Fidelity International

Fidelity International enters Private Credit Market with team hire

22 January 2021

Members of MeDirect’s private credit team to transition to Fidelity International in March 2021;
€400m European CLO fund management mandate will be delegated to Fidelity International;
Signals Fidelity’s intention to enhance its broader Alternatives capability.

London, 22 January 2021: Fidelity International (Fidelity), a global asset manager with total client assets of $706bn, has created a new private credit capability with experienced hires from MeDirect Bank - a digital pan-European bank owned by AnaCap. It has been awarded the delegation of management for the €400m European collateralised loan obligation fund (CLO) - Grand Harbour CLO 2019-1. Fidelity will continue to engage with MeDirect to explore further strategic opportunities.

The team will continue to be led by Michael Curtis, who has over 20 years’ experience in European private credit markets having worked for ICG, 3i and Alpstar Capital. He is joined by Credit Portfolio Manager, Camille McLeod-Salmon, and CLO structurer, Cyrille Javaux. Camille has 14 years’ experience investing in credit, having worked for BNP IM and Fortis prior to MeDirect. Cyrille brings 17 years’ experience in CLO structuring, investing and trading having worked at Stormharbour, Hayfin & Cairn Capital, following roles at major banks. Michael, Camille and Cyrille are joined by an operations head and a team of 6 credit analysts with over 70 years of combined experience. The team will transition to Fidelity in March 2021.

Michael will be Head of Private Credit Strategies at Fidelity and his team will report directly into Fidelity’s Global Chief Investment Officer, Andrew McCaffery, on joining.

Using the team’s specialist skills, track record and experience, Fidelity hopes to enhance its broader Alternatives ambitions, by developing a full range of private credit strategies.

Andrew McCaffery, Global Chief Investment Officer, Fidelity International, said: “Over the last decade, traditional sources of yield have declined significantly and, in some instances, turned negative. Private credit can provide an attractive means to diversify within a portfolio and achieve enhanced long-term return and income potential. It is a rapidly expanding asset class, with a variety of strategies offering investors attractive, secure yield potential and exposure to unique performance drivers.

“I’m pleased to welcome Michael and the team from MeDirect. We believe their experience combined with Fidelity’s existing global research platform will enable us to provide attractive solutions for our clients. The hiring of this team is an important milestone for Fidelity as we look to build out a broader Alternatives platform over the next few years.”

Michael Curtis, Chief Investment Officer, MeDirect Group, commented: “At MeDirect, we have developed a diversified private credit function capable of investing in a range of loan and credit products as well as asset management activities in structured finance. We are excited by the considerable opportunities that we see ahead for private credit.

“Private credit is a natural extension to Fidelity's investment capabilities, adding to the considerable existing credit investing expertise, and the combination of its global investment platform with our experienced team, will make us uniquely positioned to capture the tremendous growth potential across a variety of strategies.”

Arnaud Denis, Chief Executive Officer, MeDirect Group, said: “This is an important milestone for the transformation of MeDirect as it re-focuses on retail activities. We are pleased that through our collaboration with Fidelity we have found an excellent new home for the team members who are transitioning. I would like to take the opportunity to thank Michael Curtis and the entire team in contributing to MeDirect, and I wish them all the best in this next stage of their journey.”

About Fidelity International

Fidelity International offers investment solutions and services and retirement expertise to more than 2.5 million customers globally. As a privately held, purpose-driven company with a 50-year heritage, we think generationally and invest for the long term. Operating in more than 25 countries and with $706.3 billion in total assets, our clients range from central banks, sovereign wealth funds, large corporates, financial institutions, insurers and wealth managers, to private individuals.

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ENDS