DealCatalyst, a financial services firm specializing in private credit and asset-based finance conferences and market intelligence, released its inaugural Asset-Based Finance (ABF) Capital Flows Survey. The comprehensive survey, conducted following DealCatalyst’s recent U.S. ABF and European Specialist Lender conferences, captures perspectives from over 120 LPs, GPs, and borrowers across North America and Europe, providing unrivalled insight into capital flows shaping the ABF landscape.
Key findings include:
- Sizable institutional commitments going forward: 25% of surveyed LPs plan to allocate more than $1 billion to ABF strategies over the next 12 months
- Flight to established managers: 66% of LPs will only allocate to established managers, with over 60% exclusively targeting funds with AUM exceeding $1 billion. Only 10% will consider new manager launches
- Fundraising turning more ambitious: Nearly half of GP respondents are targeting ABF capital raises exceeding $1 billion over the next year, suggesting ambitious fundraising plans that may test LP’s selective manager appetite for the strategy
- Potentially greater role for banks to fill funding gap: While most borrowers seek financing of $250 million or greater, over 50% of asset managers are targeting single deployment amounts under $50 million. The gap looks poised to be filled by bank financing, marking a notable shift from the past decade when institutional investors enjoyed near-monopoly over specialty lender financing
Interest in European opportunities picks up: European ABF opportunities look to be attracting disproportionate LP interest relative to market size, while over 60% of GPs also expressed appetite for European/UK investments.
“The survey confirms ABF’s evolution from a niche to mainstream private credit strategy,” Todd Anderson, head of content and programming at DealCatalyst, said. “As ABF becomes further institutionally entrenched, we’re seeing clear patterns in how capital will flow through the ecosystem. Our research provides critical intelligence for LPs evaluating managers, GPs planning fundraises and borrowers seeking optimal capital partners.”
