The folks at a $6.8-billion-AUM, publicly traded, multinational, alternative asset manager are rolling out a private credit interval fund in the U.S. after buying a New York City area shop last year.

This afternoon, Frank Danieli, head of global credit solutions at MA Financial Group Limited, and J.P. Marra, managing director and head of U.S. asset management for MA, unveiled the launch of the MA Speciality Credit Income Fund (SCISX). Irvington, New York-based MA Asset Management, LLC serves as the new fund's investment advisor, while Marra, Kent MacWilliams (managing director and head of U.S. credit investments), and Ashees Jain (managing director and U.S. chief investment officer) serve as portfolio managers.

The MA Specialty Credit Income Fund is an interval fund (not a traditional open-end mutual fund), the first from the MA team. More specifically, the new fund is, per its prospectus, a "continuously offered, non-diversified closed-end management company," aka an interval fund. The MA team confirms that their new interval fund will offer quarterly redemptions (of between 5 percent and 25 percent of its AUM) while accepting daily inflows (share purchases).

MA's new interval fund comes in two flavors: S shares and F shares. F shares require a minimum initial investment of $2,500 ($1,000 for retirement accounts) and come with an expense ratio of 347 basis points. S shares require a $1-million minimum initial investment and come with an expense ratio of 297bps. (Both share classes are no-load and bake in a 3bps fee waiver promised through December 31, 2025.)

The unveiling of MA's new U.S. interval fund comes a year and a half after Sydney, Australia-based MA acquired New York-based Blue Elephant Capital Management (BECM). MA later rebranded BECM as MA Asset Management.

Danieli describes the launch of the U.S. interval fund as "an important milestone" for MA's $4.3-billion-AUM global credit platform. The launch "illustrates the firm's commitment to providing exceptional investment solutions for [a] global client base."

"We believe access to a portfolio of private asset-based lending and specialty credit opportunities offers investors a genuine fixed income alternative, benefitting from the inherent diversification, portfolio granularity, and attractive collateral features that this asset class can deliver while providing diversification through a broader set of collateralized investment opportunities," Marra states.

The MA Specialty Credit Income Fund's other service providers include: Cohen & Company, Ltd. as independent accounting firm; Dechert LLP as counsel; UMB Bank, n.a. as custodian; UMB Distribution Services, LLC as distributor and principal underwriter; and UMB Fund Services, Inc. as administrator, distribution paying agent, registrar, and transfer agent. 

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