Ex-Morgan Stanley junk-bond king Dwight Sipprelle is said to be in the market for high-yield bonds and leveraged loans through his new venture, ARX Investment Management. Sipprelle, based in New York, declined to comment, but a trader said he was in the funding process. An official familiar with the situation, said "leveraged loans, both par and distressed are in the universe of assets ARX is looking to invest in." One distressed trader described Sipprelle as "a man in the know," who has already closed on one fund but is now raising another. Another said, "He's a serious player!"
While co-head of global high-yield at Morgan Stanley, Sipprelle was famous for taking some of the riskiest bets in the high-yield markets, but also for turning Morgan Stanley into a bond powerhouse. Sipprelle is also known for investing a large chunk of Morgan Stanley's proprietary book in telecommunications junk bonds, which incurred massive losses. He resigned in October of 2000. It could not be determined how much ARX will look to buy or whether the fund will look to do a structured vehicle. Sipprelle is joining a burgeoning club of bankers looking to start up distressed or leveraged debt funds (LMW, 4/22).