(Bloomberg) -- Sliding stock and property markets are pushing wealthy investors from Hong Kong and mainland China into private credit to chase big yields in the $1.7 trillion industry despite warnings of rising defaults.
Some of Hong Kong’s biggest family offices including Nan Fung Trinity are following global peers to ramp up investments in alternative assets offered by firms such as Blackstone Inc. and Apollo Global Management Inc.. Others like wealth manager Carret Private Investments Ltd. are investing in direct private credit deals, with some offering returns of more than 20%.
Amid stronger demand, UBS Group AG’s wealth management arm is marketing various private credit funds including those managed by CVC Capital Partners Plc and Blackstone to Asian clients, according to people familiar with the matter.
“There’s definitely more interest from wealthy investors in private credit,” said Meng Zhou, head of private investment team at Nan Fung Trinity, a unit of Nan Fung Group in Hong Kong. Since last year, “we started to revisit private credit,” he said.
While private credit, which has become an alternative to banks for many borrowers, has boomed globally, there’s been less opportunity for it in Asia where banks have historically been well capitalized. But it’s now become attractive for investors with both stocks and property markets in Hong Kong and China retreating amid concerns over a deepening slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.
Stocks in Hong Kong and China had some relief Tuesday, rallying after the central bank unleashed a slew of policy support for the economy. That included cutting borrowing costs on as much as $5.3 trillion in mortgages and providing at least 800 billion yuan ($114 billion) in liquidity support for the equity market.
One reason investors are drawn to private credit is they can get 11%-12% returns on senior loans secured by collateral and faster cash back than private equity, Zhou said.
A survey by Deloitte and Raffles Family Office showed a quarter of family offices in Asia aimed to allocate more to private debt and direct lending this year — the same percentage globally — exceeding other asset classes including fixed income and private equity.
“It’s been a challenging environment for fundraising, so a lot of general partners are turning to private wealth or family office money to plug that gap,” said Zhou. Nan Fung mostly invests in funds focused on direct lending to leveraged buyout deals led by private equity firms, he said.
Carret, a wealth manager staffed by former private bankers, has deployed about $400 million this year into a mixture of funds and private credit deals, said Kenny Ho, managing partner and founder of the firm.
Returns on private credit investments have ranged from 14% to 22%, according to Ho, whose firm has helped wealthy individuals invest close to $1 billion in Hong Kong’s luxury properties over the past eight years.
Carret participated in a $205 million one-year loan extended by Gaw Capital to the Ho family, a low-profile Hong Kong clan, backed by properties at The Peak. Carret’s Ho, who has no relation to the family, said the loan carried a 16% interest. Gaw Capital launched a private credit fund, according to a spokesperson, which Carret plans to participate in.
Defaults Rising
Despite the lure of fat returns, the lack of liquidity in private credit compared with public debt markets can lead to big losses if an investor wants a quick exit. Funds have fewer obligations than their publicly-traded equivalents when disclosing their holdings and investment performance.
Regulators are also increasing scrutiny on private credit capital flows and for investors, profits are easing and defaults rising. Defaults in private credit are about 3%-5%, partly due to covenant breaches and modifications, Patrick Dennis, co-deputy managing partner at Davidson Kempner Capital Management told a forum last week.
Winland Wealth, which began as a single family office backed by Hong Kong’s Tsang family but now takes money from external clients, has cut back on its exposure to private debt from a couple of years ago given better options in money markets.
“The risk is on the borrower’s integrity,” said CEO Keith Wong. Winland provides trade financing to manufacturing companies that yields around 7% to 8% and funding for working capital, with 10% to 11% returns.
But the appetite for alternative assets from high net worth individuals remains high. DBS Group Holdings Ltd. said sales of its semi-liquid fund products to Greater China surged 300% this year. These funds are typically subject to redemption limits to avoid forced selling of illiquid assets.
Nan Fung Trinity’s Zhou said the company has only invested in so-called close-ended strategies where investors can’t take money out until a general partner returns it. While semi-liquid funds offer better liquidity profile, the returns tend to be lower to compensate for the liquidity, he said.
“We think investors, when they subscribe to semi-liquid or illiquid funds out there, they should pay close attention to the deal terms and any liquidity limitations, to make sure they understand exactly what they are signing up to,” Zhou said.
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