Temasek initiates wholly owned private credit platform of about S$10 billion

SINGAPORE investment company Temasek announced on Friday (Dec 6) the formation of a wholly owned private credit platform, where its initial portfolio will amount to about S$10 billion, consisting of direct investments and credit funds. 

Temasek indicated that the portfolio will be managed by a team of around 15 credit investment professionals across offices in New York, London and Singapore, who have been transferred from Temasek’s credit and hybrid solutions team.

The platform will be led by Nicolas Debetencourt, who has been the head of credit and hybrid solutions at Temasek since 2016.

Private credit, or lending to companies by institutions other than banks, has grown quickly as stricter regulations following the Silicon Valley Bank crisis in 2023 have made it more expensive for traditional lenders to finance riskier loans.

The asset class is set to grow to US$2.6 trillion by 2029 from US$1.5 trillion at end-2023, based on Preqin data. Reflecting that trend, the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock announced on Tuesday that it will buy private credit firm HPS Investment Partners for about US$12 billion.

Temasek has been investing in credit funds for more than 10 years. In 2016, the company assembled a credit and hybrid solutions team to build its direct and fund investments in order to seize a broader range of opportunities in the private credit space.

This is in addition to Temasek’s asset management business Seviora Group, which includes SeaTown Holdings International that offers private credit solutions in Asia.

Temasek owns a S$389 billion total portfolio as at Mar 31, and has focused on long-term investments with themes such as digitisation and sustainability.