Proskauer, a leading international law firm, is pleased to welcome fund finance lawyer Matthew (Matt) Kerfoot as a partner in its Finance Group. He brings more than 20 years of experience in the fund finance industry, including expertise in a broad spectrum of private equity and private credit financing and liquidity solutions. He will be based in New York.
“Matt’s market knowledge and subject matter expertise has a distinct synergy with Proskauer and the industries and clients we serve. His experience in law and finance gives him a unique perspective on financing solutions. I am pleased to welcome him to the Firm,” said Steven M. Ellis, chairman of Proskauer.
Matt’s practice focuses on subscription lines, NAV-based facilities and preferred equity financings, as well as asset-based middle market loan and other private credit portfolio financings. He joins Proskauer from Société Générale, where he was Managing Director of Credit and Structured Financing. There, he structured and marketed collateralized financings for portfolios of private equity secondaries, middle market loans, broadly syndicated loans and senior and mezzanine tranches of CLOs and other securitized products. He also advised on GP- and LP-led collateralized fund obligations and similar products.
“As investor appetite in the private market continues to grow across debt and equity and new strategies emerge, Matt’s experience in the fund finance space will be of enormous value to our clients. I am excited to begin working with him,” said partner Ron Franklin, co-head of the Firm’s Finance Group.
Matt previously served as Head of Fund Finance Americas at UBS AG. Earlier in his career, Matt held leadership positions at large global financial institutions including HSBC and Credit Suisse. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University and his J.D. from New York University School of Law.
“Amid challenging market conditions, borrowers are seeking new alternative lenders and sources of debt capital. Proskauer’s asset management platform is well-suited to provide GPs and LPs with innovative and bespoke financing,” said Matt. “I look forward to working with the team to meet our clients’ needs on a full range of fund financing matters.”
Proskauer’s Finance Group, which has more than 30 partners globally, handles a full range of complex corporate finance matters. This hire is another step in the group’s strategic growth which continues to be a priority. Aside from Matt, Proskauer has added three other partners in the last 12 months alone across the finance spectrum – Barry Newman (London), Evan Palenschat (Chicago) and Jonathan DeSantis (New York).
Proskauer’s fund finance team advises on more than 100 deals each year. They represent clients on the full spectrum of fund financing matters ranging from acquisition financings – including secondaries – to GP, management, and co-investment facilities to NAV facilities, CFOs and CLOs and work closely with the Firm’s market-leading Private Investment Funds practice which has more than 300 GP clients across private equity, credit, venture, real assets, infrastructure and fund-of-funds.