Private credit performance varies across sub-asset class and underlying return drivers.
Key trends in private credit
- Over the past three years, the asset class has generated a net IRR of 11.8%, outperforming leveraged loans as of June 30, 2023.
- It has also outperformed over longer time periods, with a net IRR of 9.5% over the last 20 years, compared to 5.3% for leveraged loans and 7.2% for corporate high yield.
- Higher-risk strategies have performed better than lower-risk strategies.
- Private credit remained in high demand across Callan’s investor base, and a number of large pensions are looking to increase their existing private credit allocations from 2%–3% to 5%–10%.
- While we always work to build out diversified client portfolios, we think there is particularly interesting relative value in upper middle market sponsor-backed lending, asset-based lending, and opportunistic/special situations.
- Callan is seeing an uptick in stress for some individual names in direct lending portfolios due, in many cases, to a combination of input cost inflation and increased interest expense burden.
- Continued 3Q23 rate rises across the yield curve have made private credit even more attractive than in the past.
- Traditional lenders have not reentered the market in a meaningful way, allowing private credit to expand its opportunity set into larger companies, which are better credits but where loans still command high rates.
- With slight increases in default rates and rating agencies predicting further increases, both opportunistic (flexible) credit funds and dedicated distressed credit funds are seeing more investor interest.
- To foster ease of limited partner access and ongoing administration, more private credit general partners are launching evergreen structures and other legal structures.
- Based on the success of traditional private credit, more niche and targeted strategies are being launched such as legal assets, leasing, various royalties (pharma, music), and asset-backed industry-specific funds (shipping, energy).
- Finally, we are seeing a wave of consolidation across private credit asset managers as entities look to build out diversified product offerings and scale their businesses.
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