Churchill Asset Management, a majority-owned affiliate of TIAA Global Asset Management focused on originating, underwriting and managing middle market senior loan investments, named Leland Richards managing director. Richards will report to Randy Schwimmer, senior managing director and head of Origination and Capital Markets.

Richards joins Churchill with more than 15 years of experience in middle market finance and strong relationships with leading middle market private equity firms and lenders. He previously worked at GE Capital, where he served as a managing director of GE Sponsor Coverage and led the structuring and underwriting of transactions with middle market private equity investment firms providing senior and unitranche financing to their portfolio companies. Prior to joining GE, Richards held similar positions at a number of financial institutions, including Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and JPMorgan.

“Leland’s extensive industry knowledge and strong sponsor relationships will add meaningfully to our business at Churchill,” said Randy Schwimmer. “This appointment underscores our commitment to building a deep and experienced investment team with a strong track record in middle market senior debt financing.”

Churchill is led by a senior management and investment team that has worked together for over a decade and has collectively invested more than $5 billion in over 400 middle market companies. Churchill today has approximately $1.9 billion of committed capital under management.