Assets under management of Luxembourg-domiciled private debt funds have risen by 36% to €108 billion in 2020, according to the KPMG/ALFI Private Debt Fund Survey 2020. Investment Officer discussed the dynamics behind the popularity of the asset class with KPMG’s Valeria Merkel and Julien Bieber.
Large institutional investors are busy shifting part of their portfolios from public to private markets. ‘The immediate reason for this is that investors such as pension funds and insurers are used to investing in low-risk assets such as debt securities. But now, because of persistently low interest rates, they have to look for new sources of return,’ says Valeria Merkel (photo), Partner Asset Management & Co-Head of Private Debt at KPMG, in a conversation with Investmentofficer.lu.
Her colleague Julien Bieber, Partner Alternative Investments & Co-Head of Private Debt, points out that in the event of a recovery of the (global) economy, private debt will stand out as a very attractive market segment for investors.
More diverse products
‘This is because providers of private debt can respond more quickly to market developments than banks, for example, because of the heavier legislation and regulations that apply to the latter, as a result of which they are not allowed to take certain risky loans on the balance sheet. In addition, private debt fund managers have more diverse products and strategies available to their predominantly (semi-)institutional clients such as pension funds, insurers, sovereign wealth funds and family offices.’
The conversation with Valeria Merkel and Julien Bieber takes place on the occasion of the Private Debt Fund Survey 2020, which aims to bring more transparency to one of the fastest growing segments in asset management. The latest edition shows that private debt assets under management in Luxembourg have grown by more than 36% compared to 2019
Luxembourg plays a leading role in this growing interest in private debt.
‘It is a complex, highly competitive part of the market, where the available knowledge and skills are scarce,’ say Merkel and Bieber. ‘But many of these specialists, such as lawyers, tax specialists and consultants, work from the Grand Duchy.’ What’s more, Luxembourg is seen by providers of private debt funds as an attractive global hub, combining capacity with flexibility, emphasises Robin Doumar, Managing Partner of Park Square Capital.
Favorite: direct lending
The survey demonstrates that direct lending is the most used strategy because of its predictable cash flows and repayment, and its ability to provide long-term financing. The results show direct lending (38% - an increase of 6% compared to 2019) & senior loans (27% - an increase of 2% compared to 2019) are the largest categories of funds in Luxembourg.
In recent months, loans to companies that were hit hard by the pandemic, such as airlines with acute cash flow problems, have performed well. But for the coming months, Bieber expects a “flight to quality” to, for example, more sustainable sectors such as digitisation, logistics, data centres and infrastructure. He says this is partly done through private equity, and partly through debt financing.
ESG, the hot topic
According to Merkel and Bieber, ESG is currently “the hot topic”. ‘That was certainly not the case at the beginning of 2020, but ESG is rapidly gaining momentum, also for private debt investors. The risk that a loan is not in line with the ESG could negatively impact future valuations’, says Bieber.
‘You see that pension funds in particular also encourage their fiduciary or asset managers to take into consideration their SDG goals or their ESG policy. They need to operate in a level playing field as for the lenders it is a binary decision: if they see ESG risks in the loan, they would rather decide not to lend,’ Merkel adds.
According to the pair, ‘it is becoming increasingly difficult to get a loan to a company if it does not meet the ESG requirements of institutional investors. It is clear that margins on loans that do not meet ESG criteria will shrink sharply in the coming years.’