Emerging Markets Private Credit
A strategy that focuses on senior secured and asset-backed lending to strategically important companies and projects in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and developing Europe, where we believe risk is fundamentally mispriced.
An opportunistic private credit strategy, focused on strategically important companies and projects in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and developing Europe. Within these regions, we will seek to capitalize on investments in countries where we believe risk is fundamentally mispriced.
We will target companies that have outgrown the local bank market, but are not yet large enough to access international bond markets, creating a supply-demand imbalance.
The strategy’s core qualities will be:
- Senior secured and asset-backed lending at the top of the capital structure
- Borrowers with credible ownership and management, generating USD-linked revenue
- Companies with low leverage
- Strict loan covenants through various forms of guarantees, payment restrictions, and financial metrics, all governed by US/UK law
- Amortizing loans with terms less than 5 years
- Seeking additional upside with equity kickers and/or exit fees
$M
TARGET LOAN SIZE
~%
SENIOR SECURED
TARGET AVERAGE LOAN DURATION (MONTHS)
Emerging Markets:
Too Big to Ignore.
Emerging countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and developing Europe have moved from the periphery to the center of the global economy since the late 1980s.
-
Population 86% of world population live in 100+ emerging countries.1 -
GDP — 2026 42% of world GDP2 TODAY -
GDP AT PPP 61% AT PURCHASING POWER PARITY2 -
COMMODITIES 60-70% OF THE WORLD’S COMMODITIES PRODUCTION3 -
BY 2050 6 of 7 LARGEST ECONOMIES WILL BE IN TODAY’S EMERGING MARKETS4
- UNCTAD – Now 8 billion and counting: Where the world’s population has grown most and why that matters, (November 2022)
- IMF World Economic Outlook (April 2026)
- IMF World Economic Outlook (Oct 2025)
- PWC – The World in 2050 (Feb 2017)
Our Differentiators
We focus on Emerging Market countries where intensive sovereign and company due diligence is a must – and where size and complexity often preclude other local and international lenders from participating.
- 100% Emerging Markets private credit strategy within a private asset firm
- Extensive origination network in dozens of Emerging Market countries.
- A team with over 100 years of collective investing experience in over 100 countries
- Focus on senior secured and asset-backed investments governed by US or UK law
- Focus on companies and/or countries that are often overlooked by other capital providers
- Detailed due diligence and bespoke loan structuring, including substantial collateral coverage and strict covenants with ongoing monitoring, which helps us identify and mitigate performance issues early
Meet the Team
Peter Marber, PhD, FRSA, FRASCo-Head Emerging Markets
- A pioneering investor and thought leader in emerging markets, with 35+ years of portfolio management experience across credit, currencies, and rates; prior firm peak AUM: $16B.
- Previously:
- Senior and C-level roles at Generali Investments (2018–2025), managing $1.2B in EM credit funds for its affiliate Aperture Investors.
- Headed EM Investments at Loomis Sayles and as Global Head of Emerging Market Debt and Currencies at HSBC.
- Began career at UBS, later founded EM subsidiaries at Wasserstein Perella (sold to HSBC)
- Faculty member at Harvard
- Published 8 books
- PhD, University of Cambridge
- MSt, Oxford University
- MIA, Columbia University
- BA, Johns Hopkins University
Peter Marber, PhD, FRSA, FRASCo-Head Emerging Markets
Peter is Co-Head of Emerging Marketing investing at Chicago Atlantic. For more than 30 years, he has invested billions of dollars in Emerging and Frontier Markets debt for some of the world’s largest institutional investors. Dr. Marber also has founded and managed asset management units at HSBC, Loomis, Sayles & Company, and subsidiaries of Generali Investments. He began his career as an emerging markets debt trader at UBS.
An acknowledged thought leader on globalization and financial market developments, Dr. Marber has taught finance courses at Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and NYC, and has published dozens of articles and eight books. He serves or has served on various boards for St. John’s College, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, EMTA I The Trade Association for Emerging Markets, Geolinks, Atlas Talent, New America, and the World Policy Institute, among others.
PhD, University of Cambridge
MSt, Oxford University
MIA, Columbia University
BA, Johns Hopkins University
Jim Garvey, CFA® Co-Head, Emerging Markets
- Portfolio manager and senior analyst with three decades of experience in EMs.
- Previously:
-
- Founder and Portfolio Manager for the Global EM private credit business at Emso Asset Management
- Managing Director and Head of Latin American Special Situations trading desk for Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
- Head of Latin American corporate bond research and trading at Santander Investment Securities.
- Latin America corporate bond analyst at Smith Barney, Bancomer and ABN Amro.
- Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
- MBA, The American University
- BA, St. Michael’s College
Jim Garvey, CFA® Co-Head, Emerging Markets
Jim is the Co-Head of Chicago Atlantic’s Emerging Markets credit business.
He has been involved in emerging markets investing since 1993, heading up corporate bond research first at Smith Barney, then at Bancomer, ABN-Amro, and Banco Santander, where he created a unique credit scoring and valuation model that was successful at predicting corporate bond spreads, expected returns, and identifying distressed corporate candidates. He then led Santander’s corporate bond trading business.
In 2000, Jim launched Bank of America’s Latin American distressed and special situations business along with Chicago Atlantic partner Scott Gordon. During his tenure at what became Bank of America Merrill Lynch, he became Managing Director and led a team that transacted in bank loans and bulk portfolios, a variety of tax and arbitration claims, non-performing loan portfolios, and other special situation opportunities.
Jim went on to launch and become co-portfolio manager of emerging market private credit at Emso Asset Management.
B.S. St. Michael’s College
MBA, The American University
CFA® charterholder, CFA Institute
Scott GordonPartner
- Over 30 years of investing and asset management experience in emerging markets.
- Previously:
-
- Founder of Silver Spike Capital, a BDC that was merged into Chicago Atlantic in 2024.
- Led the EM businesses at Marathon Asset Management, Caxton Associates and Taconic Capital.
- A founding member of JPMorgan’s EM business. Went on to head up the market-leading EM and distressed investing effort at ING Capital and the global special situations group at Bank of America.
- BA, Bowdoin College
Scott GordonPartner
Scott is a Partner at Chicago Atlantic and serves as Executive Chairman and CIO of Chicago Atlantic BDC Inc. (NASDAQ: LIEN). He began investing in the plant-based and health & wellness industry in 2013 and soon thereafter co-founded Egg Rock Holdings, parent company of the Papa & Barkley family of cannabis and CBD products. He is also among the pioneering investors within the burgeoning realm of psychedelics for use in mental health.
Scott has over 30 years of investing and asset management experience in emerging markets. He was one of the founding members of the JP Morgan emerging market business and later went on to head the market leading emerging market and distressed investing effort at ING Capital and the global special situations group at Bank of America. Scott then went to the buy side, where he led the emerging market businesses at Marathon Asset Management, Caxton Associates, and Taconic Capital.
Prior to Chicago Atlantic, Scott was President of Fintech Advisory, a multi – billion-dollar Family Office fund.
BA, Bowdoin College
Umesh MahajanPartner, Head of Credit
- 30+ years of experience in various roles in middle-market, performing credit, distressed and special situations investing, in US as well as EM.
- Previously:
-
- Managing Director at Ascribe Capital, a credit fund focused on value investing in middle market companies.
- Managing Director in the Global Loan and Special Situations Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch where he served as a senior analyst covering credits in energy, power and infrastructure sectors globally.
- CFA Institute, Certificate in ESG Investing
- MBA, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Palmer Scholar
- BTech, Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai, Electrical Engineering
Umesh MahajanPartner, Head of Credit
Umesh is a Partner and Head of Credit for Chicago Atlantic. Umesh has a 28-year career in various middle-market, credit, and special situations investing.
Prior to Chicago Atlantic, Umesh was a Managing Director for four years at Ascribe Capital, a credit fund focused on value investing in middle market companies. From September 2003 to August 2016, he worked at Merrill Lynch and Bank of America in various roles in their Global Markets and Investment Banking divisions in New York. Umesh specialized in credit and special situation investing, as a Managing Director in the Global Credit and Special Situations group at Bank of America Securities and as a Vice President at Principal Credit Group at Merrill Lynch; he also worked in Merrill Lynch’s energy and power investment banking group for 2 years. From 1994 to 2001, Umesh worked in J.P. Morgan’s investment banking team in Asia.
MBA, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Palmer Scholar
BTech, Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai, Electrical Engineering
CFA Institute, Certificate in ESG Investing
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