The Structured Credit Interview
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Best interests
Eric Brown, head of Performance Trust's Institutional Group, answers SCI's questions
Q: Performance Trust announced its entry into the CLO market with the creation of its new CLO trading desk last month (SCI 11 April). What makes now the right time?
The Structured Credit Interview 9 May 2023
A: CLOs are something that we’ve been looking into for quite some time now and figuring out the right time for us to get involved isn’t necessarily market-based, but .......
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Highs, lows and CLOs
John Kim, Panagram ceo and portfolio manager of CLOZ, answers SCI's questions
Q: What can you tell us about the launch of Panagram’s new actively managed CLO ETF (CLOZ) (SCI 25 January)?
The Structured Credit Interview 17 February 2023
A: We’re very excited about our ETF (CLOZ) because it brings CLO opportunity to the retail market. Ultimately, we are trying to make it easy for retail investors to enjoy the benefits of CLOs that institutional investors have enjoyed .......
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Book building
Peter Polanskyj, senior md and head of structured credit at Obra Capital, answers SCI's questions
Q: Vida Capital recently rebranded to Obra Capital (SCI 16 December 2022). Could you explain why this signifies an important milestone for the firm?
The Structured Credit Interview 30 January 2023
A: Rebranding was a natural step for the firm. Vida – which means ‘life’ in Spanish - was historically a life settlements investment firm. However, the firm is now focusing on diversifying its investment mandate, .......
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The perils of interest rate risk
A structured finance investor talks the big 2023 themes
Karlis Ulmanis is a portfolio manager at DuPont Capital in Delaware, which has total AUM of $20.1bn. The core fixed income portfolio is worth $1.3bn, and Karlis manages the $550m securitized debt section comprised of CMBS and RMBS. He manages these assets against structured products sub-index of the Bloomberg USA Bond Index.
This week SCI asked him where he sees value at .......
The Structured Credit Interview 20 January 2023
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Where's the money?
Top agency MBS buyer talks value at the start of 2023
Brendan Doucette is a portfolio manager with GW&K Investment Management, based in Boston, which manages around $5bn in taxable fixed income assets. Of this, some $1.4bn is invested in the agency MBS market.
SCI caught up with him last week to see how he views the market and likely developments at the start of 2023.
Q: Hi Brendan, nice to talk to you .......
The Structured Credit Interview 17 January 2023
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Less dilutive
Dan Trolio, executive svp and cfo of Horizon Technology Finance Corporation, answers SCI's questions
Q: Horizon recently completed a US$158m ABS - Horizon Funding Trust 2022-1 - backed by non-investment grade performing loans advanced to venture capital-backed companies in the technology, life science, healthcare information and sustainability industries. DBRS Morningstar assigned a single-A rating to the US$100m class A notes, which bear interest at a fixed interest rate of 7.56% per annum and .......
The Structured Credit Interview 25 November 2022
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Reaching milestones
John Beacham, ceo and founder of Toorak Capital Partners, answers SCI's questions
Q: Toorak recently hit a US$10bn milestone in whole loan funding for housing rehab and construction since its inception in 2016. What does this mean to your company?
The Structured Credit Interview 24 October 2022
A: We’re extremely proud of hitting this milestone and excited for many more to celebrate in the future. When we first started Toorak, we saw an opportunity to provide stable, long-term capital to .......
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Conservative approach
Aeon Investments ceo Oumar Diallo and coo Ben Churchill answer SCI's questions
Q: Aeon recently announced the closing of its first commercial real estate CLO warehouse (SCI 12 October) with Credit Suisse. Could you provide some background to the decision to become a CRE CLO issuer?
OD: We’re active across the real estate spectrum and seek relative value opportunities in the UK and Europe.The European CRE CLO market has .......
The Structured Credit Interview 21 October 2022
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Keeping it competitive
Greystone's Jenna Unell, senior md in special servicing, and...
Q: Greystone recently purchased its first primary B-piece in a US$1.09bn conduit CMBS. What makes now the right time to enter this market?
The Structured Credit Interview 11 October 2022
RR: We purchased what was C-III Asset Management at the end of 2019, just before the pandemic, and we are working towards growing that business - which was special servicing. The best way to grow that business .......
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Adapting to change
Adam Zausmer, chief credit officer at Ready Capital, answers SCI's questions
Q: Ready Capital and Starz Real Estate recently formed a joint venture to originate around €300m of new commercial real estate loans over the next two years (SCI 21 July). What prompted the move? What is currently exciting to you in European CRE?
The Structured Credit Interview 26 September 2022
A: It was a great opportunity to further expand and diversify Ready Capital’s international lending business. .......
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Branching out
Thomas Majewski, managing partner and founder of Eagle Point...
Q: Eagle Point recently announced its expansion into the ABS, MBS and SRT markets, which will be led by Karan Chabba as head of ABS, MBS, SRT and speciality finance (SCI 19 July). What were the motivations behind branching out into these markets?
The Structured Credit Interview 15 September 2022
A: In terms of relative interest, the order we are looking at these is SRT, ABS .......
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Insurance assurance
Christopher Freeze, senior md and head of investor relations...
Q: Churchill closed its inaugural collateralised fund obligation (CFO) last month. The US$700m transaction will invest across the firm’s flagship private capital fund strategies. What were the drivers behind the launch of the deal?
The Structured Credit Interview 22 August 2022
A: At Churchill, we are a solutions-oriented firm solving for investor needs. We asked ourselves: how can we introduce insurance company investors to the full array .......
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Quantifi considers
Quantifi founder Q&A on 20th anniversary of firm
Quantifi, the provider of risk, analytics and trading solutions, recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Founder and ceo Rohan Douglas started the firm from his attic in New Jersey in 2002, after prior senior credit derivatives research positions at Citigroup and Salomon.
Structured credit has been at the heart of what Quantifi does and SCI caught up with Rohan to talk about the changes .......
The Structured Credit Interview 24 June 2022
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Goodbye and good luck
Steve Gandy, md at Santander, reflects on a 30-year career in securitisation ahead of his retirement
Asked about the day after his forthcoming retirement, Steve Gandy, md at Santander, mildly remarks that a ‘’friend will take us out for curry, including my grandson. I’m then off to Germany to see my daughter and then back to the UK, where we will sell the house and head for the US.’’
Gandy’s unremarkable statements draw a .......
The Structured Credit Interview 14 June 2022
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Thoughtful approach
Olivier Renault, md, head of risk sharing strategy at Pember...
Q: You joined Pemberton at the beginning of December to establish the firm’s new risk sharing strategy (SCI 1 December 2021). Can you provide some background to this move?
The Structured Credit Interview 21 March 2022
A: The aim of the risk sharing strategy is to leverage Pemberton’s strengths: we have significant origination and credit capabilities, with eight offices across Europe. Although the strategy is global .......
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Choice offering
Rob Reynolds, md and head of CLOs at Pemberton Asset Managem...
Q: You joined Pemberton earlier this month (SCI 1 March). Can you provide an overview of the firm and the new CLO platform?
The Structured Credit Interview 17 March 2022
A: Pemberton was founded in 2013 by our managing partner Symon Drake-Brockman, who is still leading the business. At the time, the fallout from the financial crisis in 2008 led banks to prioritise investment-grade loans and shrink .......
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Team building
Brian Roelke, president and cio of Kuvare Insurance Services, answers SCI's questions
Q: What were the motivations behind the launch of Kuvare Insurance Services’ new third-party asset management business (SCI 8 February)?
The Structured Credit Interview 2 March 2022
A: Unlike a lot of entrants into this space, Kuvare Insurance Services (KIS) started as an insurance-focused asset manager, as all of our activities today are focused on our affiliated insurance balance sheets. The announcement of the new platform signifies .......
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Emulating efforts
Jim Wiant, ceo, partner and portfolio manager of Capital Four US, answers SCI's questions
Q: Capital Four launched its first US CLO last year. What were the motivations behind expanding into the US market?
The Structured Credit Interview 8 February 2022
A: If you look at Capital Four’s history and its path to growth, since 2007 the firm has meaningfully extended its investment capabilities beyond just European high yield. The firm now covers a wider range of investment capabilities in Europe – having broadened .......
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Multi-family moves
SitusAMC Insights speaks up on the US multi-family market
Senior director and head of SitusAMC Insights Peter Muoio and svp Jennifer Rasmussen give their views on the multi-family scene and CMBS market heading into 2022
Q. What is the current picture in the multi-family MBS market and how do you expect it to look in 2022?
PM: The apartment market is in good shape fundamentally with strong investor interest. Investors see .......
The Structured Credit Interview 27 January 2022
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Continued commitments
Derek Dubois, md and treasurer at Deerpath Capital Management, answers SCI's questions
Q: How does Deerpath differentiate itself from its competitors in the lower middle market?
The Structured Credit Interview 20 January 2022
A: Deerpath Capital has been around for a number of years. It was founded in 2007 and we’ve always been focused on lower middle market US secured debt as our investment strategy. The lower middle market offers a nice dynamic for investors; it’s a little less .......
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SME mission
Alain Godard, EIF chief executive, discusses Europe's post-C...
Q: What are the ways in which the EIF utilises securitisation to further its mission?
A: Central to the EIF’s mandate is, of course, our support to SMEs across Europe. There are naturally many ways or various instruments to achieve that, including securitisation.By facilitating the execution of securitisation transactions, we provide guarantees to banks and financial institutions, allowing .......
The Structured Credit Interview 19 January 2022
