Aaron Peck, formerly a director in Deerfield Capital Management's special opportunities group, has joined AEG Partners as senior director of AEG Investors, the investment group of the firm that focuses on acquiring underperforming commercial loans. Peck will work alongside Michael Goldsmith, a managing director and co-founder of Highland Park, Ill.-based AEG Partners. AEG Investors has been in existence for the last year. Peck was brought on to focus on the day-to-day operations.
AEG Investors employs a buy-and-hold strategy. Typical exit scenarios include restructuring, liquidation, refinancing, or conversion to equity, explained Peck, noting that the average asset turnover is about a year. "We are basically looking for more illiquid, off-the-run loans," said Peck, explaining that the firm would like to be a source of liquidity for those loans. Peck said the amount of the portfolio was a fluid amount. "Our hold size is typically between $1 million and $100 million," he added. AEG Investors does not have any specific industry strategy and is not looking to hire at this point in time.
Deerfield was raising up to $150 million for a distressed debt fund last summer (LMW, 7/02). The fund was a part of the special opportunities group, which Peck oversaw. It could not be determined whether the distressed debt effort was ever completed. Peck declined to comment on the matter and calls to Jonathan Trutter, Deerfield's cio, and John Brinckerhoff, the firm's director of marketing, were not returned.