GSC raises €300m for CDO fund

New York-based GSC Group, an alternative asset management firm that pursues credit-driven strategies, has raised €300 million for its latest defensive collateralised debt obligation fund.

GSC Group, a US alternative asset management firm, has closed its latest collateralised debt obligation fund on €300 million ($402 million). The fund is the firm’s fifth such fund in Europe while GSC has eleven collateralised debt obligation funds in the US.

GSC European CDO V has a target portfolio of 90 percent senior and 10 percent subordinated debt and will invest primarily in private equity-backed deals. Unlike typical collateralised loan obligation funds, it will have a lightly leveraged structure less sensitive to changes in default rates and margins of its underlying assets.

Christine Vanden Beukel, senior managing director at GSC, said: “The defensive characteristics of this new CDO, such as a less aggressive leverage structure and a lower percentage of subordinated debt allocation relative to what is used in a traditional CDO, are appealing to a broad base of investors.”

The fund will be managed by GSC’s collateralised corporate debt team, which manages a total of $7.1 billion in CDO assets of which 30 percent are European assets. Peter Firth, managing director at GSC, will be the principal portfolio manager of the vehicle.

GSC has more than $24 billion under management with offices in New York, London and Los Angeles.