Corporate debt specialist Muzinich is launching two funds to be managed by the loans team who recently joined from ECM Asset Management (ECM), a Wells Fargo Asset Management company.
Muzinich announced in the summer that it had hired Torben Ronberg, Stuart Fuller, Sam McGairl and Alex Woolrich, who managed the sub-investment-grade business at ECM.
Ronberg and his team, who took up their posts this week, will now prioritise the launch of a new European senior secured loans vehicle, the Muzinich European Loans Fund.
They are also putting the foundations in place for the launch of a multi-asset vehicle, the Muzinich Senior Secured Fund, which will have a broader investment mandate. This vehicle will primarily invest in senior secured loans and senior secured high yield bonds.
Both funds will sit under Muzinich’s Irish-domiciled ICAV, which has been established as a Qualified Alternative Investment Fund. They will be aimed primarily at pension funds, insurance companies and other institutional investors.
George Muzinich (pictured), founder and chairman of Muzinich, says: “We’re thrilled to welcome Torben and his team, who have worked together for over a decade and established an outstanding reputation in the industry.”
Ronberg says: “We have built a 10-year benchmark-beating track record, delivering strong single-digit annualised returns through senior secured loan strategies. We’re confident that this asset class can continue to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns.
“We believe there’s growing interest in senior secured loans from pension funds and other institutional investors. Senior secured loans offer attractive all-in floating rate returns, so they provide some protection against interest rate rises.
“In Fuller, McGairl and Woolrich we have a very capable team with a wealth of experience across all aspects of managing senior secured loans strategies.”
The new European Loans Fund, which will be unleveraged, will invest in broadly syndicated loans that are typically a minimum of EUR200 million in size. The strategies will be managed within the wider Muzinich investment process.
