Sector developments and company hires

Lloyd’s ILS platform unveiled
Lloyd's has established London Bridge Risk PCC, the first UK ILS structure to be approved by the PRA for use for multiple, market-wide transactions for Lloyd's members. Clifford Chance worked with Lloyd's and the regulators to devise a structure and set of market standard template documentation with flexibility to accommodate a range of individual investment models and objectives. This arrangement is expected to facilitate capital-efficient investment into Lloyd's, while reducing the frictional costs and time usually associated with a standalone ILS vehicle.

In other news…

Continuously offered BDC debuts
Blackstone Private Credit Fund (BCRED) - Blackstone’s non-listed BDC - has broken escrow with approximately US$814m in net proceeds for its continuous public offering. With leverage, BCRED may have approximately US$1.8bn of investable capital. BCRED aims to provide income-focused individual investors access to private credit in a continuously offered fund structure.

Development finance firm formed
A pair of property finance executives, backed by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, have launched Silbury Finance - a platform providing bespoke senior development finance solutions for the structurally undersupplied UK residential, retirement and student accomodation sectors. The firm was founded by Matthew Pritchard, formerly head of European real estate debt at Man Group, and Gavin Eustace, formerly head of residential development at Octopus Real Estate. The platform will underwrite loans typically in the £10m-£150m range, with an LTV between 60% and 70%, and is targeting £500m of lending in 2021 and up to £3bn of lending over the next six years.

EMEA
Intermediate Capital Group has appointed Philippe Arbour as md, Senior Debt Partners, which is one of its flagship strategies. He joins ICG from Palamon Capital Partners, where he was a partner since 2019. Arbour will help develop sponsor coverage, origination and execution in the UK senior direct lending market.

Scope has appointed Guillaume Jolivet as coo, responsible for the rating agency’s analytical activities and governance, including compliance and internal audit for Scope’s subsidiaries. His focus is on further broadening and deepening Scope’s analytical output and rating coverage across all of Europe, as the company internationalises its business. Jolivet joins Florian Schoeller, ceo, and Christopher Hoffmann, cfo, on Scope Group’s executive board.
Jolivet was appointed head of Scope’s credit rating unit in 2019 and launched its ESG ratings unit in 2020 together with Schoeller. Jolivet joined Scope in 2013 to create and develop the agency’s structured finance rating activity.

Global
Reed Smith has promoted 31 associates and counsel to partner, including two with structured finance experience. In the firm’s Chicago office, Daniel Buoniconti concentrates his energy & natural resources practice in structured finance, trade finance, receivables finance, inventory finance and commercial lending. Meanwhile, in its London office, Andrzej Janiszewski is a member of the financial industry group, where he handles structured finance and impact finance transactions.

Impact investment firm founded
Damien Dwin has launched Lafayette Square, an impact-driven minority owned investment platform. The firm aims to confront critical societal challenges with capital and services in three core areas - housing, jobs and financial inclusion.

Sharing in this vision, Morgan Stanley has provided US$100m of financing to launch Lafayette Square. Employees own over 90% of the firm’s equity, with other equity holders including the Capricorn Investment Group's Sustainable Investors Fund and Schusterman Family Investments, both of which will maintain seats on the Lafayette Square board.

Prior to founding Lafayette Square, Dwin served as co-founder and co-ceo of Brightwood Capital Advisors from 2010 to October 2020. Before that, he was head of North American special opportunities at Credit Suisse and a trader at Goldman Sachs.

Lafayette Square launches with a seasoned team of 17 professionals with an average 15 years of experience in financial services. The team includes chief risk officer Phil Daniele, chief of staff Doug Ebanks, head of investor relations Caitlin Mixter, mds Ryan Ochs and Joe Johnson, director Casey Woo and vp Mary Ann Raftery. The firm expects to grow to approximately 65 employees by 2022.

North America
Michael Zampetti, md, has joined Greystone’s commercial finance team in New York. He was previously at CIBC for seven years, focusing on balance sheet and CMBS lending. Zampetti will focus on loan production across an array of platforms and on expanding Greystone’s lending activities to a broader scope of commercial asset classes.

Home Point Capital has appointed Andrew Bon Salle as its chairman. Bon Salle joins the firm following a nearly 30-year tenure at Fannie Mae, where he most recently served as evp of its single-family business. During his time at Fannie Mae, he guided the company's credit risk management and pricing strategies, and managed lender execution services, such as MBS, structured product sales and trading, whole loan acquisition and conduit activities, and early funding transactions.

Natixis has named Emmanuel Issanchou head of global markets Americas and global head of credit markets. His long history with the firm includes past roles serving as head of EMEA structured credit & solutions and global head of structured credit & solutions and credit trading.

Pollen Street has recruited Daniel Khouri to lead its team in New York, advancing the firm’s credit strategy to develop partnerships with best-in-class specialists in the non-bank lending sector to provide capital and strategic insight. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Khouri served for six years as co-head of private credit at Colchis Capital Management, two years as a principal at Atalaya Capital Management and three years as a vp at TTM Capital. He began his career on the sell-side at DB Zwirn and Citi.

Former Magnetar Capital fixed income strategist Tom Rutledge has co-founded a rideshare firm called Wapanda. He joined Magnetar in 2008 and before that worked at firms including Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and Merrill Lynch.