Abacus Finance Group, a provider of cash flow-based, senior debt for sponsor-led investments in lower middle-market companies, promoted Seth Friedman and Eric Petersen from managing director to senior managing director and Greg Scanlon from senior associate to vice president.
“Seth, Eric and Greg are key members of what has become one of the strongest investment teams in our industry. As we celebrate our 15th year, our team’s experience continues to deepen, making us better prepared than ever to meet our goal of providing our customers with resources that deliver swift and efficient service,” Tim Clifford, CEO and founding partner of Abacus, said. “Their promotions reflect our long-standing commitment to fostering professional growth as we continue building an organization that delivers exceptional results for clients and stakeholders. The strength of our investment team and our ability to move quickly are important aspects of why clients can count on us and the effectiveness of our total partnership approach.”
Seth Friedman joined Abacus in 2019 as a managing director. He serves as an investment committee member of the SBIC and leads the capital formation efforts for the firm. He has over 25 years of investment experience in leveraged finance and investment banking in the lower middle market.
Friedman was previously a managing director at GB Capital, where he led the firm’s lower middle market business development efforts. Prior to GB Capital, he spent over five years as a managing director at RLJ Credit Management, leading the firm’s originations efforts. Prior to RLJ Credit, Friedman co-founded Perseus Finance and served as a managing director. Before that, he worked at MetLife Investments as an associate director in the mezzanine equity finance group, principally focused on sourcing, underwriting, executing and monitoring direct mezzanine and equity co-investments, as well as fund investments.
Earlier in his career, Friedman worked at The 1818 SBIC Fund of Brown Brothers Harriman, worked as an investment banker with Mesirow Financial, and was employed as a credit analyst in the leveraged finance group at LaSalle Bank. He holds a BS from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Eric Petersen, who joined Abacus in 2013, serves as an investment committee member and chief financial officer of the SBIC Fund and leads the business development efforts for the firm. Petersen previously worked within the leveraged finance group at BNP Paribas, with prior private equity backed operational experience with Chromalloy and GE Energy – Power & Water. Prior to transitioning to the private sector, he spent over 14 years as a Naval Officer and F/A-18 Fighter Pilot with multiple roles across operations, maintenance and as an instructor.
Petersen holds a BS in English from the United States Naval Academy, an MS in quantitative and computational finance from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of Southern California.
Greg Scanlon, who joined Abacus in 2021, is involved, as an investment team member, with structuring, underwriting, executing, monitoring and valuing investments for the firm. Previously, he was an analyst within MetLife Investment’s corporate private credit group. Scanlon earned a BS in finance from Rutgers Business School.
