Story

Simple solutions to complex problems – the story behind NorthWall

Our philosophy is rooted in insight, precision, and a commitment to excellence—principles that underpin our culture, and in fact our name…

NorthWall Capital is named after the famous north face of the Eiger Mountain in Switzerland, known as the “Nordwand” (North Wall) in German. The Eiger Nordwand is the largest north-facing vertical face of the Alps, and due to its complexity was the last to be climbed. It claimed the lives of many climbers in a long series of failed attempts to be the first to conquer this this challenging mountain.

Eventually, in 1938, the climber Andreas Heckmair climbed the face using a new route that became known as the “Heckmair Route”. Since the discovery of this line, climbing the North Wall of the Eiger became a more manageable challenge, and accidents happened less frequently.

There are similarities between the story of climbing this mountain and the process of thoughtful investing: we also try to unravel complex problems, and while we won’t run up a North Wall, we try to minimize the risk through careful diligence and the elimination of perceived complexity.

Our core values

NorthWall’s core values are deeply ingrained in our firm, helping us deliver our mission of securing exceptional outcomes for our investors, counterparties, and team members.

Partnership First

We establish long-term partnerships with our stakeholders, fostering collaboration and mutual success.

Excellence

We believe in delivering excellence, acting with clear intent to secure the best possible outcomes for our stakeholders.

Integrity

We recognize the trust placed in our firm by our investors, counterparties and team, and honor their trust with integrity.

Our journey

Since our founding in 2017, NorthWall Capital has grown from a small team to an established European credit specialist, managing global institutional capital. With each year brings key milestones: our journey continues to evolve, driven by the growth and success of our investment strategies, transactions, and team.

2017

Foundations

NorthWall Capital is founded by Fabian Chrobog, alongside Alexander Garnier and former COO Ian Lokkerbol. As we originate our first investments, we start the tradition of our famous Friday team lunches.

We soon outgrow the free desks offered to us by friends of the firm and move to our first office in St. James’s, hiring our first investment team members.

2018

Strategy comes to life

The team make their first investments utilizing institutional capital, demonstrating the viability of their strategy at scale. The firm grows as we add across the firm’s functions bringing onboard Asset Management and Investor Relations team members.

2019

AUM growth

AUM grows to over €300m across a range of single-strategy funds. NorthWall focuses on complex credit opportunities, providing capital solutions for counterparties, and acquiring distressed asset portfolios.

This year also brought the official launch of the firm’s legal assets platform, demonstrating the firm’s unique credit-like approach to litigation finance.

2020

Flagship fund launch

Covid strikes, but thanks to a group of committed investors we hold the first closing of the first vintage of NorthWall’s flagship fund series, NWEOF I. With over twenty deals undertaken, the firm’s reputation a European credit specialist is growing.

During Covid our team lunches are replaced with daily Zoom meetings.

2021

Market favors strategy

The market environment becomes increasingly favorable for NorthWall’s strategy, leading to the firm’s largest annual deployment to date across 13 credit investments.

2022

Launch of 2nd vintage of flagship fund

The team move to a new office location in Soho, London, with a large kitchen table that can accommodate everyone for lunch at the same time.

New hires are made across all business functions, bringing the team total to 23.

As NWEOF I holds its final close, the firm’s rapid deployment leads to the almost immediate launch of the second vintage of NorthWall’s flagship fund series, NWEOF II.

2023

Growth of AUM, Deployment and Realizations

NorthWall’s AUM surpasses €1bn as the firm continues to attract global institutional capital into its flagship credit funds. Meanwhile, deployment and realizations within the Credit Opportunities strategy approach €1bn and €620m, respectively (as of Q4).

2024

Launching funds around new strategies

NWEOF II holds a successful final close, exceeding its €400m target with a total fundraise of €640m. Meanwhile, the firm’s asset-backed, legal assets and senior lending strategies continue to hit new milestones.

2025

NorthWall targets new office locations

Watch this space…

Our founders

Fabian Chrobog is the Founder of NorthWall Capital, founding the firm 2017. Fabian chairs the firm’s Investment Committee and is responsible for setting the firm’s strategy.

Fabian has over two decades of experience in the financial services industry, investing in European credit since 2005. Before launching NorthWall, Fabian was a founding partner at Warwick Capital Partners.

Fabian started his career as an investment banker at Bear Stearns in New York, and at Goldman Sachs in London.

Alexander Garnier is the Founding Partner and Portfolio Manager of NorthWall Capital. He sits on NorthWall’s Investment Committee, and has been involved in all the firm’s investments to date.

Prior to NorthWall, Alexander held senior positions at several leading financial institutions including JP Morgan and Bain Capital Credit, where he gained extensive experience in originating, analyzing and executing complex investments across a range of asset classes and geographies.

Alex is also a qualified lawyer, and plays a key role in deal structuring and management.