David Rubenstein Named CEO of BlueMountain Europe

LONDON, Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- BlueMountain Capital Management (BlueMountain), a private investment firm specializing in the global credit markets with $7 billion in assets under management, announced today it has named David Rubenstein CEO of BlueMountain Europe. Mr. Rubenstein, who joined the firm in 2006, will also continue in his roles of both CFO and General Counsel on a global basis. He is a member of the Founders' Council of the Managed Funds Association and serves as the Chair of the OTC Advisory Group to its U.S. Legislative Policy Committee. He also is a member of the ISDA Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee, where BlueMountain holds one of the five buy-side seats.

The firm also announced that Noam Leslau, Managing Director, is joining the UK offices' business development team, with a focus on Europe and the Middle East. Mr. Rubenstein and Mr. Leslau have both transferred from New York to BlueMountain's London office effective immediately.

These appointments, and the continued expansion of the firm's UK operations, illustrate the growing opportunities BlueMountain sees in Europe, as institutional investors demonstrate more interest in alternative credit strategies. European institutions account for nearly half of BlueMountain's investor base and total assets raised year-to-date.

BlueMountain has also announced the appointment of two London-based senior credit analysts, Adam Feldheim and Jonathan Moore, who will report to Peter Greatrex, the firm's Global Head of Research. These four executive additions expand BlueMountain's European team to 21 professionals, and underscore the firm's commitment to the European investor community.

"Our European investor base and AUM both are growing, as pensions and institutions are increasingly becoming more comfortable with relative value credit strategies," said Stephen Siderow, BlueMountain's President and Co-founder. "We have developed a robust, talented team in the seven years since we opened our London office. BlueMountain is committed to further expansion, and having David and Noam lead these efforts will help to ensure we realize this growth."

Mr. Rubenstein succeeds Jeffrey Kushner, who is retiring from the asset management business and will move back to the United States to pursue other opportunities. Mr. Kushner has been with BlueMountain since the firm's 2003 inception and over the past three years has spearheaded its expansion into the European marketplace, playing a key role in building its European investor base.

Biographies:

David Rubenstein
Prior to joining BlueMountain in 2006, Mr. Rubenstein co-founded Renaissance Integrated Solutions, a municipal infrastructure solutions company. Prior to that, he worked with Mr. Siderow at McKinsey & Company. Mr. Rubenstein began his career as a corporate lawyer for Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He is a member of the Founders' Council of the Managed Funds Association and serves as the Chair of the OTC Advisory Group to its U.S. Legislative Policy Committee. He is also a member of the ISDA Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee, where BlueMountain holds one of the five buy-side seats. Mr. Rubenstein holds a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School, a Masters in Philosophy from Oxford University and a B.A. summa cum laude in Philosophy from Tufts University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. 

Noam Leslau
Since joining BlueMountain in 2004, Mr. Leslau has been responsible for investor relations, product development, and client advisory for institutional investors globally. Before joining the firm, he worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company where he advised senior client executives on corporate strategy, potential acquisitions, sales and marketing, operations and business development. Noam holds a M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and a B.A. summa cum laude in history and economics from Stanford University.

Adam Feldheim
Mr. Feldheim will be a Senior Analyst specializing in retail, airlines, and mining. He previously worked at Morgan Stanley as a credit analyst and a high-yield research analyst at JPMorgan. Adam began his career at Group One Trading LP with the American Stock exchange. Adam earned B.S. in economics from the University of Michigan.

Jonathan Moore
Mr. Moore will be a Senior Analyst focusing on telecom, media and technology. He previously worked at Evolution Securities, Ltd and Morgan Stanley. He began his career at Ernst & Young as a senior accountant. Jonathan holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago with concentrations in finance and entrepreneurship and a B.S. in Accounting from Queen's University of Belfast.

About BlueMountain Capital Management
BlueMountain Capital Management is an asset manager focused on the credit markets and equity derivatives markets. Andrew Feldstein, CEO/CIO, and Stephen Siderow, president, founded BlueMountain in 2003. Prior to founding BlueMountain, Mr. Feldstein spent 11 years at JP Morgan, where he was a charter member of the pioneering credit derivatives team. During his tenure at JP Morgan, Mr. Feldstein led a number of market-leading businesses, including Structured Credit, Structured Finance, High Yield and the JPM Global Credit Portfolio. Mr. Siderow was a management consultant in the financial institutions group at McKinsey & Co.  Messrs. Feldstein and Siderow met at Harvard Law School.

Feldstein and Siderow are joined by a veteran senior management team on BlueMountain's Executive Committee with decades of experience including CEO of BlueMountain Europe, CFO and General Counsel David Rubenstein, Senior Portfolio Managers Alan Gerstein, Bryce Markus and Derek Smith and COO/CRO Michael Liberman. These senior partners have known each other for many years, working with each other at one or more of JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and McKinsey & Co. BlueMountain has a team of more than 110 professionals in New York and London, which supports the firm's institutionalized and proprietary infrastructure. BlueMountain has been SEC-registered since its 2003 inception and is QPAM qualified.

BlueMountain's distinctive investment approach integrates fundamental company research, advanced quantitative methods and exceptional market and product knowledge. Its investment strategies range from highly fundamental to nearly pure arbitrage. BlueMountain has particular edge at the seams and intersections of a market that continues to be characterized by a high degree of artificial boundaries amongst instrument types and investment mandates.

SOURCE BlueMountain Capital Management