People moves and key promotions in securitisation

This week’s roundup of securitisation job swaps sees Blackstone appointing a new head of international for Blackstone Credit & Insurance (BXCI). Elsewhere, Paul Hastings has lured a structured finance partner from Weil, Gotshal & Manges, while Milbank has added a number of Latham & Watkins professionals to its alternative investments team, including a new partner.

Blackstone has named Dan Leiter head of international for Blackstone Credit & Insurance (BXCI), reporting to Gilles Dellaert, global head of BXCI. In this role, Leiter will lead the activity and expansion of BXCI in EMEA and APAC. Additionally, Michael Carruthers is appointed as European head of private credit, reporting to Leiter.

Leiter was previously global head of securitised products trading in Morgan Stanley’s fixed income division. Carruthers was previously co-cio for BXCI’s European and APAC private credit businesses, having joined the firm in 2006.

Meanwhile, structured finance lawyer Brian Maher has joined Paul Hastings as a partner in London. He joins from Weil, Gotshal & Manges, and brings team members Sophie Bainbridge and Emily Firmston with him to Paul Hastings.

Maher advises banks, credit funds and private equity firms on a broad range of structured finance matters, including all forms of securitisation and asset-based lending, CLOs and performing and non-performing loan portfolio acquisitions and financings. He is reunited on the Paul Hastings platform with former Weil structured finance colleague Shawn Kodes, who joined the firm in New York in April, alongside partner Matthew Nemeth (SCI 12 April).

Bainbridge joins as of counsel at Paul Hastings after 10 years at Weil, while Firmstone joins as an associate having spent eight years at Weil.

Alex Martin has joined Milbank’s London office as a partner in its alternative investments practice. He brings with him a significant team, including Kristine Kozicki, who joins the firm as special counsel.

Martin’s practice focuses on CLOs and he represents a number of top-tier CLO managers, arrangers, credit funds and asset managers. He was previously a partner in Latham & Watkins’ structured finance and securitisation team, which he joined in September 2021. Before that, he worked at Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Allen & Overy.

Holland & Knight has hired Otterbourg P.C. asset-based lending specialist Nneoma Maduike as a partner based in New York. Maduike's experience focuses on secured and unsecured loan transactions, including ABF, cash flow and structured finance, syndicated and mezzanine financings, loan workouts and restructurings. She leaves her role as partner at Otterbourg after 10 years with the business, having previously worked at Troutman Sanders, Greenberg Traurig and DLA Piper.

KBRA has appointed Min Xu as md in its funds team, focusing on research activities related to CLOs, ABS and structured credit. She is based in New York and leaves her role as executive director in the credit risk department at Natixis CIB Americas, where she spent six years, having previously spent 12 years in Moody's CLO and structured credit group.

Loomis Sayles is to expand its structured finance capabilities in Europe, with the hire of two senior ABS portfolio managers – Sébastien Andre and Alexandre Boulinguez. Joining the firm in Paris from Ostrum Asset Management, Andre and Boulinguez will lead the Loomis Sayles mortgage and structured finance team’s venture into European ABS. The pair will report to head of the firm’s mortgage and structured finance team, Alessandro Pagani, and will manage two European ABS strategies – totalling €215m in combined asset value.

Obra Capital has appointed Vlad Sorokulov as md, portfolio management and pricing. In this role, Sorokulov will be responsible for supporting the investment team across Obra’s portfolio of both life settlements and life insurance.

He will be based in New York and report to Blair Wallace, president and ceo of Obra Capital. Sorokulov brings over 20 years of experience in insurance and life settlements, having previously served as a principal at Jade Mountain Partners, where he oversaw the valuation process of portfolios exceeding US$1bn in assets under management.

Investec has recruited structured finance professional, Robbie McColl, as a senior originator to its energy and infrastructure finance team for the UK and Europe. McColl will lead the origination of transactions in the infrastructure and energy industries and will report to head of energy and infrastructure finance for the UK and Europe, Anupam Sharma. McColl joins the firm from Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management where he led the creation, structuring, execution and management of private credit portfolios as senior investment director in the infrastructure and structured finance team.

Harry Burgess, former director in CBRE’s operating real estate debt and structured finance team in London, has been poached by 2015-founded build-to-rent business, Platform_. Burgess, who was promoted to director in July 2023 after joining CBRE in 2021, will now serve as a corporate finance executive at Platform_ to help support its growth as an integrated investor, developer, operator, and asset manager.

And finally, UK advisory firm, Quantuma, has recruited former RBS structured finance expert Scott Peters to lead its corporate finance and national debt advisory practices in the Midlands. Peters will be based in Quantuma’s offices in Birmingham, and joins the firm’s growing national corporate finance team as an md from Cattaneo Corporate Finance.

Corinne Smith, Claudia Lewis, Kenny Wastell