Ares appoints co-head of European alternative credit
Ares Management has hired Stefano Questa as co-head of Europe for alternative credit.
Questa was previously partner and portfolio manager for private credit at Hayfin Capital Management. He has more than 21 years experience in the sector, and specialises in managing special situation strategies.
Prior to Hayfin, Questa was managing director at Sixth Street Partners where he was responsible for real estate and asset-backed special situations in Europe. Before this, he spent 10 years at Goldman Sachs in both its investment banking and principal investing divisions.
At Ares, he will work alongside Eli Appelbaum to jointly lead the European alternative credit department.
“We are very pleased to welcome Stefano to Ares and benefit from his extensive experience in asset focused investing,” said Joel Holsinger, partner and co-head of alternative credit at Ares.
“We look forward to working with Stefano, Eli and the rest of our talented team in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific as we continue to build alternative credit’s global footprint.”
Read more: BoE regulator plans to “dial up the focus” on private credit risks
“I am delighted to join the highly experienced team at Ares and work alongside them as we expand our investing activities and advance our charitable initiatives,” said Questa.
“The strength and breadth of the Ares platform, combined with the significant amount of dry powder across the alternative credit strategies, ideally positions us to be the partner of choice for asset focused transactions.
“I look forward to partnering with banks, companies and sponsors to provide tailored capital solutions in today’s complex market environment.”
Read more: What is the true size of the private credit market?
Ares is one of the largest investors in asset-based credit, with more than $32.1bn (£25.18bn) in assets under management.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Ares is set to close the largest ever direct lending fund, which will be valued at more than €20bn.
