The private credit space in APAC has gained strong traction in recent years, thanks to the momentum created by some of the world's leading investors' commitments to funds that support the $4.1tn annual funding gap for Asia's SMEs.
The private credit market in APAC has become significantly more sophisticated in recent years, requiring equally complex operating infrastructure and flexible solutions. The asset class has shown resilience amid mounting economic challenges, even as public credit and loan markets take a battering from rising inflation and interest rates.
The unique heterogenous nature of the Asian countries presents increasingly attractive opportunities for private debt fund managers to plug the funding gap with bespoke lending solutions across geographies and industries.
In this milieu, CRISIL hosted a closed-group discussion on ‘The coming of age of APAC Private Credit — Evolution, opportunities and challenges’, where APAC market experts shared their insights on the evolving Asian private debt markets, institutional investor perspectives, criticality of specialised due diligence, the outlook on the Asian economy and headwinds, and private debt strategies suitable for Asian markets. The topics included:
Evolution of the Asian private credit market and its outlook for the next 12 months amid macro headwinds
Strategies within private debt well suited for Asian markets
Choice for global asset managers - whether to grow organically or acquire local/regional 'specialist' managers
General Partners enhancing their competitiveness and overcoming challenges in the region
Pricing risk and finding a consistent premium amid increased competition
The coming of age of APAC Private Credit: Evolution, opportunities and challenges