What are the key themes in private credit to watch out for?

Laura Vaughan, Head of Direct Lending at Federated Hermes, discusses the private credit market and why differentiating product offerings is the key to success.

Laura Vaughn Federated Hermes
Laura Vaughan, Head of Direct Lending at Federated Hermes.

Andrew Putwain: Could you tell us about your role, your place in the organisation, and what it means as part of the business?

Laura Vaughan: I am Head of Direct Lending at Federated Hermes, an $800bn AUM global active asset manager.

My role sits within the Private Credit business, which launched in 2015 and lends across Direct Lending and Real Estate Debt strategies.

As a member of the Private Credit Investment Committee, I am responsible for implementing the overall strategy of our Direct Lending funds, alongside playing a key role in fundraising, as well as managing a team of investment analysts who assess potential loans made by our funds.

Andrew: Moody’s has predicted that the private credit market will grow to $3 trillion (£2.3 trillion) by 2028, up from $1.5 trillion today. What are the key drivers of this?

Laura: The Private Credit market has grown rapidly over the last decade, as following the global financial crisis, when banks retrenched from lending, they created a gap in the market.

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