Venor plans April first close for special situations fund

Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ committed up to $100 million to the fund at its Feb. 18 meeting, according to its website.

Venor will use Fund II to invest in corporate bonds, bank loans and other fixed-income securities issued by middle market companies in the U.S. and Western Europe, according to retirement system documents. Typical companies Venor invests in have capital structures valued between $250 million and $2.5 billion.

The New York-based firm will invest Fund II alongside its $1 billion flagship hedge fund, Venor Capital Master Fund. The special situations vehicle typically pursues less liquid opportunities than the hedge fund, investing in long duration assets that merit a buy and hold approach, according to a Portfolio Advisors report included in the retirement system’s Feb. 18 meeting materials.

Venor Capital’s first special situations fund netted a 1.32x multiple and 25.9 percent internal rate of return as of Dec. 31, according to Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ documents.

Venor was founded in 2005 by Jeffrey Bersh and Michael Wartell, according to the firm’s website. Bersh, who leads the firm’s trading team, previously was a managing director in charge of distressed business for Donaldson Lufkin, Jenrette/Credit Suisse First Boston. Wartell leads Venor’s portfolio management and research team. He was co-head of Deutsche Bank’s North American distressed research team from 1999 to 2005.