Experts & Advisors
Kathleen Lauster
Senior Managing Director
Kathleen Lauster, CFA, is a Senior Managing Director at Ankura Capital Advisors LLC, based in New York. Kathleen guides clients capital raising, M&A strategy, and financial restructuring. Her focus is on sectors such as Industrials, Business Services, Consumer Products, Secondary Sales, Real Estate, and other hard assets, along with restructuring and special situations. She leverages her deep financial background and extensive industry relationships to create accelerated access to investment capital and perform value-added capital advisory.
Experience
Kathleen has over 20 years of global financial services and commercial real estate experience, working for and advising firms in Europe and the U.S. Her clients have ranged from early-stage ventures to Fortune 500 firms. Most recently, Kathleen was a Managing Director at Fairfield Capital Advisors, where she was the head of the Capital Advisory & Restructuring practice. Prior to joining Fairfield, Kathleen held roles at Silver Leaf Partners, LLC as the Managing Director of Restructuring and Corporate Finance, as well as at a global investment banking and restructuring firm as a Senior Vice President in New York and London. Kathleen began her career in Detroit, advising and lending to automotive suppliers.
- Education
- MBA with Distinction, University of Michigan, Ross School of Business
- BA, Finance, International Relations, Michigan State University
- Honors & Awards
- Top Woman Dealmaker in 2022, Global M&A Network, LLC
- NY Shining Star 2021, International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC)
- 2023, Irish American Wall Street 50 Honoree
- Certifications
- Registered Securities Representative (SIE, Series 24, Series 62, Series 63, Series 79)
- Chartered Financial Analyst
- Affiliations
- Turnaround Management Association
- American Bankruptcy Institute
- International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation
- Association for Corporate Growth, NY and NJ
- Treasurer, American Irish Historical Society
