Pantheon appoints global head for debt secondaries push

Pantheon has made a senior appointment to its private debt team.

Rakesh Jain has been hired as partner and global head of private debt, according to a statement. He will work out of the investment manager’s New York office where he will lead US investment activity, coordinate global investment activity and manage the private debt team.

Jain will join the global credit committee alongside chairman Francesco di Valmarana, partners Jeff Miller and Dennis McCrary and principal Toni Vainio. He will report to McCrary, the statement added.

“I am excited to build upon Pantheon’s private debt experience and leverage the firm’s longstanding GP relationships and scale to provide access to and liquidity solutions across the private debt asset class,” Jain said.

Jain was previously managing director at private credit firm Star Mountain Capital, where he spent five years. Prior to that he was founder and managing partner of New Jersey-headquartered Green Brook Capital Management, which provides debt and structured equity to US mid-market companies.

Pantheon formed a dedicated debt practice last year to focus on secondaries, co-investments, select primaries and special situations. Late last year, the firm began speaking to investors about raising a dedicated debt secondaries fund. The status of the vehicle is not clear.

In March, Pantheon led the $400 million restructuring of Avenue Capital Group‘s 2011-vintage credit fund Europe Special Situations Fund II.

The secondaries market for private credit includes fund stakes and loan portfolios, both of which have increased in terms of their total volume this year. Credit and distressed funds represented 20 percent of GP-led activity in the first half of 2019 by transaction volume, with only buyout funds accounting for more, according to data from Greenhill.