An industry to which most have been largely oblivious
for decades, now sits perched in prime position to rival and
potentially poised to overtake mainstream lending. Having gained
significant market share of the lending market, sufficient to rival
many institutional lenders, private credit (also known as direct
lending) is now trending as an alternative form of financing for
companies seeking an alternative to traditional/institutional
lending.
Private credit refers to debt financing provided by non-bank
lenders to companies and while it may be tempting to treat it as if
it is a new source of lending, in reality it is not. It has existed
as a form of financing for some time (having started to really take
root on the heels of the 2007-09 global financial crisis when a
stricter regulatory environment placed increased capital adequacy
requirements upon banks) its more recent popularity can be
attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, an ever-tightening
