Meet The Team
Bridger Pennington
CEO | Fund Manager | Fund Advisor | Investor
Bridger Pennington is the founder of 3 investment funds ranging from debt funds to real estate funds that have done over 326 transactions in the last 4 years.
Bridger has started helping others launch their own funds through Investment Fund Secrets, an online coaching program with over 4,000 students designed to help them build, launch, & scale investment funds without working on Wall Street or having an Ivy League degree.
Bridger has spoken on stage to thousands of people across the United States and is on a mission to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses through launching their own funds.
Lincoln Archibald
Fund Advisor | Investor
Lincoln Archibald is the Lead Advisor for the Investment Fund Secrets. He has advised on fund structures, strategies & fundraising efforts across the alternative asset landscape resulting in more than $2 Billion raised by his clients.
In addition to consulting, Lincoln is actively involved in large scale Multifamily Commercial Developments throughout the intermountain Northwest.
Through previous roles in Venture Capital, Consulting, and JP Morgan - Lincoln is able to bring unique and powerful perspectives to the table.
John Pagli
Fund Advisor | Strategic Business Development Advisor | Go To Market Strategy Expert
John M. Pagli, Jr., is a senior business development advisor in the alternative investment industry with broad and deep experience with hedge fund and private markets strategies. Based in Connecticut, he leads capital raising advisory mandates for raising capital for alternative investment managers and creating new products for alternative investors. John is a globally positioned C-Level strategic business development and operating executive with broad and deep experience of over 25 years in alternative financing and investments across the full spectrum of structures and investments ranging from private markets, spanning leveraged finance, structured finance, private equity, mezzanine financing, private debt and credit, infrastructure and project finance, and ESG, impact and Opportunity Zone investments, to an extensive array of hedge fund strategies.
He began his career in specialized lending with National Westminster Bank, after completing the bank’s credit training program at the top of his class, and then joined Union Bank of Switzerland to co-found and co-manage the North American project finance group, with aggregate transaction values in excess of $1 billion. John then moved to Wall Street and worked on a number of high-profile financing and advisory assignments and principal investments with Merrill Lynch with an aggregate transaction value of over $2.5 billion. Later, he embarked on his career in business development with alternative investment managers. As President and Managing Partner, John grew assets under management from $59 million to over $1.5 billion, and another $600 million for a few other alternative investments as head of business development. More recently, he managed the launch of several private markets funds with Prospect Capital Management, a leading business development company, and developed strategic investment partnerships for Corvias, a leading military and student housing and infrastructure developer.
With 25+ years of experience working with investment banks, hedge funds, and various private equity group, John is truly a seasoned fund expert.
John Pennington Jr
Registered New York Attorney | Chief Compliance Officer at a $250 million fund
John Pennington is an accomplished attorney (licensed in both New York and Utah) and brings over nine years of legal experience in private equity, fund formation, securities, tax, corporate and business law, real estate, mergers and acquisitions, debt financing, and compliance. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts from Brigham Young University and his Juris Doctor from Arizona State University – Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Mr. Pennington’s professional fund experience began at Bridge Investment Group (a behemoth real estate fund manager with over $20 billion AUM) where he was an associate counsel for the firm. He then gained valuable experience in corporate law, real estate, and securities at one of Utah’s most respected law firms – Clyde Snow & Sessions.
Since then, he has continued to expand his legal acumen by becoming one of the youngest partners at the law firm Freeman | Lovell, and further focused his practice on fund formation, securities, business law, and real estate. More recently, he was the Chief Compliance Officer of Sundance Bay, a successful private equity firm with over $700 million in equity investments since inception. In addition, he recently sold his highly successful private equity fund (which he was the managing partner of) that provides short-term loans to business startups, is a licensed Utah real estate agent, and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
Ryan Miller
Fund Advisor
Ryan Miller is a finance veteran with nearly 15 years of experience in Corporate Finance, Technology, and Energy.
Ryan launched his early career in NYC with Merrill Lynch's Sales and Trading group. After graduating with his Master of Finance degree, he went on to serve as the VP of Finance & Corporate Development in the Energy Industry as well as the Chief Financial Officer for one of the fastest-growing FinTech companies in Canada.
He has led multiple venture capital syndication deals throughout the Software, AI, Solar, FinTech, Energy, and Infrastructure sectors. He has a mind for strategy, a passion for finance, and a love for teaching.
Adam W. Campbell
CPA | Finance, Accounting, Family Office & Real Estate Expert
Adam brings over 20 years of experience in accounting, finance, and business intelligence including 5+ years in family offices and 10+ years of work in PE backed real estate companies focused on multi-family, commercial, debt and seniors housing developments. He was a founding employee for a real estate fund in Salt Lake City, UT that managed over $5 Billion of AUM. He has played key roles in scaling accounting & finance departments from the ground up in privately held and VC/PE backed operating companies. Adam also has extensive experience in transportation, waste management, hospitality, industrial mining, and new venture finance industries.
In addition to his professional background, Adam is the Alumni Chairman of the Undergraduate Engagement program at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business that helps over 1,200+ new incoming students annually to define, align and refine their education goals into future careers. He is a licensed CPA in Utah and a regular mentor and judge of the Opportunity Quest and Utah Entrepreneur Challenge. Adam received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Accounting from the University of Utah and he completed post graduate studies in Business Analytics from the Harvard School of Business.
Vu Tran
Specialty Fund Advisor | Pitching Investors, Raising Capital, and Telling Your Story
Vu is an expert in pitching, framing, and closing deals. Vu is a serial entrepreneur, real estate investor, and business coach. His mother and father successfully escaped their home country during the Vietnam War making him a first generation American born citizen. He is the first of his seven siblings to join the military serving almost a decade in the United States Marine Corps. He specialized in logistics, supply chain management, Lean Six Sigma, and intelligence. After the Marine Corps, he decided to focus on investing and coaching across the globe.
Vu has specialized in launching businesses and growth strategies. He is particularly well versed in pitching, articulating entrepreneurial messaging, elevating brands, integrating business systems to improve efficiency, and leveraging debt. He uses his experience to build more powerful businesses.
Currently, Vu is building a diversified portfolio of businesses including a construction company, a mortgage brokerage, a short-term rental business, and a diversified real estate development and acquisitions group. He is currently working on opening 50 restaurants in the next 5 years.
Vu uses his diverse experience to help our clients craft their story into a refined pitch that will inspire investors to monetarily support our clients funds.
Simon Vandi
Specialty Fund Advisor | Venture Capital Funds & European Funds
Simon Vandi is a Philanthropist, Investor, Entrepreneur, Investment Banking Executive, Data Scientist, owner of multiple businesses, Tech and Regulatory compliance Guru across seven regulations, Fund Management and Venture Capital SME.
Over the last 23 years, he has led Major Global Compliance, Mergers and Acquisition, Capital Markets, Venture Capital Advisory, Fund Research, Business Intelligence, Integration, migration, Financial and Product control, Business Architecture and Data Science Program initiatives across North America, EMEA, Asia and Emerging Markets for Fortune 50 companies such as Deutsche Bank, ABN AMRO, Royal Bank, Union Bank Switzerland, HSBC, Bank of New York and several companies within the Entertainment and venture capital sectors. His past remit included joint accountability migration with other teams for M&A governance, consortium management, branding & communications, and financial technologies of £72 Billion Asset under Management.
As a business strategist for some of the most viable and successful businesses, he has mentored individuals, c-suite executives, and businesses globally to achieve a 360-investment readiness across various industries, including brokering new business relations with revenue potentials over £700 Million AUM. He was also a senior coach providing guidance across regulatory/Regtech/Fintech training to executives from over 20 plus financial institutions and insurance companies within the EMEA region.
Simon has a BSc in Aeronautical Engineering, MSc in Business Systems Analysis and Design, Advance Qualifications in Investment Banking, Advance Derivatives, Private Equity and Venture Capital, MiFID11, SFTR, CSDR, SRD II, EMIR, AIFMD, FATCA, CRS, GDPR, DAC6, AML, CFT, AI and Machine Learning.
Simon currently provides cross regulatory compliance and Regtech/Fintech advisory to one of Europe’s oldest Investment Bank, Asset Manager and Fund Management Financial institutions. He also provides business mentorships to several start-ups and fund management mentorship to several fund managers in training.
Amongst his other accomplishments is owning Tech and Accelerator consultancy firm with bases in the UK and India, a book publishing firm, and a VC fund currently in the development stage. He is also currently advising and reshaping 30 technology-focused businesses in need of seed capital between $500 thousand to $100 million.
Gabriel Araish
Specialty Fund Advisor | Real Estate Funds Above $20mm & Canadian Funds
Gabriel has been at the forefront of the securities regulation and compliance sector for over a decade and is the award-winning author of “Secrets of Securities Compliance – The Art of Raising Money the Right Way” helping Canadians raise money without breaking the law.
He worked in Montreal, at the Autorité des marchés financiers (“AMF”), one of Canada’s Securities and Exchange Commission’s equivalents for eight years, serving as a senior securities analyst and financial statements officer in the Corporate Finance Division.
He was responsible for the review and analysis of capital raising offerings and takeover bids subject to the provisions of the Securities Act (Québec) and securities regulations in Canada.
Gabriel was also tasked to lead the provincial multidisciplinary team that studied and drafted crowdfunding rules and coordinated the work with other participating Canadian regulators.
Before joining the AMF, Gabriel worked for a large reputable accounting firm in Montreal in the audit practice group where he led several audit files involving private and public companies in various industries.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from McGill University. He also holds a graduate diploma in public accountancy from McGill University and is a member of the Ordre des Comptables Professionnels Agréés du Québec.
Gabriel started many of his own businesses to be more present for his wife and two children. He currently owns and operates several local and international businesses in many industries, including securities regulation and compliance consulting, real estate, private lending and e-commerce.
Brent Mott
Specialty Fund Advisor | Single Family Real Estate & Real Estate Less Than $20mm
Brent was born and raised in central Texas. Brent comes from a long line of entrepreneurs. His grandmother, Helen Mott, has been investing in real estate since the 1960’s. Brent saw the successes that she had and developed an interest in real estate at a very young age.
Brent earned his BBA in Economics from the University of Mary Hardin Baylor in 2007. After graduation, Brent spent a year working for a non-profit before attending Texas Tech University where he earned his MBA with a 4.0 GPA.
Brent spent four years in the corporate world in high end retail sales. While working his 9-5 he began investing in real estate on the side
By 2014, Brent’s real estate investment activities had become successful enough to allow him to leave his corporate occupation to become a full-time real estate investing professional. After more success, Brent was recruited to become a real estate investing coach and speaker. Brent has coached and trained hundreds of real estate investors across the United States.
Brent has participated in multiple exit strategies for real estate investing, but his primary focus is on growing his “buy and hold” portfolio. Brent’s Portfolio includes: Single Family Residential Homes, Duplexes, Triplexes, Apartment Complexes, Self-Storage, Office Buildings and Land Development. In 2020 Brent joined Investment Fund Secrets and applied what he learned to raise $2,500,000 to start a fund to build a portfolio of SFR properties. Brent and his team are on track to break $100,000,000 assets under management this year.
Brent is passionate about real estate, investing, and helping people. Brent looks for opportunities to produce win-win outcomes for both he and his partners and the parties that he purchases real estate from. Brent looks for opportunities to provide excellent returns for his investors with minimal exposure to risk.
