Crestline Enhances Opportunistic Strategies Group with Strategic Hires

FORT WORTH, Texas, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Crestline Investors, Inc. ("Crestline"), an institutional alternative investment manager, today announced that Keith Williams, a founder of McKinsey's Recovery and Transformation practice and a former senior member of the Special Situations Group at Goldman Sachs, has recently joined the firm as Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager. Mr. Williams will continue to build Crestline's Private Credit Strategies Group, a unit of the firm's Opportunistic Strategies Group, and will also become Co-Portfolio Manager of the Crestline Opportunity Fund II. Crestline Opportunity Fund II is the sixth in a series of opportunistic funds raised by the firm since 2005. Mr. Williams will work with Chris Semple, who joined the firm in 2011 as Director and Associate Portfolio Manager of Private Credit Strategies.

These appointments demonstrate Crestline's ongoing commitment to its Opportunistic Strategies Group. The Private Credit Strategies Group will originate investments for the Opportunity Fund II portfolio and also develop customized portfolios on behalf of its clients that invest in "best-in-class" private credit investment funds (typically with "private equity style" structures), which it believes will achieve superior risk-adjusted absolute returns over multiple economic cycles. Given the background of the Portfolio Managers, the group also plans to invest in direct transactions and offer managed co-investment portfolios to clients.

Mr. Williams and Mr. Semple bring to Crestline decades of extensive experience in sourcing and underwriting distressed debt, leveraged loans, buyouts and structured products opportunities. They previously worked together at Goldman Sachs as part of its Special Situations Group, a multi-billion dollar global principal investment platform focused on public and private middle market debt and equity investment opportunities across all industry sectors.

"We are pleased to welcome Keith and Chris to Crestline as we continue to bolster our industry-leading position in opportunistic investing. With dedicated teams, long-term track records and $1.6 billion committed across the opportunistic strategy spectrum, Crestline is well-positioned to find value in difficult markets," said Mr. Douglas K. Bratton, President and Chief Investment Officer of Crestline. "With their deep expertise in credit, Keith and Chris will build on the strong track record we have already established in our Opportunistic Strategies Group."

Crestline's Private Credit Strategies group will focus on a range of credit strategies, including corporate credit (loans and subordinated debt), middle market lending and mezzanine finance, distressed (control and non-control debt and equity), structured credit, relative value credit, turnaround financing, asset purchases and other niche/opportunistic financing strategies. In addition to allocating capital to investment funds, the group will utilize its direct investing experience to co-invest alongside the investment funds and non-affiliated investment companies when attractive opportunities arise.

About Keith Williams

Keith Williams joins Crestline from McKinsey & Company, Inc. During his time at McKinsey, Mr. Williams helped to launch and build the firm's Recovery & Transformation Practice, a global mandate focused on crisis management consulting, a capability the firm had not previously offered. 

Prior to that, Mr. Williams was at Goldman Sachs, where he was a founding senior member of the Distressed Principal Investing business inside of the firm's Special Situations Group, focused on middle market distressed investing strategy during market down turn. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President and Head of Distress for the Americas at Lone Star Acquisitions and Vice President in the Specialty Lending Group at Goldman Sachs. He has a B.B.A. in Finance & Management from Southern Methodist University and an M.B.A. from Rice University.

About Christopher Semple

Chris Semple joined Crestline in 2011 as Director and Associate Portfolio Manager of Private Credit Strategies. Prior to joining Crestline, he was a Vice President in the Special Situations Group at Goldman Sachs. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Mr. Semple worked at TQA Investors, managing a convertible bond fund as well as analyzing liquid securities within the special opportunities group. He has a B.A. in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin.

About Crestline

Crestline Investors, Inc. is an institutional alternative investment management firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. Founded in 1997, Crestline manages $6.8 billion in client assets across separately managed accounts and commingled funds. Products offered include: (1) low volatility and customized hedge fund of funds, (2) opportunistic and customized investment programs including a family of opportunistic strategies, hedge fund secondary investments and private credit funds and (3) tailored beta and hedging strategies. Crestline has 79 employees with 39 investment professionals.

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SOURCE Crestline Investors, Inc.