Private credit has become a crowded asset class globally, but Asia remains a market in which local knowledge, structuring capability and a willingness to do the work still earn a premium. Our approach is straightforward: every credit begins with the question of how we get our money back if everything the borrower has told us proves optimistic.
Collateral first, cash flow second
We size facilities against realisable collateral value under stress, not against appraised value in a benign market. For property, that means our own view of liquidation value and of the time it would take to sell. For receivables, it means concentration analysis and a hard look at the quality of the underlying obligors. For shares, it means haircuts that reflect what happens to liquidity when a large holder is known to be a forced seller.
Only once the collateral case is established do we turn to cash flow cover, and there we use our own projections rather than management's.
Jurisdiction is a credit term
Enforceability varies enormously across the region. A first-ranking charge in Hong Kong or Singapore is a different instrument from a nominally similar security in a jurisdiction where enforcement takes years. We lend where we understand the courts, the registries and the practical process of enforcement; elsewhere, we price accordingly or decline.
The case for being the sole lender
- We control the documentation and can insist on the covenants that matter.
- We control the workout. In a syndicate, the slowest and most conflicted lender often dictates the outcome.
- We build a direct relationship with the borrower, which is the most reliable early-warning system there is.
Speed as a service
Borrowers who come to us are usually paying for certainty and speed rather than for the lowest coupon. We can deliver a signed term sheet within weeks because the decision makers are in the room and the investment committee meets weekly. We regard this as a service, and we price it fairly rather than opportunistically. A borrower who returns is worth more to us than any single facility.