Brightwood Capital Advisors, a private credit and impact firm, appointed Frederick Jelks as a director in the firm’s risk group and Chris Halajian as a director in the firm’s underwriting group.
“We are excited to welcome Fred with his extensive operational expertise and experience, and to welcome back Chris who rejoins the Brightwood team with significant private credit and healthcare services experience, a key part of Brightwood’s investment focus,” Sengal Selassie, managing partner and chief investment officer of Brightwood, said. “Following a strong year of capital deployment and investment realization, Fred and Chris will enable us to continue building on our momentum and deliver even greater value to Brightwood’s investors and borrowers for years to come.”
Halajian brings more than a decade of experience in M&A advisory, private capital markets and principal investing across the capital structure. Prior to serving as a senior business development leader for the early-stage mental health services company Geode Health, Halajian co-founded Mental Health Partnership with a small group of investors. Halajian also served as a vice president at Brightwood Capital Advisors, where he was a member of the investment team leading deal execution and working directly with financial sponsors and owner/operators. Halajian also held roles as an investment bank analyst for JP Morgan and Rabobank, and as a financial management analyst for Cantor Fitzgerald.
Jelks brings strong operational experience from AlixPartners, where he served as a director and provided turnaround and restructuring services to debtors and creditors in bankruptcy and out-of-court restructurings. Previously, Jelks held positions as a senior associate for Conway Mackenzie, where he focused on corporate restructuring and business advisory services to distressed middle-market companies across a range of industries. Jelks also held roles an associate for Marc Bell Capital Partners and as an analyst for UBS Investment Bank in their Telecommunications Group.