What is the difference between private asset-backed financing and specialty financing?
I have been following the dynamic between the public syndicated loan market and private debt market closely over the past few months.
A lot of private debt professionals believe the private asset-backed market is a source of alpha given the shorter loan duration and recoverability of principal (easier to liquidate assets vs entire company as I understand it)
I am having trouble understanding the difference between an asset-backed group and a specialty finance group at a private debt fund. Is it simply what type of asset is backing the loan?
For example, KKR recently purchased a $7.2bn RV loan portfolio from BMO. This was done out of their private asset-backed group. I can also point to case studies where private debt funds will finance aircrafts but hold the facility in their specialty finance fund. Are they not both asset-backed?
When looking at an opportunity, generally speaking, what are features of a deal that would be held in an asset-backed vs specialty finance fund?
The examples you mentioned are more so asset based loans or “ABL”, which is typically where lenders pool assets from a company in an SPV structure and lend against those pool of assets for an interest rate typically higher than most traditional private credit loans as the company is usually stressed, distressed, and/or cannot secure a traditional loan. The duration is also much shorter (2-3 yrs) and the assets pay off the loan, so there is no refinancing risk from a lenders perspective. However, the risk is that the assets underperform / cash flow does not pay off the loan. I think ABL is going to grow, especially as traditional credit becomes increasingly commoditized and excess returns diminish (in my view) over the medium to long term.
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