Sciens Alternative Investments and PVE Capital have launched the PVE European Distressed Fund I, a closed ended fund that has invested in a portfolio of Italian Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) with a gross book value of EUR408m.
The portfolio of NPLs primarily comprise secured loans backed by Italian real estate.
PVE Capital is the originator of this deal, as well as being the asset manager of the NPL portfolio. PVE Capital is a European credit manager which has significant investment expertise in credit assets, ranging from traditional fundamental credit to the most esoteric structured credit. As of April 2015, PVE Capital manages nearly USD1bn across six strategies.
Sciens Alternative Investments is part of the Sciens Capital Management Group whose global assets under management or advisory includes private equity, real assets, funds of hedge funds and managed account services. The fund is an Irish unit trust which has allowed a broad array of institutional investors to gain exposure to this investment opportunity. Sciens is the fund manager for the PVE European Distressed Fund I, utilising its expertise in the real asset space.
Sciens founder and Chief Executive Officer John Rigas, says: “The Italian NPL market is of particular interest in 2015 as lenders are forced to restructure their balance sheets, with private investors offering the best solution in inefficient jurisdictions such as those found in southern Europe. Of all the NPL portfolios we have seen, what attracted us most about this particular transaction was its relatively low duration and the high quality of the collateral.
We are excited about growing our relationship with PVE Capital, which has a proven record of sourcing opportunities and is becoming increasingly recognised as a major player in the European credit and structured credit space.”
Gennaro Pucci, Chief Investment Officer and founder of PVE Capital, says: “Our new portfolio is made up of high quality assets, and we are confident that this will generate attractive above average returns for our investors.”
This is the second recent venture between London and New York based Sciens Alternative Investments and London based PVE Capital, adding to an existing European structured credit managed account, SGAS Pearl Vega that was launched in September 2014 on Sciens’ independent Managed Account Platform and follows the PVE Special Situations Credit Strategy.
