BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HarbourVest Partners, a global private markets asset manager, today announced that James (Jamie) Athanasoulas has joined the firm as a Managing Director. Based in Boston, Jamie will join Managing Director, Peter Lipson, to help lead the continued growth of the firm’s private credit investment program and team. The credit business leverages HarbourVest’s decades of experience and relationships with private equity general partners to offer tailored financing solutions. HarbourVest’s private credit program complements the firm’s existing business practices, offering investors access to a new asset class characterized by differentiated credit deal flow, capital preservation, and current income.
“The private credit asset class has grown significantly in recent years, becoming one of the most attractive areas of the private markets for institutional investors seeking yield,” said John Toomey, Managing Director, HarbourVest. “We’re excited to have Jamie bring his 20 years’ of middle market expertise to HarbourVest as we continue to build our credit capabilities to support our clients’ needs in both commingled fund and SMA formats.”
“We are pleased to bring Jamie’s industry perspective and network to our team,” said Peter Lipson, Managing Director, HarbourVest. “Providing our clients with access to private credit is central to our firm’s strategy, and with his leadership, we will continue to build out the team and our credit product offering to help achieve that goal.”
Prior to joining HarbourVest, Jamie was a Managing Director at Bain Capital Credit, formerly known as Sankaty Advisors, where he originated, structured, and underwrote private debt and equity investments in the middle market. Prior to joining Bain Capital Credit, he was a Manager with Bain and Company where he focused a considerable amount of his time in the private equity group. Jamie received a BA from Georgetown University and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
“I’m excited to be joining HarbourVest at this pivotal point in its evolution,” said Jamie Athanasoulas, Managing Director, HarbourVest. “The firm occupies a unique position in the industry based on its many years of experience with private equity general partners and I look to strengthen those relationships with credit capabilities.”
The combination of private equity sponsors’ need for lending partners to complete deals and institutional investor appetite for private credit allocations to capture yield has led to growing demand for this asset class. HarbourVest has committed more than $500 million to 30 private credit direct investments since 20031. In 2014, after years of making private credit investments through various programs with broader mandates, HarbourVest created a dedicated program focused on junior credit investments complemented by an equity component. HarbourVest closed this dedicated private credit fund, Mezzanine Income Fund I, at its hard cap of $375 million in April 2017.
For more information about HarbourVest’s private credit business, please visit www.harbourvest.com/expertise/private-credit.
ABOUT HARBOURVEST
HarbourVest is an independent, global private markets asset manager with more than 35 years of experience and more than $50 billion in assets under management. The Firm’s powerful global platform offers clients investment opportunities through primary fund investments, secondary investments, and direct co-investments in commingled funds or separately managed accounts. HarbourVest has more than 400 employees, including more than 100 investment professionals across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. This global team has committed more than $34 billion to newly-formed funds, completed over $19 billion in secondary purchases, and invested over $8 billion directly in operating companies. Partnering with HarbourVest, clients have access to customized solutions, longstanding relationships, actionable insights, and proven results.
These materials do not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy interests in any fund or any other investment product sponsored by HarbourVest Partners L.P. or its affiliates (“HarbourVest”), hereafter referred to as the “Fund”. Any offering of interests in the Fund will be made by means of delivery of a confidential Private Placement Memorandum or similar materials that contain a description of the material terms of such investment and subscriptions will be accepted solely pursuant to definitive documentation. These materials do not purport to contain all the information relevant to evaluating an investment in the Fund. No sale will be made in any jurisdiction in which the offer, solicitation, or sale is not authorized or to any person to whom it is unlawful to make the offer, solicitation, or sale. Offers and sales of interests in the Fund will not be registered under the laws of any jurisdiction and will be made solely to “qualified purchasers” as defined in the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. These materials are highly confidential and may not be reproduced or redistributed in any format without the express written approval of HarbourVest. An investment in the Fund involves a high degree of risk and therefore should be undertaken only by prospective investors capable of evaluating the risks of the Fund and bearing the risks such an investment represents. There can be no assurance that the Fund will be able to achieve its investment objectives or that the investors will receive a return on their capital.
For additional legal and regulatory disclosures, please refer to http://www.harbourvest.com/important-legal-disclosures.
1 Source: HarbourVest as of March 31, 2018. Includes all private credit direct investments made by HarbourVest since January 1, 2003, excluding certain custom accounts that may make investments outside of HarbourVest’s core private credit direct investment strategy, (e.g., industry, sourcing, return profile). Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
