Briarcliffe Hires Ex-Morgan Stanley Exec to Expand Fundraising Team

Briarcliffe Credit Partners, a credit-focused placement agent, named Nelson Chikusa an executive director to lead fundraising coverage in the U.S. Midwest and Canada.

Chikusa was previously a senior portfolio manager in Morgan Stanley’s Outsourced Chief Investment Office, where he managed multi-asset portfolios for North American institutional investors. Prior to that, he was a credit investment manager at Marathon Asset Management and a fixed income senior researcher at JP Morgan.

“The private credit industry continues to show signs of tremendous growth, and Nelson’s expertise will be an extremely valuable asset to institutional investors as he connects them with the managers of established private credit strategies we represent,” said Jess Larsen, founder & CEO of Briarcliffe Credit Partners.

Since its inception in 2021, the firm has served as the exclusive U.S. placement agent for several managers, including Searchlight on its special situations Fund II, which raised $740 million, Greywolf on its shipping Fund II, which raised $120 million, and Proterra on its food and beverage Fund II, which Briarcliffe assisted in exceeding its $400 million target by more than 25%.

The firm looks to raise between $300 million and $2 billion, usually for their second or later fund.