Highland hires Investcorp MD

Highland Capital Management has hired Brian Rice to join the firm’s New York office, the firm announced in a statement. Rice has joined the firm as a managing director and will be responsible for developing strategic relationships in the US and Europe.

Rice will develop relationships with institutional investors, consultants and wealth management platforms to help meet their investment needs across the firm’s alternative investments platform, including private equity, the firm said.

Prior to joining Highland, Rice held similar responsibilities as a managing director and partner at alternative asset manager Investcorp International. He has also worked in business development at the Trust Company of the West and Atlantic Investment. He spent 10 years at Deutsche Bank in New York as a managing director and global head of sales for the bank’s absolute returns and hedge fund practice.

Highland Capital Management was founded in 1993 by James Dondero and Mark Okada. The Dallas-based firm has around $23 billion in assets under management.

Last month, the firm’s joint venture with oil and gas investment firm PetroCap, the Falcon E&P Opportunities fund, closed on $163.2 million. The fund focuses on direct investments in onshore oil and gas assets in the continental US, and has already invested around $60 million in capital across five investments in Texas, Kansas and Wyoming. According to managing director Alec Neville, Falcon specialises in targeting smaller clusters of already productive wells, where it would be difficult for larger firms to obtain economies of scale.