Canyon Further Expands Asset-Backed Finance Platform with Launch of Canyon ABF Partners

Industry veteran Jay Kim has joined Canyon as a Partner to helm newly seeded permanent capital vehicle facilitating $5+ billion of annual origination capacity

DALLAS, June 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Canyon Partners ("Canyon"), a $30 billion global alternative investment manager, today announced the establishment of Canyon ABF Partners ("CAP"), a joint venture that will build on Canyon's more than two decades of experience investing in asset-backed credit. 

Anchor investments from Canyon's management team, Daiichi Life Insurance Co., Ltd., and Korea Investment Holdings Co. will provide CAP with permanent balance sheet capital designed to facilitate $5+ billion of annual origination capacity.

This balance sheet, which is far less constrained than typical LP funds, will allow CAP to become a nimble capital partner for specialty lenders and regional banks, and to function as a flexible, rapid acquisition and structuring vehicle for both primary and secondary pools of loans spanning the residential, consumer, equipment, transport, and esoteric sectors, among others. This will allow CAP to create attractive private asset-backed credit solutions across the capital structure.

CAP will be led by Jay Kim, who brings over 30 years of experience in structured finance, most recently as Chief Executive Officer of ATLAS SP Partners, an Apollo Global Management-affiliated investment firm focused on asset-backed and structured credit. Mr. Kim was previously Head of Fixed Income and Securitized Products at Credit Suisse, where he led the Securitized Products Group (SPG) which dominated league tables for the decade prior to its sale to Apollo and rebranding as ATLAS SP. In addition to Mr. Kim, CAP's Investment Committee will consist of Canyon's Founders, Josh Friedman and Mitch Julis, Canyon's Chief Investment Officer, Jeff Kivitz, and Canyon's senior leaders in charge of asset-backed investing, Adam Rizkalla and Jonathan Barzideh.

"Canyon has been investing in asset-backed credit for more than two decades, during which time it has grown into one of the most important components of our platform," said Jonathan Barzideh.

"Under the leadership of Adam Rizkalla and Jonathan Barzideh, we have expanded our formidable asset-backed credit franchise, and the launch of CAP builds upon this momentum in a non-linear way as we become a more flexible capital provider to a broader swath of the lender universe," said Jeff Kivitz.

"Jay has a tremendous reputation as an investor and builder of businesses," said Adam Rizkalla. "His experience in origination and structuring, combined with the flexibility of CAP's balance sheet and the platform we have already built at Canyon, position CAP to quickly become a preferred capital partner for specialty non-bank lenders as well as regional banks, and hence a durable source of differentiated return streams for Canyon's investors."

"The strength of the Canyon platform, depth of institutional relationships, and expertise across the team are first rate," said Jay Kim. "Canyon has built something exceptional in asset-backed credit, and the opportunity to join the team and help accelerate what is already an industry-leading business is incredibly exciting." 

About Canyon Partners, LLC

Founded in 1990, Canyon employs a deep value, credit intensive approach across public and private corporate credit, asset-backed credit, and real estate. The firm seeks to capture excess returns available to those investors with specialized expertise, rigorous research capabilities, and the ability to underwrite complexity. Canyon invests on behalf of a broad range of institutions globally. For more information visit www.canyonpartners.com.

About Daiichi Life Group

Since its establishment in 1902, the Daiichi Life Group has strived to follow its corporate philosophy of putting its customers first - "By your side, for life" - and provide products and services that best suit its customers' changing needs, including protection insurance, saving insurance, retirement products and asset management services. The Daiichi Life Group currently operates in 9 countries, from emerging to developed countries. For more information visit https://www.daiichilife-group.com/en/.

About Korea Investment Holdings Co.

Korea Investment Holdings Co. ("the Group") is one of Korea's leading financial groups, recognized for its strong profitability and capital efficiency. As of 2025, the Group had KRW 12.1 trillion in equity capital, KRW 2.0 trillion in consolidated net income, and KRW 515.6 trillion in AUM. With a vision of becoming Asia's leading financial group, the Group made this investment to strengthen strategic partnerships. The Group is a recognized leader among Korean financial institutions in the global alternative investment business, with extensive experience and capabilities across the sector, and seeks to further strengthen its ABF capabilities through this strategic partnership.

For more information, visit https://www.koreaholdings.com/.

Media Contact
Canyon Partners
Kris Cole
[email protected]
(310) 614 9208

SOURCE Canyon Partners, LLC