Steve Freidheim, the distressed debt guru who is spinning off his fund from Och-Ziff Capital Management at the end of the year, is bringing a number of colleagues with him, including Jerry Bias, head of credit trading. According to Alternative Investment News, an LMW sister publication, Bias and three others from Och-Ziff will join as founding partners. These are Soohyung Kim and Nicholas Singer, senior analysts in New York and Lucien Farrell, senior analyst in London. Also joining the firm will be Joseph Kaplan, senior analyst, and Robert Lentini, senior trader.
Freidheim currently manages the $1.2 billion Credit Opportunities Fund (LMW, 8/30), which he will take with him. The fund constitutes a mix of distressed debt, capital structure arbitrage and long/short credit strategies. Och-Ziff and well-known manager Dan Och will not be involved with the management of the new venture, but Och will be an investor in the fund. Freidheim is planning to reveal further information to investors on Wednesday when he conducts a conference call.
According to a letter Freidheim wrote to investors, Robert Bodey will be financial director and controller, joining from Moore Capital Management where he was chief administrative officer and cfo for affiliates in New York and Japan. Susan De Maio will be treasurer and in charge of credit and counterparty services. She joined from Andor Capital Management where she was v.p. of operations responsible for prime broker and counterparty relationships. Calls to Och, Freidheim and the future members of the new venture were not returned. Spokesmen for Andor, Moore and Julius Baer did not return calls.