BNY Capital Markets is preparing to close its first collateralized loan obligation, One Wall Street, next month and is laying out plans for future CLOs. The debut deal is $300 million and the firm plans on raising about two funds a year, assuming the market stays open, according to one investor.
BNY has managed the Hamilton Floating Rate Fund, which is solely invested in senior secured loans, since 2002. Since inception, the intention was to create a proprietary fund, and to create a track record of growth in the asset management business, the source said. Based on the liabilities available in the CLO market and the cost of funding, the firm felt it was a good time to get in now, he added.
At the same time Bill Lemberg, currently v.p. and head of loan syndications on the banking side, has switched over to become a co-portfolio manager with managing director Dean Stephan for the Hamilton Fund.
While Lemberg takes on some of the day-to-day responsibilities of the fund, Stephan will focus on marketing and closing the CLO and work on expanding the asset management capability for leveraged loans. Previously Gil Tollinchi had been a co-manager with Stephan, but left in April to join Standard Chartered Bank.
Keeping it in the family, Institutional Credit Partners (ICP), an affiliate of The Bank of New York, is acting as the placement agent for One Wall Street. ICP was founded last August and is headed by CEO Thomas Priore. Since then the firm has completed a $250 million CLO for LightPoint Capital Management and a high-yield CDO for Peritus Asset Management.
On the other side of the business and unrelated to the portfolio management activity, Neil Brisson, managing director, has been named head of the loan sales and trading group. He will continue to report to Glenn Autorino, managing director, co-head of syndicated-finance. Brisson joined the bank about 18 months ago to run the trading group. The team is in the process of interviewing for an additional salesperson. A BNY spokesman did not return calls and the bankers involved declined comment.
