Anastasia Zaburunova Recognized as 2026 SFNet 40 Under 40 Honoree
SFNet 40 Under 40 Profile–Liquidation/Appraisal/Auctioneer
Anastasia Zaburunova works with Tiger Group’s executive team leading analytical work that supports a broad array of restructuring and consulting projects. She develops and embeds analytics into valuation and disposition workflows, transforming datasets into decision-ready intelligence that drives faster execution, sharper risk visibility and more informed outcomes. Her analyses empower healthy, in-transition, and distressed operators to improve sales trends, optimize assets, and streamline operations. Anastasia played a key role in developing TigerInsights™, a proprietary analytics platform that leverages tens of millions of data points to deliver accurate and actionable recovery values. Anastasia joined Tiger’s appraisal division in 2013 as an analyst, transitioned to retail restructuring, advisory and disposition services, and now leads Business Analytics. She previously worked as a mutual fund pricing specialist at State Street Bank in Boston. A CFA charterholder, she graduated summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts Boston with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. She enjoys spending time outdoors and lives with her family in southern Maine.
Q: What did you do differently that helped you stand out early in your career?
Early on, I learned that a number or KPI is not an insight. Most risky decisions are caused by poor conclusions drawn from good data. The real differentiator is the ability to take a data point and turn it into contextualized, decision ready advice. That’s especially important in environments where speed matters. At Tiger, we’re often brought in when dispositions, valuations and restructurings need to move fast, but the goal is always to support decisions that remain durable under pressure.
Q: What advice would you give to other young professionals looking to build a successful career in secured finance?
Learn to say complex things simply. It doesn’t mean withholding the nuances, it means doing the hard work upfront to cut through noise, understand the underlying drivers, and connect the “what” to the “why.” In an increasingly data rich environment, strong professionals are measured not just by how much they know, but by how clearly they can communicate it and how effectively they can guide action. Teams often don’t need more information, but clarity they can act on.
Q: How are you keeping up with rapidly changing technology (e.g., Al) in secured finance today? What do you think its role will look like in the future of the industry?
The biggest impact right now is using technology to increase the frequency and quality of monitoring. We are moving from periodic, point in time reviews to earlier, more continuous signals around asset performance and risk. That shift allows teams to identify issues sooner and respond with intention, rather than reacting after problems surface in traditional reporting cycles. That only works if it’s paired with strong data governance, security, and auditability. Looking ahead, AI will replace many processes as we know them. But its most important impact will be to clarify risk and bring it into the spotlight sooner. It will fundamentally change how execution happens, whether in lending, restructuring, or asset disposition. Firms that succeed will be those that adapt their workflows to incorporate early risk signals, while keeping human judgment firmly at the center. I expect the next decade to reward two speed operators: teams that automate monitoring and workflows aggressively, while keeping final judgments anchored in verifiable knowledge and disciplined underwriting.
Q: What’s a skill you’ve developed that doesn’t show up on your resume, but is applicable to this industry?
The ability to facilitate alignment across stakeholders using data. In distressed or complex transactions, analytics often sits at the intersection of competing interests and cross-functional teams such as borrowers, lenders, operators, and advisors. My role frequently becomes translating analysis into a shared factual baseline that allows conversations to move forward. I try to help everyone operate from the same reality, because that’s when better collective decisions actually get made.
This article originally appears in The Secured Lender.
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Director of Business Analytics
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