Luke Darkow is a Portfolio Manager at Aperture Investors, bringing over 13 years of experience in investing with a specialization in litigation finance private credit investments. Throughout his career, he has been instrumental in sourcing, analyzing, structuring, and managing investments, deploying more than $1 billion into the litigation finance asset class. Luke leverages a well-established network of plaintiff law firms and legal service providers to access and originate opportunities within this specialized field.
Before Aperture, Luke was a Principal and Portfolio Manager at Victory Park Capital, where he led a litigation finance asset-based lending strategy. His background also includes roles at TPG Capital and Morgan Stanley, further enriching his expertise in finance and investment management. Luke holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a focus on Finance – Applied Investment Management from Marquette University.
Company Name and Description: Aperture Investors is an alternative asset manager founded by Peter Kraus, focusing on specialized credit and equity strategies across global markets. The firm aims to generate compelling returns in capacity-limited strategies, emphasizing a client-centric approach. Aperture operates as part of the Generali Investments ecosystem, combining boutique agility with large-scale resources. Aperture supports private credit litigation finance, structured credit, and diverse equity strategies, managing over $3 billion in assets.
Company Website: https://apertureinvestors.com/
Year Founded: Founded in 2018 by Peter Kraus in partnership with Generali Group, one of the largest global insurance and asset management companies
Headquarters: Headquartered in New York with offices in London and Paris
Area of Focus: Aperture Investors approaches litigation finance through a private credit perspective, prioritizing capital protection and steady income by utilizing structured term notes. These notes are backed by diversified, settled, or short-duration legal claims, offering lower volatility than traditional litigation funding, which depends on individual case outcomes and carries higher uncertainty and risk.
We primarily focus on lending against legal claims that are either post-settlement or procedurally mature, near-settlement, and/or short-duration. This approach emphasizes secured lending on more predictable claims to reduce volatility and enhance income stability
Member Quote: “The litigation finance asset class generally exhibits minimal correlation with broader capital markets, is highly inefficient, and continues to grow as demand for legal funding exceeds available capital, creating a compelling opportunity for private credit lenders like Aperture Investors.”