Private Credit: A Primer for Yield-Focused Investors
What private credit is, why it has grown so quickly, and how to evaluate a private credit opportunity intelligently.
The asset class banks left behind
Post-2008 regulation pushed banks out of mid-market lending. Private credit funds and platforms filled the gap. The result is an asset class offering bond-like income with structural protections — security, covenants, seniority — that public bond investors gave up years ago.
What to look at
Seniority in the capital stack. Collateral coverage. Covenant package. Sponsor's recovery track record. A high coupon means nothing if the workout is amateur.
The global and tax angle
The principle in this article applies everywhere, but the numbers do not. Cross-border investors face an additional set of variables — source-country withholding tax, treaty access, capital-gains treatment by residency, reporting obligations under CRS and FATCA, and the impact of holding structures on net IRR. Two investors taking identical positions can end up with materially different post-tax outcomes purely because of where they are resident and how they hold the asset.
Before committing to any cross-border deal, map the tax stack: corporate tax already paid at the asset level, withholding tax on outbound distributions (and whether a treaty reduces it), and personal or corporate tax in your residency. On Aqmār, the SPV jurisdiction, operating-asset jurisdiction, and standard distribution mechanics are disclosed in the deal pack so your tax adviser can model the post-tax return rather than reconstructing it from emails after the fact.
Ready to invest with structure?
Browse vetted projects on Aqmār — every deal held in escrow until ownership and documentation are verified.