Jefferies & Company is looking to manage leveraged loans within structured vehicles as a component of its asset management business. Mark Senkpiel, a portfolio manager who moved from fixed-income giant TCW in November of 2002 to build a structured funds group, is in charge of the effort, said a source. "Basically, the first thing he did was put together Jackson Creek," the source noted. Jackson Creek is a high-yield CBO and was done at a time when no other managers were attempting high-yield CBOs. "The next phase is to address leveraged loans," he added.
A Jefferies spokesman declined to comment on the plans and whether a loan portfolio manager has been brought on board. Senkpiel, when contacted at the Los Angeles office, was in the midst of a trade and was unable to respond. Jefferies has also indicated to the market that it is seeking to establish a lending platform to cater to its middle-market clients (LMW, 9/22). The two are not directly tied, said the source.
Jefferies is currently looking for an investment bank to help structure and underwrite a potential deal, a banker said. The source meanwhile commented that expanding into leveraged loan management makes sense, since it is such a large part of the business. The asset management division currently has $2 billion in assets under management with about $850 million in capital invested in high yield, distressed, and special situations.