Jaidev “JD” Rao

JD Rao is the Head of Transactions and is responsible for the oversight and management of the full transaction lifecycle, from underwriting and deal tailoring through negotiation and execution, for secured aircraft loans across Sankaty Jet Capital’s global lending platform. Mr. Rao has ​over twenty years of experience spanning lending, alternative investments, operational due diligence and risk management, with sustained engagement across ultra-high-net-worth borrowers and alternative asset managers.

Prior to joining Sankaty, Mr. Rao served as a Director and Tailored Lending Transactor in Citi Private Bank’s (“CPB”) Investment Finance group, structuring and originating loans secured by aircraft, fine art, hedge funds and private equity funds for ultra-high-net-worth clients. He also served as CPB’s North American product expert for aircraft finance. He began his CPB career on the Alternative Investments team, performing operational due diligence on hedge fund, private equity and real estate managers prior to their onboarding to CPB’s managed investments platform.

Before CPB, Mr. Rao was at Rothstein Kass (now part of KPMG) in a boutique consulting practice, advising asset managers, fund administrators and broker-dealers on operational risk, regulatory compliance and audit matters.

Mr. Rao holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University and a B.E. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Mumbai.