Australia’s Queensland Investment Corp (QIC) has hired Simon La Greca from US alternative investment firm Ares Management as head of private debt.
He succeeds Andrew Jones, who is now deputy chair of QIC’s private debt investment committee and strategy adviser.
“Simon is a highly respected investor with global experience and strong industry relationships,” QIC Chief Executive Kylie Rampa says in a statement announcing the appointment on February 23.
La Greca was a partner and head of infrastructure debt Asia at Ares Management, where he was responsible for investing in mezzanine infrastructure debt assets. Before that, he was a partner and head of infrastructure debt Asia at Australia’s AMP Capital.
QIC, the investment arm of the Queensland state government, launched its private debt capability in 2021 and says it now has around US$850 million of committed capital and assets in the private debt portfolio.
QIC had A$98.7 billion ($67.9 billion) of assets as of June 2022.
