Four members of Trust Company of the West (TCW) have left to form Silvermine Capital Management, a new firm that will initially invest in bank loans and eventually move across the high-yield spectrum. As first reported on Loan Market Week's Web site last week, Richard Kurth andSteve Kalin will co-manage the firm with Jonathan Marks and Aaron Meyer also coming onboard from TCW. "We were approached by several equity investors and pursued the opportunity," said Kurth, a former senior v.p., trader and co-portfolio manager at TCW.
Kurth said he expects the firm's first fund to come in at about $350-400 million, and the equity for that fund is largely circled. The Stamford, Conn.-based firm launched with a staff of six people and is looking to hire one or two more.
The group collectively has about 20 years of experience at TCW. Kurth worked at TCW for six years. Prior to joining the firm, he was at Citigroup for 10 years. Kalin was the portfolio manager for the pro rata fund at TCW, where he spent four years. He also served more than 10 years at the old Chase Manhattan Bank and then was at Fleet Bank. Marks worked at TCW for almost five years where he was a senior credit analyst. Prior to that, he spent time within J.P. Morgan's restructuring group under Bill Repko.
Meyer joined TCW from the Lehman Brothers' investment banking division two years ago and was an analyst. Mark Gold, managing director and portfolio manager at TCW said, "We wish them well in their new venture. We do intend to fill the positions at some point, but for now their duties have been absorbed by the three portfolio managers leading the group."
