Investor
APAC Forum 2024
March 2025
Sands Expo and Convention Centre Singapore
Asia's leading private debt conference
The 4th annual PDI APAC Forum has returned to Sands Expo and Convention Centre Singapore on 27-28 March 2024 with 200+ attendees and 100+ APAC investors to discuss how private debt can create strong returns and support your portfolio growth from a diverse investor standpoint.
Build new connections, maintain lasting relationships, and engage in regional insights with the global private debt community.
Connect with APAC’s leading investors and funds to delve into the best strategies in the private credit universe and explore nascent investment opportunities borne from economic tailwinds.
Key conversations include:
- Discover the unique propositions of APAC private debt in global markets
- Investor sentiments towards debt strategies including direct lending, distressed, specialty finance and venture debt
- How to stand out as emerging managers in Asia
- ESG, corporate governance and due diligence and more.
Meet with 2024 investor attendees including:
Fundraise easily. Gain a strategic edge.
Connect with 100+ emerging and established APAC investors
Join the likes of Australia Future Fund, PNB, QIA, Temasek, and more during two days of unmatched networking.
Discover new opportunities with like-minded leaders
Meet with 200+ senior decision-makers in APAC private debt and navigate the best-performing markets and strategies in 2024 and beyond.
Diversify your portfolio with private debt
Understand how the shifting landscape in banking provides unique opportunities favouring investors and private lenders.
2024 Keynotes
Keynote interview with MA Financial Group
Private credit: an all-weather strategy or a passing phase?
Frank Danieli (left)
Managing Director, Head of Credit Investments and Lending
MA Financial Group
Join Frank as he discusses the structural evolution taking place in private credit, presenting a generational opportunity to lend in areas previously dominated by banks.
Hear insights from Frank as to why he believes the attractive return/low volatility dynamic could be more enduring than some fear.
Keynote fireside chat
Private Debt Investor x Monetary Authority of Singapore
Cheng Khai Lim (left)
Executive Director, Financial Markets Development Department
Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
Join this open dialogue with Cheng Khai Lim, executive director at MAS(left) and our senior editor, Andy Thomson(right) to discover the growth opportunities and the future road map of APAC private debt so you can become more resilient in a volatile market.
2024 featured speakers included:
What our attendees say
Dom Beckers, Portfolio Manager
Victorian Funds Management Corporation
A great opportunity to discuss amongst peers in the private debt space
Tristan Miao
Private credit investment, D.E. Shaw
Key trends in APAC private debt and networking with other funds.
Mouhammad Shahjahan
Head of Debt Services, Asia Pacific, MUFG Investor Services
A diverse set of views revolving private debt in Asia were covered by great panelists, which is hard to find at a single forum.
Apply for an institutional Investor complimentary pass
A limited number of complimentary passes are available for allocators and institutional investors to join the event.
To qualify for a complimentary pass, you must meet the eligibility criteria in representing a pension fund, insurance company, trust, sovereign wealth fund, foundation, endowment, single family office or corporate who are actively making fund commitments and do not engage in third-party fundraising activities or collect fees for advisory/consulting services.
Apply for a pass and a member of our team will follow up with you.
Download key conversation topics
Download the agenda to learn how you can capitalise on the opportunities arising from the private debt space.
Key programme highlights include:
- How do family offices and institutional investors see private debt opportunities and their risk-return profiles?
- Understand the unique values generated from the APAC private debt in global markets
- Strategy deep dive into Direct lending, distressed, specialty finance and venture debt
- Position your firm for growth opportunities in real asset debts and asset-backed securities
- Manager research: Keys to be successful emerging managers in Asia
- Create valuable exit through ESG, corporate governance and due diligence
Tell us your preferred topics or ask your burning questions to our producer, Niann Lai (niann.l@peimedia.com)
2024 Agenda:
Agenda
PDI APAC Forum 2024 - Pre-conference - Tuesday 26th
PDI Women’s Roundtable and Networking Cocktail, sponsored by Apex (Open to women only, RSVP required)
Participants can join roundtable discussions and exchange insights with industry peers in the private debt community. Hearing other senior women how to build successful career in private markets, how they use their nurturing skills to their advantage and perspectives on whether the diversity related KPIs deliver improved gender balance. Please RSVP to niann.l@pei.group to secure a place.
Agenda
PDI APAC Forum 2024 - Main Day 1 - Wednesday 27th
Registration and welcome refreshment
PDI's welcome remarks and introduction
Opening panel: Will Asian private debt emerge stronger than ever?
- How is the uncertainty around the direction of interest rates affecting the prospects for Asian credit? What trends are shaping the growth of private debt in Asia?
- Which countries in Asia would managers say have improved the most their enforcement legal environment in the recent years? What are each market’s nuances and regulatory challenges respectively?
- Is Asian private debt a strategic or tactical opportunity set? What are the likely returns to private debt in major markets – from senior debt to mezzanine – across each largely industry type?
- Is the market going to get more fragmented or more consolidated going forward?
Panel: Where is the sweet spot for direct lending?
- How do structures vary in the upper-mid and lower-mid direct lending, how do covenants protect investors?
- Given the current volatility, which regions should allocators be prioritizing for exposure?
- How do risk-adjusted returns on non-sponsor-backed loans compare to those of sponsor-backed?
Networking break
Keynote interview: Private credit: an all-weather strategy or a passing phase?
• How private credit has evolved as more lending transitions outside the traditional banking system
• The evolving landscape for private credit in Australia and the US
• The unusual circumstances at present where private credit is delivering equity-like returns, but with the capital protections and lower volatility that debt brings
Panel: APAC perspectives: The art of manager selection
- How do APAC investors differentiate global vs local fund managers?
- What are the key considerations when choosing their investment partners and challenges in assessing managers in this space compared with other asset classes?
- What are appetite shifts can we expect from APAC investors in 2024?
Panel: The new-look distressed opportunity
- The underlying condition of Asian economies has been less obscured by extensive support measures, what does this imply for the opportunistic credit, special situations, and non-performing loan segments?
- Most of the defaults were in the US or Europe – how might it impact on Asia? Where are we in the credit cycle across the different regions?
- How has the creditor protection and regulatory environment developed for distressed debt assets in different jurisdictions?
- Has liability management transactions become more prevalent vs a company filing for bankruptcy?
- What do investors think about India’s NPL opportunities, Chinese real estate market and hospitality space?
Dylan Szymanski
Executive Managing Director and Head of Europe and Asia Corporate Credit, Sculptor
Read bioNetworking lunch
PEI presents: Private debt in numbers
Panel: Spotlight on Australia and New Zealand
- On comparative global scale how much can an institutional investor deploy in Australia debt market and gain the appropriate diversification?
- What could drive further growth of the Australian private debt market. How will the regulatory pressure on banks influence this growth?
- What kind of covenants in Australian private debt are most influential in the pricing structure and what are the trade-offs?
Networking break
Panel: Thriving amid change: Mainstream vs alternative credit strategies
- How does performing private credit can address Asia’s capital gaps?
- How have specialty finance structures changed relative to other debt strategies?
- Venture debt is the rapidly emerging asset class, why this strategy is ripe for the picking?
- Deep dive across debt capital structures and emerging markets
Lakshmi Iyer
Chief Executive Officer – Investment & Strategy, Kotak Alternate Asset Managers Limited (KAAML)
Read bioPanel: Sustainable private debt
- What ESG objectives drive private credit allocations and what key metrics capture these objectives?
- Does an increased focus on ESG genuinely enhance the investment process? Can ESG really work in a private debt context given the short tenors?
- What technological improvements can fund managers implement to increase the performance of private debt investments?
- Looking forward, what are some of the opportunities for private credit in infrastructure and climate finance?
Closing remarks by Day 1 Chair
Roundtable discussions with drinks: Deep dive into private credit markets
An excellent opportunity to discuss different opportunities and credit cycles in major Asian markets. Each table is hosted by a facilitator. Share your experience and hear from industry peers. All attendees are welcome.
- Roundtable 1: Australia and New Zealand
- Roundtable 2: Northeast Asia: China, Japan, South Korea, etc
- Roundtable 3: Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, etc
- Roundtable 4: South Asia: India and other frontiers
Networking reception, sponsored by Afreximbank
Agenda
PDI APAC Forum 2024 - Main Day 2 - Thursday 28th
Investor-only networking breakfast
Exclusive for LPs, off the record, peer to peer discussions focused on the latest trends facing institutional investors and family offices. Please RSVP to niann.l@pei.group.
Registration and networking
Welcome remarks from Day 2 Chair
Kher Sheng Lee
Managing Director, Co-Head of APAC and Deputy Global Head of Government Affairs, AIMA / ACC
Read bioOpening keynote fireside chat
Panel: The next chapter of private debt
- What do managers and investors think about the value proposition of Asia private credit compared to US and Europe in terms of valuation and risks?
- What are the megatrends we should be aware of, after the fat tail events including banks fail, interest rate hikes, regulation considering the SEC Private Funds rules, rising geopolitical risks, etc.
- A big boost for debt secondaries – where are the opportunities now?
Networking break
Keynote panel: How investors have embraced private debt
- How are allocators thinking about sizing and how much goes into private credit?
- How APAC private credit features in the portfolios of global institutional investors?
- Much of the growth in private debt has been in direct lending – Is this where global investors are growing their exposure in private debt?
Panel: Sourcing liquidity and navigating through volatility: Public markets vs private markets
- Private debt funds take advantages of reduced appetite among banks to support leveraged financings, what are the predictions for private markets vs public markets for the next decade?
- What price illiquidity? Will private credit firms suffer alongside private equity sponsors, as the latter struggle to identify exits?
- What are potential impacts from bank market turmoil on the investor’s allocation plans?
Panel: What is driving family offices more toward private markets?
- How do family offices view the current private debt market and tensions in the banking sector?
- To what extent are family offices investing in alternatives and real assets debt buckets?
- Emerging managers or global credit managers – how would family offices choose?
Closing remarks and Networking lunch
Our leading advisory board in 2024
Interested in speaking at PDI APAC Forum next year? Please contact Niann Lai today.