The firm is one of a crop of specialists which make money by investing in litigation cases, a sector that arguably falls into the category of alternative investments.

New York/London-listed Burford Capital, the litigation finance firm hit more than two years ago by an activist hedge fund manager, today said it has appointed Kenneth A Brause as chief financial officer. Krause, who is taking up the role as of Monday next week, will be based in New York. 

Kim Kilman, Burford's current CFO, was appointed in August 2019 to serve for up to two years, after having previously served as senior advisor since 2017. Kilman will spend a three-month transition period with Brause before returning to his senior advisor berth.

Brause has 35 years of experience in the financial services industry, concentrating on specialty finance. Most recently, he was CFO of OnDeck Capital, a New York Stock Exchange-listed specialty lender. Previously, he had a number of executive roles at CIT Group, including serving as treasurer of its bank and parent company; before that, he was CFO of its North American banking business. Before CIT, Brause held senior positions at American General, the Bank of New York and Bankers Trust. 

Burford Capital is one of a crop of specialists which make money by investing in litigation cases, a sector that arguably falls into the category of alternative investments.

In 2019 the firm was hit by controversy. Activist hedge fund business Muddy Waters accused it of questionable accountancy practices, a charge the firm strenuously denied. Burford’s share price was slammed in 2019 and in part of 2020 before recovering, but did not revisit its highs prior to the selloff.

Union Bank
Union Bank today has named Shawn McElmoyl as managing director and private wealth management executive for Northern California and the Pacific Northwest.

McElmoyl has more than 24 years of wealth management experience. Prior to joining Union Bank, McElmoyl spent time at Wells Fargo, Prudential Securities and Edward Jones. He is a graduate of University of Oregon and served for eight years in the US Army. He is also a charter board member for Veteran Starts and a Vice Chair for Programs for Capital Region Family Business Center.