SMBC hired Thomas Bergen as managing director and head of private credit within its strategic credit products department. In this role, Bergen will be responsible for managing and growing SMBC’s third-party investor strategy.

“We are very pleased and excited to have Tom join the company,” Glenn Autorino, managing director and head of strategic credit products for SMBC’s Americas division, said. “Tom brings to our organization a significant depth of experience overseeing the private credit business in his prior roles and is the ideal fit for this position. We look forward to his contribution.”

Before joining SMBC, Bergen spent six years at Morgan Stanley, most recently as managing director, portfolio manager and head of the North Haven senior loan fund program. In that role, Bergen was responsible for structuring fund and SMA arrangements, sourcing investors and managing all aspects of the program’s investment sourcing, selection, approval and portfolio management.

Bergen was also with GE Capital for three years as senior vice president in capital markets, covering middle-market leveraged finance opportunities, and was with PriCap Advisors for four years, managing fixed-income portfolios. Prior to that, he was a member of the syndicated and leveraged finance group at J.P. Morgan Securities for seven years in roles of increasing responsibility related to the origination and execution of syndicated leveraged loan and high yield bond financings.