18
Jun
Institutional investor perspectives- in search of alpha and stability
Institutional investors continue to make meaningful allocations into the private credit space, with US private credit funds raising over $120 billion from their investors in 2023, and with a number of pension funds allocating to the sector for the first time or increasing their allocations. However, continued macroeconomic uncertainties, risk of default and a tougher fundraising environment has meant that some pension funds may be writing smaller cheques and taking a more cautious approach towards private credit. With expected rate cuts later this year, the outlook for 2024 remains uncertain from an allocator perspective . Our panel of top institutional investors will discuss their allocations to private credit and their outlook for the year ahead.
- What continues to make private credit a compelling investment opportunity for institutional investors, despite market uncertainty?
- Has the pendulum swung in favour of borrowers this year?
- What some ongoing challenges investors face when making allocations to private credit? Are there enough opportunities in the space and is the market becoming overcrowded?
- What is the outlook for the year ahead?
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SpeakersFran Blair Managing Director, Credit Investments PSP INVESTMENTS
George Coles Senior Director, Corporate Credit CDPQ
Kenton Freitag Senior Managing Director, Private Debt BCI
Amir Madden Senior Portfolio Manager – Alternative Credits APG ASSET MANAGEMENT
Christopher Witkowski Managing Director, Private Credit ONTARIO TEACHERS' PENSION PLAN
Amelia Weitzman Direct Lending Reporter Debtwire
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Fran Blair is Managing Director, Credit Investments at the Public Sector Pension Investment
Board (PSP Investments). He heads PSP Investments’ Distressed Credit and Rescue Finance
direct investing business and is responsible for debt financing in complex restructuring
situations.
Fran has over 25 years of experience in distressed investing, restructuring, debt trading and
leveraged finance. Prior to joining PSP Investments in 2018, he was a Partner at Milford
Sound Capital, a newly formed distressed and credit opportunities fund. From 2007 to 2016,
he was a Managing Director and Senior Distressed Research Analyst at Solus Alternative
Asset Management where he played a key role in some of the firm’s largest investments.
Prior to Solus, Fran held increasingly senior positions in the financial sponsors group, the
restructuring group, and in the credit trading group at Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. and its
predecessor Bankers Trust Company. Fran holds a B.A. in Economics from Hamilton College.
| George Coles is a Senior Director, Corporate Credit, based in the New York office. He develops strategic partnerships with key market participants in the United States. He also supports the implementation of the Private Credit portfolio’s strategy. Before joining CDPQ New York in December 2021, Mr. Coles was a Managing Director at Credit Value Partners, where he originated and executed stressed and distressed credit investments. Previously, he was a Director at CVC Credit Partners and an Associate at Leveraged Finance. He began his career at Lincoln International in the Restructuring and Special Situations group. Mr. Coles holds an MBA in finance from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Economics and French, from the University at Albany, State University of New York. |
Kenton Freitag joined BCI in 2010 as a Senior Credit Analyst and has covered investment grade debt, high yield debt, and project finance debt across most industries. He is currently the Senior Managing Director for the Principal Credit Fund. With $233.0 billion of gross managed assets as of March 31, 2023, BCI is one of Canada’s largest institutional investors within the global capital markets.
Prior to joining BCI, his previous experience in credit included nine years at Standard & Poor’s in Toronto and seven years with Export Development Canada in Ottawa.
He has a master’s in economics from UBC and a B. Comm from Queen’s University and is a CFA® charterholder.
Amir Madden is Senior Portfolio Manager on the Alternative Credits team at APG Asset Management US. He has over 25 years of investment experience. Amir is currently responsible for the selection and monitoring of external managers with a focus on the US markets. Before joining APG US, Amir Madden was a Portfolio Manager and Investment Committee Member at GAM USA working on the Alternative Investments Solutions (AIS) team. His responsibilities include overseeing private credit, event driven and US equity investments and managing both diversified and strategy focused portfolios for clients. Prior to joining GAM in August 2002, he spent two years at JP Morgan Private Bank in the multi-manager investment advisory group performing manager due diligence, having previously worked at Jennison Associates LLC. Amir Madden holds an MBA in Banking and Finance from Hofstra University and a BBA in International Finance and Marketing from the University of Miami. He is based in New York.
APG is one of the largest pension services providers in the Netherlands. APG manages €569 (year-end 2023) on behalf of Dutch pension fund clients, investing globally in the public and private markets. As a long-term investor, APG aims to achieve both financial and societal returns for the funds served so that their 4.6 million participants can enjoy a good pension in a livable world. APG has offices in Amsterdam, Heerlen, and Brussels, and asset management subsidiaries in New York (APG US), Hong Kong and Singapore (APG Asia).
Chris leads Ontario Teachers’ North American Private Credit team and has 24 years of experience in the finance industry on both the buyside and sellside. Chris joined Ontario Teachers' in 2014 as a senior member of Ontario Teachers’ Credit team, focusing on fundamental investments in both public and private credit.
Chris started his career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley (Toronto, New York, London), with a focus on high yield and leveraged loan transactions. Transitioning to the buyside in 2004, Chris was responsible for investment decisions for a number of strategies including fundamental credit and equity investing, convertible arbitrage, and merger arbitrage.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University of Toronto and is a CFA Charterholder.