Canyon Partners hires Jay Kim to lead $5B asset-backed financing venture

Canyon Partners just made one of the more consequential hires in structured finance this year. The firm brought on Jay Kim, a veteran of Credit Suisse and former CEO of ATLAS SP Partners, to build and run a brand-new asset-backed financing platform with plans to originate north of $5B in loans every year.

The vehicle, called Canyon ABF Partners (CAP), launched on June 9, 2026 as a permanent capital structure. Its mission: provide financing to specialty lenders and regional banks, two corners of the financial system that have been increasingly underserved by traditional capital sources.

What Canyon is actually building

Canyon ABF Partners will originate asset-backed loans, meaning it will lend against pools of underlying assets like consumer loans, equipment leases, or receivables. Instead of lending money based on a borrower’s promise to pay, the loans are secured by actual, identifiable cash flows from real assets.

The $5B annual origination target is aggressive but not outlandish for someone with Kim’s background. At ATLAS SP Partners, he ran one of the more prominent structured finance platforms in the market. Before that, he spent considerable time at Credit Suisse in roles tied directly to this kind of lending infrastructure.

Kim joins Canyon as a Partner, which signals this isn’t a side project or an exploratory desk.

The primary borrowers CAP will serve are specialty lenders and regional banks. These are institutions that originate loans themselves but need warehouse financing or balance sheet support to keep the machine running.

Why this matters right now

Unlike a closed-end fund with a defined investment period, a permanent capital vehicle can deploy and recycle capital continuously. That makes it a more attractive counterparty for borrowers who need ongoing relationships, not one-off transactions.

Canyon Partners has had exposure to asset-backed strategies before. But the creation of a standalone vehicle with its own dedicated leadership represents a meaningful escalation.

What this means for investors

The Jay Kim hire is the differentiator Canyon is banking on. His track record running ATLAS SP Partners and his time in Credit Suisse’s structured finance operations give him deep relationships with exactly the types of borrowers CAP is targeting.

No performance history or specific asset class breakdowns have been disclosed, which means investors will be underwriting Kim’s reputation and Canyon’s platform rather than a proven track record for this particular vehicle.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.