Press release - ACC expands activities across Asia-Pacific

Published: 25 January 2018

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.

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

The full Committee is as follows –

  • Co-Chair: Justin Ferrier, Managing Director, Asian Private Credit, BlackRock
  • Co-Chair: Barry Lau, Managing Partner and CIO, Adamas Asset Management
  • Derek Crane, Group COO, Pacific Alliance Group (PAG)
  • Greg Donohugh, CEO, Double Haven Capital (Hong Kong)
  • Barnaby Lyons, Managing Director and Head of Asia, Bain Capital Credit
  • Dan Simmons, Partner, OCP Asia
  • James Sweeney, COO, Tor Investment Management
  • Matthew Turner, Head of Australian Senior Debt, Intermediate Capital Group (ICG)
  • Peter Warbanoff, Head of Distressed and Opportunistic Credit, LIM Advisors
  • Richard Williamson, Managing Director, CreditEase Wealth Management
  • Edwin Wong, Managing Partner, SSG Capital Management (Hong Kong)

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 ACC anticipates 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 committee will focus its activity in the following key areas: advocacy to raise awareness amongst policymakers and regulators about how private credit supports economic growth; promoting legal and regulatory reforms that encourage the sustainable growth of private credit; research to quantify the size of the market for private credit in Asia-Pacific and identify key trends in the region; guidance on sound practices for private credit managers on credit underwriting, risk management processes and valuation; and education to raise awareness about private credit in Asia Pacific amongst investors and borrowers.

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.[1]

The overall private credit market in APAC, while still small by global standards, has grown rapidly in recent years. According to Preqin, committed capital grew 80% over the five years to the end of 2016, the most recent data available, reaching $26.1bn. At the same time, 22% of private debt investors intend to target the Asia-Pacific region this year, up from 16% who said the same the previous year.[2]

AIMA’s Co-Head of APAC Kher Sheng Lee 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.”

[1] 'Financing the Economy 2017'. The report contains a dedicated APAC section, covering pages 36-38.

[2] Preqin quarterly update: Private Debt Q3 2017. Figure 10: Regions Targeted by Private Debt Investors in the Next 12 Months, Q3 2016 vs. Q3 2017