Goldman Sachs launches private credit fund for wealth market

Goldman Sachs Alternatives is the latest asset manager to launch a private credit fund aimed at the wealth market.

The firm’s $450bn (£356bn) alternatives platform has unveiled a new open-ended, semi-liquid European private credit strategy that was seeded in the fourth quarter of last year.

The fund – dubbed GSEC – has already raised more than €550m to date and has allocated to 23 private credit portfolio companies.

The fund will focus on portfolios of directly originated, senior secured debt from medium to large size borrowers.

The launch of GSEC follows the close of the firm’s private markets ELTIF, which was launched last year to provide direct exposure to a range of investments across sectors and strategies in private markets.

“We believe we have a differentiated position as a leading incumbent in the direct lending markets in Europe and globally,” said James Reynolds, global head of direct lending at Goldman Sachs Alternatives.

“We continue to see the European private credit market as an active source of stable returns for investors and we are pleased to continue finding ways for investors to access these markets.”

Stephanie Rader, global co-head of Alternatives Capital Formation at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, added: “Similar to the US, we’ve seen significant investor demand for an open-ended semi-liquid private credit product and we are continuously developing solutions to satisfy that demand.”

Asset managers have increasingly been expanding into the wealth market to diversify their sources of funding and meet their growth ambitions.

Earlier this month, Carlyle launched a private credit fund for wealthy individuals, following the likes of Blackstone and Ares Management into this space.

Apollo Global Management is looking to raise $50bn (£39.8bn) from the wealth market for its private capital products by 2026.

And France’s Eurazeo is launching a private debt fund that will be open to retail investors in the second half of 2024.