Private credit
Private credit is an attractive addition to the defensive portion of an investment portfolio. We offer diverse investment opportunities across the private credit market spectrum.
Overview
Private credit is the supply of debt capital to consumers, small and medium sized enterprises and large corporations through loans and other credit instruments.
The term ‘private’ refers to credit (i.e. loans) not being tradable or issued in public markets and issued by financial institutions other than banks. The loans have bespoke structured terms and covenants directly negotiated between the financier and borrower.
Private credit is gaining market share as investors seek a defensive allocation and to diversify away from public market volatility, while delivering outstanding risk-adjusted returns in credit investments that are secured, collateralised or otherwise have strong downside protection features.
The defensive position in the capital structure provides a margin of safety while the floating rate nature of returns provides a hedge against inflation.
With deep expertise in credit, non-bank lending and speciality finance, our investment philosophy prioritises protecting investor capital with secure downside protection while generating regular and predictable income secured through contractual borrower agreements.
With a proven performance track record and an unbroken history of credit AUM growth, our clients currently entrust us to manage $7+ billion on their behalf.1
Including private credit as part of a diversified portfolio can deliver a number of key benefits:
- attractive yields – potential for strong, enhanced yields
- low correlation, resilient returns – historical returns have low to negative correlation to other asset classes2
- regular and stable income – potential for regular and predictable income secured via contractual borrower agreements
- low volatility – returns are contractually agreed so generally less volatile for performing assets than equities
- diversification – highly granular curated portfolios of loans with exposure to a wide variety of borrowers, assets, industries and geographies
- robust fundamentals – private markets enable a fundamentals-first mindset, focusing on borrower quality, collateral strength and the likelihood of being repaid as a lender, rather than influenced by sentiment-driven momentum trades.
Our capabilities
We are a leading private credit asset manager with a proven track record of maximising capital preservation for investors through cycles.
Investors benefit from our collective platform strength and focussed in-house expertise across segments where we have genuine edge and differentiated capability – asset-backed lending, direct asset lending and direct corporate lending.
All our private credit strategies leverage the shared benefits and scale of our global platform including access to proprietary deal origination, powerful data analytics, a diverse team of investment experts, and institutional-grade asset management infrastructure.
Our origin as a corporate advisory firm is the genesis of our market-leading workouts capability, with governance, risk management and focus on downside protection embedded in our DNA. It also underpins our core belief that asset managers should be investors too.
We are fundamentally-oriented credit investors, not traders. Our guiding principle is to find scalable opportunities to make loans we thoroughly understand and which generate outsized returns relative to controlled levels of risk over their life cycle.
The MA Financial credit philosophy is focused on ‘avoiding losers, not picking winners’ in lending. This investment style is designed to deliver resilient and consistent returns through cycles, rather than to make profits through short-term trading strategies or risk capital impairment in the pursuit of high-risk/ high-return strategies.
Our conviction runs deep and as testament to this we co-invest in many of our strategies alongside our clients, aligning our interests with theirs. Reflecting this philosophy, MA Financial and its staff have co-invested over $240 million into our private credit strategies.
Asset backed lending
- Financing the real-world economy and complementing traditional corporate credit.
- The lender provides finance secured by diversified portfolios of loans, assets, receivables or other collateral, typically with an originator or non-bank lender that has a meaningful level of alignment.
- Includes non-bank lending in areas where banks are not the efficient provider of capital or no longer lend due to regulation, or structural or secular market forces.
- Spans traditional lending – including home loans, car loans, business loans, equipment and asset finance – and specialty finance including receivable and supply chain finance, legal disbursement funding, and insurance premium funding.
Direct asset lending
- Directly financing physical assets, such as real estate.
- In real estate credit for example, the institutional lender provides first mortgage loans to support the purchase or development of Australian commercial and residential real estate.
- These are loans with tight covenants and robust contractual terms, where property and/or land is used as security collateral to support the loan.
Direct corporate lending
- Providing finance directly to large and mid-size companies.
- The lender provides loans directly to companies with resilient characteristics, focused on noncyclical industries on a senior secured basis.
- Facilities are secured by the business and cash flow generation potential of the corporate borrower.
- This strategy aims to lend to companies with a defensible market position, sustainable or growing margins, strong financial and equity/sponsor backing, at sensible levels of leverage.
Other types of private credit
- There are many other types of private credit in which MA Financial is active, for example:
- Capital solutions: bespoke credit solutions for borrowers, including for working capital and opportunistic situations.
- Growth credit: lending directly to growth-stage businesses that have a baseline of recurring revenues from a diverse client base, and leverage a combination of technology and innovation to maintain a competitive advantage.
Why debt restructuring experience is crucial in private credit investing
In this insight, Managing Director and private credit Portfolio Manager Elliott Etheridge explains why private credit managers with debt restructuring experience have a significant advantage across all areas of credit investing.
Investment series
Video series: unlocking private credit at MA
In this video series two of our senior leaders – Joint CEO Chris Wyke and Head of Global Credit Solutions Frank Danieli – provide transparency into our detailed and diligent approach to private credit investing explaining how and why it sets us apart.
Private Credit Investment Series
Through a series of four insights our Head of Global Credit Solutions, Frank Danieli, introduces private credit, exploring the wide range of opportunities now available for Australian investors.
Real Estate Credit Investment Series
Through a series of three insight pieces, our Head of Real Estate Credit, Drew Bowie, introduces real estate credit exploring its fundamental attributes and advantages.
Investment opportunities
Individual investor
Wholesale investor
MA Credit Income Fund
Curated access to MA Financial’s flagship private credit strategies. The Fund aims to provide investors with consistent monthly distributions, targeting a return of the RBA Cash Rate + 4.50% p.a. (current target return of 8.85%).¹ The Fund targets a return focused on capital preservation via exposure to a diversified portfolio of Australian, New Zealand and global credit investments.
MA Credit Income Trust (ASX:MA1)
Curated access to MA Financial’s flagship private credit strategies. The ASX-listed Fund (ASX:MA1) aims to provide investors with consistent monthly distributions, targeting a return of the RBA Cash Rate + 4.25% p.a. (current target return of 8.60%).¹
MA Credit Portfolio Notes (ASX:MA2HA)
Exposure to a seasoned and diversified portfolio of private credit investments. The ASX-listed MA Credit Portfolio Notes (Notes) provide noteholders with regular monthly interest income of the One-Month Bank Bill Swap Rate + 3.25% p.a.¹
MA Priority Income Fund
A diversified private credit fund with a unique structure. The Fund provides investors exposure to a diversified portfolio of defensive credit investments seeking to preserve capital and deliver stable monthly income of the RBA Cash Rate + 4.00% p.a. (current target return 8.35% p.a.).¹
MA Secured Real Estate Income Fund
A real estate credit fund available to retail investors. Provides investors access to a diversified loan portfolio secured by registered first mortgages over Australian property, seeking to preserve capital and deliver monthly income of the RBA Cash Rate + 3.75% p.a. over a rolling 12-month period (current target return 8.10% p.a.).¹
For more information and to arrange a discussion, please contact us.
- As at 31 December 2025
- Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance
This webpage is issued by MAAM RE Ltd 34 135 855 186 AFSL 335783 (MAAM RE) and MA Asset Management Ltd ACN 142 008 535 AFSL 427515 (MAAM). The information has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making any investment decision in relation to any financial product referenced on this website you should consider obtaining professional investment advice that takes into account your personal circumstances and should read the current information memorandum or product disclosure statement (PDS) for the relevant financial product. The PDS for each financial product can be obtained and downloaded on the Resources page. The Information Memorandum for each financial product can be obtained by contacting us at MAclientservices@MAFinancial.com. No information on this website, or any document accessible from this website should be construed as investment advice or relied upon in making an investment decision. Information on this website does not constitute an offer or an invitation in any jurisdiction where, or to any person to whom, it would be unlawful to make such an offer or invitation.
Neither the Trustee nor any member of the MA Financial Group Limited group guarantees repayment of capital or any particular rate of return from any product. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Neither MAAM RE, MAAM nor any MA Financial group company gives any representation or warranty as to the currency, reliability, completeness or accuracy of the information contained on this website. All opinions and estimates included on this website are provided as at the website creation date and are subject to change without notice. Neither the Responsible Entity nor any member of the MA Financial group make any representation or warranty, express or implied, that the information and materials contained on this website are up to date, accurate or complete. To the maximum extent permitted by law, neither MAAM RE, MAAM nor any other person will be liable for any for any loss or claim resulting from or in connection with the website and any information contained herein.
