Our industry is undergoing rapid change. When Tim and I first started Hayfin in 2009, private markets were still in their infancy. The term ‘private credit’ was yet to enter the mainstream. Fast-forward to 2026 and the asset class has grown considerably.

Media, regulators and governments now take a keen interest in what we do. Capital allocations – first from institutional clients, but increasingly from high-net-worths – have risen exponentially. Global private credit AUM has more than trebled in the past decade to over $1.5trn.

In this more mature market, investors are rightly asking their managers what sets them apart from the competition.

We’ve always answered this question with reference to three key competitive advantages:

• Scale
• Adaptability
• Culture

We see these three attributes becoming cornerstones of the industry’s most successful players.

As our platform has evolved over the past year, following the completion of our management buyout and the addition of Mubadala, Samsung Life and AXA IM Prime as shareholders alongside Arctos, these three differentiators ring even truer for Hayfin today.

Why scale matters

Market access has historically been a barrier to entry in private credit. We’ve previously outlined why that’s particularly the case for the fragmented European market.

However, we believe the size of our platform, reach of our network and depth of our proprietary data – gathered over more than 15 years, in the course of investing over €55bn into 500+ companies – should help us to continue retaining and growing lending relationships with high‑performing businesses in the years ahead.

With higher interest rates dragging on transaction activity in the post‑Covid period and slowing deployment for many funds, incumbency has proved a competitive advantage. Approximately half the capital deployed in our direct lending strategy over the past two years has been extended to existing borrowers. With €30bn of assets in the ground today, the opportunity to extend capital to existing borrowers will remain an important source of deal flow for Hayfin. That means we can maintain steady growth independent of broader M&A market cycles.

As AI adoption within private credit accelerates, and technology is increasingly used to crunch numbers and supplement human judgement during the underwriting process, we believe it’s the managers with the largest pools of historic investment data who will be best placed to generate insights.

Finally, we expect the benefits of increased fund sizes and lending capacity to intensify over time. A larger capital base and the ability to make bigger commitments should strengthen GPs’ hands, helping them achieve greater portfolio diversification and negotiate improved terms. With deal sizes continuing to rise, access to capital and close partnerships with blue‑chip LPs will be essential to remaining relevant.

How to adapt amid volatility

With continued volatility across markets and geopolitics, being dynamic and adaptable is crucial. European capital markets are smaller and less efficient than their US counterparts, and the risk‑return trade‑off can shift quickly. To counter this, we have deliberately designed our business to be able to pivot to capitalise on value and opportunity. This is reflected in our broad product suite, which enables us to serve the needs of both borrowers and LPs.

The emerging opportunity within asset‑backed lending is one such example. We are seeing increasing client interest in Europe in asset‑backed deals, as investors become more familiar with private credit and seek more complex, higher‑return and less commoditised opportunities. These types of investments have been a key focus of Hayfin from day one, with €12bn deployed to date, largely through the dedicated expertise we’ve built in sectors such as healthcare, real estate and maritime.

The benefits of flexibility are likely to keep rising alongside the evolution of the asset class. New deployment opportunities should emerge as private credit finances an ever‑increasing cross‑section of European economic activity. That steady expansion of private markets has driven the Bank of England’s inaugural exploratory analysis into how they intersect with the UK real economy, which we’re pleased to be participating in this year.

What a one‑firm culture means

The final ingredient to Hayfin’s success is our single‑firm culture. It has always been our aspiration to be Europe’s most integrated platform. If investors are looking for a multi‑boutique or a ‘pod shop’, there are many fine examples in the market. We aren’t one of them.

The Hayfin team now owns a substantial majority of the GP, and most of our employees are shareholders. This breadth of ownership is an important differentiator for a company of our type and size. That level of independence, autonomy and ownership creates value for LPs by enabling us to continue executing at pace and investing in the next generation of Hayfin leaders.

When we founded Hayfin in 2009, our ambition was to be a first mover capitalising on the emerging opportunity in European private credit. By building scale, resilience and adaptability in a firm that understands the power of collaboration, we believe we have created a platform for all investment environments. In today’s world – characterised by heightened risks and uncertainties alongside abundant opportunity – this flexibility is paramount.

Hayfin continues to be well positioned to support its clients, and I’m excited for what’s to come in the rest of 2026 and beyond.