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For debt funds with more limited access to managers, leveraging influence at the due diligence stage is critical to responsible investing, says Coralie De Maesschalck, head of portfolio and ESG at Kartesia.

Putting ESG at the heart of decision-making leads to better credit selection and higher returns, argue Theresa Shutt, CIO, and Paul Colatrella, managing director of infrastructure debt, at Fiera Private Debt.

Covid-19 has presented the private debt market with both challenges and opportunities. William Brady, Mei Lian, Luke McDougall, Diala Minott and Jennifer Yount of Paul Hastings assess some of the major developments.

Fund managers and investors are working together to ensure that responsible investment is moving up the private debt agenda, say Bridgepoint Credit’s Alex Hökfelt and Cathy Wang.

Distressed and special situations have been the focus of Asia-Pacific private debt markets, but Brian Dillard of KKR highlights an opportunity to back a wider universe of companies.

As a private debt market, Asia-Pacific has a lot to offer with opportunities to capitalise on a funding gap in real assets, says Stéphane Delatte, CEO of Pierfront Capital.

The number of credit funds active in Asia-Pacific has taken off in the last five years, and the region’s pandemic experience looks like it will only accelerate that trend, according to David Fowler, country head of Singapore at Sanne.

With banks retrenching from lending to mid-market companies in various Asia-Pacific jurisdictions, there may now be an opportunity for investors to benefit. We asked Andrew Tan, head of Asia-Pacific private debt at Muzinich & Co., about the pace of change in this evolving market.

From mastering the nuances of deal documentation to making sandwiches for lunch, Stuart Smartt and Linda Chaffin of NXT Capital explore the new realities of life for ‘remote’ private debt managers.

Arcmont Asset Management’s CEO, Anthony Fobel, says private debt is well placed to support companies through the coronavirus crisis.