Joseph Bencivenga, managing director and head of capital markets research and private equity at broker-dealer Guggenheim Capital Markets in New York, has joined Plainfield Asset Management. The new distressed hedge fund is based in Greenwich, Conn., and Bencivenga joins as partner and head of research. Plainfield was recently founded by Max Holmes, former managing director and head of the distressed group at D.E. Shaw & Co. He resigned in February to set up Plainfield. The fund's special situations strategy will invest in names across the capital structure through bonds, bank debt and credit default swaps.
Prior to working at Guggenheim, Bencivenga was head of high-yield research at Maxcor Financial, and managing director and global head of high yield at Barclays Capital. Mario Monello, managing director in leveraged finance at Guggenheim, did not return calls by press time.