Private credit lenders seize the moment in Europe
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Private debt has enjoyed sustained success in recent years, with private credit firms stepping in to fill the void left by the retreat of banks from their traditional lending role. The outlook for the asset class in Europe remains strong, as firms continue to find compelling opportunities, even in sectors that face market headwinds.
A persistent supply-demand imbalance in the housing market across most European countries means that residential real estate is a particularly attractive sector for lenders. Changing work patterns are also giving a long-term boost to parts of the hospitality real estate sector, with southern European markets able to take advantage of a boom in demand.
In this episode of the Private Debt Investor Podcast, Zach Lewy, Founder, CEO, and Chief Investment Officer of Arrow Global, says how asset-backed lending enables private credit firms to minimise risk while capitalising on emerging opportunities. Success, he notes, hinges on maintaining strategic discipline in a landscape ripe with potential.
“If you’re a lender against high quality collateral that has good liquidity and hence exits are possible… you can benefit from the higher interest rates… I’m bullish for that style of private lending.”
“The behavioural pattern of remote working has had a much more prolonged effect in favour of hospitality assets… it’s been a very favourable dynamic.”
“The fundamental discipline in all asset-backed investing is… How liquid is it? How do I add value?… That fundamental discipline applies across all of what we do.”
Zach Lewy
CEO, CIO, Fund Principal
Zach has more than 25 years of executive experience in investment management and asset servicing. He founded Arrow Global in 2005 and has since led the business as Group CEO and CIO, transforming it into a leading Pan-European investment manager specialising in private credit and real estate. Under Zach’s leadership, Arrow manages more than €110 billion of serviced assets across Western Europe and generates alpha across alternative asset classes, including opportunistic credit, real estate, and lending.
Zach has supervised over 3,000 deals at Arrow and plays a key role as lead Principal in Arrow’s fund manager. Prior to founding Arrow, he was an Officer of Sallie Mae, a Director at Vertex (the BPO division of United Utilities), and a Founder and Executive Director of 7C (a U.K. BPO company acquired by Vertex). He has also served as Chair of the U.K. Debt Buyers Association and the Chair of SCOR. In 2010, he was named an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
Zach graduated from Princeton University with a BA in Economics with Honours and a Certificate in Applied and Computational Mathematics with Honours.