New York, NY, May 1, 2018 – Neuberger Berman, a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager, announced its entry into the broader specialty finance industry with the formation of Neuberger Berman Specialty Finance group (“NBSF”). The firm manages $299 billion in assets, of which $60 billion is alternative investments for institutions and individuals.

NBSF seeks to identify assets within the consumer, small business, and bridge loan segments in order to build short duration, income producing credit portfolios for its clients. The group will partner with high-quality originators who have strong underwriting and servicing capabilities. Utilizing the latest financial technology, NBSF will strive to create diversified portfolios with robust risk protection. The group will leverage strong internal research and data to best position portfolios for the current economic climate.

Peter Sterling has joined the firm to serve as the Head of Neuberger Berman Specialty Finance. NBSF efforts will be enhanced by collaboration with Samuel Porat, Managing Director, who is responsible for alternative income strategies at Neuberger Berman as well as David Kupperman and Jeff Majit, who co-manage the firm’s hedge fund solutions team.

“NBSF is well positioned to become a global leader within specialty finance,”said Mr. Sterling. “Building the business within Neuberger Berman’s existing infrastructure gives us several competitive advantages on top of our team’s existing relationships and experience. As the alternative credit industry has matured, access to high-quality deals and strong investor partnerships will be a key ingredient to success.”

Prior to joining NBSF, Peter Sterling ran alternative lending at Coastland Capital (“Coastland”) and served as its President. At Coastland, Mr. Sterling formulated the investment strategy and deployed several hundred million dollars while developing deep sourcing relationships from the venture, commercial banking, and private investment communities. Mr. Sterling has also invested in commercial and consumer non-performing loan portfolios and was previously a credit arbitrage portfolio manager at several hedge funds including Marin Capital, KBC Alternative Investments, and was initially hired into D.E. Shaw’s Financial Products group.

“We see quite a few investment opportunities with the potential to earn attractive returns with a significant yield component,”said Samuel Porat. “The technological forces that are disrupting the travel, media, retail and other industries are also changing the way we bank and access capital. We feel that this growing trend that can continue at a sustainably rapid pace,”said David Kupperman.