AICA Member Profile: CION Investments

CION Investments (CION) is an open-source solutions provider and a leading manager and distributor of alternative investment solutions designed to redefine the way individual investors build their portfolios and meet their long-term investment goals.

The New York City-based firm was formed in 2011 by its Co-Founders and Co-Chief Executive Officers Mark Gatto and Michael A. Reisner, but is backed by more than 30 years of experience in the alternative asset management industry. CION is a fully integrated firm, with additional offices in Los Angeles and Miami and a staff of about 90 people.

CION sponsors several products and investment industry solutions, including CION Investment Corporation, a debt-focused business development company (BDC) with the NYSE ticker symbol “CION”. The publicly listed BDC has approximately $2.0 billion in total assets and primarily provides senior secured loans to U.S. middle-market companies.

CION Investment Management, which manages and administers the BDC’s investment portfolio, consists of a senior team of highly experienced, dedicated professionals that specialize in private credit and leveraged finance.

CION also sponsors, through CION Ares Management, the CION Ares Diversified Credit Fund, a globally diversified interval fund that has approximately $6.0 billion in total assets. The interval fund’s investment objective is to provide superior risk-adjusted returns across various market cycles by investing in a diverse portfolio of liquid and illiquid credit asset classes.

CION’s other investment industry solutions include:

CION Securities: A robust retail distribution platform that provides investors with direct access to best-in-class investment solutions through CION’s in-house expertise and core partnerships.
CREM Capital: A real estate manager that sources and invests in investment-grade student housing projects and other specialized real estate opportunities.
Advisor I/O: A content marketing platform and coaching system built for the independent financial advisor.

Mark Gatto, Co-CEO, says CION aims to serve the retail investor by exposing them to institutional asset managers that the firm believes are as good or better than the global giants that dominate the investment space but are less well-known and/or resourced.

“Our philosophy is that we want to be a provider of best-in-class alternative investments to the retail investor, and we think that means partnering with those firms that truly are best-in-class in their respective assets.” – Mark Gatto, CION Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer

CION Investment Corporation

CION Investment Corporation is a leading publicly listed BDC that had approximately $2.0 billion in total assets as of June 30, 2024. The BDC’s objective is to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, capital appreciation for investors by focusing primarily on senior secured loans to U.S. middle-market companies. CION Investment Corporation is advised by CION Investment Management, LLC, a registered investment adviser and an affiliate of the BDC.

The BDC’s portfolio highlights as of June 30, 2024 include:

107 portfolio companies
85.1% senior secured debt
81.1% floating rate investments
Primary industry allocations in business services and healthcare and pharma

“We are a firm that is generally agnostic to industry,” says Gatto. “We do a deeper dive to look for special opportunities across the board. Healthcare, however, has been one of those sectors that we like because the population is aging and it incorporates a lot of technology that we can tap into. And it’s a sector we know well and have experience in.”

Q&A with Mark Gatto

Where do you see CION in three years?

We’re going to continue to focus on being that open-architecture solution provider for the retail investor. That means continuously building products for our advisors so they have choices. Our next product will be an infrastructure fund structured as an interval fund, and we expect to add two more funds after that in more or less the same three-year timeframe.

Why did you decide to join the Active Investment Company Alliance?

We want to associate ourselves with best-in-class organizations, and AICA is at the forefront of the closed-end fund world. It’s a function of helping people become more aware of these types of products and how they can potentially benefit retail investors.

What do you like most about our industry?

I like the fact that we’re able to give individual investors the opportunity to be on a level playing field with large institutions. That’s always been our goal when we started this business … and to do it in a thoughtful way that makes it accessible to individual investors. To see the industry grow right in front of our eyes is an amazing thing.

Learn more about CION Investments and review the profile of CION at CEFData.com.