Belstar Group, a private investment firm specialising in alternative investment strategies, has closed the Belstar Credit Fund and Belstar SJ Credit Fund.
The combined funds closed with over USD280m.
Initially launched in March 2009, the funds have participated in both the ABS and CMBS portions of the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility administered by the Federal Reserve.
The funds are designed to achieve attractive returns by investing in a portfolio of highly rated asset-backed and commercial mortgage-backed securities eligible to be financed through the TALF programme.
Simina Farcasiu, a managing partner of the Belstar Group, is the senior portfolio manager for the funds. She has more than 20 years of fixed income and structured product experience, having held senior positions at JP Morgan Asset Management and Bear Stearns.
Farcasiu works with Jeffrey Moses, a partner of the Belstar Group and director of research and analytics at the firm. Moses was formerly a managing director at HSBC Securities responsible for the Americas securitization business.
TALF is a Federal Reserve credit facility that is designed to increase credit availability and support economic activity by facilitating renewed issuance of ABS and CMBS collateralized by consumer, commercial and small business loans.
