Ferrier was managing director at US investment firm BlackRock from 2016 where he was responsible for building the firm’s Asia-Pacific private credit business, according to a Nikkei report today.

Prior to his stint in BlackRock, Ferrier served as director at ADM Capital from 1999 to 2007 when he left to set up Myo Capital, which made private credit investments across the Asia-Pacific region.

He began his career as a corporate finance executive at SG Warburg Group and Peregrine Capital.

According to the report, Ferrier regarded the investment network and relationships with middle-market corporations, CEOs and CFOs in the region as a “tremendous sourcing edge” to provide flexible debt capital to Southeast Asia’s growing mid-market corporations.

Navis Capital Partners, which was founded by three individuals who used to work at the Boston Consulting Group, manages around US$5 billion (RM22 billion) in assets in Southeast Asia and adjacent economies from its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

The firm most recently anchored a US$38 million (RM169 million) Series C funding round for wealth management technology firm Eton Solutions, and invested in Thailand-based Ambassador Education to build up its regional education platform, the Nikkei report out of Hanoi said.

“Prior to the NAC, Navis closed its eighth flagship fund at $900 million (RM4 billion) in 2011. The firm also closed a continuation vehicle and launched a fund dedicated to the Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam region.”

Private credit providers in Southeast Asia have primarily been pan-Asia funds or global managers with an Asia mandate, such as KKR, Blackstone, PAG, OCP Asia and Dignari Capital Partners, as well as some Southeast Asia-based investors like SeaTown Holdings and Indies Capital, which is focused on tech assets.