The Paris-listed lender has created a number of new departments within its asset management operation and appointed a range of new senior members.

BNP Paribas Asset Management has created a new private debt & real assets department. The Parisian lender has made a number of hires to expand the division and feels this strategy change will help the firm become a real force in this area of the market.

The private debt & real assets investment group, which will be run by David Bouchoucha, will invest in syndicated loans, direct loans and private bonds that finance corporate or real assets, and will consist of three main teams, the firm said in a statement.

The real assets, SME (small- and medium-sized enterprises) lending and structured finance team will be headed by Laurent Guernier. The management team will be comprised of head of real estate Phillipe Deloffre, head of infrastructure debt Karen Azoulay and head of SME lending Christophe Carrasco. They will complement the existing teams in place, including the structured finance team.

The global loans team, headed by Vanessa Ritter, will be comprised of 20 experts in New York and Paris, specialising in leverage loan financing.

The SME advanced solutions team will be run by Fabrice Susini, who has recently joined BNP Paribas AM. The department will consist of an alternative pan-European SME lending platform. The bank said the team will be reinforced with new hires in the near future.

“Private debt and real assets are increasingly becoming an essential part of investors’ asset allocation, because they bring steady income and diversification of credit exposure,” said Bouchoucha.”  Within this area we aim to provide value to our clients through a unique ability to source assets by combining the BNP Paribas Group’s origination with innovative external origination channels; a robust process based on strong credit analysis, quantitative techniques, and ESG (environmental, social and governance); and a broad range of capabilities in order to offer solutions that meet clients’ differing requirements."