Sector developments and company hires

Debutant bank plots ‘social CLOs’
A first-of-its-kind investment bank has launched with the goal of driving institutional capital to small businesses and non-profits in the US, positioning ‘social impact’ as a fully investable asset class for institutional investors. Momentus Securities - a New York-based registered broker-dealer and FINRA member - seeks to address the current scale and liquidity limitations in the mission-driven investing space that inhibit the deployment of institutional capital.

Indeed, the firm intends to facilitate the deployment of US$3bn of social capital by 2026 through issuing what it describes as ‘social CLOs’. Initially, it plans to open warehousing lines to aggregate portfolios of loans across five key segments - affordable housing, healthcare, education, small businesses and food. Once ramped up, the portfolios will be securitised and Momentus will distribute the bonds as a takeout.

The firm is led by president and ceo Alicia Reyes, who has 27 years of experience in investment banking and private equity, most recently as head of EMEA at Wells Fargo. Momentus offers services ranging from structuring and distribution on the public side to debt capital markets and advisory on the private side.

The launch of Momentus Securities is supported with grant funding to Capital Impact Partners from the FB Heron Foundation, Citi Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and MacKenzie Scott, as well as support from The Rockefeller Foundation through a sub-contracting relationship. Momentus Securities and Capital Impact Partners are part of the Momentus Capital-branded family of organisations.

In other news…

APAC
ING has promoted Jordan Batchelor to md, head of global balance sheet distribution for Asia Pacific, responsible for asset-backed lending and capital management solutions. Based in Singapore, he was previously a director within global securitisation at the bank, which he joined in January 2020. Prior to that, Batchelor was a Sydney-based director within structured capital markets at ANZ, where he worked for over 10 years.

EMEA
Europa Investimenti, advisor to the Arrow Credit Opportunities (ACO) I and ACO II investment funds, has appointed Roberto Rondelli as head of going concern strategies, Italy. After the establishment of the Europa Investimenti real estate division in 2022 with the appointment of Donato Piscuoglio as head of real estate Italy, the firm continues to expand operations into the special situations and unlikely-to-pay (UTP) single name markets.

Rondelli will be responsible for growing the going concern division, enabling the group to support companies struggling from a financial and operational point of view, but which have viable and sustainable business models. He has deep expertise in this sector, as well as in special situations investments, private equity and turnaround situations. After starting his career at international banks and advisory firms in London and in Milan, he joined KKR in 2015, where he contributed to the creation and success of Pillarstone.

Global
Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling have announced a planned merger to create a global law firm named Allen Overy Shearman Sterling (A&O Shearman), becoming the only global firm with US law, English law and local law capabilities in equal measure. The merger is driven by clients’ needs for a seamless global offering to support them in navigating an increasingly complex legal, regulatory and geopolitical environment. 

Through the merger Shearman & Sterling will gain access to a dramatically expanded ‘rest of the world’ offering across practice areas, while Allen & Overy will benefit from increased board-level recognition and expanded access to a corporate client base in the US. The combined firm will be positioned to capitalise on global macro trends, including energy transition, technology and private capital.

Together A&O Shearman will have circa 3,900 lawyers and 800 partners across 49 offices. The two firms have 250 years of combined experience.

The proposed merger is subject to customary closing conditions, including a vote of the partners of each firm.

North America
Marathon Asset Management has promoted Ed Cong, who joined the firm 17 years ago, to partner. He will continue to serve as senior portfolio manager for the firm’s structured credit and asset-based lending businesses and is a member of its executive committee and investment committee.

Proptech firms to combine
Real estate capital markets platform Setpoint has acquired Resolute Diligence Solutions, bringing together two of the fastest growing tech firms in the asset-backed lending ecosystem. Resolute is a due diligence provider focused on single-family rental and residential transition loans.

Founded by Brent Taggart and Richard Lundbeck, Resolute’s transaction services and customer service will continue to be a mainstay of the combined Setpoint and Resolute offering. Setpoint says its fast, accurate infrastructure allows credit to be more widely available and the underlying assets to be more liquid, thereby driving down costs for lenders and borrowers.

The firm’s offerings include third-party verification, calculation and paying agent, portfolio manager, collateral manager and valuations manager services.