NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sound Point Capital Management, LP, a credit-oriented investment manager overseeing approximately $32 billion in total assets, is pleased to announce it has hired Gunther Stein to become Head and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of its U.S. Performing Credit and CLO platform. The move follows Sound Point’s recently announced agreement to acquire Assured Investment Management LLC (“Assured-IM”), the institutional asset management business of Assured Guaranty Ltd. [NYSE: AGO], formerly known as BlueMountain Capital Management, LLC. This acquisition will boost Sound Point’s assets under management to approximately $47 billion.
Mr. Stein is a longtime investor and veteran portfolio manager who previously served as Chairman, CEO and CIO of Symphony Asset Management, a San Francisco-based alternative asset manager that invested across the capital structure, primarily in credit. Symphony Asset Management was bought in 2001 by Nuveen Investments, Inc., which itself was acquired in 2014 by TIAA (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America).
“The addition of Gunther as Head and CIO of our U.S. performing credit platform is a major win for our franchise,” said Stephen Ketchum, Sound Point’s Managing Partner and CEO. “His credibility is widely established in the markets where our firm is most active, and his track record of leadership is stellar. We look forward to his integration and adding his deep investment acumen to our existing brain trust.”
Mr. Stein will be joining Sound Point in June and his responsibilities will include overseeing Sound Point’s formidable U.S. CLO vertical, which today encompasses 30 U.S. CLOs and a long-only loan investing business. Under the announced transaction with Assured Guaranty, Sound Point will also assume the management of 32 active Assured-IM CLOs, comprising 25 U.S. CLOs and seven European CLOs, making Sound Point the fifth largest broadly syndicated loan CLO manager globally on a pro forma basis.
“I’m thrilled to be joining Sound Point at such a pivotal time in its growth trajectory,” said Stein. “Notwithstanding the firm’s meteoric rise, there is always work to be done and I’m delighted and gratified to bring my experience to such a compelling organization. Sound Point is well on its way to becoming a world class investment leader in credit, and I’m honored to join and help lead the continued growth effort.”
In his new role, Mr. Stein will jointly oversee the U.S. CLO investment committee with Founder and CEO Stephen Ketchum and Chief Credit Officer Tom Newberry. Mr. Stein is also expected to join Sound Point’s management committee.
Mr. Stein joined Symphony in 1999 after having previously worked at Wells Fargo, First Interstate Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Citi Investment Bank. He rose to CEO and CIO at Symphony in 2009, growing the business from approximately $7 billion in AUM to $19.5 billion when he departed the firm at the end of 2018. Under his leadership, Symphony issued more than $10 billion of CLOs and related products.
At Symphony, Mr. Stein oversaw a broad slate of traditional and alternative strategies for both institutional and retail investors. These strategies included long/short credit, long only loans, high yield, CLOs, CLO tranche investing, as well as investments in the stressed/distressed space.
In time, under Mr. Stein’s leadership, Sound Point expects to launch new initiatives in the performing credit space.
New York-based Sound Point is currently managing 37 CLOs of its own across the U.S. and Europe and also manages over $10 billion of assets in other areas of credit investing, including direct loans, capital solutions, distressed, structured products, commercial real estate lending, and specialty finance. Following its acquisition of Assured-IM, Sound Point will take over the management of approximately $15 billion in Assured-IM assets, predominantly across CLOs but also including structured asset-backed investments.
About Sound Point Capital Management, LP
Sound Point is an alternative asset management firm founded in 2008 with particular expertise in credit strategies. Based in New York, with offices in London, Florida and Connecticut, the firm manages money on behalf of institutional investors including top-tier pensions, foundations, insurance companies, wealth management firms and family offices. Sound Point's strategies span the spectrum of liquid and illiquid credit alternatives and include funds and managed accounts focused on leveraged loans, special situations, distressed debt, structured credit, direct lending and commercial real estate. Sound Point currently manages approximately $32 billion of assets. Five principals of Stone Point Capital LLC, as well as Dyal Capital Partners, a division of Blue Owl Capital Inc. [NYSE: OWL], are also strategic investors in our business. For more information, please visit Sound Point's website at www.soundpointcap.com.
