William A. Housey, CFA, was born in 1973. Mr. Housey earned a B.S. in Finance from Eastern Illinois University and an M.B.A. in Finance and Management & Strategy from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business. Mr. Housey joined First Trust Advisors L.P. in 2010 as Senior Portfolio Manager for the Leveraged Finance Investment Team and has over 22 years of investment experience having held various positions in portfolio management and research. Mr. Housey is responsible for managing fixed-income portfolios, principally focusing on below investment-grade credit.

Orlando Purpura, CFA, joined First Trust Advisors in May 2013 as Chief Credit Officer of the Leveraged Finance Investment Team. Prior to joining FTA, Mr. Purpura was at Allstate Investments LLC where he served as Portfolio Manager in the Equity Special Situations Group that invested in the public equity of companies in various stages of distress. Additionally, he also was a Portfolio Manager in the Private Placement Group where he completed corporate restructurings and workouts for troubled credits held in the investment portfolio. Prior to Allstate Investments, Mr. Purpura was a founding partner at Tall Tree Investment Management LLC, an institutional money manager that focuses on Senior Secured Bank Loans in structured finance vehicles. Before moving to Tall Tree, Mr. Purpura was a Senior Distressed Debt Analyst and Workout Specialist at Van Kampen Investments where he specialized in leading the credit oversight and trading strategy for workouts and restructurings across various industries. In the early 1990s, Mr. Purpura began his credit career at Sanwa Business Credit Corporation, a company that specialized in below investment grade non-traditional lending and leasing. Mr. Purpura received a B.S. in Finance from Elmhurst College and an M.B.A. in Finance from DePaul University. Mr. Purpura holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Chicago. He also holds the Chartered Market Technician designation and is a member of the Market Technicians Association, Chicago Chapter.

Jeffrey Scott, CFA, Senior Vice President, Deputy Credit Officer, Portfolio Manager of the First Trust Portfolios L.P. Mr. Scott is Deputy Credit Officer for the Leveraged Finance Investment Team. He has extensive experience in credit analysis, product development, and product management. Prior to joining First Trust, Mr. Scott served as an Assistant Portfolio Manager and as a Senior Credit Analyst for Morgan Stanley/Van Kampen from October 2008 to June 2010. As Assistant Portfolio Manager, his responsibilities included assisting with portfolio construction, buy and sell decision making, and monitoring fund liquidity and leverage. Scott joined the Van Kampen Asset Management in 2005. He has approximately 18 years of investment industry experience. Prior to joining the Adviser, he was employed by State Farm Insurance Companies where he served as an Assistant Vice President in the Mutual Fund Group responsible for product development and strategy as well as a Regional Vice President for Sales for the Financial Services Division. Mr. Scott earned a B.S. in Finance and Economics from Elmhurst College and an M.B.A. with specialization in Analytical Finance and Econometrics and Statistics from the University of Chicago. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Chicago.