Home / Analysis / AIMA affiliate steps up APAC activity ahead of HK Forum

Private credit is arguably the hottest asset class of the moment. Australian institutional investors have several global and local providers from which to choose. Now, there’s a not-for-profit organisation looking to promote the asset class in the region.

The Alternative Credit Council (ACC), the private credit affiliate of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), has stepped up its activities in Asia Pacific for members operating private credit strategies in the region.

The news runs just ahead of the AIMA APAC Forum, to be held in Hong Kong on March 1, at which a number of Australian investors and alternatives managers are expected to attend. Michael Gallagher, the general manager of AIMA Australia, is chairing one of the important sessions: “The Rising Force of Corporate Governance, Stewardship and Activism”. AIMA, globally, has put a lot of effort over the past few years into providing research and guidance for the improvement of corporate governance among alternatives managers as well as their clients.

(See contacts below.)

As a part of the expanded activity for the ACC, a new APAC committee has been formed, co-chaired by global ACC board members Justin Ferrier of BlackRock and Barry Lau of Adamas Asset Management.

The ACC is already active in the US and European markets, and the formation of the APAC group will consolidate the association’s position as the voice of the global private credit sector, the organisation said in a prepared statement.

The organisation expects that interest in legal and regulatory reforms to support the growth of private credit will grow as the value of this form of finance becomes better understood by policymakers and regulators. Establishing this group will build on AIMA’s established relationships and provide a channel of communication between policymakers, regulators and private credit managers.

The ACC’s annual private credit survey “Financing the Economy”, recently predicted that the private credit market would reach $1 trillion of assets under management by the end of 2020.

The overall private credit market in APAC, while still small by global standards, has grown rapidly in recent years. According to Preqin, the alternatives research house, committed capital grew 80 per cent over the five years to the end of 2016, the most recent data available, reaching $26.1 billion. At the same time, 22 per cent of private debt investors intend to target the Asia-Pacific region this year, up from 16 per cent who said the same the previous year.

Kher Sheng, AIMA’s co-head of APAC, said: “The Asia Pacific region is undoubtedly receiving much more attention from private credit investors and managers, and the growth potential is considerable. But capital-raising across the region is mixed, legal and regulatory frameworks are not uniform and the pool of sponsors, advisors and private credit managers is shallower than in the US and Europe. It is therefore important for the continued development of this nascent market that the ACC steps up its activities in the region, outlining to policymakers how private credit supports economic growth and demonstrating the value proposition of private credit to investors.”

 

Info: contact Michael Gallagher, general manager of AIMA Australia, on [email protected]

More general info, and link to registration for the APAC Forum, on AIMA in Hong Kong: https://www.aima-apacforum.org/