Asia's private debt market faces test amid higher rates, economic slowdown

Nascent investing space sees fund-raising drop to a third of 2021 peak

20240823 private credit

Private debt funds in APAC are relatively young, only five years old or so, and haven’t been through a full credit cycle. © Reuters

MITSURU OBE, Nikkei Asia chief business news correspondent

TOKYO -- Fund managers are going to face a test in the once-hot market of private debt, where investors lend directly to businesses without going through banks or markets, amid growing uncertainty about interest rates and the global economy.

Capital raised for private debt funds in the Asia Pacific region dropped to a seven-year low of $5 billion in 2023 from a peak of $15.1 billion in 2021, said Preqin, an alternative markets data provider, in a report.

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