ZAIS Group, LLC, a leading alternative investment manager that specializes in structured credit, today announced it has recently made two senior hires in its London Office, Ahrash Daneshvar as Managing Director and Iris Arrington as Vice President of Client Relations. Mr. Daneshvar comes to ZAIS Group with nearly two decades of experience in structured credit and derivatives, and will focus on the firm's credit derivatives and quantitative trading strategies. Arrington, who joins ZAIS Group from Marathon Asset Management where she was Vice President of Investor Relations and Sales, is responsible for managing and developing relationships with ZAIS Group's clients and investors in Europe.
"With low to negative interest rates meaningfully dampening prospects for strong returns in traditional fixed income, numerous inefficiencies are developing in structured credit investments which we believe will make them appealing over the next few years," said Christian Zugel, founder and Chief Investment Officer of ZAIS Group. "In anticipation of the expected opportunity in structured credit, we are fortunate to be able to bring on board two extremely accomplished individuals, Ahrash Daneshvar and Iris Arrington. We believe that our current investors are aware of the significant value on the horizon in the structured credit space, and our new hires will take this message to prospective investors."
Mr. Daneshvar added: "There are very few players in the structured credit space with the deep sector specific knowledge and track record of ZAIS Group. I am extremely excited and honored to be a part of this well-respected, cutting edge organization and am looking forward to all the future holds."
Mr. Daneshvar joins ZAIS Group after a decade with Morgan Stanley, advancing to lead the firm's structured credit business in both London and New York. He began his career at Commerzbank in equity derivatives market risk analysis. While at Commerzbank, Mr. Daneshvar gained experience in equity and fund derivatives structuring and as a structured credit trader, before joining UBS as a structured credit trader. He holds a bachelor's degree in physics from Oxford University and a Ph.D. in physics from Cambridge University.
Ms. Arrington joins ZAIS from Marathon Asset Management, where she was responsible for business development for multi-asset credit strategies. Previously, she worked in the Fixed Income, Currency, and Commodities Department at Goldman Sachs and as a Mergers & Acquisitions Analyst at Evercore Partners in New York. Ms. Arrington holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
About ZAIS Group
ZAIS Group is a leading alternative investment manager that specializes in structured credit. ZAIS Group was founded in 1997 and focuses on providing clients with bespoke solutions tailored to each client's investment parameters and risk preferences, as well as commingled funds. ZAIS's investment portfolio comprises a broad range of assets across corporate-credit and mortgage-related specialized credit strategies including CLOs, Non-Agency RMBS, CMBS and other credit opportunities throughout North America and Europe.
