Jeff Maillet, Eileen Rives, Gregory Bunk, Lisa Mincheski and Steven Hill, who left Nuveen Investments earlier this year, have resurfaced at FrontPoint Partners, the Greenwich, Conn.-based firm run by Philip Duff, the former ceo of Van Kampen Investments. Maillet, his old team from Nuveen and Benjamin Klaas, formerly of LaSalle Bank will run the FrontPoint distressed securities team, one of the two strategies being developed by the company. The other initial focus is fixed income relative value, run by a team of three formerly of West End Capital Management. Questions to Maillet and Duff were referred to a public relations firm that did not return calls by press time.
Maillet left Nuveen, with some market players speculating the firm was looking to de-emphasize the loan funds, which had been performing poorly this year. One banker stated the firm never really committed to the market and the replacement of the loan team by Symphony Asset Management, left some wondering about the future direction of Nuveen (LMW, 11/5). One investor suggested the fixed-income specialists might look to develop relative-value funds containing bonds and loans.
FrontPoint is an integrated investment management company producing alternative investment strategies off a central platform. XL Capital, an insurance and reinsurance provider has committed to invest $500 million in FrontPoint strategies, as they are launched.