Growth of secondaries as a strategic tool in private credit

Introductions and what private credit secondaries are

The moderator opens the panel and panellists introduce themselves, representing a large private markets asset manager and a specialist secondaries firm. The discussion then covers the two main types of private credit secondaries: LP trades and GP liquidity solutions.

Why the private credit secondaries market is booming

The panel explores the structural reasons behind the rapid growth of private credit secondaries, focusing on the ever-extending duration of private credit funds and the resulting need for liquidity solutions among institutional investors.

Navigating stress and defaults in direct lending

The panel examines negative headlines around private credit defaults and stress, discussing how the secondaries approach — with its backward visibility and bottom-up diligence — provides an advantage when underwriting in uncertain conditions.

Liquidity needs and the undercapitalised secondaries market

The discussion turns to the sources of liquidity pressure in private credit, including the stalled LBO market and maturing fund structures, and highlights the significant gap between growing deal flow and available capital in the secondaries market.

The DPI problem and GP-led continuation vehicles

The panel discusses the DPI challenge facing both LPs and GPs in private credit, exploring how continuation vehicles are increasingly used as tactical liquidity tools and how the shift from LP-led to GP-led transactions has accelerated.

How far behind private equity are private credit secondaries?

The panel debates how quickly private credit secondaries are catching up to the more established private equity secondaries market, noting that shared LP and GP relationships have dramatically accelerated the adoption of structures like continuation vehicles.

Debtwire Private Credit Forum Europe 2026