Chief Valuation Officer, Keystone National Group

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Job Description

Company Overview

Keystone National Group (“Keystone”), an affiliate of Virtus Investment Partners, is a private credit investment manager specializing in asset-backed lending and asset-centric credit strategies. Keystone combines deep investment expertise with disciplined underwriting, rigorous risk management, and a focus on capital preservation and attractive risk-adjusted outcomes. As part of Virtus Investment Partners’ multi-boutique model, Keystone maintains investment autonomy while benefiting from Virtus’ broader resources, distribution capabilities, and institutional infrastructure.

Position Summary

Keystone is seeking an experienced Chief Valuation Officer (“CVO”) to lead the firm’s valuation function. The CVO will be responsible for valuation governance, methodologies, policies, procedures, controls, and reporting across Keystone’s investment strategies and fund structures.

The CVO will ensure that investment valuations are determined, reviewed, approved, documented, and reported in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“U.S. GAAP”), including ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement, and applicable regulatory and fund-governance requirements. The role will have particular responsibility for Level 3 investments, where significant valuation inputs are unobservable and conclusions require substantial professional judgment.

The CVO will provide independent valuation leadership while partnering with portfolio management, underwriting, finance, fund accounting, risk, compliance, legal, operations, technology, executive leadership, and relevant Virtus functions. The role will also support Keystone’s registered investment company valuation responsibilities under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and SEC Rule 2a-5.

Key Responsibilities:

Valuation Leadership and Governance

• Lead Keystone’s valuation function and maintain a consistent, independent, and scalable valuation framework across investment products, strategies, and fund structures.

• Develop and maintain valuation policies, procedures, governance standards, internal controls, documentation requirements, and escalation protocols.

• Chair or provide senior leadership to Keystone’s valuation committee and oversee the review, challenge, approval, and escalation of valuation conclusions.

• Maintain appropriate independence and segregation among investment decision-making, portfolio management, valuation oversight, fund accounting, and financial reporting.

• Provide leadership with timely insight into significant valuation matters, methodology changes, portfolio trends, and emerging risks; align with relevant Virtus accounting, governance, and risk expectations.

U.S. GAAP and Private Credit Valuation

• Oversee fair value measurements under U.S. GAAP and ASC Topic 820, including appropriate classification within the Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 fair value hierarchy.
• Lead valuation of private credit, direct lending, asset-backed lending, real estate-related credit, and other illiquid or complex investments.
• Ensure valuation conclusions reflect market-participant assumptions, maximize relevant observable inputs, and appropriately support significant unobservable inputs.
• Evaluate methodologies including discounted cash flow, yield analysis, comparable transactions, market multiples, enterprise-value, collateral-based, and recovery approaches.
• Review key assumptions, including discount rates, credit and liquidity spreads, market yields, expected cash flows, collateral values, default probabilities, recovery expectations, and prepayment or extension assumptions.
• Oversee valuations of stressed, distressed, restructured, non-accrual, or non-performing investments and ensure material credit developments are appropriately reflected.
• Partner with Finance and Fund Accounting to support financial statements, fair value hierarchy classifications, Level 3 disclosures, investment schedules, and related U.S. GAAP reporting.

Methodologies, Testing, and Controls

• Establish and oversee initial calibration of valuation models to transaction prices, when appropriate, considering each investment’s structure, terms, risks, and market conditions.
• Maintain a testing program that includes back-testing, calibration and disposition analysis, transaction comparisons, variance analysis, model validation, and sensitivity analysis.
• Evaluate significant valuation movements and compare prior valuations with subsequent transactions, repayments, restructurings, refinancings, sales, or exits.
• Ensure methodology changes, valuation overrides, price challenges, model adjustments, exceptions, and significant judgments are reviewed, approved, and documented.
• Maintain controls over models, spreadsheets, data inputs, access, and change management, as well as audit-ready and examination-ready valuation files.
• Oversee selection, due diligence, monitoring, and performance assessment of independent valuation firms, pricing services, brokers, and other third-party providers.

Registered Fund and Rule 2a-5 Oversight

• Support the valuation responsibilities of Keystone’s registered funds and the applicable valuation designee under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and SEC Rule 2a-5.
• Periodically assess material valuation risks related to investment type, liquidity, conflicts, data quality, valuation models, pricing sources, and significant unobservable inputs.
• Oversee consistent application and periodic testing of fair value methodologies and the evaluation and challenge of pricing services.
• Prepare valuation reporting for fund boards, valuation committees, executive leadership, auditors, and other governance bodies, and maintain required supporting records.

Executive and Cross-Functional Leadership

• Serve as Keystone’s senior valuation contact for executive leadership, fund boards, independent auditors, regulators, fund administrators, trustees, and external valuation firms.
• Partner with portfolio managers and underwriting teams to understand investment theses, borrower performance, credit developments, collateral, and market conditions relevant to valuation.
• Advise leadership on the valuation implications of new funds, products, strategies, asset classes, and complex transactions.
• Recruit, develop, and lead valuation professionals and promote independence, accountability, transparency, constructive challenge, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, economics, business, mathematics, or a related discipline required; MBA, CFA, CPA, ASA, ABV, or another relevant designation strongly preferred.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive experience in valuation, private credit, investment management, financial advisory, portfolio finance, audit, or transaction advisory, including significant senior leadership responsibility.
• Deep expertise in U.S. GAAP and ASC Topic 820, including significant experience with Level 3 investments and unobservable inputs.
• Demonstrated expertise valuing private credit, direct lending, asset-backed lending, real estate-related credit, and other illiquid or complex financial instruments.
• Strong command of discounted cash flow, yield, market-comparable, transaction, enterprise-value, collateral-based, and recovery methodologies.
• Experience with valuation calibration, back-testing, model validation, disposition analysis, sensitivity analysis, and fair value disclosures.
• Strong knowledge of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and SEC Rule 2a-5, including valuation-risk assessment, methodology testing, pricing-service oversight, recordkeeping, and board reporting.
• Experience presenting complex valuation matters to executive leadership, valuation committees, fund boards, auditors, and regulators. Experience with tender offer funds, interval funds, business development companies, or similar alternative investment structures strongly preferred.

The anticipated base salary range for this position is $250,000 to $350,000, plus eligibility for annual incentive compensation. The actual starting salary will vary based on education, experience, skills, geographic location, internal equity, and alignment with market data.