Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Hires Brett Messing

(Bloomberg) -- Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital has hired Brett Messing in a newly created role of president to assist in day-to-day management as the investment firm develops new offerings that include a REIT fund set to launch next month.

Messing joins from GPS Partners LLC, a Santa Monica, California-based $2.5 billion hedge fund that he helped found. Prior to that, he served as a managing director at Neuberger Berman and a partner at Oscar Capital Management. Messing has also held various roles at Goldman Sachs. At SkyBridge, he’ll work closely with co-managing partner Ray Nolte and Scaramucci.

“Brett Messing brings a wealth of management and business development experience to the SkyBridge team as we launch the SkyBridge Opportunity Zone REIT Fund on Dec. 1,” Scaramucci said in an interview. “The private REIT fund will target $3 billion in capital and focus on investments in the approximately 8,700 designated opportunity zones in economically depressed areas.”

Messing served under Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as co-chief operating officer for economic and business policy. He was also a senior adviser at C40 Cities, a group taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that receives funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies. His sister is actress Debra Messing, who stars on NBC’s “Will & Grace.”

SkyBridge said its flagship Series G fund of funds is up 6.09 percent this year as of Oct. 31. That compares to an estimated 1.78 percent decline in the HFRI Fund of Funds Composite Index, SkyBridge said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gregory Calderone in New York at gcalderone7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Will Daley

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