Allstate Expands Investments Team to Seek Opportunistic Investments

NORTHBROOK, Ill., Jan. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2016, Allstate accelerated its ability to source and manage "opportunistic" investments by hiring an experienced team of six investment professionals to focus on providing nontraditional capital and liquidity solutions across asset classes, industries and geographies. 

"We're thrilled with the flexible and sophisticated approach of this talented and experienced team led by Mick Solimene, who has more than 30 years of experience in special situations investing," said Russ Mayerfeld, senior managing director and head of alternative and private investments. "They are part of Allstate's ongoing initiative to increase the returns and scope of the alternative investment portfolio, which presently includes private equity, real estate, infrastructure and agribusiness."

"Allstate's opportunistic strategy seeks to capitalize on pockets of inefficiency that occur due to misunderstood or complex facts, volatile capital market conditions, changing regulatory frameworks, rapid change or other factors," Solimene said. "I look forward to extending Allstate's relationship-based approach and leveraging its broad investment experience into this segment of the market."

Allstate's Opportunistic Investments Team 
The members of the team have diverse professional backgrounds, including alternative investing, investment banking, restructuring and management consulting.

• Mick Solimene, managing director. Solimene most recently served as senior managing director and head of the restructuring and special situations group at Macquarie Capital, where he oversaw the Chicago office and led a business that provided capital and transaction solutions to companies with complex balance sheet needs. Before joining Macquarie Capital in 2007, Solimene was a managing director at Giuliani Capital Advisors, where he ran the restructuring group and was a member of the board of directors and commitments committee. His career also includes leadership positions at Ernst & Young Corporate Finance and Bank of America.
• Phil Van Winkle, managing principal. Van Winkle most recently served as a managing director at AEG Partners and AEG Capital, where he provided investment banking services to companies undergoing balance sheet restructurings and recapitalizations. He has more than 30 years of professional experience as a principal investor, investment banker, restructuring/turnaround advisor and management consultant. His career includes roles at Harmony Holding Partners, Macquarie Capital, Bank of America and McKinsey & Company.
• Chris Brown, managing principal. Brown has 25 years of professional experience, including structuring, trading and managing investments in credit opportunities funds, as well as providing restructuring advisory services. His career includes roles at SOLIC Capital Management, Ritchie Capital Management, PPM America and Bank of America.
• Ashok Vishnubhakta, principal. Vishnubhakta has more than 12 years of professional experience focused on fundamental analysis, deal structuring and negotiation across opportunistic and special situations investing, as well as restructuring advisory services. His career includes roles at GE Capital and Macquarie Capital.
• Alex Hunstad, senior associate. Hunstad previously was a private equity associate at Water Street Healthcare Partners and an investment banking analyst in the global financial sponsors and M&A groups at Barclays Capital.
• Amy Zhang, senior associate. Zhang previously was an investment banking credit risk analyst focused on the insurance sector at JPMorgan.

Allstate's Performance-Based Opportunistic Strategy
The team adapts investment themes as market dynamics change, and views investment opportunities through a long-term lens. The typical investment size ranges from $25 million to $100 million, and the team can execute through both the primary and secondary markets. For more information, visit www.allstateinvestments.com/opportunistic.html. 

The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) is the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer, protecting approximately 16 million households from life's uncertainties through auto, home, life and other insurance. Allstate Investments has decades of experience pursuing strategies in a broad array of asset classes and geographies in both the public and private markets. For more information on the company's investments focus, visit www.allstateinvestments.com.

SOURCE The Allstate Corporation