Octagon Credit Investors (“Octagon”), a leading credit-focused asset manager, today announced the expansion of its private credit platform with the appointment of Sean Sullivan as Managing Director and Head of Private Credit, and Michael Ahrens, who will join the firm on September 22^nd as Principal. The formation of a dedicated team represents a significant step in the build-out of Octagon’s Private Credit business, which focuses on senior secured loans to upper middle-market corporate borrowers.

“The evolution and convergence of the broadly syndicated loan and private credit markets continue to present compelling opportunities for seasoned credit managers,” said Gretchen Lam, CEO of Octagon. “Direct lending is a natural extension of our capabilities and existing platform. Sean and Mike’s extensive underwriting experience and sponsor relationships complement Octagon’s deep credit expertise and strengthen our ability to provide differentiated access to this attractive asset class.”

In addition to leading Octagon’s newly formed Private Credit team, Sean Sullivan will serve on the firm’s Private Credit Investment Committee, and its Executive Committee. Mr. Sullivan brings more than two decades of experience originating, underwriting, and executing private credit investments. He joins Octagon from Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where he served as the Head of Direct Lending Origination and sat on Investment Committee for the Direct Lending and Opportunistic Credit strategies. Prior to Morgan Stanley, he held senior roles at Antares Capital, Solar Capital, and GE Capital.

“Octagon’s longstanding market presence and exceptional track record create an outstanding foundation on which to build a best-in-class private credit platform,” said Mr. Sullivan. He continued, “I am excited to lead this key strategic initiative and deliver value to both borrowers and investors.”

Michael Ahrens most recently served as Senior Vice President at Antares Capital. His background spans private equity sponsor coverage, leveraged finance underwriting, and complex recapitalizations.

About Octagon Credit Investors

Founded in 1994, Octagon Credit Investors is a $33 billion asset manager specializing in broadly syndicated loan, structured credit, multi-asset credit, and direct lending strategies. Octagon’s disciplined, time-tested investment process relies on fundamental credit analysis and active portfolio management to generate attractive risk-adjusted performance for its clients.

Octagon is majority-owned by Conning¹, a leading global investment management firm with a long history of serving insurance companies and other institutional investors. Octagon and Conning are part of Generali Investments,² a platform of asset management firms operating in more than 20 countries, offering distinctive strategies in public and private markets and expert insights to help investors achieve long-term performance. Generali Investments is the asset management arm of the Generali Group, one of the world's largest insurance and asset management players.

For more information, please visit www.octagoncredit.com.

1. Conning, Inc., Goodwin Capital Advisers, Inc., Conning Investment Products, Inc., a FINRA-registered broker-dealer, Conning Asset Management Limited, Conning Asia Pacific Limited, Octagon Credit Investors, LLC, Global Evolution Holding ApS and its subsidiaries, and Pearlmark Real Estate, L.L.C. and its subsidiaries are all direct or indirect subsidiaries of Conning Holdings Limited (collectively, “Conning”) which is one of the family of companies whose controlling shareholder is Generali Investments Holding S.p.A. (“Generali Investments”) a company headquartered in Italy.
2. Generali Investments is part of the Generali Group, which was established in 1831 in Trieste as Assicurazioni Austro-Italiche. Conning, Generali Asset Management S.p.A. Società di gestione del risparmio, Generali Real Estate S.p.A. Società di gestione del risparmio, Infranity SAS, Sosteneo S.p.A. Società di gestione del risparmio, Sycomore Asset Management, Aperture Investors LLC (including Aperture Investors UK Ltd), Lumyna Investments Limited and Plenisfer Investments S.p.A. Società di gestione del risparmio are part of Generali Investments, as well as Generali Investments CEE. Please note that the countries refers to the countries where the different funds of the asset management companies that are part of Generali Investments are registered for distribution. Please note that not all funds are registered in all the countries and not all the asset management companies are licensed to operate in such countries.

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