Investors bullish on returns Private debt’s recent outperformance of private equity has bolstered faith in its ability to beat performance benchmarks. Another boost was given to believers in a private debt ‘golden age’ last week, with a report from Bloomberg suggesting private debt fund returns beat those for private equity for two quarters in a…

ESG’s return impact downgraded Investors overall appear to have less faith in ESG’s transformative characteristics in the long term, especially those based in the US. After a period of heightened focus on environmental, social and governance issues, LPs have begun to recalibrate their ESG strategies amid escalating political pushback against such initiatives, particularly in the…

Queuing for seconds Investor appetite for credit secondaries has tripled since 2022, according to our latest Perspectives study. Investors are more switched on than ever to the opportunities available in private credit secondaries, according to Private Debt Investor’s LP Perspectives 2024 Study. In all, 21 percent of LPs now plan to commit capital to secondaries funds…

Life after the fundraising slump All private markets, including private credit, experienced a tough 12 months on the fundraising trail in 2023. Hopes are higher for the year ahead. The fundraising figures are in for full-year 2023 and they reveal a drop in global private credit capital accumulation to just $219 billion, the lowest amount…

Investors stick with tried and trusted North America and direct lending are more in favour than ever, PDI’s LP Perspectives survey discovered. In this column last week, we reflected on some of the headline findings from our LP Perspectives survey, which obtained the views of 117 institutional investors on the current state of private markets….

LPs want more private debt That’s the positive conclusion arising from our latest survey of investor attitudes toward the asset class. Every year, Private Debt Investor conducts its LP Perspectives survey, in which we canvass limited partners around the world for their views on the asset class. What this year’s version tells us is that…

Allocations challenged, but sentiment is positive Last year saw limited partners rein back on their private credit commitments, but there’s no lack of confidence in prospects for the asset class. In 2023, limited partners were cautious about allocations to alternative assets in general – private credit may have suffered a little less than some other…

Room for improvement on ESG A group of investors noted the progress made by private debt in ESG and DEI, but there is still some way to go, they believe. Private Debt Investor’s December/January issue approached European investors to get their thoughts on how ESG is dealt with by managers. Here’s a selection of their…

APAC takes a fundraising hit as China suffers After years of plenty, life has become much harder for fundraisers in Asia Pacific – especially for those with exposure to an ailing China. The overall trend of recent years has been for Asia Pacific private debt to gain traction among investors. In all, 32 APAC funds…

Fund managers will be put to the test In a challenging new environment, reporting and investing processes are likely to come under greater scrutiny. “Reputations will be made and lost in the next few years, and character will matter as much as technical brilliance,” one of a select group of investors told Private Debt Investor as we…