Publicly traded buyout shop American Capital Strategies has hired Joel Houck as a senior vice president and managing director. In his new position, Houck will be responsible for developing a new closed-end fund, which would be managed by an affiliate of American Capital.

Houck joins American Capital from Wachovia Capital Markets where he served as a senior equity analyst and covered specialty finance since 2002.

“Joel has been following American Capital for the past seven years at both Wachovia and A.G. Edwards and his profound knowledge of our organization and operations coupled with his expertise in specialty finance and commercial banking make him the ideal candidate to develop a new fund,” said Malon Wilkus, ACap’s CEO.

American Capital is a member of the S&P 500 and manages some $16 billion in total assets.