GoldenTree partner who led crypto push set to leave firm

Joseph Naggar, a long-time partner at GoldenTree Asset Management who had been instrumental to its expansion into crypto, is set to leave the company, according to two people familiar with the matter. His exit leaves the fate of the firm's crypto unit uncertain.

GoldenTree informed investors of Naggar's impending departure several weeks ago, according to one of the people. Both sources said Naggar had been a key driver of GoldenTree's expansion into crypto, which saw it invest in dozens of startups in the sector.

The asset manager is now exploring various options for how to take its crypto arm forward, including potentially spinning it off, they added.

GoldenTree and Naggar did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment, and telephone calls went unanswered. Naggar does not appear on a GoldenTree webpage that lists members of the Executive Committee to which he was appointed to in 2011.

GoldenTree is a New York-based asset management giant that managed more than $51 billion in assets as of Sept. 1, according to its website. It specializes in credit opportunities, including high yield bonds, leveraged loans, private credit, distressed debt, structured products, emerging markets, private equity and credit-themed equities.

The company was founded by Steven Tananbaum in 2000. Naggar joined as a partner and head of structured products in 2007 from Morgan Stanley, where he spent a decade as a managing director in the bank’s Global Principal Credit Group. He had earlier run global trading and U.S. capital markets for CDOs at Morgan Stanley.

Naggar is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) alumnus, according to his LinkedIn profile.

GoldenTree's investments in crypto

GoldenTree began investing in the crypto sector in 2021. Since then, the company has participated as an investor in 26 deals, according to The Block Research data. Its portfolio includes the likes of Ledn, Anchorage Digital, Stader Labs, Trust Machines and Ondo Finance.

In March 2022, it appointed Avi Felman as head of digital assets trading, reporting to Naggar, who it said oversaw the firm's crypto investments. Felman was also made a general partner of GoldenChain, a subsidiary set up to manage the funds launched by GoldenTree that focused on digital assets.

Felman was previously a co-portfolio manager and head of trading at BlockTower Capital. In the announcement in March 2022, GoldenTree said its partners had been investing in crypto personally for years and saw "an attractive and increasing opportunity set that can be captured in GoldenTree's opportunistic strategies."

Naggar himself said in a statement at the time that the digital asset ecosystem was "increasingly relevant" for institutional investors.

"I am confident GoldenTree's rigorous fundamental and relative value driven process, as well as our robust risk management infrastructure, will position the firm well to deliver differentiated returns in the asset class," he added.