EJF's Manny Friedman Says He Sees Opportunities in Small Banks

(Bloomberg) -- Manny Friedman, chief executive officer of hedge fund EJF Capital, said he sees big opportunities in small banks as the Trump administration puts in rules that favors them over their larger competitors.

Friedman said he likes banks under $10 billion and has invested about $7 billion in the lenders, mostly in their debt, which he says is a $30 billion market.

“There is literally a revolution taking place where they are getting the advantage of massive pendulum swing toward deregulation as the Reserve Board, Congress and the administration all put in rules in favor of small banks,” Friedman said in an interview with Bloomberg Television at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California.

“They have huge advantages over large banks, therefore they are growing at 8 percent, plus with mergers, they are growing 12, 15 percent and that becomes a positive feedback loop,” he said.

Friedman also commented on private credit, which he said has already had its “heyday.”

“It's now under pressure everywhere,” he said.

--With assistance from Erik Schatzker

To contact the reporter on this story: Saijel Kishan in New York at skishan@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, Mary Romano

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