Nuveen has extended access to its private capital platform to Australian wholesale investors via the launch of the Nuveen Churchill Private Credit Income Fund (PCAP).
According to Nuveen, the fund has already secured early investment from several local wealth managers, including Drummond Capital Partners, Stanford Brown, and Morrows Private Wealth.
The solution provides wholesale investors with exposure to a diversified portfolio of predominantly private debt investments in US middle market companies.
This, Nuveen clarified, will be done by primarily investing in PCAP, a non-traded investment vehicle that seeks to provide current income and attractive risk-adjusted returns from private capital investments in US middle market companies.
Kelli Marti, portfolio investment strategist of PCAP, explained that Australian wholesale investors seeking to diversify their fixed income portfolios globally can find exposure to offshore private credit markets, particularly in the US.
“The private credit market now totals nearly US$2 trillion globally, having more than doubled since 2015 and now rivals the size of the US high yield bond market,” Marti said.
“As private credit markets continue to grow and become more diverse, the need for scale is only increasing as the requirement for significant infrastructure favours larger firms with the financial resources to support this complexity. In addition, private equity firms seek to partner with private capital managers with demonstrated scale and expertise.”
As at 31 August, PCAP had an investment portfolio at value over US$1 billion and a 230-strong portfolio of companies across a range of sectors, including business services, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, high tech and construction and building.
Nuveen head of Australia Andrew Kleinig noted that access to the benefits of private capital have historically only been available to institutional investors.
“The launch of the Nuveen Churchill Private Credit Income Fund is the latest step in Nuveen’s journey of unlocking the power of alternative and innovative investment solutions to, and beyond, its established institutional investor base,” Kleinig said.
He added that Nuveen has observed strong interest from family offices, private wealth and high-net-worth individuals for private markets solutions as they seek diversification, low volatility and attractive risk-adjusted returns.
“We believe Nuveen, via its private credit specialists Churchill and Arcmont and rich heritage in broader private markets investment, has the scale and proven track record to provide what investors need across the breadth of the distribution spectrum,” Kleinig said.
