A new survey from Aeon Investments, the London based credit-focused investment company, with institutional investors in Europe and the US who collectively have around $574 billion in assets under management, reveals the major factors behind more professional investors increasing their allocation to structured credit.
When asked for their top three reasons for this trend, 44% selected greater innovation in the structured credit market, followed by 40% who included greater transparency in the sector.
This was followed by an improving regulatory environment, which 31% of professional investors included in their top three reasons for more professional investors increasing their allocation to structured credit; 22% cited the fact that they can offer attractive yields, which have become even more appealing given the current difficulties in the fixed income market, and one in five (20%) selected the sector’s growing focus on ESG. Some 13% cited structured credit’s ability to offer attractive diversification benefits as one of their top three reasons.
Which structured credit sectors will see the biggest increase in asset allocation from investors?
In terms of which areas of the structured credit market is likely to see the biggest inflows from investors over the next 18 months, 63% anticipate allocations to products focusing on residential real estate will see an increase, and 63% also expect this from those investment vehicles focusing on commercial real estate. Some 49% of respondents expect an increase in investment inflows into structured credit vehicles focusing on consumer credit such as student loans, auto credit/leases, compared to 11% who anticipate a decline. The corresponding figures for flows into structured credit vehicles concentrating on specialist areas of corporate finance such as commercial aviation, shipping, and trade receivables, is 42% and 12%.
Evgeny van der Geest, Managing Director, Aeon Investments said: “In recent years, the structured credit market has seen huge developments in terms of maturity and transparency, and this trend continues to gather pace. This, coupled with a growing desire to diversify portfolios and the search for yield, means more professional investors are increasing their allocation to structured credit investments.”