Vӓrde Partners alums Jason Spaeth, Jeff Thuringer and Chris Giles have now closed the inaugural fund for Hyland Hill Investment Partners at $250 million.
Hyland Hill Fund I follows a flexible, opportunistic mandate and rigorous investment process that will allow Hyland Hill to provide recovery capital to borrowers as well as acquire loans across both the business and household sectors — including commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans, and unsecured and secured consumer loans — that are undergoing a “catalyst” event and have the potential to be monetized over a shorter time horizon, according to the firm.
Hyland seeks to generate superior rates of return by investing in undervalued opportunities in private credit and adjacent asset classes, including real estate owned by lenders, operating businesses that are adjacent to private credit, and joint ventures investing in private credit.
The Minneapolis firm is led by CEO/CIO Spaeth who opened and managed Vӓrde’s European office and later led the firm’s North American private credit business, which invested approximately $5 billion following the Great Financial Crisis.
“We are pleased with the significant support we have received for our inaugural Fund, which we believe is a testament to not only the strength of the team we have assembled, but also the tremendous opportunity set that exists for our investment strategy,” Spaeth said. “We estimate that the U.S. loan market is between $15-20 trillion in size and growing, and believe we are well positioned to become a financing solution of choice in an attractive segment of the market often under-trafficked by other investors.”
Founded in 2020, the firm is well positioned with its deep network of relationships an investment expertise to source and execute on often overlooked opportunities to provide capital and acquire performing, sub-performing and non-performing loans originated by community, regional and national banks as well as other financial institutions. The group also intends to originate recovery loans secured by commercial real estate.
Thuringer is partner and head of business loan investments at Hyland Hill. He had been a senior managing director helping to lead the U.S. private credit business at Vӓrde. There he oversaw the day-to-day management and investment execution of a $750 million CRE Mortgage Fund, which bought performing and sub-performing mortgage loans and originated bridge loans.
Giles bring over 25 years of private credit experience to the team and serves as partner and head of household investments. He had been at Vӓrde for 15 years, most recently as a senior managing director, where he focused on managing the household investment business in managing the household investment business in North America. He specializes in consumer and residential mortgage loan transactions.
“While history doesn’t always repeat itself, it rhymes. As stress in the economic system continues to hit Main Street, we expect small businesses in particular will require capital as they increasingly face headwinds related to rising costs, supply chain issues, labor shortages, weakening consumer spending and reduced government support,” Spaeth added. “Against this backdrop, we also expect more regional and community banks will seek qualified buyers to acquire loan portfolios and assets on their balance sheets. We look forward to leveraging our experience investing across collateral types and market cycles to creatively help companies and financial counterparties navigate complex situations, while generating attractive returns for our investors.”
