Asia-Pacific is a structurally promising market where the role of fund administrator is central to scaling private credit. In this one‑on‑one session, Christophe Picardel, Regional Head of Private Capital, Asia‑Pacific, Securities Services at BNP Paribas, explains why the region’s market is structurally promising, and how the role of the fund administrator has become central to scaling the asset class across multiple jurisdictions.
How would you size private credit currently in Asia-Pacific?
There are plenty of opportunities, but the market has not yet reached its full potential. We see many international players – particularly from the US – eager to develop private credit funds in Asia-Pacific. The market is also supported by local regulators such as the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which is actively building its long-term investment fund framework. This will generate considerable interest and help to deepen the market. At present, private credit focus remains on direct lending vehicles and special situations.
One explanation of the current stage is that private credit has only really emerged in the region over the past few years. The second is that banking and traditional loan capability have historically been quite strong in Asia-Pacific. Private credit is increasingly being used to support private equity deals globally at a time when exits remain constrained and difficult, and selectivity and opportunity will be based on quality of credit.
What is fuelling the surge in demand, and are allocation patterns changing?
The surge in demand is linked to the range of fund structures being launched – it’s a supply and demand story. We are seeing growing direct lending capability, alongside evergreen structures that provide access to private credit while addressing the investor liquidity challenge.
In the past year, most structural launches in private credit were built around evergreen fund structures. With the Long-Term Investment Fund framework taking shape in Singapore, there will be an opportunity to expand into the retail market, though this will come with considerable requirements for control and investor communication.
As institutional investors prioritise flexible capital allocation and stable returns, BNP Paribas’ Securities Services business is supporting global private credit managers in launching Asia-Pacific-focused evergreen funds. These vehicles leverage the region’s mature fund structures, such as Singapore’s Variable Capital Companies and Australian Managed Investment Schemes, while incorporating innovative features such as run-off and rolling vintage models to meet demand from sophisticated allocators.
Allocation patterns, meanwhile, have remained broadly stable. Against a backdrop where global private credit assets under management surged from approximately $500 billion in 2015 to $3.5 trillion in 2025, investor sentiment has been strong: 93 percent of private credit investors say their investments have met or exceeded expectations over the past 12 months, according to Private Debt Investor’s LP Perspectives 2026 Study.
While there is always some doubt about the long-term capacity to sustain momentum, we continue to see persistence and resilience. Even when private equity exits are limited, private credit benefits from a recycling of capital as it is an instrument with a maturity date. Therefore, even if growth in the sector slows, private credit will remain part of the ecosystem, working more closely alongside banks to support private equity and infrastructure development.
Are investors returning to a preference for predictable cashflow and lower-risk returns?
It will depend on the investor type, but that is where the evergreen-like fund structure has become increasingly relevant, providing a degree of comfort and addressing the liquidity challenge. Predictable cashflow is central in the near term. It is also part of a broader push to open private credit investment to a wider range of investors. If you go through the retail approach, you need to ensure that there is predictable cashflow because these products will be benchmarked directly against the bond market. You need that capacity to exit and to forecast.
So appetite is growing, but it varies by investor type. There has been a great deal of discussion around lock-up periods, withdrawal requests and gating mechanisms. These are the technical building blocks of a control framework but also offer protection for the investor and the GP to make the right deal.
For a more established investor or longer-term investment view, the higher risk-returns remains applicable.
Private credit is increasingly being used to support private equity deals globally at a time when exits remain constrained and difficult.
Which strategies and markets are growing fastest among GPs?
Direct lending has dominated private credit for a decade, and that is unlikely to change. Until around 2021, distressed debt held second place, well established and widely used. Since 2023, special situations funds have gained meaningful ground, although still behind direct lending. Special situations are more regional by nature and track local developments closely. Many large GPs now alternate between direct lending and special situations funds, using the latter to deploy more locally focused capital in support of specific industries.
US and Europe remain the primary sources of capital from an investor perspective. On the investment side, the picture is different: India is the fastest-growing market, while Australia and New Zealand feature in almost every deal across the region, underpinned by supportive policy and significant infrastructure investment, particularly in solar and wind.
Japan and Korea remain largely private equity-driven, with modest appetite for credit. Southeast Asia is fragmented and challenging, but special situations funds have found good opportunities there.
We work with a blend of expertise, human resources and technology. Technology alone will not change everything, but it impacts significantly the processes and enables us to tackle volume.
Once the data is extracted, it is reviewed and processed by our local teams. Having a global model capable of extracting large volumes of data is valuable, but we need to ensure that local processing aligns with expectations. That is where our loan administration teams are essential in validating the data and training the underlying applications.
Scalability at output stage is about the automation of reporting. Standard reporting forms the base; a platform sits on top of that, giving GPs direct access to their debt investments and key data.
We are a fund administrator – the data belongs to the client, and we return it in an efficient and structured form. Every service we perform is visible and accounted for.
Enhanced accessibility, consistency, control framework and automated processing of data with transparency is what gives private credit a scalable and resilient ecosystem, providing structural rails for fast development.
What are the main challenges and trade-offs of operating across Asia-Pacific?
Despite fragmentation across Asia- Pacific, the fundamentals of credit remain consistent regardless of jurisdiction. But each country has its own regulatory requirements around administration, reporting and communication. There is also a local cultural dimension to how private credit is perceived – even where the investment itself follows a regional approach, the dynamics are shaped by the local market.
A global strategy makes tax structuring and compliance critical. Getting them right across the fund structure, while respecting the GPs’ approach and satisfying local reporting and regulatory requirements is a challenge, particularly in Asia-Pacific. This is not a homogeneous market like the US.
A consistent framework is essential, while remaining mindful of nuances.
This is where a fund administrator with expertise and presence in local markets can make a real difference. Local teams in key fund hubs such as Singapore can help managers to deliver the necessary reporting and reach requirements in each market, while also providing operational support in the right time zone, wherever the fund may be domiciled.
What capabilities are essential for scaling, and how does BNP Paribas support that?
In order to scale, GPs and LPs need partners and an ecosystem that can support their fund launches across jurisdictions or structures in a harmonised way. At BNP Paribas’ Securities Services business, we have a single global platform for all our locations, and for all our private credit activity. That gives us the capacity to serve our clients consistently across different investments, different asset classes and structures, be it in Europe or in Asia-Pacific.
As the private credit market grows in Asia-Pacific, data will be the true differentiator as vehicles become more complex and LP demands, especially around reporting, increase. We focus on three key dimensions here: input, treatment and output. At the input stage, we draw on automation, machine learning, data recognition and large language models to gather loan notices, process the data, and extract the information needed to fit our data model.
Even where the investment itself follows a regional approach, the dynamics are shaped by the local market.
This article was first published by Private Debt Investor, June 2026.