Churchill’s Ken Kencel to Receive the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award and be Inducted into the M&A Advisor Hall of Fame

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The M&A Advisor is proud to announce that Ken Kencel, President and CEO of Churchill Asset Management, will be recognized as The M&A Advisor’s 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Mr. Kencel will be honored for his significant contributions in the fields of private capital and middle-market finance at the 2025 Future of Dealmaking Summit, on November 18^th & 19^th in New York City. Mr. Kencel will also be formally inducted into The M&A Advisor’s Hall of Fame.

“Ken Kencel has been a steady and influential force in the growth of the private capital markets throughout his decorated 35+ year career. He has helped shape the landscape of middle market finance through his thoughtful leadership, deep industry insight and commitment to excellence,” said Roger Aguinaldo, Founder & CEO, The M&A Advisor. “We are proud to honor Ken with The M&A Advisor’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and welcome him into the Hall of Fame, in recognition of a career marked by integrity, impact and lasting contributions to the dealmaking community.”

With the presentation of The M&A Advisor’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Mr. Kencel joins a notable and exclusive community of influential business leaders who have preceded him, including, Wilbur L. Ross, H. Rodgin Cohen, John K. Castle, Jack Butler, Sheila Smith, David Morganthaler, James H.M. Sprayregen, Bruce Wasserstein, Harvey Miller, Robert “Steve” Miller, Pete Peterson, Bruce Rauner, William Repko, Richard D. Parsons, Sir Martin Sorrel, David Bonderman, Henry Miller, Joele Frank and Ceasar Alvarez, among others.

“I am deeply honored to receive The M&A Advisor Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Mr. Kencel. “This recognition is not just a reflection of my own journey, but of the incredible colleagues, partners, and investors I’ve had the privilege to work alongside over the years. As the private credit industry continues to evolve, and on the heels of Churchill’s 20^th anniversary, I’m proud to have helped build businesses that enable middle-market companies to grow and create lasting value.”

Mr. Kencel is Founder, President & CEO of Churchill Asset Management, an investment-specialist affiliate of Nuveen (the asset manager of TIAA). With $55 billion of committed capital, the firm provides customized financing solutions to U.S. middle market private equity firms and their portfolio companies across the capital structure.

Mr. Kencel launched his career in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at Drexel Burnham Lambert. Since then, he has served as Head of Indosuez Capital, Head of Leveraged Finance for Royal Bank of Canada, and a Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, where he was also President and a Director of Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. Additionally, Mr. Kencel was a founder of the high-yield finance business at Chase Securities – now JP Morgan Chase.

Mr. Kencel earned his B.S. in Business Administration, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University and a J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. A recognized voice in private debt, he was named one of Private Debt Investor’s “30 ChangeMakers” in 2023 and frequently appears on CNBC and Bloomberg.

Mr. Kencel serves on the Pension Investment Advisory Committee for the Archdiocese of New York, the Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Investment Committee of Canisius High School (a private Jesuit Preparatory school in Buffalo, NY), the Advisory Board of Teach for America (Connecticut), and the Milken Institute’s Inclusive Capitalism Executive Council.

About The M&A Advisor:
The M&A Advisor was founded in 1998 to offer insights and intelligence on mergers and acquisitions. Today, the firm is the world’s premier leadership organization for M&A, restructuring and financing professionals, providing an integrated suite of services. Follow these links to learn about The M&A Advisor’s 24^th Annual M&A Advisor Awards and the 2025 Future of Dealmaking Summit.

Churchill Asset Management LLC, registered investment advisor, is a majority-owned, indirect subsidiary of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America and an affiliate of Nuveen, LLC. Certain products are distributed by Nuveen Securities, LLC, Member FINRA and SIPC.

Investments in middle market loans are subject to certain risks. Please consider all risks carefully prior to investing in any particular strategy. These investments are subject to credit risk and potentially limited liquidity, as well as interest rate risk, currency risk, prepayment and extension risk, and inflation risk.

Important disclosure information on awards available here.

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