We seek to participate in high margin credit businesses where our industry expertise can be used to generate attractive investment returns.
We believe our credit and capital markets expertise has served as an integral component of our company’s growth and success. Our credit fund leverage Apollo’s integrated platform and utilize the same disciplined, value-oriented investment philosophy that we employ with respect to our private equity fund. We seek to participate in high margin credit businesses where our industry expertise can be used to generate attractive investment returns. Our credit activities span a broad range of the credit spectrum, including performing and non-performing loans, distressed debt, mezzanine debt, senior bank loans, structured credit and other value-oriented fixed income products.
Currently we invest across six areas we define as U.S. Performing Credit, Structured Credit, Opportunistic Credit, Non-Performing Loans and European Credit.
U.S. Performing Credit
The U.S. performing credit group provides investment management services to both funds and strategic investment accounts that primarily focus on income-oriented, senior loan and bond investment strategies. The U.S. performing credit group also includes CLOs that we raise and manage internally.
Structured Credit
The structured credit group provides investment management services to funds, including SIAs, that primarily focus on structured credit investment strategies that target multiple tranches of structured securities with favorable and protective lending terms, predictable payment schedules, strong financials, and low historical levels of default by underlying borrowers, among other characteristics. These strategies include investments in externally managed CLOs, residential mortgage-backed securities, asset backed securities and other structured instruments, including insurance-linked securities and longevity-based products. The structured credit group also serves as substitute investment manager for a number of asset-backed CDOs and other structured vehicles.
Opportunistic Credit
The opportunistic credit group provides investment management services to both funds and strategic investment accounts (SIAs) that primarily focus on credit investment strategies that are often less liquid in nature and that utilize a similar value-oriented investment philosophy as our private equity business. The opportunistic credit funds and SIAs invest in a broad array of primary and secondary opportunities encompassing performing, stressed and distressed public and private securities primarily within corporate credit, including senior loans, high yield, mezzanine, debtor in possession financing, rescue or bridge financing, and other debt investments. Additionally, certain opportunistic credit funds will selectively invest in aircraft, energy and structured credit investment opportunities. In certain cases, leverage can be employed in connection with these strategies by having fund subsidiaries or special-purpose vehicles incur debt or by entering into credit facilities or other debt transactions to finance the acquisition of various credit investments.
Non-Performing Loans
The non-performing loan group provides investment management services to funds, including SIAs, that primarily invest in European commercial and residential real estate performing and non-performing loans (“NPLs”) and unsecured consumer loans. The non-performing loan group also controls captive pan-European loan servicing and property management platforms within certain of the NPL investment vehicles that we manage. These loan servicing and property management platforms currently operate in six European countries and directly service a large number of loans secured by commercial and residential properties. The post-investment loan servicing and real estate asset management requirements, combined with the illiquid nature of NPLs, limit participation by traditional long only investors, hedge funds, and private equity funds, resulting in what we believe to be a unique opportunity for our credit business.
European Credit
The European credit group provides investment management services to funds, including SIAs, that focus on investment strategies in a variety of credit opportunities in Europe across a company’s capital structure. The European credit group invests in senior secured loans and notes, mezzanine loans, subordinated notes, distressed and stressed credit and other idiosyncratic credit investments of companies established or operating in Europe, with a focus on Western Europe.