After brutal three years, the Asian high yield bond market bottomed out this year, with prices for performing and even stressed credits rallying. Despite this, the primary market has seen relatively new bond issuance making it difficult for cashed-up investors to put money to work. Leading industry experts will discuss their expectations for the year ahead.

• What macro-economic shifts are influencing credit strategies?
• How important is allocation to Asia Pacific credit in global investor portfolios?
• Where are the current opportunities across geographies and sectors?
• What will likely be the state of the market in 12 months?

Very few new cross-border restructuring opportunities have emerged so far in 2024. Why is this and how will the market shape up in the year ahead? Our panel will discuss the distressed environment and share their thoughts on the opportunity set in the region.

• Current landscape: What are the current distressed debt and special situation opportunities in the region?
• China restructurings: What is the latest? What are some of the recent success stories and how were done?
• Sectoral overview: Which sectors are most at risk of stress and distress?
• What is the outlook for the year ahead?

Asia Pacific’s developed markets such as Australia, South Korea and Japan are well positioned for growth in credit due to stable economic factors, the need for corporate borrowing and robust insolvency regimes. What are the key trends and where credit investors put their money is being discussed by our panel. 

• What are the key trends driving credit strategies in developed markets?
• What are the opportunities within the Australian private debt market?
• What are the key trends in credit strategies employed in South Korea and Japan?
• What role will private credit play in energy transition and other emerging opportunities?

As corporates across Asia’s emerging markets look for growth, access to financing is one of the key hurdles in their transformation journey. Although some of these jurisdictions are less creditor friendly, there are signs of improvement and investors are open for opportunities to deploy credit to companies in these markets. Our regional experts will discuss the best step forward in tackling some of the challenges when investing in the fast-growing emerging markets in the region. 

• What are the key complexities for credit in emerging markets?
• How legal frameworks are impacting the growth of credit in the region? 
• Which markets and sectors are showing most promise?
• What are some recent examples of successful transactions?

India’s attractiveness for credit investors is on the rise, boosted by stable economic growth and strong domestic bank liquidity. Deal flow pipeline seems robust amid increased capital expenditure by corporates and amid special situations opportunities. Industry leaders offer insight into this compelling market.

• What is the driving the surge of private credit in India?
• What are the key sectors contributing to the rise of deal flow?
• How has the legal framework improved? 
• How sustainable is the growth?

With the rise of private credit strategies, LPs continue to make significant allocations to the asset class with Asia’s share of the global private credit market reaching 6%. What is the LP’s appetite for the region and how it features in their portfolios might determine the future growth of the asset class. Our panel of leading LPs will share their key considerations for selecting fund managers and challenges they face compared to other regions.

• How LPs view Asian private credit against other regions?
• What continues to make private credit a compelling investment opportunity for institutional investors?
• How does Private credit fit into a broader alternative asset portfolio?
• Which developing sub-sectors of private credit are most attractive?