Investment Team & Organization

William Kassul

Principal

Mr. Kassul serves as Founder and Principal of Ranger Alternative Management II, LP, a position he has held since 2013, and focuses on marketing and business development. Mr. Kassul continues to serve as President of Traders Marketing, LLC, a position he has held since 2010. Traders Marketing is a Dallas based marketing firm which caters to the financial services industry. In addition, Mr. Kassul continues to serve as a Partner at TruSight Ventures, a position he has held since May 2013. From 2005 to 2010, Mr. Kassul became the Vice President of Marketing and Sales of Wizetrade, the #1 selling stock trading software platform at that time. Mr. Kassul spearheaded a campaign to re-brand and enhance the reputation of the Wizetrade platform through strategic relationships with broker dealers and financial websites as well as launching Wizetrade TV, one of the first IP TV networks. From 1991 to 2005, Mr. Kassul served in a variety of marketing and sales management positions on behalf of various technology companies such as Lucid 3-D, Mind Path Technologies and SportsWare Technologies/EM Golf, where he was instrumental in remarketing distressed golf course tee time inventory through online partners such as Travelocity, Golf.com and over 30 regional newspapers. From 1988 to 1990, Mr. Kassul was an Account Executive at The Richards Group, an advertising agency where he served in a variety of marketing and advertising roles on behalf of companies such as Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Schenley Liquors and Residence Inn by Marriott.

Education: Mr. Kassul earned a BBA in Marketing from Texas State University in August 1986.

Gary Melara

Co-Portfolio Manager

Mr. Melara serves as Founder and Portfolio Manager of Ranger Alternative Management II, LP, a position he has held since 2013. In 1987 Mr. Melara founded TruSight Corporation to pursue research and development of the AI program which led to the development in 2009 of the TruSight technology which is now used in managing the Ranger Specialty Income strategy. In 2000, Mr. Melara became CEO of Catapult Systems; from 2001 to 2011, he also served as Senior Managing Consultant on behalf of Catapult for several of the firm’s high risk client projects. During this period, he helped Catapult become a successful e-business solution provider. From 1992 to 1999, Mr. Melara was a consultant, Vice-President and Chief Information Officer for TV Guide Magazine. From 1989 to 1992, Mr. Melara founded and served as President of Wylar Technology Corporation, which developed a video concierge system for use in the hotel and resort industry. Mr. Melara agreed to serve as Vice President of Technology through 1992 upon the sale of Wylar in December 1991. In 1980, Mr. Melara founded Transform Logic Corporation (known as Iconics, Inc. until 1985) where he developed a software product called Transform, which automated various mainframe application programming. He remained Chairman of Transform Logic until 2009 when IBM acquired Transform software. From 1982 to 1986, Mr. Melara led the development of a PC software product called Enrich on behalf of Iconics, Inc. In 1984, Mr. Melara founded Migent Software Corporation to market Enrich. From 1966 to 1980, Mr. Melara served in a variety of software development and managerial roles for Motorola and Grumman Corporation. While at Grumman, Mr. Melara participated in the development of software that supported the first manned lunar mission in 1969.

Education: Mr. Melara attended Hofstra University from September 1963 to May 1966.

Lee Hammett

Investment Analyst

Mr. Hammett serves as Investment Analyst for Ranger Alternatives, a position he has held since 2016. From 2014 to 2016, Mr. Hammett served as a Commercial Loan Underwriter for Funding Circle LTD, where he was responsible for underwriting small US business loans and establishing credit guidelines regarding collateral treatment and industry evaluation.  From 2012 to 2014, Mr. Hammett served in a Commercial Underwriter role at Capital One Bank, N.A.  During this period, Mr. Hammett constructed models and performed analysis regarding collateral, leverage, and debt service coverage to assess the risks of default and permanent loss. During his tenure at Capital One Bank, N.A., Mr. Hammett also managed a $300 million loan portfolio consisting of commercial, industrial, governmental and non-profit entities.

Education: Mr. Hammett earned a B.A. in Communication Studies in 2006 and an M.S. in Finance in 2012 from Louisiana State University.

Operations and Client Service

Ranger’s operations and client service colleagues enable the investment team members to focus on important portfolio management decisions, research, security selection and risk management responsibilities with minimal administrative interference. Activities the operations team manages include accounting and finance, legal and compliance, information technology and human resources.

Similarly, the client service team administers all investor relations responsibilities to help ensure current and prospective clients receive a quality experience worthy of their confidence in Ranger. Promptly responding to investor requests, disseminating monthly statements and quarterly reports as well as facilitating client communication with investment and operations team members are a number of the activities managed by the client service group.