Ex-BlueBay executive to lead Cheyne’s distressed strategy

Cheyne Capital has launched a distressed credit investment business targeting financings in sub-investment grade companies and has appointed former BlueBay executive Anthony Robertson to lead the charge.

The business, titled Strategic Value Credit (SVC), is aiming to launch a fund that will target $1 billion in commitments from institutional investors.

Robertson, who headed up the leveraged finance business at BlueBay until his departure in October last year, joins as chief investment officer of the business and he is joined by David Lofts, a former executive at Seaport Global, who’s serving as head of trading and origination.

The strategy is launching at the late stage of the cycle, where the firm said it sees a number of distressed opportunities growing. Primarily, the firm will target investments in mis-valued securities and distressed credits in sub-investment grade companies based in Europe. Cheyne said it is planning to further expand its team in the near-term.

Jonathan Lourie, chief executive of Cheyne, said: “We felt the timing was right to enter this segment of the credit markets and deliberately sourced a team with significant experience in distressed investing, in line with our approach of identifying opportunities presented by market dislocations.”

Cheyne is the latest to add its name to a growing number firms managing special situations strategy in the European market. Pemberton Asset Management and JPMorgan recently launched credit opportunities strategies and ICG has appointed Luca Torchio into developing a distressed investment strategy.

According to PDI data, around 90 funds are in market across the globe marketing such products in anticipating of greater distress in mid-market corporates. Such strategies typically seek returns between 15 and 20 percent.