Hayfin has raised more than €15bn (£12.8bn) for its fifth direct lending fund, with the firm attributing the record fundraising to investors seeking “conservative fund structures” in the wake of strains in semi-liquid US private credit funds.

The fund, named Hayfin Direct Lending Fund V (DLF V), exceeded the manager’s fundraising target and more than doubled the €6bn raised for the previous vintage.

The European alternative manager added that the fund had already deployed 50 per cent of commitments at the time of its final close, with the strategy focusing on providing loans to European middle-market and upper-middle-market businesses.

Hayfin said the fundraising attracted commitments from global institutional investors, including public and private pension funds, with recent strains in semi-liquid US private credit funds for retail investors having “accelerated limited partner demand for conservative fund structures” such as closed-ended vehicles.

The manager added that this demand enabled Hayfin to “achieve the most significant milestone yet” for its flagship private credit strategy.

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Hayfin also emphasised that the direct lending fund’s loan portfolio has minimal exposure to software credits deemed most susceptible to AI disruption, with US retail funds in the US experiencing elevated levels of redemptions due to concerns over their software exposure.

“In recent months, longstanding differences between the US and European private credit markets have become even more pronounced, with European lenders continuing to benefit from greater market fragmentation, continued bank retrenchment and a predominantly institutional capital base,” said Mark Tognolini, co-chief executive and co-founder of Hayfin.

The manager added that the DLF V fundraising also included the close of a rated note feeder, which contributed approximately $600m (£450.1m) of total investable capital.

According to Hayfin, it has invested €7.1bn into direct lending transactions over the past 12 months, bringing total deployment by its direct lending strategy to €38bn since the firm’s inception.

Hayfin was advised on the fundraising by Macfarlanes.

“We are proud to have advised Hayfin on what is one of the largest European private credit fundraises to date, a remarkable achievement for Hayfin and a significant overperformance of their target for the fundraising,” said Chris Daniel, Macfarlanes partner.