Jim Thompson, former President and CEO of ORIX USA Corporation, announced the launch of his new investment company, Preston Hollow Capital, LLC.
At the end of December, Thompson announced plans to leave ORIX and launch his new business. The Dallas, TX based company kicks off operations with committed capital of $100 million, according to a company press release.
Thompson said the focus at this point is to build a team, which will be integral to the company’s success. PHC plans to hire more than 25 people with diverse financial, investment and portfolio management backgrounds over 2014.
PHC , aid Thompson, “is considering opportunities to partner with major sponsors, including institutional investors such as endowments and pension funds, as well as family offices and sovereign wealth funds.”
“Preston Hollow Capital’s objective will be to produce outstanding risk-adjusted returns across a broad spectrum of investment strategies,” Thompson said. “We see attractive opportunities in current financial markets that are reminiscent of the beginning of the ORIX journey in 1990, when a colleague and I brought to ORIX the idea of starting a company that would securitize commercial mortgages (CMBS), which at the time was a novel concept.”
Over a 22 year period, Orix invested across the spectrum of fixed income credit and acquired a series of operating businesses, including Houlihan Lokey, RED Capital and Mariner Investment Group, according to Thompson. In 2012, in response to emerging opportunities in life sciences, we created a division, ORIX Health & Life Sciences to invest that sector.”
Brian Prince replaces Thompson as President and CEO of ORIX USA. Prince was previously chairman and representative director of Aozora Bank in Tokyo, a Japanese commercial bank with approximately $60 billion in assets.