Manulife | Comvest names top 2027 private credit ideas

Manulife | Comvest Credit Partners named direct lending, asset-based finance and capital solutions as its top 2027 private credit ideas, according to Alternative Credit Investor. The platform said maturing debt and more varied borrower needs are widening the opportunity set.

Debt raised during the last boom is maturing into a higher-cost, more selective financing market, the platform said in its 2027 Private Markets Outlook. Within direct lending, the outlook points to refinancing, shareholder liquidity events, acquisitions and capital-structure optimisation as deal sources, while sponsor-backed buyout financing remains "a core component" of the market.

For allocators, the outlook names leverage, collateral coverage, covenant protections, lender rights and capital-structuring positioning as the five inputs to downside protection. Lenders able to underwrite complexity and structure customised transactions are better placed as borrower needs diversify, it said.

The firm also said demand for asset-based finance is growing across income-producing assets as banks retreat from specialty lending, and sponsors are using structured capital to address liquidity needs, bridge valuation gaps and create flexibility around realisation timelines. "We believe we're in the early stages of a multi-year shift toward more complex financing needs across the middle market," said Robert O'Sullivan, global head of private credit at Manulife | Comvest Credit Partners.

In August the platform closed its North American direct lending strategy with $5.4 billion, its largest fundraise to date. Those commitments now need to be deployed in the higher-cost, more selective market the outlook describes.