IFR Asia Asian Private Credit Markets Roundtables 2025
Private credit has developed from a niche market into a US$3tn global asset class that now anchors corporate finance, M&A activity, and infrastructure development across mature markets. In developed markets, banks have stepped back from parts of the lending landscape, capital rules have tightened, and direct lenders have come in to fill the gap. Depth, standardisation, and a broad ecosystem of senior, junior, hybrid, and distressed capital have allowed private credit to become a mainstream source of funding.
Asia sits at a very different point in that evolution – earlier, more fragmented, yet expanding quickly. Although the region represents roughly half of global GDP and two-thirds of global growth, it accounts for only about 5% of global private credit assets under management. The mismatch between economic scale and available non-bank capital is what makes Asia compelling: it is underpenetrated, bank-dominated, and full of structural capital gaps that private lenders can fill.
It was with this dynamic in mind that, in November, IFR Asia brought together leading participants in the region’s private credit markets to discuss the latest state of play.
The roundtable highlighted that "private credit" in Asia is not a single product or a single market. The term spans special situations, direct lending, hybrid capital, investment grade, asset-backed structures, and increasingly cash-flow or intellectual property-backed loans. And it does so across different jurisdictions, each with its own legal frameworks, creditor rights, regulatory regimes, and market norms.
Australia has a developed direct-lending market, India is a blend of senior, mezzanine, and special-situations demand, Japan is opening to hybrid and partnership capital, while South-East Asia spans everything from data-centre financings to founder succession deals. Asia is not a homogeneous region – it is a collection of distinct markets, each requiring a different playbook.
Today’s activity reflects this diversity: sponsor deals in Australia; capex-driven hybrid solutions in Japan; corporate expansion and refinancing in India; growth and new-economy financings in South-East Asia; and opportunities across the region linked to artificial intelligence-driven data centre development, energy transition, and digital infrastructure. In most markets, private credit complements banks rather than replaces them, providing flexibility around size, tenor, leverage, or complexity.
The opportunity set is expanding, but so are the challenges. Competition is rising, legal and currency risks remain uneven, and the region lacks the depth of secondary capital seen in the US. Talent and on-the-ground presence are critical, and outcomes can hinge on the ability to structure, monitor, and enforce.
Yet the overall outlook is positive. Asia's economies are growing, capital needs are rising, and private credit is answering the call. As global managers scale up and local ecosystems deepen, the next phase of private credit's global expansion will increasingly be written in Asia.