Jefferies Credit Partners, a private credit manager and the asset management arm of Jefferies Finance, appointed Steve Marino head of investor solutions. Jefferies Finance is a joint venture of Jefferies Financial Group and MassMutual.

In this newly created role, Marino will focus on product development and strategy, working with Jefferies Credit Partners’ management, investment and business development teams to create and provide bespoke solutions for investors and strategic partners around the world.

Marino has experience building and managing institutional credit and alternative asset platforms. Most recently, Marino was the head of the private investments program for the state of South Carolina, where he was responsible for rebuilding a $10 billion portfolio of private equity, credit and real assets across commingled funds, SMAs, JVs, secondaries and co-investments. In South Carolina, Marino implemented new top-down investment policy, tactical workplans and deal management infrastructure. He and his team led a turnaround of the private equity portfolio, doubling its size from 2018 to 2021, and successfully spearheaded the restructuring of the private credit portfolio, transitioning it from opportunistic private equity style investments to ROE and cash flow focus through creation of direct lending SMAs, private to public BDCs and JV structures.