ORIX USA has hired Nik Singhal as group head of direct lending for the company’s private credit business, the company said today. He joins as managing director and will be based in New York.
Singhal will report to Jeff Abrams, group head of private credit and real estate, according to a June 25 company statement. He is due to start in the new role on July 8.
He joins from BlackRock where he worked for 14 years, most recently as head of portfolio management for BlackRock’s US private capital group. Singhal was also president of BlackRock Capital Investment Corp., the public BDC, and CEO of BlackRock Direct Lending Corp., the private BDC.
Singhal will be responsible for relevant business line leaders to expand and grow the businesses, drive origination and performance, and strategically leverage the firm’s balance sheet, according to the company statement.
At the same time, ORIX USA announced a reorganization of two private credit businesses that will report to Abrams: Direct Lending, led by Singhal and including NXT Capital; and Securitized Credit, led by Raviv Shtaingos, who has been appointed group head of securitized credit.
“By organizing our broad private credit platform into areas of specialization, we reflect the way investors are assessing private credit opportunities, specifically in our long-time focus area of the middle market,” Abrams said.
Signal Peak Capital Management, the private credit business that invests in liquid broadly syndicated loans and CLOs, will continue to report directly to Abrams.
ORIX USA is an investment and asset manager with $26.8 billion in assets under management.