(Bloomberg) -- Canyon Partners Chief Investment Officer Todd Lemkin is leaving the firm after more than two decades, capping a series of leadership changes at the $26 billion asset manager.
The Dallas-based firm has appointed Jeff Kivitz, a New York-based partner, to replace Lemkin in the role of CIO, it said in a press release after being contacted by Bloomberg for comment.
Canyon’s head of Europe, Davide Amico, will replace Kivitz in his role of co-head of private credit, working alongside Scott Borenstein, the firm said. Jonathan Barzideh and Chaney Sheffield have been named co-heads of opportunistic credit.
Lemkin, who joined Canyon in 2003, focused much of his career on sectors spanning media, telecom and gaming. He also oversaw the firm’s European investments and worked on stressed and distressed bank loans and high-yield securities.
He was promoted to the role of co-CIO at the end of 2017, joining founders Josh Friedman and Mitch Julis in overlooking the biggest chunk of the firm’s holdings.
His departure is the latest in a series of senior exits from the firm in recent years. Partners Jonathan Heller, Sergey Kamensky and George Jikovski all left the firm in 2022, while co-head of real estate Maria Stamolis retired at the end of that year, Bloomberg previously reported.
Canyon in March agreed to sell a 19.9% stake to Dai-ichi Life Holdings. The Japanese life insurer, which also agreed to invest $1.3 billion of capital in Canyon’s funds, has the right to acquire as much as 51% of the firm in 2027 and as much as 100% in 2029.
At the Milken Conference in Beverly Hills last year, Lemkin said US regional banks require consolidation. In June, he said Canyon was being selective amid a flurry of consumer loan sales coming out of regional banks.
--With assistance from Laura Benitez.
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