Hilton Global Associates
ABOUT US
A worldwide research firm specializing in bespoke, hand-crafted investigations for both astute and novel consumers of due diligence.
EXECUTIVE TEAM
Founder & CEO
MELISSA KELLEY-HILTON
Founder Melissa Kelley-Hilton is a seasoned industry executive specializing in global investigative due diligence efforts on behalf of governments, Fortune Global 500 companies, multinational law firms, commercial and investment banks, and asset and investment management entities, among others. Prior to forming Hilton Global Associates, Melissa most recently served as President of Bishops Services in New York City. Under her leadership, she grew the company’s revenue tenfold, and took the business from five employees to more than 100 and from one office to seven locations globally, including in Mumbai, India and Manila, the Philippines.
Melissa holds a B.S. degree in Criminal Justice from Florida Gulf Coast University. She is a Licensed Private Investigator by the New York Department of State and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, a Certified International Investigator (“CII”) by the Council of International Investigators – where she previously served as Secretary and Member of the Board, and a Certified Fraud Examiner (“CFE”) and Member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Melissa is also a Member of the Investment Migration Council, the worldwide association for investor immigration and citizenship-by-investment.
For over two decades, Melissa has led tens of thousands of investigations. She has established and cultivated relationships with a global network of industry experts. She has also traveled the world sharing her passion and knowledge of investigative best practices throughout the industry.
Melissa has earned multiple awards and accolades from industry associations, including an Emerging Leaders Award from M&A Advisor (2016); Women in Wealth Awards for Best Due Diligence Investigations (New York) and Leader in Pre-Investment Due Diligence (2016); Leader in Pre-Investment Due Diligence from Wealth & Finance magazine’s Alternative Investment Awards (2016); Best Woman-Run Corporation from CV Magazine’s Businesswoman Awards (2016); Best Due Diligence Firm from CV Magazine’s Businesswoman Awards (2017); Maverick of the Year – Bronze Winner from the Stevie Awards (2017); Information Services EVP of the Year from Influential Businesswoman Awards (2018); Top 25 Young Professionals from ColoradoBiz magazine (2018); and Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Florida from The Women’s Edge (2022, 2023).
Chief Operating Officer
RANDY SHAIN
Randy Shain has been an acclaimed expert in investigative due diligence for more than 30 years, serving investment banks, funds of funds, endowments, foundations, consultants, and other investors. He authored the industry-defining book Hedge Fund Due Diligence: Professional Tools to Investigate Hedge Fund Managers. In 1993, he co-founded the market leader BackTrack Reports. In 2004, he and his partner sold the firm to First Advantage, where Randy helped grow BackTrack Reports and led discrete investigations of 8,500+ hedge funds and 20,000+ executives.
Prior to launching BackTrack Reports, he held various roles at Bishops Services from 1987 to 1993, including Vice President in charge of operations. From 2017 to 2019, he was Managing Director of Operations and then Chief Operating Officer of Blue Heron Research Partners, an international qualitative due diligence research firm, where he helped create processes and systems that enabled the firm to more than double sales and increase profits significantly.
A frequent media contributor, Randy has been featured as a diligence expert in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, and CNN Money. In addition to hundreds of in-person presentations with clients, he has spoken during engagements with The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), GAIM Ops (the world’s leading Global Alternative Investment Management event series), EuroHedge, and others.
Randy earned a Bachelor’s degree with honors in Marketing from Rutgers Business School. He is an advisor to several small- to medium-sized businesses, and in 2015, he founded One on One Mentors LLC, devoted to helping college students maximize and monetize their experience. In 2017, Randy authored 173 Pages Every College Student Must Read.
Partner
JENNIFER MANNINO
Jennifer Mannino specializes in intelligence gathering and investigative strategy, with a focus on identifying reputational risks, conflicts of interest, and unethical business practices affecting new investments, add-on acquisitions, and complex investigations.
Before joining Hilton Global Associates, Jennifer established and led in-house business units and external consultancy teams. Her expertise lies in supporting Integrity Due Diligence (IDD) checks for private equity, pension funds, and real estate investment trusts (REITs). She also conducted third-party vendor and supplier risk assessments for multinational corporations (MNCs) and ensured Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) compliance for middle-market banks. Jennifer has a proven track record in fraud investigations for healthcare, pharmaceutical, and insurance companies. Additionally, she has handled complex class action litigation for oil and gas corporations and automobile manufacturers, as well as organized retail crime for luxury fashion, home improvement, and supermarket chains.
Jennifer plays a crucial role in auditing organizational background check procedures and provides consulting services to clients, offering methodologies to validate business relationships and beneficial ownership. Fluent in Greek, she is widely recognized as a subject-matter expert and public speaker on issues related to EDD, particularly in the areas of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions and anti-corruption cases involving Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations (FCPA).
Partner
KERRY ANN SULLIVAN
Kerry Ann Sullivan brings extensive business intelligence and due diligence expertise in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), corporate research, and background investigations. Her experience spans working with clients in diverse sectors, including private equity, venture capital, endowments, pension funds, hedge funds, and investment banking, as well as collaborating with law firms.
Prior to joining Hilton Global Associates, Kerry Ann played a key role in leading complex deep-dive investigations, particularly in special acquisitions and IPO-enhanced due diligence matters. She has a proven track record of supporting risk-based investigations for M&A transactions involving middle-market private equity and venture capital firms. Kerry Ann has also collaborated with large sovereign wealth clients, conducting due diligence on portfolio managers, and has been involved in asset-tracing investigations for various law firm clients.
Kerry Ann’s expertise extends to mitigating risk for corporations by orchestrating in-depth diligence into the background, track record, and ongoing activities of board members and potential independent directors. She has actively participated as a subject-matter expert in roundtable discussions at alternative investment and chief financial officer conferences. Additionally, she holds the designation of Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and 100 Women in Finance.
Global Security Advisor
PETER VINCENT
Peter Vincent is a recognized expert in global security, counter-terrorism, money laundering, international affairs, human rights violations, immigration, and more. In addition to providing independent consulting services to Hilton Global Associates, Peter is currently Vice President of International Policy at BORDERPOL, a global association of experts in border security and migration management. Previously, he was Head of Government Advisory at Henley & Partners, a specialist in citizenship and residency planning and, previously, General Counsel of Thomson Reuters Special Services. Peter served in President Barack Obama’s administration as the Principal Legal Advisor, Acting Director of the Office of International Affairs, and Senior Counselor for International Policy with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Previously, he represented the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia. Prior to that, he served as counsel at Bechtel Corp., and as an attorney at both Seyfarth Shaw LLP and Garvey Schubert Barer.
Peter is a frequent analyst on television programs globally, including CBS News’ 60 Minutes, CNN, NBC News/MSNBC, and BBC World News. His editorials have appeared in newspapers such as the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, BuzzFeed, Business Insider, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Houston Chronicle, and the International New York Times.
Peter was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the State Bar of California.
Vice President of Global Sales
BRIDGET BRADFORD
Bridget Bradford brings over a decade of due diligence sales experience to Hilton Global. Most recently, she served as Sales Director at ethiXbase, a third-party risk-management software company. Prior to that, Bridget was Regional Sales Director for nine years at Sterling, a leading provider of background and identity services. Bridget started her career in business development at CEB (Corporate Executive Board, and now known as Gartner) where she sold best business practices research to the Fortune 500.
Bridget earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles.
CREDENTIALS & MEMBERSHIPS
EXPERIENCED STAFF
WORLDWIDE NETWORK OF EXPERTS
Hilton Global Associates’ team and worldwide network of experts consists of a diverse and wide-range of backgrounds, including government intelligence, finance, law, investigative journalism and research, and include certified international investigators, fraud examiners and private investigators. We have extensive resource coverage in over 195 countries and territories. Our agents are available globally to conduct in-depth, manual investigative efforts as required in both English and local languages, to ensure the most comprehensive of results.
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