Luke Gillam joined European credit specialist AlbaCore Capital Group as partner, head of senior direct lending.
The role is new, a spokesperson confirmed.
He leads the sourcing, underwriting and execution of senior direct lending transactions alongside Bill Ammons, partner and portfolio manager. He will also manage a senior direct lending team. AlbaCore Senior Direct Lending is the firm’s first dedicated strategy, the spokesperson said.
AlbaCore has previously invested in senior direct lending through its flexible strategies, which can finance in senior and junior as well as in liquid and private deals.
“Luke’s experience and relationships across credit markets will complement and reinforce the expertise of AlbaCore’s senior investment team,” David Allen, managing partner and CIO, said in a news release. “Luke joins AlbaCore at a time when we are well-positioned to capitalize on the growing opportunities in the European senior direct lending market.”
Gillam's move to AlbaCore to run the dedicated strategy — which he said in an interview "rounds out the portfolio" — was driven partly by existing LP demand for the strategy. "I think there is a very significant growth opportunity going forward for the asset class, both in terms of its use vs. other lending, the pullback of traditional lenders; but also overall in terms of cyclical market growth. I think we'll see a pickup over the next few years in M&A and private equity activity."
Over a long period of time, Gillam has observed "the exponential growth of the (direct lending) business. I also saw how effective the asset class has been in capturing parts of the market — private equity, in particular, has seen it as an attractive way to raise capital. AlbaCore is well-positioned to take advantage of the space because they have the existing expertise, and also the existing relationships with borrowers," he added.
AlbaCore has $9.4 billion in assets under management across opportunistic and dislocated credit, collateralized loans obligations, structured products and other strategies.
Gillam was head of Europe, Middle East and Africa credit capital markets at investment bank Goldman Sachs, and was co-chair of the credit capital market committee.
