Saluda Grade Adds Jim Boothby as Head of Global Business Development, Caps Off Strategic Growth Period

Saluda Grade Added Two Commingled Funds and Two Separately Managed Accounts to Its Credit Offerings in 2024, in Addition to Launching Its Third Growth Equity Fund.

The Firm Added Rick Hanna as Chief Operating Officer, Roger Ashworth as Head of Research and Data, and Jennifer Babsin as Head of Marketing Over the Past 10 Months, Signaling a Commitment to the Operational Infrastructure Necessary for Sustainable Growth.

Saluda Grade, an alternative investment firm specializing in asset-based finance with a particular focus on residential real estate, announced that Jim Boothby has joined the firm as Head of Global Business Development. This punctuates a 10-month period of pronounced growth and strategic operational development across the firm.

Boothby brings over 25 years of experience in credit, business development, and investor relations to the role. He most recently served as Global Co-Head of Business Development at CIFC Asset Management. Prior to that, Boothby served as Managing Director at Seix Investment Advisors, where he was responsible for raising assets across single and multifamily offices, endowments, foundations, and other institutional segments throughout North America.

“I’m excited to join Saluda Grade, as the firm has proven it can offer innovative and compelling alternative investment solutions,” Boothby said. “While I’ve seen the broader private credit boom firsthand, investor demand for asset-based credit strategies, specifically, has grown significantly in recent years. Saluda Grade has already established itself as a premier destination for residential asset-based finance, and this area of the market still has tremendous potential for additional growth. Above all else, I’m excited to apply my experience to help our firm continue capitalizing on that opportunity and generating attractive opportunities for our clients.”

This is a new role for Saluda Grade, adding to its growing business development effort that was launched last year by Dan Hoinacki, Head of Client Solutions. In addition to Boothby’s new role, Saluda Grade strategically expanded its senior team throughout 2024, adding Rick Hanna as Chief Operating Officer, Jennifer Babsin as Head of Marketing, and Roger Ashworth as Head of Research and Data.

Hanna brings a wealth of experience to Saluda Grade, having previously served as COO of Capstone Investment Advisors, COO of Man Group Americas, and CFO of Numeric Investors, among other roles. Babsin has 20 years of experience, including Head of Marketing positions at Insight Investment and Man Group. Ashworth was most recently the Head of Securitized-Product Research at Goldman Sachs, following a decade at Citigroup where he was Head of Research for securitization of non-agency mortgages and consumer assets in the U.S. and Europe.

The team expansion underscores the firm’s commitment to providing the operational infrastructure necessary to support its growing business. Saluda Grade added two commingled funds and two separately managed accounts (“SMA”) to the credit side the business as well as launched its third growth equity fund in 2024. Firm assets under management (“AUM”) grew by over $500 million in 2024 to reach $1.7 billion as of December 31, 2024.

Across the firm’s growth equity portfolios, Builders Capital raised $500 million in a new partnership with InterVest Capital Partners, Figure spun out its lending unit as it became the nation's largest non-bank HELOC lender, and the firm finalized a successful exit from Spring EQ with its acquisition by Cerberus Capital Management, among other successes.

Beyond the firm’s successes across its asset management business, Saluda Grade sponsored and issued $2.5 billion across 10 new securitizations. This was a record year for the firm and earned recognition from GlobalCapital as RMBS Issuer and Deal of the Year in 2024. The firm had over 50 different investors across the 10 deals, including Nomura, Jefferies, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Raymond James, Texas Capital Securities and Barclays Investment Bank.

“I’m humbled by the success we had in 2024, and our firm is motivated to continue building on our momentum,” said Ryan Craft, Founder & CEO of Saluda Grade. “We have tremendous opportunities ahead in 2025 and beyond as institutional demand for asset-based strategies continues to grow, and the expansion of our senior team serves as our latest commitment to our investors. We’re excited to welcome quality, experienced professionals to our firm as we continue offering unique solutions to our clients and executing on our firm’s long-term growth strategy.”

About Saluda Grade

Saluda Grade is an alternative investment firm specializing in asset-based finance, with a particular focus on residential real estate. Founded in 2019, the firm has $1.7 billion in AUM as of December 31, 2024, and is headquartered in New York City with a secondary office in Aspen. The firm’s leadership team has worked together for over 15 years, navigating multiple market cycles and rate environments. The team offers deep industry knowledge and experience across structured credit, specialty finance, mortgage-backed securities, and growth equity investments. For more information about Saluda Grade, please visit www.saludagrade.com.

Disclaimer:

This press release is for informational purposes only and is neither an offer to sell nor the solicitation of an offer to any for any other securities, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale. All investing entails risk.

The RMBS Issuer of the Year award for 2023 was open to anyone active in the securitization market and recipients of the award were based on organizations which had been involved in the most innovative or challenging transactions, the quality of execution and structuring; investment, growth, and progression in the business, or those who stood out for the breadth and depth of their securitization franchises. There were 7 finalists considered for this award. Saluda Grade did not pay a fee to be considered for this award.

The RMBS Deal of the Year award for 2023 was open to all US RMBS deals issued in 2023. Deals were considered based on their impact on the market, how well they timed and read the market and their reach among investors, as well as innovation. There were 5 finalists considered for this award. Saluda Grade did not pay a fee to be considered for this award.

Forward-looking statements:

Statements in this press release have "forward-looking statements," and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements.

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We have tremendous opportunities ahead in 2025 and beyond as institutional demand for asset-based strategies continues to grow, and the expansion of our senior team serves as our latest commitment to our investors.