Banks’ Fight Against Private Credit May Be Disappointing

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La lucha de los bancos contra el crédito privado puede ser decepcionante
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JPMorgan and Deutsche are trying to find new formulas to defend themselves against the advance of lenders such as Ares, which are displacing them

Investment banks are pondering how to deal with private lending, the $1.2 trillion industry that is displacing them in the lucrative business of financing acquisitions. However, the ideas proposed by JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank and other banks bring new challenges.

Direct lenders, often run by wealth management groups like Blackstone and Apollo Global Management, are kicking banks out of big leveraged buyouts. Thoma Bravo’s $10.7 billion acquisition of Anaplan is one example. Borrowers appreciate the security of using these vehicles, which often hold loans for life. Investment banks, by contrast, need to sell loans to pension funds and wealth managers, and may raise interest rates during the syndication process if debt markets are choppy. There’s a lot to lose: Banks earned $7 billion in fees on leveraged loans in the first half of 2022, according to Refinitiv.

Banks are trying various responses. JPMorgan is making loans and holding them to maturity rather than trying to sell them, the Financial Times reported. That allows banks to offer fixed rates to borrowers. Second, others, such as Deutsche and Credit Suisse, are creating their own private credit funds to earn wealth management fees.

JPMorgan’s approach essentially involves a return to traditional bank lending. But it immobilizes the capital of the balance throughout the life of the loan. Instead, the current rule of selling debt allows banks to recycle capital several times a year and charge an average fee of 1% each time, according to Refinitiv data, boosting profitability. But shareholders and regulators could worry about a bank’s exposure to risky loans the longer a loan stays on the balance sheet.

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Setting up a fund, as Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse are doing, at least leaves the risk in the hands of third-party investors. And it’s not something new: Goldman Sachs’ GS.N wealth management arm, for example, is dedicated to private credit. But some banks can have a hard time sticking their heads in a crowded field. Giants like Apollo, whose credit arm manages $373 billion, will be hard to catch. According to Preqin, at the end of June there were some 1,000 private debt funds raising money.

It is true that banks do not always have to compete with private credit. They can make money by lending to funds, or even by underwriting large private deals that need multiple funds. According to a recent survey, nearly two-fifths of direct lenders would finance borrowers with debt levels that exceed a whopping 7.5 times EBITDA. There is a risk that insurers or pension groups that invest in private credit funds will pull out when defaults rise. This would take pressure off investment bankers.