AllianzGI makes headway with debt secondaries fundraise

Allianz Global Investors has held a first close on its debut credit secondaries fund, four months after Secondaries Investor reported the asset manager of one of the world’s largest financial institutions was launching the vehicle.

Allianz Private Debt Secondaries Fund has raised €250 million, according to a statement.

The fund, which has a target size of €500 million, is the first private markets secondaries fund to be raised by Allianz Group. The fund will focus on senior direct lending opportunities “selectively complemented” by opportunistic positions with the aim of building a diversified portfolio across managers, sectors and geographies.

The vehicle will target credit portfolios as large as €1 billion with balance sheet help, Secondaries Investor reported in September.

“The secondaries market in private debt is developing strongly,” said Joaquin Ardit, senior portfolio manager at AllianzGI, in the statement. “Due to the volatile market environment and a generally maturing market, we expect accelerated growth of private debt secondaries in the next years.”

Allianz joins a number of seasoned secondaries names that have launched private debt secondaries funds in recent years. Alternatives peers Pantheon, Apollo Global Management, Ares Management, Tikehau Capital and Manulife Investment Management are among the groups that have been active in private debt secondaries.

In January, Apollo managing director Olga Kosters told Secondaries Investor she anticipates LP-led credit secondaries will make up half of total private debt secondaries deal volume – or roughly $10 billion to $12 billion – driven by uncertainty, volatility and the underlying growth of the private credit primary market.

With credit GPs increasingly embracing the secondaries market, structural changes and the slow fundraising environment will also help drive demand for GP-led transactions, she added.

– Madeleine Farman contributed to this report.