Fundraising: Down but not out Capital raising has proved a tough task so far this year, but investor support may be about to return. On the face of it, the fundraising market for private debt looks rather gloomy. In common with similar findings across the alternative asset universe, the private debt market saw a marked…

Are the storm clouds receding? Private debt may be in the process of demonstrating its resilience in the face of the latest challenges. One thing that studies consistently show – including our own Perspectives survey, see chart above – is that investors are still scrambling to access private debt. Tough times we may be living…

Firms look for new ways into technology The sector is continuing to grow in popularity, evidenced by recent strategic moves from the likes of SoftBank and BlackRock. The technology sector has proved to be one of the most popular and resilient for private credit lenders ever since the covid-19 pandemic, and the trend shows little…

Filling the void in venture lending Lending to growth and venture-backed firms has been challenging in early 2023, but there are signs of change. The regional banking crisis precipitated by the turmoil that started with Silicon Valley Bank in March must be seen in a larger context – as an accelerant of a mega-trend towards…

Changes from a decade of fundraising In the June issue of Private Debt Investor, in which we celebrated its tenth anniversary, we reflected on key trends in fundraising over that period by an examination of our PDI 100 ranking of top fundraisers. Below are four of our observations. Size matters: The giant managers who are…

In private debt, size matters Our recent review of the asset class’s progress over the last ten years noted how the average size of funds keeps on growing. One of the findings of our recent Decade issue was the rapid advance in the sizes of private debt funds. Increasing concentration of fundraising among the top…

Fundraising’s tale of two halves Looking back over the last decade reveals a phase of uninterrupted capital growth, followed by a less predictable period. Since Private Debt Investor launched a decade ago, we have closely tracked fundraising for the asset class across its evolving array of strategies. We have witnessed the meteoric rise of an…

UK dislodged from Europe’s top spot France saw a surge of deals in the second half of last year, but the UK should not be written off prematurely. The Deloitte Private Debt Deal Tracker for the second half of last year caused something of a stir when it positioned France ahead of the UK for…

When the going gets tough Those present at the PDI Europe Summit heard how Europe is catching up the US when it comes to distressed opportunities. Despite the denominator effect, more investor capital is expected to pour into distressed and special situation-focused GPs’ coffers this year (see chart). No wonder the room was packed as…

Europe’s pros and cons Private Debt Investor’s Europe Summit 2023 in London last week reflected on the state of play in the region. Here are five key observations. 1. Increasing moves by private credit firms into net asset value-based financing are in keeping with the growing recognition that private credit is the natural supporter of…