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The following series features interviews with black negotiators and pioneers in the private equity and finance community. To help us spotlight professionals who are making a difference in their career paths, please email Greg Kilpatrick at [email protected] and Gerald Thomas at [email protected].
Q: What attracted you to private credit?
Kenneth Saffold: It is an evolution over time. After business school, I started in asset management at Goldman Sachs. That’s when I started working on the credit side.
I left Goldman to join GE Capital in its healthcare-focused leveraged finance group. It was then that I really understood what the world of private credit involves. I stayed there for about nine years before leaving in 2017 to join a Los Angeles-based private credit fund called Tennenbaum Capital Partners. We were finally acquired by BlackRock in 2018. I’ve been here ever since.
What attracted me to the world of private credit, besides how my career has unfolded, is the opportunity to work in partnership with entrepreneurs and private equity partners to grow a business and have an impact within that business – the business and the community it serves. I think this is important and it has always attracted me to the industry.
Q: Why is it important to have more diversity within the alternatives?
KS: Currently, the number of black professionals in the alternative space is quite dismal. I saw a statistic that said that less than 8% of all senior positions in private equity identify as African American.
The flip side is that when you look at the performance of companies that identify themselves as the most diverse, they are generally in the top third in terms of performance in the industry. It’s important to note that diversity – ethnic diversity, gender diversity, diversity of thought – does play a role in performance. It provides an additional benefit to investors as there is a diversity of thoughts, ideas and reflections that can ultimately translate into good performance for a fund.
Q: What do diversity, equity and inclusion mean to you?
KS: There are ethnic minorities, then there are underserved ethnic minorities. When I think of underserved populations, I think more specifically of black, Latin and Native American populations who are underserved, both in society and in the alternative space. While I think it’s good to have a diversity of people, I think targeting these underserved communities is as important as anything because these are communities that are often overlooked.
Q: What do you think is the biggest challenge facing black entrepreneurs? What advice would you give to overcome it?
KS: In my opinion, the biggest challenge facing black entrepreneurs is access to capital. There have been several initiatives on Wall Street in recent years with a hyper emphasis on diversity and inclusion that attempt to change this dynamic. BlackRock is one of those efforts. You can’t participate in capitalism if you don’t have capital. This makes it a challenge for entrepreneurs who may have some really good ideas but can’t get the funding. As much as I’m trying to find ways to streamline this process, I want to do it.
My advice is that more companies should strive to improve access to capital for these entrepreneurs, because it is a gaping hole.
Q: Who are examples of people who have inspired you in private markets and why?
KS: This is probably primarily Robert Smith of Vista Equity Partners. In 2019, he take an oath at my undergraduate institution, Morehouse College, to pay off all of the class’s student debt. Succeeding in the alternative space and then giving back to the community is for me the “holy grail” of success in life.
Likewise, a few other names come to mind. Kneeland Youngblood is the head of Pharos Capital. He has been a mentor of mine and extremely helpful, both professionally and personally.
recently Willie woods, Director of ICV Partners and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Morehouse. Since I was a senior at Morehouse, even before he founded ICV, Willie has mentored me and helped me a lot in my career development. He is someone whom I hold in the highest regard.
About Kenneth Saffold
Kenneth Saffold is a director and member of BlackRock’s Global Credit Platform, where he is responsible for creating and executing private credit investment opportunities across the United States on the $ 30 billion worth of assets under group management. Saffold is also a member of the BlackRock Atlanta Innovation Hub leadership team. Prior to BlackRock, Saffold held positions at GE Capital and Goldman Sachs.
Saffold is currently a member of the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Investment Committee and a member of the Atlanta Zoo Board. He is also Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Northside Youth Organization and previously served as Chairman of the Emory Board of Visitors. Saffold is a member of the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2017 and is a frequent speaker and panelist for the Association for Corporate Growth, Health South Connect and Capital Roundtable of New York. He received his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his BA from Morehouse College. Saffold lives in Atlanta with his wife Akilah and two children, KJ and Eva.
To contact Kenneth Saffold, send an email to [email protected].
