The Structured Credit Interview
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Identifying asymmetries
Charlotte Valeur Adu, chair of Brevan Howard Credit Catalysts Limited, answers SCI's questions
Q: When and why did Brevan Howard launch a listed credit fund?
The Structured Credit Interview 19 July 2012
A: The Brevan Howard Credit Catalysts listed fund began trading on the London Stock Exchange on 14 December 2010 and now has US$172m assets under management. The listed fund, in turn, invests all of its assets in the US$2.5bn Brevan Howard Credit Catalysts Master Fund that commenced trading on .......
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Diversification benefits
John Wells, chairman at Leadenhall Capital Partners, answers SCI's questions
The Structured Credit Interview 14 June 2012
Q: How and when did Leadenhall Capital Partners become involved in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market?
A: Leadenhall Capital Partners was established in May 2008, when Luca Albertini and I formed an investment management partnership with Amlin - the first such venture to be backed by a Lloyd's insurer. We were both previously involved with insurance-linked .......
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One-stop shop
Christian Bearman, coo at Valad Europe, answers SCI's questions
The Structured Credit Interview 11 June 2012
Q: How and when did Valad Europe become involved in CMBS workouts?
A: Originally founded in the 1960s, Valad Europe has grown through the acquisition of a number of local businesses in different regions to create one of the largest fully integrated real estate investment management platforms in Europe. In recent years, the company was listed .......
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Capital structure plays
Charles Kobayashi, portfolio manager at BlueMountain Capital Management, answers SCI's questions
The Structured Credit Interview 12 October 2011%20(2).jpg)
Q: How and when did BlueMountain Capital Management become involved in CLO management?
A: BlueMountain Capital Management was founded in 2003 with a focus on the credit derivatives and correlation markets. By 2005, the firm had expanded into cash loan assets, given their secured nature and low volatility. We also looked at launching a CLO to .......
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Alignment of interest
Deer Park Road Corp founder Michael Craig-Scheckman and md Will Bashan answer SCI's questions
Q: How and when did Deer Park Road become involved in structured finance?
The Structured Credit Interview 4 August 2011
M: I founded Deer Park Road in 2003 when I moved to Colorado, with the aim of continuing the relationships I had built in previous roles at hedge funds. Initially I was managing money for a very large New York-based hedge fund. By May 2008, we were running .......
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Mixing ABS management and consumer credit advisory
Jeroen Bakker, director at Cervus Capital Partners, answers SCI's questions
Q: How and when did Cervus Capital Partners become involved in the structured finance market?
A: Cervus Capital Partners launched on 1 July. I founded it along with two ex-IMC Asset Management colleagues - Felix Berger and Neil Tjin (see SCI 5 July).We thought it would be best to continue our activities in a new .......
The Structured Credit Interview 12 July 2011
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Credit opportunities
Greg Branch, cio at SCIO Capital, answers SCI's questions
Q: How and when did SCIO Capital become involved in the structured finance market?
The Structured Credit Interview 26 May 2011
A: SCIO Capital was incorporated in London in October 2009. The name was chosen as both an acronym for Structured Credit Investment Opportunity and its meaning in Latin, "I know and understand". SCIO's objective was then to fill a gap in the European structured credit market for .......
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Liquid access
Steven Grahame, fund manager, and Toby Hayes, assistant fund...
The Structured Credit Interview 18 April 2011
Q: How and when did Pacific Real Estate Capital Partners become involved in the property derivatives market?
SG: Pacific's Liquid Property Fund received FSA approval on 26 January and is, together with the Euro ActivIncome Fund and segregated accounts, part of Pacific Real Estate Capital Partner business. I was previously cio, alternatives real estate at Hermes .......
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Underlying strength
Jeff Herlyn, Michael Rosenberg and David Wishnow, principals...
Q: How did Tetragon come about?
The Structured Credit Interview 24 January 2011
JH: The idea for Tetragon came about because we are all big believers in the senior secured bank loan space, which has proved itself by weathering many different financial cycles, but saw that it was very difficult for institutional investors to access it. Even more importantly, it was even more difficult for equity investors to .......
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Emerging opportunities
David Hinman, cio, and Raymond Zucaro, managing principal at...
The Structured Credit Interview 15 September 2010
Q: How and when did your company become involved in structured finance?
DH: We were involved in structured credit at Drake, but now the firm has gone away, so these days we have our own firm and our mandate is pretty broad. We have a small and focused firm, which is essentially a long-short credit hedge .......
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Delivering premium returns
Sander Nieuwland, ceo of IMC asset management (IMCam), answers SCI's questions
Q: How and when did IMCam become involved in structured credit?
A: The asset management activity of IMC began in 1998, focusing initially on distressed debt and quickly expanding into ABS, with the launch of a number of funds and CDOs. The IMC Group was founded in 1989.IMCam was established in its present form two years ago when IMC bought .......
The Structured Credit Interview 18 August 2010
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Positioning for the future
Marjorie Hogan, senior portfolio manager at Capstone Credit Advisors, answers SCI's questions
The Structured Credit Interview 14 April 2010
Q: How and when did you become involved in the credit and MBS markets?
A: My first exposure to the MBS markets was in the late 1980s when CMOs were in their infancy. In 1986 I built an OAS model for First Boston, which was used to analyse relative value and estimate hedge ratios for fixed .......
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Leveraging experience
Sara Bonesteel, head of alternative products, and Mike Colli...
The Structured Credit Interview 23 December 2009
Q: How did Pramerica become involved in the structured credit market?
SB: Pramerica has been involved in fixed income for more than 100 years. Our management of fixed income goes back to 1875. In terms of structured credit, we have managed CLOs/CBOs since 2001 and we currently have 23 deals under management and have around 40 .......
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Strengthening the market
Jeffrey Kushner, ceo of BlueMountain Capital Partners (London), answers SCI's questions
The Structured Credit Interview 9 December 2009
Q: How and when did BlueMountain Capital Management become involved in the fundamental credit/derivatives markets?
A: Since inception in 2003, BlueMountain Capital Management has been a relative value, multi-strategy credit manager with a unique expertise in credit derivative products, markets and structres. We are active in many types of credit products, from cash bonds and loans, .......
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Participation rights
Jonathan Cohen, ceo of T2 Advisers, answers SCI's questions
The Structured Credit Interview 2 December 2009.jpg)
Q: How and when did T2 Advisers become involved in the structured credit market?
A: T2 Advisers serves as the investment adviser to Greenwich Loan Income Fund (formerly known as T2 Income Fund, before a resolution was passed to change its name at an EGM on 16 October). We are based in Greenwich, Connecticut, but the .......
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Repricing risk
Scott Roth and Patti Unti, principals at Ventras Capital Advisors, answer SCI's questions
Q: How and when did Ventras Capital Advisors become involved in the structured credit market?
A: All the Ventras principals and co-founders are former executives with Capmark Investments (see SCI issue 156). We lead the investment team, having previously served as co-heads of the securities team for Capmark.We have both been involved in the CMBS market since 1997, with experience .......
The Structured Credit Interview 11 November 2009
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Selling on detail
Rob Ford, partner and portfolio manager, and Mark Holman, ma...
Q: How and when did TwentyFour Asset Management become involved in the structured credit market?
MH: TwentyFour AM was launched in September 2008. The firm is young, but has old heads, many of whom have previously worked together - Rob and I spent seven years at Barclays Capital together, for example.We currently employ 11 people .......
The Structured Credit Interview 4 November 2009
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Finding opportunity in the eye of the storm
Vishal Bhutani, md at Structured Portfolio Management, answers SCI's questions
The Structured Credit Interview 21 October 2009
Q: How and when did Structured Portfolio Management (SPM) become involved in the structured credit/securitisation markets?
A: SPM has been involved with structured credit and securitisation since its beginnings in 1997. Best known for its work in the mortgage markets, SPM has a well-established, rigorous analytical framework for identifying and profiting from short-term displacements in markets .......
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Filling the void
John Uhlein, founder and managing principal of Grenadier Capital, answers SCI's questions
The Structured Credit Interview 7 October 2009
Q: How and when did Grenadier Capital become involved in the structured credit market?
A: I put together a team of six credit professionals, including myself, to fill the void created by both the decline of the financial guarantors and the loss of credibility by the rating agencies. My team has extensive credit assessment, valuation and .......
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Seeking beta
Scott Johnston, managing partner, and Simina Farcasiu, partn...
Scott Johnston Q: How and when did Belstar Group become involved in the structured credit market?
The Structured Credit Interview 27 May 2009
SJ: Belstar was founded in 2005 with a unique perspective: we believe that diversification is paramount in risk management and so we didn't want to offer cookie-cutter products. Our business has evolved into four different product lines: TALF .......
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New balance of power
Jerome Booth, head of research at Ashmore Investment Management, answers SCI's questions
Jerome Booth Q: How and when did Ashmore Investment Management become involved in the structured credit market?
The Structured Credit Interview 13 May 2009
A: Ashmore Investment Management was formed out of Grindlays Bank (which was bought in 1984 by ANZ), whose London unit made markets in emerging market debt. We then began taking on simple corporate restructurings in Latin America, .......