James Roche

Chief Credit Officer

Mr. Roche has thirty years of experience in leveraged finance and has analyzed, originated and structured numerous transactions and served on several investment committees. Mr. Roche’s background also includes leading restructuring efforts at a number of large institutions. Prior to joining Willow Tree in February 2017, he was a Managing Director at GSO, Blackstone’s credit arm.  While at Blackstone/GSO, he led the private origination and execution effort for the firm’s sub-advised BDC platform, FS Investment Corp. and related funds, through its formative period.  During his tenure, this platform grew to become the world’s largest manager of BDCs with $17.2 billion in AUM as of December 31, 2016.  He previously held other senior roles at Blackstone/GSO, including as a Portfolio Manager for GSO’s CLO business.  Before joining Blackstone/GSO, he was a member of the investment team at the Royal Bank of Canada from 2001 until 2005.  Prior to his tenure at the Royal Bank of Canada, Mr. Roche held positions at Fitch Ratings, Inc., Nations Credit, and MetLife Capital.  He graduated from the University of Connecticut with a B.A. in Economics.