Variant Investments, LLC (Variant), an SEC-registered alternative credit investment manager, today announced the appointments of Corey Perlmutter as Senior Vice President of Risk Management and Brandon Jones as Senior Vice President of Investment Analytics. Variant also announced that Erik Baun has joined the firm as Senior Associate of Valuations and Lorena Ledesma has joined as Senior Associate of Investments.
Perlmutter and Jones both report to Bob Elsasser, a Co-founder and Principal at Portland, Oregon-based Variant.
“As Variant continues to expand and evolve, we are building out our senior team with these key appointments in risk management and investment analytics,” said Elsasser. “We are pleased to bring Corey and Brandon on board to lead these critically important functions and welcome Erik and Lorena to our valuations and investments teams.”
Perlmutter helps oversee Variant’s liquidity risk program, identifies and assesses portfolio risks across investments, and focuses on risk mitigation strategies. He is a member of Variant’s investment and valuation committees.
Before joining Variant, Perlmutter was a Senior Director for CIBC’s Innovation Banking Group. Earlier, he worked at Hercules Capital and SAC Capital/Point 72 Asset Management. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and holds a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and biomedical engineering from Tufts University, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Columbia University, and an MBA from The University of Chicago.
Jones helps oversee the firm’s approach to investment analytics and manages data quality assurance for investment information. He also leads Variant’s data task force and is a member of the investment committee.
Before joining Variant, Jones was a Principal at NEPC, and he was also Director of Analytics for BMO Family Office. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Portland State University and is completing a master’s degree in analytics from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Baun reports to Curt Fintel, a Co-founder and Principal. Among his responsibilities, Baun oversees Variant’s internal valuation policies and procedures. Before joining Variant, Baun was a Senior Associate of Valuations and Strategy for Carta, specializing in the valuation of privately held securities. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Oregon.
Ledesma reports to Jordan Jenkins, Vice President of Investments. Ledesma conducts due diligence in the underwriting process of commercial loans in niche markets. Before joining Variant, Ledesma was a Finance Manager for Aspiria, a Mexican fintech company. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in finance from Universidad Panamericana.
With approximately $3 billion in assets under management, the funds managed by Variant target uncorrelated income-generating assets in niche private markets.
The Variant Alternative Income Fund (NICHX), an interval fund with more than $2.8 billion in assets, invests in specialty finance, litigation finance, royalties, and other potential income-generating opportunities outside the investment mainstream. The Variant Impact Fund (IMPCX), an interval fund with approximately $90 million in assets, seeks to provide a high level of current income while also aiming to target investment opportunities that support financial inclusion, equitable growth, and responsible consumption, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
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