Pemberton, an alternative credit specialist, formed a strategic partnership with iCapital to expand its wealth management solutions initiative. Through this partnership, Pemberton will leverage iCapital’s end-to-end technology solutions and have access to iCapital’s distribution partnerships to expand the offering of Pemberton’s private debt strategies to wealth managers globally.
iCapital is a global fintech platform, driving access and efficiency in alternative investing for the asset and wealth management industries. Historically, European alternative credit has primarily been accessible to institutional investors. However, wealth managers and private banks are increasingly seeking exposure to the asset class to achieve portfolio management goals of diversification and income enhancement in the current low yield environment.
The partnership with iCapital will provide wealth managers and their clients with a digital experience and access to Pemberton’s deep expertise in alternative credit, based on its network of European sourcing offices and its rigorous credit processes.
Pemberton’s offering will be particularly attractive to private wealth investors seeking a greater focus on ESG. To date, Pemberton has structured €4.15 billion ($4.61 billion) of loans with margin ratchets designed to incentivize borrowers to improve their ESG footprint in relation to a range of criteria, including to reduce carbon emissions, improve corporate governance, invest in local communities and promote equal opportunity and diversity.
“We are always looking for new ways to evolve our offering to enable current and new investors globally to achieve their investment goals,” Symon Drake-Brockman, managing partner at Pemberton, said. “This is particularly important in the current low yield environment and will provide investors access to products to achieve their sustainable investment requirements. This is why we’ve partnered with iCapital to further open up the market in innovative ways to offer investors exposure to private debt.”
“Last year, we launched our wealth management solutions initiative based on our conviction that alternative credit should be accessible to a broader scope of investors,” Michele Baldessarini, head of wealth management solutions at Pemberton, said. “By partnering with iCapital, we’re fulfilling that goal by giving a wider investor pool access to our strategies via a user-friendly digital platform. This partnership will give wealth managers and their clients access to our pan-European portfolios, state-of-the-art credit underwriting systems and ESG-focused investments.”
“Opportunities to invest in the European private credit market have been very limited to date for investors who lack the scale of an institutional investor,” Marco Bizzozero, head of international at iCapital, said. “iCapital’s technology and solutions are rapidly changing that by facilitating access and increasing efficiency and transparency. This innovative partnership with Pemberton aims to support their priority of providing wealth managers and their clients with institutional-quality access to European private credit as part of a diversified client portfolio.”
