Insights

Your once-a-month insider on talent + alternative investments.

The Locke-Down is a once-monthly newsletter for our closest contacts on topics related to talent and alternative investments. The newsletter covers 3 simple things:

What we’re hearing in the market,

What we’re reading, and

What we’re up to.

We are in the market, daily, and want to share our insights. We want to hear from you. What information would be valuable? We’re always available. Get in touch with us.

What we’re hearing

Hiring Momentum. Forget the weak jobs report. We were unseasonally busy in August, and the momentum is rolling into September. We see two drivers for the alternative investments industry: (1) pent-up hiring demand that was put on ice after Liberation Day, and (2) the steady expansion of private capital markets. Importantly, we are hearing about new hires, not backfills. Hot spots include Fundraising & IR (across strategies), all things Asset-Based Finance (ABF), and Private Equity.

ABL Rising. We’ve long highlighted the growth of ABF, but Asset-Based Lending (ABL) – lending to corporates rather than asset originators – is gaining prominence. Sponsors are pushing Direct Lenders for more ABL facilities, ABF funds are adding commercial finance strategies, and pure-play asset-based lenders like Great Rock are moving up-market and taking injections of capital to expand. We expect each of these players to grow their ABL businesses in 2025 and 2026.

Credit Secondaries Skepticism. One private credit executive we interviewed is doubtful about the credit secondaries boom. Yes, there are bullish signs – Coller Capital blew past their fundraising target in July and Pantheon beat their 2024 deployment numbers by August ’25 – but questions remain on asset quality, pricing, and whether the market can ever rival PE secondaries in scale.

What we’re reading

(Pitchbook) Back to leverage: PE firms pull back on equity component in buyouts

(Bloomberg) Pod shops are the new banks

What we’re up to

PE + Data Science. We are launching a search for a Data Scientist for a leading software buyouts team. As a member of the investment team, this person will harness proprietary and alternative data to enhance sourcing efforts, diligence companies, and sharpen broader investment themes with data-driven insights. This “quantamental” approach to investing is long-proven in the hedge fund industry and just gaining steam in PE.

Hiring Spotlight. Alex Ng joins King Street Capital Management as an Equity Trader.

Welcome To The Team, Marco! We are proud to announce that Marco Ammirati has joined The Locke Group as a Search Consultant. Based in New York, Marco will hire for alternative investment and asset management clients. Previously, Marco worked for 4 years at Arrow Search Partners. We are excited for the expertise, energy, and fresh perspective Marco brings to Locke team.

Sincerely,

The Locke Group

Your once-a-month insider on talent + alternative investments.

The Locke-Down is a once-monthly newsletter for our closest contacts on topics related to talent and alternative investments. The newsletter covers 3 simple things:

What we’re hearing in the market,

What we’re reading, and

What we’re up to.

We are in the market, daily, and want to share our insights. We want to hear from you. What information would be valuable? We’re always available. Get in touch with us.

What we’re hearing

Uptick In Deal Flow — We are hearing that M&A, buy-outs, and sponsor lending are coming back. Senior investors are on the road and we are hearing more optimism about capital deployment. Before long, this will translate to optimism for year-end bonus numbers.

Non-Sponsor & Lower-Middle Market Lending Take The Stage — Credit investors can get uncorrelated returns, higher yield (S+700), and more covenants via lower mid market, non-sponsored direct lending. For example, credit hedge fund Brigade Capital launched its private credit effort with a similar strategy and backing from Blackstone. Given spread compression in the sponsor-led middle market, we are hearing more chatter about non-sponsor deals and have even seen a few investor decks highlighting the benefits.

RX Professionals Are In Focus for Private Credit Workouts — With high rates, more PIKs, and an uptick in out-of-court workouts, Private Credit firms are anticipating defaults in their portfolios. As a result, Turnaround & Restructuring (RX) advisory professionals are in demand for private credit workout teams. RX pros with depth in company-side engagements (debtor, not lender) and skill in building collaborative relationships with portfolio company executives are most in demand. Be advised, RX advisory is busy and these individuals are expecting strong compensation at year end.

What we’re reading

📄 Private Equity Wire – Man Group to Acquire $3bn US Credit Manager Bardin Hill — Highlights hedge funds’ growing private credit footprint.

📄 Bloomberg – JPMorgan’s Surprise Dealmaking Gain Signals Tariff Fear Easing — Proof of a rebounding deal market.

What we’re up to

New Talent, Big Impact — Here are some of the latest hires we’ve made for our clients in Private Credit, CLO Management, and Private Equity.

Brecon Hession: Private Credit Associate, First Eagle Alternative Credit

Lucca Mariani & Robert Finstra: CLO Analysts, King Street Capital Management

Madeline Brown-Scherer: Business Development Manager, Healthcare – THL Partners

Matt Szekeley: Associate, Investor Relations –  THL Partners

Search Spotlight – MidOcean Partners Hires Victoria Li

We are especially excited to shine a spotlight on Victoria Li and MidOcean Partners.

Victoria joined MidOcean’s Credit team as a Principal and firm’s first professional dedicated to Private Asset-Based Finance (ABF) investments.

MidOcean is highly respected in private equity and corporate credit, but new to ABF markets. They needed to attract top talent as a relative unknown. More importantly, they needed to hire a truly dynamic individual capable of executing transactions while standing-up a business with the leaders of the Credit team. Commercial, quantitative, and experienced – Victoria is the perfect fit.

She joins from Northleaf Capital’s Specialty Finance team and previously worked in Flexpoint Ford’s Asset Opportunities business.

Victoria will work in close partnership with Teddy Tawil to expand the ABF strategy..

Congratulations!

Sincerely,

The Locke Group

Your once-a-month insider on talent + alternative investments.

The Locke-Down is a once-monthly newsletter for our closest contacts on topics related to talent and alternative investments. The newsletter covers 3 simple things:

What we’re hearing in the market,

What we’re reading, and

What we’re up to.

We are in the market, daily, and want to share our insights. We want to hear from you. What information would be valuable? We’re always available. Get in touch with us.

What we’re hearing

Lender Finance – Last month we said ABF is still hot. While banks and Private Credit firms chase the broader Lender Finance pie, we are hearing about growth in financing Private Credit firms, themselves. Banks and Insurance companies are the incumbents, but there is a large market opportunity Direct Lenders and Private ABF firms.

In-house Fund Finance – To match the demand, we also see the growth of in-house fund financing teams. As private markets firms grow larger and more diverse, so do their financing needs. These teams structure financing solutions for their own funds, structure new fund vehicles, and can add alpha by providing bi-lateral financings to other companies’ funds.

Capital Solutions – Within Capital Solutions, hybrid capital is gaining traction. PIK debt, preferred equity, and subordinated instruments provide sponsors access liquidity without triggering exits. These tools preserved cash but drew scrutiny as deferred interest obligations grew. Liability management deals like covenant resets and debt-for-equity swaps also increased, requiring more tailored structuring and lender coordination.

What we’re reading

(Bloomberg) Private Equity Stuck in Limbo Gets Help From Direct Lenders

(Spotify) Silver Point Sees ‘Game Over’ for Some Private Debt Funds When Cycle Turns

What we’re up to

Product Management – We’re hiring in Product Management & Strategy, Private Credit, Asset-Based Finance, and PE Business Development.

Andrew Zilonis joined First Eagle Alternative Credit (FEAC) – Andrew joins the Direct Lending business as an Associate, focusing on underwriting and portfolio management of FEAC’s borrowers.

Alistair MacDiarmid joined New Mountain Capital (NMC) – Alistair joins the Credit business as an Associate, focusing on structuring financing solutions for NMC’s direct lending and CLO funds.

Sincerely,

The Locke Group

Your once-a-month insider on talent + alternative investments.

The Locke-Down is a once-monthly newsletter for our closest contacts on topics related to talent and alternative investments. The newsletter covers 3 simple things:

What we’re hearing in the market,

What we’re reading, and

What we’re up to.

We are in the market, daily, and want to share our insights. We want to hear from you. What information would be valuable? We’re always available. Get in touch with us.

What we’re hearing

PE is dialing-back acquisition goals, bolstering IR and sourcing – many PE firms have dialed back ambitious platform goals for 2025 given the slow deal-making environment. That said, we’re seeing an uptick in IR and BD hires to bolster fundraising and deal-sourcing capabilities.

Asset-backed Finance is still hot – we continue to see new starts and team-builds in private asset-backed finance (ABF). “Investment Grade” ABF for insurance capital is leading the trend, but opportunistic ABF is also growing.

Strategic hires are moving slowly – economic uncertainty has led some firms to slow play senior hires. We are not seeing hiring freezes, but some timelines have stretched out.

What we’re reading

Or listening to, in this case – Dry Powder Podcast: NAV Loans Under the Microscope w/ 17Capital’s Pierre-Antoine de Selancy (Spotify)

What we’re up to

Private ABF team build – In April, TLG hired a Principal as the first Private ABF investor for a ~$10bn AUM alternatives firm. The ABF strategy will be incubated in firm’s opportunistic credit strategy and target mid-teen returns. More on that hire and team build to follow.

Sincerely,

The Locke Group

(Bloomberg) The Supreme Court will make it harder to hire a diverse team

“Two cases pending before the justices involve affirmative action at universities, but there are clear implications for companies.”

Stay tuned for our comments on SCOTUS’ decision.