Leading hedge fund managers have warned that rising interest rates, slowing corporate growth and a wave of debt maturities in 2027 and 2028 are increasing risks across the private credit market, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Speaking at the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit in Hong Kong, Tony Yoseloff, chief investment officer at Davidson Kempner Capital Management, warned that private credit faces greater challenges than public debt markets as highly leveraged borrowers confront rising refinancing costs. He highlighted the sector's concentration in software companies, which account for approximately one-third of US private credit loans and face growing disruption risks from artificial intelligence.

John Aylward, chief investment officer at Sona Asset Management, also raised concerns over deteriorating credit quality, noting that the five-year cumulative default rate in the syndicated loan market has already exceeded levels recorded during the 2008 global financial crisis. He warned that private credit shares many of the same private equity-backed borrowers, but typically lends to smaller and inherently riskier businesses.

Despite the concerns, Davidson Kempner sees opportunities in performing credit investments offering mid-teen returns, particularly in Asian markets. The firm has increased its liquid credit investments in Asia relative to Europe in recent years, with Yoseloff highlighting Indian first-lien lending and Asian convertible bonds as attractive opportunities.

Farallon Capital Management chief investment officer Nicolas Giauque said the firm has begun increasing its credit exposure after several years of declining allocations, identifying opportunities in distressed and CCC-rated debt as higher US interest rates and AI-related disruption create market dislocations.

Giauque also warned that increasingly correlated global equity markets could undermine traditional diversification strategies, with AI-related companies accounting for growing shares of major indices across regions. He cautioned that broad index hedges may offer insufficient protection against sector-specific shocks, particularly following October's technology-driven market correction.