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Encina Capital Partners
Andrew Salter founded Encina Capital Partners in 2014 after Oaktree; the specialty finance platform has deployed over $6 billion across more than 200...
Encina Capital Partners
Andrew Salter founded Encina Capital Partners in 2014 after serving as a partner at Oaktree Capital Management. The firm was built from day one to originate and service private credit solutions for middle-market companies and direct lenders in the U.S. and Canada. Unlike a traditional asset manager raising blind-pool funds, Encina launched distinct lending affiliates to address specific market gaps, a structure that later allowed it to sell pieces to larger institutions. Encina Private Credit provides $15 million to $150 million first-out enterprise-value loans to direct lenders as part of unitranche solutions for PE-sponsored and non-sponsored borrowers. Encina Lender Finance offers $50 million to $150 million unitranche and first-out credit facilities to emerging specialty finance companies with granular consumer and SMB loan portfolios. The firm operates across two primary countries — the U.S. and Canada — and covers the corporate and consumer-specialty lending segments. Its original equipment-finance and business-credit affiliates were bought by Benefit Street Partners and Barings, respectively, in 2021, while its real estate bridge-lending arm iBorrow continues as a separate operating business in Los Angeles. Salter built Encina with a core team that includes Chief Investment Officer and Partner Willie Brasser, formerly Chief Risk Officer at GE Capital Americas. The firm maintains offices in Norwalk, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Atlanta. Its principals are active in industry associations including the Secured Finance Network, the Real Estate Finance Association, and the Urban Land Institute. Philanthropically, the firm supports the Friends of Warner Parks. In 2021, Encina sold Encina Equipment Finance to Benefit Street Partners and Encina Business Credit to Barings, reshaping the platform around its private credit and lender-finance businesses. Encina's architecture is defined by a strategic-affiliate model rather than a unified general-partner fund. Lender Finance was launched in partnership with Oaktree, and the firm's subsequent sale of two verticals in 2021 crystallized its role as an incubator and operator of lending platforms rather than a permanent asset gatherer. That posture makes it a deal-by-deal counterparty to direct lenders, not a competitor for LP commitments, which distinguishes its model from a standard credit fund.
General information
Firm type
Generalist
Year founded
2014
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Norwalk
Corporate office
Norwalk, CT, United States
Additional offices
Los Angeles, CA · Nashville, TN · Atlanta, GA
Principals
Andrew Salter
Founder, Chairman, and CEO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Encina Capital Partners?
Founder, Chairman, and CEO Andrew Salter set the strategic direction and launched the firm's lending affiliates based on his experience at Oaktree Capital Management's Principal Group. Investment decisions for each vertical are led by dedicated partners — Willie Brasser serves as Chief Investment Officer and Partner for the overall platform, bringing his prior risk-management expertise from GE Capital Americas. Individual lending businesses, such as Encina Private Credit and Encina Lender Finance, operate under their specific investment committees.
Is Encina structured as a single firm or a federation of lending platforms?
Encina operates through distinct affiliated lending platforms rather than a single pooled fund. Encina Private Credit and Encina Lender Finance remain the active direct-lending entities, while the firm previously spun out Encina Equipment Finance to Benefit Street Partners and Encina Business Credit to Barings in 2021. Its real estate bridge-lending arm, iBorrow, runs as a separate operating business from Los Angeles.
Does Encina participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
Encina positions itself as a direct origination and servicing platform that provides private credit solutions through deal-by-deal and facility-level commitments, not by investing into third-party funds. Encina Private Credit partners with direct lenders on unitranche solutions, and Encina Lender Finance extends credit facilities to specialty finance companies that originate granular portfolios of consumer and SMB loans.
What investment stages or loan sizes does Encina typically target?
Encina Private Credit targets $15 million to $150 million first-out enterprise-value loans within broader unitranche packages for PE-sponsored and non-sponsored borrowers. Encina Lender Finance provides $50 million to $150 million unitranche or first-out credit facilities to specialty finance platforms that originate short- to intermediate-duration consumer and small-business assets.
How does Encina source deal flow?
Encina's origination model relies on direct relationships with middle-market companies, private equity sponsors, and specialty finance lenders across the U.S. and Canada. The firm has funded over 200 borrowers since inception, and its leadership — including Andrew Salter and Willie Brasser — leverage institutional relationships built over decades at Oaktree, GE Capital, and other large credit platforms.
Which institutions have previously acquired Encina's lending affiliates?
In 2021, Benefit Street Partners purchased Encina Equipment Finance and Barings acquired Encina Business Credit. Both transactions were disclosed by the firm as strategic sales that narrowed Encina's focus to its core private credit and lender-finance businesses while crystallizing the platform's incubation model.
What is Encina's relationship with Oaktree Capital Management?
Founder Andrew Salter launched Encina after his tenure as a partner in Oaktree's Principal Group. Oaktree subsequently served as a strategic partner and affiliate in the launch of Encina Lender Finance, a relationship that provided institutional backing and industry credibility to the new platform. That affiliate partnership does not appear to have altered Encina's independent operational control or branding.
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