolphin, Don helped raise two private equity funds totaling $340 million. Additionally, he has been a leader and member of teams responsible for investing $200 million in 12 portfolio companies. And, as a board member, he led the raise of $435 million in outside capital for six portfolio companies.
He began his private equity career at CIBC Capital Partners, the merchant banking arm of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Previously, Don worked at PNC Bank in the Communications Lending and Loan Workout Departments.
He earned his M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and his B.B.A. from the College of William and Mary.
William G. Daniels, Managing Director
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William G. Daniels, Managing Director
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William came to Ariane in January, 2005 from the University of Pennsylvania's Development Office where his responsibilities encompassed building long-term relationships in order to raise multi-million dollar commitments for its endowment.
Previously, as an entrepreneur, he was Co-founder and Principal of V-Graph, a software firm that created and developed multimedia and interactive training programs. He subsequently spent 11 years with VideoLearning Systems, a leading broker of management training systems, selling group and enterprise wide applications, with responsibility for long-term key-account relationships with their Fortune 500 clients.
William received his B.B.A. from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He has held numerous leadership positions on the boards of schools and non-profit institutions in the Philadelphia area advising them on their fundraising efforts.
Darren A. Williams, Managing Director
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Darren A. Williams, Managing Director
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Darren joined Ariane in 2011. Previously, he was Vice President and Private Equity Portfolio Manager with JPMorgan Chase in New York responsible for managing a portfolio with over $500 million in commitments invested across various classes including buyout, growth, mezzanine, venture capital, and real estate. Prior to joining JPMorgan Chase, he was a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch Global Private Client Services in Princeton New Jersey.
Before joining Merrill, he spent more than five years in the automotive industry with GM spin-off Delphi Corporation in corporate finance with a focus primarily on mergers and acquisition transactions, intellectual property licensing strategy, and plant financial management. He began his finance career with Saint-Gobain Corporation in the Treasury Pension Asset Management group located in Valley Forge, PA. The group was responsible for managing Saint-Gobain's North American defined benefit pension and 401(k) programs.
He earned a B.S. degree from The College of New Jersey, an M.B.A. from Clark-Atlanta University, where he was a recipient of a Toigo fellowship, and completed Executive studies in investment management at the Wharton School of Business. He is a Certified Investment Management AnalystSM, CIMAR.
Theodore J. Gillman, CFA, Managing Director
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Theodore J. Gillman, CFA, Managing Director
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Ted joined Ariane in the spring of 2011. Previously, he was an investment professional at The Rohatyn Group (TRG), an investment advisory firm with an exclusive focus on emerging markets. At TRG, his responsibilities included structuring investment funds, liaising with legal, operational, and other functional groups within the firm as well as facilitating co-investments. His responsibilities included managing LP relationships on a global basis.
Mr. Gillman has over 20 years of experience as a securities professional having held positions as an investment analyst, portfolio manager and client service officer. Other positions prior to TRG include roles at Davis Advisors and Gleacher & Company. As a Director at Lazard Asset Management, he held positions in portfolio management and investment analysis in both the New York and London offices of Lazard over a nine year period. He began his career in the investment field as an equity analyst at Wilkinson, O'Grady & Co.
He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and holds a BA degree from Tufts University and a MBA from the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business Administration.
Terrence P. Cunningham, Managing Director
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Terrence P. Cunningham, Managing Director
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Terry joined Ariane Capital Partners in April of 2009. During his 26 years of fundraising in both sales and leadership roles with asset management companies he has consistently met or exceeded goals. Terry has marketed many types of products including mutual funds, hedge funds, fund of funds, variable and fixed annuities, structured products, retirement plans and private equity funds.
From 1993 to 2001 Terry held sales leadership positions at Kemper Funds and Delaware Investments/Lincoln Financial Distributors. As a Senior Vice President at both firms, he developed strategy, managed field and internal wholesalers, and led the national Account Management teams. From 2003 to 2008 he managed the broker/dealer territory in Pennsylvania and Delaware for DWS Investments, the mutual fund unit of Deutsche Asset Management and Deutsche Bank, AG. Terry took an underachieving territory at DWS and made it a top performer. Terry has deep and extensive relationships in the retail channels and with institutional investors. His retail channel relationships include financial institutions, broker/dealers, registered investment advisors, and independent firms.
He began his career in 1983 with Federated Investors in Pittsburgh, PA. Terry earned his B.A. from the University of Richmond and holds FINRA Series 6, 7, 24, 63, and 65 licenses.
David S. Cunningham, Managing Director
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David S. Cunningham, Managing Director
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David joined Ariane in February 2010. He brings extensive relationships within the retail distribution community including financial institutions, broker/dealers, and independent firms. Additionally, David has worked closely and with many turnkey asset management providers throughout the Midwest.
As a regional Vice President, David has raised more than $600 million in mutual fund, retirement plan, and alternative investment assets and annuity and insurance premiums. David started his career in financial services at Zurich Kemper Investments where his primary responsibilities included sales of mutual funds, variable annuities, and retirement plans. His responsibilities expanded as Regional Vice President with Travelers Life and Annuity, MetLife Investors, and Nationwide Financial, where he raised over $300 million in insurance premiums and mutual fund assets.
David graduated from the University of Hawaii with a B.A. in Asian Studies.
Lynne L. Jacobus, Presentation Skills
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Lynne L. Jacobus, Presentation Skills
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Lynne leads Ariane's presentation skills training. She and Ray have worked together since meeting at Ailes Communications in 1991. She has over 25 years experience coaching business people, attorneys and other professionals in speaking skills. She has given communications training and advisory services to corporations, professional sports organizations, hospitals, professional service firms, and financial institutions.
She has been on the faculty of both Pennsylvania State and Temple Universities. Presently she is on the faculty in the communications department of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania teaching for the MBA program.