Private Debt Intelligence – 7/27/2020
The Private Debt Market Continues to Grow
Chart
Download Data
[wpdm_package id=’36557′]
The private debt industry has seen the growth in its AUM accelerate in recent years, and by December 2019 (our latest data available) funds held a total of $854bn in assets under management (AUM). The market is now more than three times bigger than it was ten years ago, when managers held just $263bn in assets.
Within strategies, direct lending AUM is at a record high and accounts for the largest portion of industry assets – it holds $314bn as of December 2019, of which $95bn is dry powder. Distressed debt AUM reached $216bn as of the end of 2019, up from $198bn in December 2018. And Mezzanine, holding $163bn, is the third fund type with the highest amount of AUM. As a whole, private debt dry powder has decreased from $286.4bn (as at December 2018) to $269.7bn as at December 2019), indicating that fund managers are deploying capital within the asset class.
Contact: Maria Zapata
maria.zapata@preqin.com
Latest news
Top 50 BDCs Accounted for 75% of Nonaccrual Loan Cost in Q2’26
The 50 largest BDCs, on the basis of total debt investments as of the second quarter of 2026, accounted for 75% of the total aggregate reported value of nonaccrual debt at cost and fair value.
US private debt AUM ($B) by channel
In 2025 and the early part of 2026, the retail channel added AUM to the asset class at a much faster rate than institutional investors in both regions, with growth rates of 43.7% globally, 41.4% in the US, and 73. 1% in Europe through the beginning of 2026 compared with year-end 2024 figures.
