Private credit
Specialist private credit opportunities designed for resilient income and enhanced return
Why private credit
Enhanced income potential
Private credit can offer investors an illiquidity premium over similarly rated public credit, with tailored lending structures designed to support predictable income and attractive risk-adjusted returns.
Diversification by design
Private credit provides access to differentiated return drivers across corporate debt, infrastructure debt, commercial real estate debt and fund finance, helping diversify traditional portfolios.
Disciplined downside protection
Private credit investments can benefit from robust underwriting, covenant protection and security over underlying assets, helping investors manage risk through changing market cycles.
Shelley Morrison
Head of Private Credit and Fund Finance
Backed by Aberdeen’s disciplined sourcing and credit expertise, private credit can help investors turn market complexity into resilient income.
Shelley Morrison
Head of Private Credit and Fund Finance
Why Aberdeen for private credit
Disciplined underwriting and credit expertise across cycles
Aberdeen applies rigorous credit analysis across 20+ sectors, underpinned by its global Fixed Income platform, to ensure strong risk selection and consistent performance through market cycles. This disciplined approach supports capital preservation and robust risk-adjusted returns.
Differentiated origination with expertise in high-quality, asset-backed lending
The strategy is built on direct origination of bilateral transactions, targeting small- to mid-sized opportunities across developed and emerging markets. With a specialism in high-quality, asset‑backed private credit, Aberdeen is able to source attractive deals and capture illiquidity premia through proprietary access.
Income-focused solutions delivering enhanced yield and stability potential
Aberdeen’s private credit platform is designed to deliver enhanced yield relative to public markets, supported by stable income streams and historically low default experience. Through a diversified offering (Commercial Real Estate Debt, Corporate Debt, Emerging Market Private Credit, Fund Finance and Infrastructure Debt) the strategy provides bespoke solutions aligned to client income objectives.
What we offer our clients
Fund finance
Short-duration lending to private market funds, secured by undrawn investor commitments or fund assets. Aberdeen seeks attractive risk-adjusted returns through diversified exposure, strong collateral and deep GP and lender relationships.
Commercial real estate lending
Bespoke senior secured loans across UK and European real estate sectors including industrial, office and retail. Aberdeen focuses on high-quality collateral, conservative loan-to-value levels and attractive illiquidity premia.
Private corporate debt
Private placements and loans across currencies, ratings and sectors. Aberdeen applies robust underwriting and internal credit analysis to access opportunities that may offer higher spreads than comparable public credit.
Infrastructure debt
Debt financing for essential economic and social infrastructure, including transport, utilities, clean energy and digital assets. Aberdeen targets resilient cashflows, covenant protection and long-term investment opportunities.
Emerging Market private credit
Private credit opportunities across emerging market corporate and sovereign issuers. Aberdeen combines long-standing EM debt experience with bottom-up analysis, strong legal protections and a focus on illiquidity premium.
Risk warning
The value of investments, and the income from them, can go down as well as up and an investor may get back less than the amount invested. Past performance is not a guide to future results.
Key documents
Private credit FAQs
Answers to common questions about private credit and private markets investing.
Private credit refers to lending that takes place outside public bond markets, typically through privately negotiated loans. For investors, private credit investments can provide access to income-generating opportunities across areas such as corporate debt, fund finance, infrastructure debt, commercial real estate lending and emerging market private credit.
Public credit is usually issued and traded in public bond markets, while private credit is negotiated directly with borrowers. Private credit may offer higher spreads (the additional return above a comparable benchmark or public bond) in exchange for lower liquidity and greater complexity.
Private credit investments typically generate income through interest payments on loans made to companies, projects or private market funds. Because these loans are privately negotiated, investors may receive additional return for accepting lower liquidity, complexity or longer investment horizons.
Private credit can include fund finance, private corporate debt, commercial real estate lending, infrastructure debt and emerging market private credit. Each area offers different borrower types, risk profiles, maturities and sources of return.
Private credit can finance real assets such as commercial property, infrastructure projects and essential services. This can give investors exposure to areas linked to real estate investing and infrastructure investing, while typically focusing on secured lending and contractual cashflows.
Emerging market private credit provides lending to corporate or sovereign-related borrowers in developing markets. It can offer access to a growing opportunity set, with potential to capture an illiquidity premium, but requires careful analysis of credit, legal and market risks.
Private credit can help diversify a portfolio by providing access to different borrowers, sectors, geographies and sources of return.
Private credit involves risks including borrower default, reduced liquidity, valuation uncertainty, market volatility and changes in interest rates or credit conditions. Strong underwriting, diversification, covenant protection and active monitoring are important in managing these risks.
Private credit may suit investors seeking income, diversification and access to private markets opportunities, but it requires comfort with lower liquidity and credit risk. Investors should consider their objectives, time horizon, risk appetite and need for liquidity before investing in private market funds.
