News & Insights

Every year, Private Debt Investor spotlights individuals under 40 who have demonstrated noteworthy leadership and innovation in the private debt industry. We are thrilled to announce that FFP’s Co-Founder, Richard Wheelahan, has been chosen as one of PDI’s 2020 Rising Stars. His dedication to FFP’s clients and the asset management industry has certainly made an impact on private debt’s evolution, and we’re proud he’s part of FFP!

In this recent FFP Alert we discuss the current variance in potential subscription financing outcomes for our sponsor constituency and thank all of our clients for helping us acquire these valuable insights.

New lending is happening, but it’s a different world out there for some, and you may find yourself looking for a new bank. In Buyouts Magazine’s latest edition, FFP’s co-founder Zac Barnett and other industry experts weigh in with their advice on getting subscription financing in the new environment. To read the full article, “A borrower’s guide to an unmappable landscape” go to page 26. 

The fund manager is seeking to hold large loans and then wait for the syndication market to recover before selling them.

In the recent video version of Cadwalader’s Fund Finance Friday: Industry Conversations, Mike Mascia of Cadwalader covers off the Fund Finance legal updates occurring over the past two weeks. We’d like to thank Cadwalader and Mike Mascia for including FFP’s Co-founder and Managing Partner, Zac Barnett, in this conversation about fund finance activity levels, the market segments where FFP is looking for lenders to finance prospective transactions, and our forecasts and predictions for the remainder of the year and beyond.

In the final chapter of Graham Bippart’s feature on the subscription credit line market it extemporizes on the notion, proposed by market participants that A) there is indeed now a supply/demand imbalance in the sub line market, and B) that the underlying causes represent a pre-existing condition; the pandemic only served as a catalytic agent. It’s a notion not everyone agrees with, but nonetheless warrants consideration.

An unusual occurrence in the $800 billion market for collateralised loan obligations is stirring concerns about the health of the broader credit markets, writes Robin Blumenthal.

In part three of “The shifting landscape for subscription credit”, Graham Bippart deals with real credit concerns for some sub line lenders, despite almost pristine credit performance in the sector, so far. It then looks at the ways in which lenders are trying to mitigate or hedge against those concerns, including NAV covenants, LP skin in the game via minimum-called capital requirements and looking at assets as potential secondary sources of repayments.

Thanks to Graham Bippart at Private Funds CFO magazine for including FFP in its June cover story on NAV credit facilities. These facilities have become an important, much needed liquidity source for private equity funds looking to maintain value.

After a jarring first quarter, what should we anticipate in the second quarter for BDCs? Robin Blumenthal from PDI speaks with FFP co-founder, Richard Wheelahan, Chris York from JMP Securities, and other industry experts about challenges that lie ahead, and how crucial this next reporting period will be for the BDC market.

In the recent Bloomberg article, Kelsey Butler speaks with FFP co-founder Richard Wheelahan, and other industry experts, to discuss to her in depth reporting on BDCs and private credit and the obstacles they may face as this unprecedented and uncertain year continues.

As we continue to navigate the current world we live in, we’re a little weary of discussing and negotiating CV19 related matters, impact, etc. In FFP’s newest article, we discuss and suggest a few ways our industry can continue to evolve.

Assuming activity in all lending spheres has fallen off given the pandemic? Think again. Net Asset Value loans and preferred equity transactions have reached record volume. In Private Funds CFO’s latest article, Graham Bippart speaks with FFP co-founder Zac Barnett, and other industry experts, to discuss the rise of NAV lending and how saavy GPs are utilizing them.

As consistently as fund finance has grown, the economic and financial markets’ ripple effects of CV19 have discarded the status quo.  We are regularly discussing those changes with Private Equity International and Private Debt Investor, and as published last week, there are three key changes that the pandemic has brought about, which affect borrowers, lenders and investors, alike.

Sponsors are under more and more scrutiny with respect to conflicts of interest in the fund finance space. In FFP’s latest thought piece we discuss how several are working to mitigate them.

Fund Finance Partners’ co-founders, Zac Barnett and Richard Wheelahan, spoke with PEI’s Alex Lynn about their interest in fund finance, specifically private fund sponsors’ burgeoning use of uncommitted subscription facilities.

There are more debt finance solutions for BDCs than ever before.  Regulatory relief now permits BDCs to use greater leverage; a robust credit market means there are more debt products within reach.  This is the time for BDCs to optimize asset-level financing strategies.

A child’s self-esteem is tied, in large part, to how they are treated, valued and cared for by their parents. If we spend too much time “giving time” to everything else in our lives ahead of our children, we are teaching them that they are less important to us — and therefore the greater world. In this interview, Zac Barnett discusses strategies to create more space in our lives in order to give our children more quality attention.

Umbrella Facilities are an aggregation of multiple subscription-backed credit lines, for the same asset manager, benefiting multiple investment vehicles, under one set of documents, in a single transaction. We have been directly involved in the evolution of these facilities for well over a decade.  Given their resurgence and the frequency with which we’re contacted by asset managers looking for a financing solution like an Umbrella Facility, we are publishing this white paper to summarize their structure, identify their pros and cons and proffer an explanation as to why the demand for Umbrella Facilities has recently spiked.

Private equity investors allocated a lot of capital to CRE debt plays over the past few years. That trend has been slowing of late.

How does governance come into play for institutional asset managers. One key area is how leverage is managed, according to Richard Wheelahan, III, and Zac Barnett, the Co-Founders of Fund Finance Partners.

FFF this week got hold of Zac Barnett and Richard Wheelahan, who last week announced the founding of Fund Finance Partners. Here is our conversation.

As fund finance product evolution continues to chase the rapid specialization and growth of the asset management industry, fund sponsors and asset management firms (each a “Sponsor”) are taking advantage of management company lines of credit (each a “MC line”). We at FFP view MC lines as an essential tool for Sponsor growth, operational flexibility and principal retention in your increasingly competitive industry.

Despite many media reports and articles to the contrary, fund sponsors should not be apologizing to their investors for availing themselves of the many advantages of a subscription-backed credit facility. It is true that the origin of these facilities centered around the mere bridging of capital calls but there are numerous other advantages and fund sponsors should consider a more full-throated defense of their strategic value. There are reasons why they have become an essential tool in the CFO’s toolbox and those advantages should be brought to light.

CHICAGO, IL – October 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/– Fund Finance Partners (FFP) today announced the launch of their new fund advisory business. FFP co-founders Zac Barnett and Richard Wheelahan bring a combined 35+ years of direct experience in the fund finance space. F