Carlyle’s direct lending boss steps down
Carlyle Group’s head of direct lending is departing to pursue new opportunities.
Aren Leekong also served as vice chairman of global credit, chief executive of business development companies (BDCs) and was a member of the private investment committee.
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Justin Plouffe, deputy chief investment officer for global credit, will take over direct lending and BDCs, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg.
The investment firm’s direct lending business manages almost $10bn (£7.9bn) of assets, up from $2bn in 2016, according to the memo.
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It sits within Carlyle’s private credit strategy, which has $25bn of assets under management and is part of the firm’s $188bn global credit business.
Direct lending has surged in recent years, as investment managers took advantage of the high interest rate environment to achieve high yields away from the stock market.
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