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Investment Banker·Specialty Finance

Randy Takian

President and Co-Founder at CCS Partners

New York, NY

RT
Why they matter

Co-founded and runs CCS Partners, a $4B credit platform, after 25+ years leading credit businesses at Avenue Capital and Bank of America.

Background

Randy Takian is Co-Founder and President of CCS Partners, a New York-based credit manager focused on structured and private asset-based finance that he launched in August 2024 alongside CIO Rob Kinderman, raising roughly $4 billion in initial commitments. He brings 25+ years in consumer and corporate credit, most recently as head of Bank of America's Wealth Management Banking & Lending business (a $200B+ credit portfolio with $30B+ in annual originations), and earlier led Avenue Capital Group's performing and stressed credit funds business. He holds a B.A. in Economics and International Relations from Brown University (1996).

Notable deals

  • 2024
    Co-founded CCS Partners, a structured/asset-based credit manager that officially launched and secured roughly $4 billion in commitments for risk-transfer trades, securities and loans
  • 2022
    Retained and expanded oversight of Bank of America's Wealth Management Banking & Lending business (~$200B credit portfolio, $30B+ annual originations) in a leadership reshuffle under Katy Knox

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Co-Founder & President of CCS Partners (launched Aug 2024), a structured/private asset-based credit manager alongside CIO Rob Kinderman (ex-Ellington Management)
  • 25+ years in consumer and corporate credit: most recently ran Bank of America's Wealth Management Banking & Lending unit ($200B+ portfolio, $30B+ annual originations); earlier led Avenue Capital's performing and stressed credit business; started in corporate strategy at Bank of America
  • Brown University, B.A. Economics & International Relations (1996)

Current focus

  • Scaling CCS Partners' ~$4B platform into risk-transfer trades, asset-based loans and structured securities — the firm sits squarely in the private-credit-fills-the-bank-gap trend
  • Building out a team pulled from Ellington, Pretium and RBC

What he cares about

  • Institutionalizing a new platform quickly: fundraising credibility, risk infrastructure, and differentiated sourcing (esp. bank capital-relief / significant risk transfer trades)
  • His background suggests a bias toward disciplined, cycle-tested underwriting over growth-at-all-costs

Sensitivities

  • Still early-stage (launched under a year ago) — may be cautious discussing LP names, fund performance, or specific deal pipeline
  • Departure context from BofA/Avenue not publicly detailed; avoid framing questions as leading on why he left

Questions to ask

  1. How is CCS Partners differentiating its risk-transfer/asset-based sourcing from bank-affiliated and other new entrant credit platforms?
  2. What lessons from BofA's wealth lending book and Avenue's stressed-credit cycles are shaping CCS's underwriting standards?
  3. What's the near-term roadmap for the $4B in commitments — deployment pace, sector focus, warehouse/ABS structures?

Outreach draft

Subject
Quick call on CCS Partners' new credit platform?
Hi Randy, Congrats on getting CCS Partners off the ground — the pivot into structured and asset-based credit, backed by your BofA and Avenue Capital track record, caught our attention. We work with a private equity deal team active in specialty finance and lending, and we're mapping how new credit platforms like yours are approaching risk-transfer and asset-based deal flow. Would you be open to a 20-minute call to share your perspective on where you're seeing the best opportunities right now? Happy to work around your schedule. Best, [Placeholder Name]

Linked companies

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