GoldenTree closes CLO fund with $600m in commitments

GoldenTree Asset Management has closed its collaterised loan obligations fund with $600 million in commitments, the company said on Tuesday.

The GoldenTree Loan Management (GLM) fund will invest the commitments in the junior mezzanine tranches and equity of the CLOs it manages, according to a statement. The fund’s investors included more than 20 insurance companies, corporate and public pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and family offices from the US, Europe and Asia.

“We are excited to have created an improved structure for investing in the CLO market that we believe can provide enhanced returns,” Steven Tananbaum, the firm’s managing partner and chief investment officer, said in a statement.

The Financial Times reported Tuesday that the fund close is significantly higher than its original target of $500 million. The same report stated the fund is targeting double-digit returns and that GoldenTree invested $30 million into the fund from its own balance sheet.

The firm declined to comment or confirm the FT report.

GoldenTree was in the process of raising the fund last May, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Those regulatory documents show the firm had raised $50.66 million between two feeder funds.

The company also noted that GLM was one of the first CLO vehicles intended to comply with US risk retention regulations, which went into effect 24 December. The SEC now requires every lead arranger of a CLO to retain a minimum of 5 percent of the face value of the vehicle, in order align the interests of the fund’s managers with investors. 

Since its formation in 2000, the firm has issued more than $10 billion in CLOs, with $5 billion of that still outstanding, according to the statement. GoldenTree currently has $24 billion in assets under management, according to Private Debt Investor data.