As president and CEO of the $5 billion financial corporation ORIX USA, Jim Thompson guided investments and helped buy up a number of operating businesses, including Houlihan Lokey, RED Capital, and Mariner Investment Group. Now he has left to launch his own company, Preston Hollow Capital. With $100 million in commitments, the Dallas-based firm will pursue fixed-income, private equity, venture capital, and alternative investment strategies.
Thompson said in a statement that it seemed like a good time to launch a non-bank platform.
“With the new restrictive banking regulations and the acceleration of the economic recovery, the investment opportunity set is robust,” he said. “We see attractive opportunities in current financial markets that are reminiscent of the beginning of the ORIX journey in 1990.”
Back then, Thompson said, he and a colleague brought to ORIX the idea of securitizing commercial mortgages, a novel concept at the time. “Over the intervening 22 years, our nascent effort in the CMBS business became the company that is today ORIX USA,” he said.
Preston Hollow Capital plans to hire about 25 investment professionals this year, and is seeking people with diverse financial, investment, and portfolio management backgrounds. It’s also considering opportunities to partner with institutional investors, such as endowments and pension funds, as well as family offices and sovereign wealth funds.
