Dean Criares

Dean T. Criares is a Managing Director, Head of Credit at DigitalBridge. Mr. Criares has over 30 years of experience investing in credit products with specialties in leveraged finance, structured products and capital markets.

Prior to DigitalBridge, Mr. Criares was a co-managing partner of Sound Harbor Partners, a private investment manager focused on non-investment grade corporate credit. In 2017, Sound Harbor was acquired by Allianz Global Investors where, until joining DigitalBridge, Mr. Criares continued to advise the funds previously managed by Sound Harbor Partners.

Prior to Sound Harbor, Mr. Criares was a Senior Managing Director and partner of The Blackstone Group where he was the founding member of the firm’s senior debt platform. Mr. Criares joined Blackstone in 2002 and built the firm’s senior debt business to scale with offices in New York and London.

Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Criares spent 17 years at CIBC World Markets with focus on sourcing, underwriting and monitoring non-investment grade credit investments. From 1997 to 2001, Mr. Criares served as original member of Trimaran Advisors, a CIBC affiliated asset manager, where he was responsible for growing and managing the unit’s $3.0 billion senior debt portfolio.

Mr. Criares received a Bachelor of Arts from Drew University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.