US global investment management firm BlackRock announced on Tuesday that it has appointed Yik Ley Chan to lead its private credit investments in Southeast Asia.
From July 2024, Chan will be based in Singapore and lead the origination and execution of private credit efforts in Southeast Asia, which BlackRock said was a promising market for the asset class.
“Client demand for private markets investments has increased dramatically – a trend we believe is here to stay. We look forward to drawing on Yik Ley’s experience to create attractive opportunities for our clients,” said Deborah Ho, country head of Singapore and head of Southeast Asia at BlackRock, in a statement.
Chan has more than 16 years of experience in financial services, especially in structuring private credit and financial institutions. He was most recently the head of Asia private credit at Jefferies, overseeing markets in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
BlackRock is a New York-based multinational investment company, As the world’s largest asset manager, the firm oversees more than $9 trillion in assets. It invests on behalf of central banks, sovereign wealth funds, multilateral entities, public pension schemes, and government ministries and agencies.
The firm’s Global Private Debt platform manages $85 billion across the asset class.
Its Asia Pacific Private Credit platform, meanwhile, currently invests in opportunities throughout Australasia, South Korea, Japan, Greater China, India, and Southeast Asia.
In Southeast Asia, BlackRock has been specifically looking at digitalisation and new economy sectors in Indonesia, as well as manufacturing and real estate opportunities in Vietnam.
As for developed market opportunities, most of its private debt investments in Asia Pacific are led by Australia, followed by Singapore and Hong Kong.
It also continues to commit capital to China, specifically in corporate lending, where it taps home-grown companies that set up abroad with a “China angle”.
In Southeast Asia, private credit is gaining ground as companies tap alternative ways to raise capital in an environment of downrounds and valuation resets.
Private credit fundraising in Asia has jumped from $6.3 billion in 2019 to $11.2 billion in 2022.
Last month, Malaysia’s state-owned private equity fund Ekuinas said it plans to launch its maiden private credit fund with a corpus of 800 million ringgit ($170.4 million).
The Indonesia Investment Authority is also considering doubling down on its private lending business.