Edwin Tai has joined Newfleet Asset Management in a new position for the firm as senior managing director and senior portfolio manager, distressed credit.
Newfleet is an affiliate of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. VRTS, +1.15% that manages more than USD12 billion of fixed-income assets.
David L Albrycht, CFA, Newfleet's president and chief investment officer, says that Tai will be responsible for incorporating distressed credit capabilities as the 15th investable sector of Newfleet's multi-sector fixed income strategies. In addition to being the sector head for distressed credit in the multi-sector portfolios, Tai will manage the Virtus Credit Opportunities Fund, a new open-end mutual fund for which Virtus recently filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as dedicated distressed credit strategies in institutional separate accounts and other investment products.
"Ed brings extensive credit analysis and portfolio construction and management experience in the high yield and distressed credit sector, and he has helped companies grow assets in these strategies over various market cycles during the past decade," says Albrycht. "His experience as a portfolio manager and credit analyst during some volatile markets make him a valuable addition to our team, particularly as we work with our distribution partners to help financial advisors and clients understand the opportunities in these strategies."
Newfleet's distressed debt team includes Tai, Patrick Fleming, managing director and senior counsel, distressed credit, and Manases Zarco, managing director, credit research.
Tai joined Newfleet from Third Avenue Management, where he co-managed approximately USD2.5 billion in distressed and high-yield credit assets as the lead portfolio manager of the Third Avenue Special Situations Fund and co-portfolio manager of the Third Avenue Focused Credit Fund. In addition to managing the funds, he analysed investments in restructurings and distressed situations and negotiated financial restructurings and debt exchanges with companies and creditors.
Prior to joining Third Avenue Management in 2010, he was managing director, distressed debt research, at the Seaport Group in New York, and earlier was a director of distressed debt and special situations at Barclays Capital and a senior equity analyst at Credit Suisse. He began his career in the corporate strategy and development division of Lucent Technologies.
Tai earned a BS degree in finance and a BA in economics from Rutgers University, an MS in accounting from Babson College under the Lucent Financial Leadership Development Program, and an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition to holding the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, he has served as an adjunct professor of Finance at Fordham University.
