Aquiline Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm investing in financial services, has made a USD225m investment in CRT Capital Group, an independent institutional broker-dealer based in Stamford, Connecticut.
The investment, which also includes funds from CRT’s management, will expand the firm’s balance sheet with the objective of building a full-service broker-dealer.
Founded in 1989, CRT is a sales, trading and research firm led by institutional brokerage veterans Ben Carpenter and Ron Kripalani.
CRT plans to expand its team and the products and services it currently provides to nearly 1,000 institutional clients. In the near-term, CRT will focus on scaling its customer flow and market-making activities in US treasuries, mortgage and asset backed securities, credit, convertibles, equities and emerging markets.
“CRT has leveraged its existing infrastructure to take advantage of the post-crisis dislocation and build its market share. We are pleased to be partnering with CRT to address increasing client demand for more extensive execution and trading services,” says Jeff Greenberg, chief executive of Aquiline. “Ben and Ron’s success in building industry leading brokerage platforms and the strength of CRT’s client relationships will allow the firm to continue recruiting top talent while strategically growing its business.”
“This capitalisation allows us to offer more capital-intensive client services than most independent brokerages at a time when investors are seeking to diversify their counterparty relationships away from large financial institutions,” adds Carpenter. “We look forward to working with Aquiline and benefiting from their strategic guidance and financial and operational experience as we execute our business plan.”
