Pengana Capital Group has announced the launch of a diversified global private credit separately managed account (SMA) fund.
The fund manager has further expanded its non-institutional private credit division through a new SMA fund product. Its first client has been onboarded, with initial access through AMP’s North platform, and more platforms expected to follow over the coming quarters, it stated.
According to Pengana, the fund is currently the only diversified global private credit product in the Australian SMA market.
The firm recently flagged that it will be strategically repositioning to have private markets become the dominant part of its business. With non-institutional investors underweight in global private credit and global private equity, Pengana sees this as an opportunity for “outsized” growth in funds under management (FUM).
Nehemiah Richardson, Pengana Credit chief executive, said he expects strong inflows in the new SMA product over the coming quarters.
“The SMA fund adds yet another non-institutional private credit investment option to meet the growing demand for global private credit among Australian investors,” he explained.
“Outside of Australia, global private credit is arguably the most highly sought-after asset class. Yet there has been a severe shortage of applicable products available in the Australian non-institutional investment market.”
Last week in a shareholder presentation, Pengana also confirmed it has entered into its first strategic partnership with “one of Australia’s largest wealth groups” to create an offering specifically tailored to its clients.
The firm stated: “This will be the only global private credit offering that will be recommended for allocation in the group’s client portfolios, and strong inflows are expected over the coming quarters. The selection of Pengana as the preferred global private credit partner for this large group is testament to the attractiveness of the offering.”
Through its partnership with Mercer in its private credit arm, Pengana has launched several products in the space. This includes its listed Pengana Global Private Credit Trust, the unlisted wholesale Pengana Diversified Private Credit Fund and the TermPlus online term accounts for retail investors.
These investment vehicles have helped improve the accessibility of private credit solutions in the Australian market. Richardson said: “Even high-net-worth investors previously struggled to gain meaningful exposure, but now any Australian retail investor can access the same diversification and returns enjoyed by institutional investors.”
Moreover, it also provided a monthly FUM update. As of 30 September 2024, its FUM stands at $3.32 billion. This is slightly down from $3.33 billion at the end of August and $3.37 billion at the end of July.
