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About Hayfin
About Hayfin
Since our formation in 2009, Hayfin has grown to become Europe’s leading alternative asset management platform. We have developed in a measured way to build transatlantic capabilities and establish a growing local presence in Asia.
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We provide critical debt, equity and hybrid capital solutions tailored to the European market. Our product suite is designed to address every financing need of non-investment grade borrowers, providing broad and flexible mandates. Covering both primary and secondary markets and providing financing across the spectrum from growth to stress or distress.
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Led by Hayfin’s Executive Committee, our international team of industry professionals represent the best experience and expertise in the market. Our people embrace our values and culture contributing to our collective success.
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- Moving ahead: How private credit will fare in 2025
Views 05th February 2025
Moving ahead: How private credit will fare in 2025
This year looks like it might be a seminal year for private credit. The asset class continues to demonstrate secular growth – with no signs (that we can see) of reversing. At the same time, it has to navigate significant economic and political uncertainty driven by a tricky mix of rates, inflation, geopolitical uncertainty and unsustainable levels of government borrowing, particularly in the United States and the UK.
In Europe, private credit has matured significantly. Since 2008 our asset class has become a critical component of non-investment grade financing to business across Europe – and is beginning to play a more important role in investment grade financing. It has also become an important component of portfolio construction for LPs around the world searching for downside protected, lower volatility returns.
The question is: how will private credit perform if substantial economic headwinds materialize as the world adjusts to what appears to a changing world order? Is it the ‘golden age’ of private credit because any headwinds on the horizon will enable the better managers to prove they have in fact underwritten attractive risk adjusted returns? Or are the sceptics right who argue that in an industry that has grown very quickly, those who arrived late may be left nursing losses?
Meanwhile, the inauguration of Donald Trump – two months on from an election which had been a key point of discussion with our LPs, sandwiched as it was between our two AGMs in London and New York – heralds potentially significant political change in the USA. The prospect of a second Trump term prompted a rally in equity markets and other asset classes but drove volatility elsewhere. While tariffs were a conspicuous omission from the new administration’s early barrage of executive orders, they remain firmly on the agenda and a reshaping of global trade patterns looks likely to remain a major theme in 2025. What might lay ahead no one can say with certainty. One thing does seem clear: Trump’s second term in office is likely to reshape the American political landscape and disrupt convention across the globe.
However, looking at the geopolitical landscape, we’re of the opinion that turbulence should be expected, and the resulting change in market technicals will shift capital allocation decisions, impacting a range of asset classes including private credit.
What does this mean for private credit 2025?
Despite the convulsions facing the global economy, we remain confident that both private credit as an asset class, and Hayfin as a manager in particular, are well-equipped to effectively weather these elevated levels of risk and uncertainty.
We’ve been here before during previous financial crises – most recently in COVID-19. Alternative investment managers like Hayfin are resolutely focused on mitigating risk. We’re students of the market. We bake uncertainty at its most fundamental level into our investment analysis, judiciously assessing the assets, sectors and markets in which we invest and the types of opportunities that will protect capital and yield results in the long-term.
A prerequisite to this is having the ability to originate deals and manage investments in an uncertain environment. The market has evolved significantly in the past 18 months, impacted by the resurgence of leveraged loan markets and a build-up of dry powder.
Private debt investors like Hayfin have had to respond to intensified competition and a changing opportunity set. The ability to originate a diverse range of deals gave us an important edge. The breadth of investment opportunities we can source and execute allowed us to continue deploying significant volumes of capital through our flagship Direct Lending strategy in 2024.
That is a function of how we have built our business. The same investment in our team, and in our capacity to manage a large volume of credit assets, was what enabled us to scale up our lending activity during the pandemic in 2020-21, while others were focused on managing their existing books. Sourcing deals from market niches that other lenders might overlook is also typical of our approach: when others zig, we zag. There are parallels with how we maintained discipline in terms of deployment at the outset of the supposed ‘golden age’ of 2022, when capital was readily flowing into the asset class.
And we believe our firm will go from strength to strength in 2025. Hayfin’s position as one of Europe’s leading alternative asset managers puts us in good stead to continue capitalising on opportunities for our investors.
That said, we cannot afford to rest on our laurels. It is important we continue to attract and retain our top talent to cement the strong market position that we have built over the last decade.
That is why we are so excited about our agreement with Arctos. It offers greater ownership and autonomy for our team, strategic and cultural alignment with our shareholders and ongoing capital support to fuel our continued growth. In short – more Hayfin.
Our next chapter for growth
Amidst the geopolitical uncertainties that will characterize 2025, we are committed to our disciplined risk management approach and will remain defined by our resilience and innovation. This will enable us to continue our focus on strategic execution, as well as delivering strong and consistent returns for investors regardless of the macroeconomic environment.
This new, next chapter of our growth holds great promise for Hayfin. While the core services and expertise that have shaped and defined the business will remain at Hayfin’s heart, we have put ourselves in an exciting position to look at new opportunities to expand and evolve our existing offering. The Hayfin playbook has never been better placed to help navigate the business through future market conditions and ensure we achieve consistent and superior risk-adjusted returns for our LPs.