I’m delighted to welcome Christopher Thalhammer to Hogan Lovells Cadwalader as a partner in our New York office.
With his significant experience, top reputation and robust industry relationships, Chris is a valuable addition to our team. He joins us at an exciting time for the market, and his arrival strengthens our ability to serve clients globally across an ever-expanding range of fund finance strategies.
Chris advises financial institutions, sponsors, asset managers, and other market participants on complex domestic and cross-border fund finance transactions, as well as bespoke derivatives and structured products. He counsels clients on a broad range of sophisticated fund finance products, including NAV facilities, hybrid facilities, continuation vehicle financings, subscription credit facilities, unsecured bridge facilities, fund warehousing facilities, back-leverage facilities, management company loans, and hedge fund financings. His experience spans private equity, secondaries, private credit, infrastructure, and real estate.
Chris joins us from Macquarie, where he was the Head of Legal for its Fund Finance business spanning the U.S., EMEA and APAC. He oversaw the team handling hands-on structuring, documentation and negotiation of bespoke and highly complex fund finance transactions.
You can read the press release announcing Chris's appointment and an interview Chris and I did with The American Lawyer earlier this week.
Now, in his own words, Chris reflects on returning to private practice and shares where he sees fund finance heading.
Q&A with Christopher Thalhammer
What motivated you to get back into private practice after a long and successful run as the GC of a major fund finance business?
I spent the past 15 years at Macquarie, where I had the privilege of leading the legal team dedicated to one of the most innovative lenders in the fund finance market. Returning to private practice appealed as it will allow me to leverage that experience to contribute to the broader market at a time when it is evolving at a rapid pace, with transactions becoming increasingly complex and bespoke.
I was drawn to Hogan Lovells Cadwalader specifically due to a combination of factors that make it the ideal platform to build my practice focused on NAV and other complex fund finance products. Hogan Lovells Cadwalader is, of course, the preeminent global lender-side fund finance firm, with strong relevant adjacent practice areas, including securitization and structured products, and deep regulatory expertise. I know and have worked with many of my new colleagues over the years and I'm looking forward to helping the firm continue to expand its fund finance footprint and market presence.
You led the global fund finance legal team at Macquarie. What did that role entail?
I led a team of four senior lawyers in New York, London, and Sydney dedicated to supporting Macquarie’s fund finance business globally, covering transaction structuring, negotiation and documentation. My team was fully integrated with the business and worked closely with the front office, credit, and other internal stakeholders on new products and structures, allowing us move quickly on complex transactions without compromising protections. Working across multiple jurisdictions also meant building consistency where it mattered and allowing flexibility where it did not.
How would you characterize the current state of the fund finance market, and what notable trends are you observing?
It’s a mature market that continues to constantly evolve to adapt to sponsor and investor needs in a challenging fundraising environment with exits slower than many investors would like. Subscription facilities remain the foundation, but much of the innovation is elsewhere. NAV financing has moved into the mainstream, used for liquidity, portfolio growth and continuation strategies.
Financings are becoming more bespoke, with hybrid and preferred equity increasingly common along with securitizations and other structured solutions. Credit funds, insurers and other non-bank lenders are playing an ever more important role, with some able to offer significant flexibility while others serve as a cost-effective source of capital.
You've seen fund finance operate in the US, EMEA, and APAC. What are the most meaningful differences between how the market works in the US versus outside it?
The US is, of course, the largest market, with a large sponsor and lender base. The European market is also highly sophisticated but, being smaller, is more competitive with more capital chasing fewer deals. European transactions also often span multiple jurisdictions, which adds complexity around security, enforceability, tax and regulatory considerations. Like the US, the European market has experienced an influx of private credit and insurance capital and increased use of securitization and other structured solutions. The APAC market is at an earlier stage in its development but is evolving rapidly, with NAV facilities beginning to gain traction.
In which global markets do you see the most potential for growth in fund finance over the next few years, and what forces will drive that growth?
I expect the fund finance market to continue to grow across regions. Key drivers include the need for liquidity in the current slower exit environment and the convergence of fund finance and structured finance. The increasing application of techniques long used in structured finance to fund finance offers fund managers liquidity, flexibility and access to new pools of capital while enabling different types of lenders to provide capital in a manner that more efficiently matches risk to appetite.