PPM America (“PPM”) today announced further resource expansion to serve a wider range of institutional investors in the United States. PPM is a global investment management firm with more than $111 billion in assets under management, including $8.5 billion managed by PPM Finance Inc., an affiliate that manages commercial mortgage loans and certain real estate investments as of December 31, 2017. Founded 28 years ago, PPM has a well-established and proven track record of serving some of the world’s leading institutional investors through our affiliate network. PPM currently offers a broad array of investment strategies to address an extensive range of client needs, including public fixed income, public equity, private equity, and private debt.

Through a deliberate planning process over the past several years, PPM has expanded its investment solutions, and evolved its investment teams, client services professionals and operational infrastructure to position PPM to serve a broader base of institutional investors. PPM currently has more than 250 employees, about half of which are dedicated investment professionals with an average tenure of 12 years at the firm and 18 years of investment experience. Over its long history, PPM has continuously evolved its operating platform and offerings to meet the specific needs of its global client base. Today, the firm has a robust, sophisticated, and scalable infrastructure to develop and manage a variety of structures for institutional clients, including pooled investment vehicles and separate accounts.

“Our exceptional people, team-based investment approach, and relentless commitment to placing clients at the center of everything we do have been PPM’s core strengths,” said Mark Mandich, president and chief executive officer of PPM. “This focus has allowed us to deliver demonstrated investment results to our clients for many years. We are excited to leverage our track record, our team’s experience and expertise, and our robust platform to make our investment strategies more broadly available to institutional investors and the consultant community in the United States.”

“PPM’s unwavering commitment to an investment-led process has been one of the keys to our success,” said Anthony Balestrieri, co-chief investment officer of PPM. “Our long-tenured teams of portfolio managers, analysts and traders have the experience and continuity from working in markets across cycles.”

In support of its expansion plans, PPM has enhanced teams in marketing, portfolio services, risk management and quantitative analysis, and information technology, as well as adding the following executives to develop our distribution and client services functions:

Distribution

  • Eric Maskalunas, Executive Vice President, Head of Distribution. Mr. Maskalunas, who has nearly 25 years of asset management experience, is responsible for developing new clients in the US. Previously, he was Director of North America Institutional Sales at Investec Asset Management and served in business development, sales, and consulting roles at Baring Asset Management, Dana Investment Advisors, SEI, Capital Resource Partners, Performance Analytics, and ABN AMRO. Mr. Maskalunas holds a CIMA designation.
  • Mike Siciliano, Senior Managing Director – East Region. Mr. Siciliano is responsible for new client development in the East region of the US and is focused on the firm’s relationships with institutional investors and consultants. He has more than 24 years of asset management experience. Previously, he was Senior Vice President, Head of Sales and Business Development, North America at Baring Asset Management in Boston. He also held senior sales and business development positions at Merganser Capital Management, ING Institutional Management, Mellon Financial Corporation and GE Asset Management.
  • Anil Thomas, Senior Managing Director – West Region. Mr. Thomas is responsible for new client development in the West region of the US and is focused on the firm’s relationships with institutional investors and consultants. He has nearly 20 years of asset management experience. Previously, Mr. Thomas was Managing Director of Institutional Sales at OFI Global Asset Management, an OppenheimerFunds company. He also held sales, research and management positions at Geneva Advisors and the Hewitt Investment Group.
  • Melissa Binder, Vice President, Distribution. Ms. Binder supports the distribution team building consultant relationships. She has nearly 12 years of industry experience. Most recently, Ms. Binder was Director of the Alpha Research Group at Segal Marco Advisors, where she also held positions in portfolio management and manager research. She is a CFA® charterholder.

Client Service, Product Development and Marketing

  • Michael Markowitz, Senior Managing Director, Head of Business Development. Mr. Markowitz is responsible for overseeing business development, product management, client services, and marketing and communications. He has nearly 30 years of experience in investment, strategy and management roles. Previously, he was Senior Managing Director, Corporate Strategy, Head of Traditional Asset Management at Mesirow Financial. He also served in investment, strategic and management roles at Guggenheim Partners, UBS Global Asset Management and Mitchell Hutchins Asset Management.
  • Eddie Hebert, Managing Director, Client Portfolio Manager. Mr. Hebert, who has been with PPM since 2008, has moved into a newly created role in client portfolio management. Most recently a portfolio manager on PPM’s Total Return team, Mr. Hebert has more than 13 years of investment experience in portfolio management, bank loans and credit research. Previously, he was at Orchard First Source Capital, a middle market lender. Mr. Hebert is a CFA® charterholder.
  • Colleen McDermott, Managing Director, Product Management. Ms. McDermott manages PPM’s product development activities. She has more than 25 years of experience in product development and management in the asset management sector, including overseeing the launch of new funds and investment vehicles. Previously, she was Managing Director, Fixed Income Product Specialist/Senior Product Manager at Guggenheim Partners. She also served in business development, product development and management roles at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers and Mitchell Hutchins Asset Management.
  • Julie Bruzek, Managing Director, Marketing and Communications. Ms. Bruzek oversees all marketing and communications strategy, media relations, and content development activities. She has nearly 14 years of experience in the asset management industry. Previously, she was Vice President, Marketing and Communications Manager at Mesirow Financial. She has also held marketing positions at Columbia Management and Whirlpool.

About PPM America

Founded in 1990, PPM America (PPM) is a client-focused investment manager with more than $111 billion in assets, including $8.5 billion managed by PPM Finance Inc., an affiliate that manages commercial mortgage loans and certain real estate investments as of December 31, 2017. As part of one of the world’s leading financial organizations, PPM has the expertise, global reach and substantial resources to provide our clients with investment solutions across markets, including public fixed income, public equity, private equity, and private debt. However, like a smaller shop, PPM remains nimble, investment-led and responsive to the opportunities that teams discover together. PPM’s mission is to deliver specific client solutions and service to investors around the world with the goal of meeting investors’ unique investment objectives. In addition, PPM employees are committed to building their community and supporting local nonprofits that strengthen families and increase economic opportunities. For more information, please visit PPM America’s website at: www.ppmamerica.com.

PPM is an indirect subsidiary of Prudential plc (“UK Parent”), a company incorporated in England and Wales. The UK Parent and its affiliated companies constitute one of the world's leading financial services groups. It provides insurance and financial services through its subsidiaries and affiliates throughout the world. It has been in existence for more than 165 years and has $824.7 billion in assets under management (as of June 30, 2017). The UK Parent is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc., a company whose principal place of business is in the United States of America.