Golden opportunities ahead: Private credit’s moment continues

The state of private credit in Asia

Golden opportunities ahead: Private credit’s moment continues

The 18^th edition of the SuperReturn Asia conference will take place in Singapore on 24^th-27^th September, and while much can happen between now and then, one thing is for certain: private credit continues to enjoy its “golden moment”.Last year, SuperReturn Asia introduced a half-day private credit summit that filled the whole room and this year, the summit has been extended to a full day that will cover a broad range of key themes. The decision to expand the summit to a full day is driven by the booming growth in private credit, which is increasingly becoming an important part of LP portfolios and viewed as a strategic allocation. Despite difficult market conditions and fundraising challenges, private credit shines among the alternatives – so what is behind the asset class’s resilience and popularity?

Changing role of banks: the retrenchment of banks and regulatory changes brought on by the global financial crisis, resulting in increased difficulty for borrowers to access capital, creating an interesting opening for private credit.

Interest rates: in a high interest rate environment, private credit can offer many attractive opportunities, and while some are anticipating that rates will come down, the asset class has a broad range of strategies that can offer better risk-adjusted returns.

LP appetite: private credit can offer investors more lucrative returns relative to what they can get through traditional fixed-income strategies. The asset class offers investors a spectrum of opportunities across the capital structure, including senior-secured direct lending, subordinated/junior debt, real assets, and structured finance.

Diversification: it’s not just about returns as private credit can be a great instrument for enhancing diversification. In addition to lower correlation, investment areas other than traditional lending segment can also offer a premium in terms of portfolio construction.

Opportunity set: as banks continue to pull back and high interest rates persist, lenders have a unique opportunity to fill in that gap. Whether it is customised loans to SMEs or speciality finance, the opportunity set is significant.

At the SuperReturn Asia, you can expect dynamic and engaging conversations from market leaders joining the private credit summit. The first session of the day will explore, as in the title, private credit’s moment, what it means and what is the global outlook:

Private credit’s moment: insights on the evolution of the asset class

In a soft risk-off environment with interest rates front and centre, is private credit’s momentum expected to continue? As the banking market seizes up and more deals are getting converted into private credit, what is the outlook for fundraising? As private equity faces lumpiness in cashflows, J-curve, fee structure and other headwinds, can private credit provide investors with the kind of stable returns needed in these market conditions?

Moderator: William Cox, Senior Managing Director, Global Head of Corporate, Financial and Government Ratings, KBRA

Panellists: Marc Lipschultz, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Blue Owl
Gregory Robbins, Vice Chair, Golub Capital
Andy Luten, Head of Credit Commercial Strategy, APAC, S&P Global Market Intelligence
You-Ha Hyun, Principal, Perpetual Investors

The Private Credit Summit is not complete without a discussion the focuses exclusively on the dynamics of the Asia market. With different jurisdictions, risk profiles, and unique fundamentals for different countries, the opportunity in Asia credit market is there. This year’s discussion features veteran LPs and GPs in Asian private credit with a focus on direct lending in the mid-market segment:

Asia’s mid-market direct lending: the goldilocks zone?

How is the deal flow and volume looking for Asia’s mid-market direct lending and what are the idiosyncrasies that LPs need to understand as it relates to Asia credit? Is there enough depth and sophistication in this corner of the market? As interest rates have gone up in the US and Europe, what can compel global LPs to invest in Asia if the gaps between those regions have compressed and the returns are similar?

Moderator: Ping Xu, Co-Head of Hong Kong Office, Aksia
Panellists: Celia Yan, Managing Director, Head of APAC Private Credit, BlackRock
Sean Low, CEO & CIO, Golden Vision Capital (Singapore) Pte Ltd
Justin Ferrier, Managing Partner, Private Credit, Navis Capital

This is definitely an exciting time for private credit with lots of opportunities on the horizon. Don’t miss out and join us and our distinguished speaker faculty this September as we take a deep dive into market outlook, LPs’ views on the asset class, infra debt, real estate debt, venture debt, structured finance, the role of ESG in private credit and so much more.