Former Merrill Lynch prop desk co-head Mark Devonshire has taken his new distressed debt fund to Harbour Capital, the London-based hedge fund investment management platform.
Former Merrill Lynch prop desk co-head Mark Devonshire has taken his new distressed debt fund to Harbour Capital, the London-based hedge fund investment management platform.
Devonshire’s mCapital fund is set to launch in February 2009 with target assets under management of USD500m.
Since 1 November, Devonshire has been working with high profile seed investors and believes that soft commitments from investors could total more than USD300m so far.
The fund will focus on stressed, distressed, recovery and development capital in Europe and Asia, with an objective of providing 15+ per cent annualised return over the economic cycle.
Devonshire has 22 years’ experience in global alternative asset markets, most recently at Merrill Lynch, where he established the European and Asian operations of the Principal Credit group, an independent USD3bn proprietary investment unit.
Prior to that, he established and managed money for a number of banks, including Standard Bank.
‘The mCapital fund will be looking for what I call ‘fulcrum securities’,’ says Devonshire. ‘These are stakes in good companies in Europe and Asia that are at the tipping point, and could go under or, with our help, be saved. Global markets are under the greatest stress since the Great Depression, which creates enormous opportunities for a company with the experience, skills and determination of mCapital.’
The mCapital fund will be based in London and Hong Kong, and will initially employ a team of 11 experienced investment professionals, all of whom have worked with Devonshire in the last 16 years.
Harbour will provide a full suite of support services for the new fund, to include licensing in both London and Hong Kong, legal counsel, risk control systems and trading and office premises in London.
