이 기사는 2022년 05월 13일 07:59 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

Singapore-based private equity firm Affirma Capital has launched a unit dedicated to private credit strategies, with a former pension fund manager joining the firm to lead the new unit.

Affirma Credit Solutions Korea is targeting to raise its first fund of around 200 billion won ($156 million) and make its first investment from the fund in the third quarter of this year, according to industry sources.

Kim Seong-mok, a former executive at South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS), was appointed as the head of the PE firm’s private credit arm. Kim started his financial career as an investment banker. Before joining Affirma, he spent seven years at the state-controlled pension fund where he was responsible for risk management for alternative investments.

Affirma Credit Solutions will operate independently while maintaining the core strengths of the PE firm. Affirma Capital’s Korea unit is one of its major shareholders. Taeyub Kim, founding partner and head of Korea, and managing director Thomas Shim will serve on the private credit unit’s board of directors.

Affirma Capital, formerly Standard Chartered Private Equity, has a solid track record of investing in mezzanine and growth capital. The firm also has deep knowledge and experience of secondary strategies that it built through several secondary transactions completed when it spun off from Standard Chartered Bank.

Continuation funds are another area of focus Affirma Credit Solutions is looking at. They are one type of general partner-led secondary deal and allow general partners to hold a promising portfolio company for a longer duration by moving it into a new fund vehicle.

Affirma Credit Solutions intends to provide diverse co-investment opportunities to its limited partners by pursuing secondary strategies and continuation funds.

Affirma Capital plans to boost its private credit unit by making more hires. Some of the PE firm’s senior managers joined Affirma Credit Solutions and more junior staff are expected to be hired. (Reporting by Hyo-jung Lim)