The premier private debt event in North America
Form lasting relationships with private credit-focused investors at the 10th annual Private Debt Investor New York Forum.
Discover innovative and actionable methods for differentiating your firm in this highly competitive and dynamic market.
Connect with North America’s leading investors to:
- Hear where they are looking to allocate funds
- Expand your network and discover solutions to pressing challenges within the changing economic environment
- Gain actionable insight into current best practices and strategies for generating the highest returns
Explore the benefits of attending
What can you expect at the forum?
Explore new trends in private debt
Learn about private debt-related topics, including direct lending, secondaries, specialty finance, and more.
Exchange insight with your peers
Have meaningful conversations with private debt experts about top return strategies and best practices for securing capital.
Expand your investor network
Make valuable connections with investors and discuss their top considerations when allocating to private debt.
Secure your place today to get the best available rate.
Key agenda themes for 2023
- Macro trends and a push for real assets
- Main risk factors going into 2024
- Drive toward direct lending
- Special situations and distressed debt in inflationary times
- Trends in specialty finance
- ESG and DEI in private credit
- Infrastructure, real estate, and secondaries
- Private debt in middle and lower-middle markets
- US vs. EU debt markets
- Structured equity in private debt
- Private debt fundraising
- And more!
2023 speakers
Apply for a complimentary institutional investor pass
Complimentary passes are available for eligible allocators and institutional investors to join the event.
To qualify for a complimentary pass, you must meet the eligibility criteria in representing a pension fund, insurance company, sovereign wealth fund, foundation, endowment, trust, family office, or corporate investment division.
Apply for a pass, and a member of our team will follow up with you.
Browse the past attendee list
Connect with investors and private debt experts
See what past attendees are saying about the forum
Testimonials
Kurt Bock
Chief Executive Officer, Country Financial
Absolutely invaluable! The perspectives from GPs, LPs, and industry analysts all in one place made this the most beneficial investor meeting I will attend this…
Jim McMullan
Head of Corporate Credit, CDPQ
Overall great retreat; an opportunity to step back and think about private debt opportunities and trends.
Brett Hickey
Chief Executive Officer, Star Mountain Capital
Well-organized conference with high-quality LPs and GPs along with high-quality content and technology for participants to engage.
Kurt Bock
Chief Executive Officer, Country Financial
Absolutely invaluable! The perspectives from GPs, LPs, and industry analysts all in one place made this the most beneficial investor meeting I will attend this year.
Raise your profile among private debt decision makers
Build and develop your company’s brand image, strengthen your market credibility, and meet your investment and business goals. Sponsorship gives you:
- VIP access
- Thought-leadership opportunities
- High-profile branding
- And much more…
For more information about sponsorship opportunities, contact Beth Piercy at beth.p@pei.group or +1 646 989 8024.
2023 sponsors
2023 speakers
Have a topic you would like to discuss at the Private Debt Investor New York Forum 2023? Contact Erin Wolfe at erin.wolfe@pei.group to discuss available speaking opportunities.
Andrew Bellis
Partner, Global Head of Private Debt, Partners Group
Andrew Bellis Is the global head of Private Debt, overseeing both the Direct Lending and Liquid Loan business units. He is based in New York and has been with Partners Group for six years. He has 23 vears of industry experience. Prior to Partners Gro… Read full bio
Garrett Bjorkman
Managing Director, Portfolio Oversight, CIM
Garett Bjorkman is a Managing Director in the Portfolio Oversight Group. He leads Portfolio Oversight for CIM’s private real estate debt and Opportunity Zone investment strategies. Prior to joining CIM, Mr. Bjorkman worked at various real estate priv… Read full bio
Anna Dayn
Managing Partner, New End
Anna Dayn is a Managing Partner and US head of New End, a family-office-anchored strategic advisory and capital formation firm in private markets. At New End, Anna partners and invests in high-growth companies, sponsors and investment platforms to pr… Read full bio
Marianna Fassinotti
Managing Director, The D.E. Shaw Group
Marianna Fassinotti is a managing director based in the D. E. Shaw group's New York office and head of the Private Credit investment unit. Prior to joining the firm in 2015, Ms. Fassinotti was a managing director at Siguler Guff & Company, LP, co… Read full bio
Marc Friess
Partner, Proskauer
Marc B. Friess is a partner in the Private Credit Group and a member of the Corporate Department. He focuses his practice on commercial and corporate finance transactions and the representation of hedge funds, private equity funds, commercial finance… Read full bio
Dane Graham
Managing Director, 17Capital
Dane is Managing Director at 17Capital, the go-to global source of strategic finance for investors in private equity. Dane has nearly two decades of strategic and financing advisory experience across the asset management, alternative asset management… Read full bio
Kevin Griffin
Founder and CIO, MGG Investment Group
Mr. Griffin founded MGG Investment Group in 2014 and is the CEO and CIO of the firm. Prior to launching MGG, Mr. Griffin was a Managing Director with Highbridge Principal Strategies, where he was a senior member of the Specialty Lending Platform and… Read full bio
Kenneth Kencel
President & CEO, Churchill Asset Management
Ken serves as President and CEO of Churchill Asset Management, an affiliate of Nuveen, the asset manager of TIAA. He also serves as Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp., Churchill’s publicly registered bus… Read full bio
Kevin Lawi
Managing Director, Private Credit Portfolio Manager - Head of Origination of Credit Investments Group, Credit Suisse Asset Management
Kevin Lawi, Managing Director, is the Private Credit Portfolio Manager and Head of Origination of the Credit Investments Group (CIG) within Credit Suisse Asset Management. He joined CIG in 2021 to lead the origination and structuring of transactions… Read full bio
Armen Panossian
Head of Performing Credit and Portfolio Manager, Oaktree Capital Management
Mr. Panossian is a managing director and Oaktree’s Head of Performing Credit where his responsibilities include oversight of the firm’s performing credit activities including the senior loan, high yield bond, private credit, convertibles, structured… Read full bio
Douglas Porter
Managing Director, MainePERS
Doug Porter joined Maine Public Employees Retirement System (MainePERS) in 2012 and is a Managing Director and Head of Alternative Credit. Doug is responsible for the Alternative Credit portfolio design and implementation of making private credit fun… Read full bio
Bill Sacher
Partner and Head of Private Credit, Adams Street Partners
Bill leads the investment, portfolio construction, and fundraising efforts of the Private Credit Team, and manages key relationships with general partners in North America and Europe. Prior to joining Adams Street, Bill was head of the US Private Deb… Read full bio
Pre-Event Resources
View agenda page
Agenda
Day 1 - Wednesday 6th
Breakfast
08:00 - 08:30
Registration & welcome breakfast
08:00 - 08:30
Women’s networking breakfast
Welcome
08:30 - 08:33
PEI welcome
Erin Wolfe
Speaker:
Erin Wolfe, Associate Director, PEI
08:33 - 08:37
Co-host remarks
08:37 - 08:40
Chair remarks & programming kick-off
Plenary sessions
08:40 - 09:10
Opening keynote
09:10 - 09:50
Macro trends & a push for real assets
Marc Friess,
Garrett Bjorkman,
Kenneth Kencel,
Bill Sacher
- Main risk factors going into 2024. Impact of interest rates, geopolitical tensions, and cyclical risks on the balance sheets of portfolios.
- Current state of the world’s markets as they pertain to civil unrest, covid concerns, the war in Ukraine, and the threat of additional Russian sanctions.
- Addressing climbing interest rates and the effects of inflation, concerns over recessionary trends
- Diversification into other private credit asset classes such as infrastructure, real estate, and healthcare.
Moderator:
Marc Friess, Partner, Proskauer
Speakers:
Garrett Bjorkman, Managing Director, Portfolio Oversight, CIM
Kenneth Kencel, President & CEO, Churchill Asset Management
Bill Sacher, Partner & Head of Private Credit, Adam Street Partners
09:50 - 10:40
Continued drive towards direct lending
Kevin Griffin
- Supply and demand dynamics in the direct lending space
- Addressing concerns around profit margins due to inflation and rising interest rates.
- How lending will change as we head into a recessionary period and the opportunities created.
- An analysis of projected trends in performance, risk adjusted returns, and value creation going into the new year.
Speakers:
Kevin Griffin, Founder & CIO, MGG Investment Group
10:40 - 11:20
Special situation & distressed debt in inflationary times
Marianna Fassinotti
- Strategies to take advantage of unique opportunities for over-levered companies.
- How are special situations and distressed credit combating inflation? What trends are we seeing in rescue finance and balance sheet restructuring?
- Where are investors deploying opportunistic capital?
- Identifying which sectors and strategies are providing the most opportunities while avoiding more vulnerable opportunities.
Networking
11:00 - 11:50
Networking break
Plenary sessions
11:50 - 12:30
Trends in specialty finance
- How are specialty finance companies changing business models to adapt to the current environment?
- Where is the opportunity for capital raising for specialty finance companies?
- What’s driving investor interest in asset-based lending, equipment finance and collateralized specialty finance products and securitization?
- Analysis of the drive for fintech in this space and the opportunities available with blockchain. What are the prospects for companies that want to securitize and tokenize hard assets and securities?
12:30 - 13:10
Private vs. public market opportunities
Kevin Lawi,
Andrew Bellis
- Pros to private and public debt benefits and the latest trends surrounding interest rate risk, liquidity, volatility relative to market moves, security, and duration risk.
- Trends and opportunities in fixed income and its rise in popularity over private credit
Speakers:
Kevin Lawi, Managing Director, Private Credit Portfolio Manager & Head of Origination of Credit Investments Group, Credit Suisse Asset Management
Andrew Bellis, Partner, Head of Private Debt, Partners Group
13:10 - 13:50
ESG in private credit
- Incorporating ESG considerations to assess risk metrics and thematic issues including climate change, net zero commitments, energy transitions, resource availability, workforce practices, and inclusive growth.
- Addressing the challenges to having a strong ESG program and avoiding environmental liability.
- Understanding carbon and climate credits in the current market.
- How are lenders rising to the challenge around ESG disclosure and data availability in private assets?
Lunch
13:50 - 14:50
Networking lunch
Breakout sessions
14:50 - 15:30
Track A: DEI in private credit
- The link between DE&I and performance
- How to measure DE&I across portfolios
- LP expectations for private credit GPs
14:50 - 15:30
Track B: Private debt infrastructure
- Key considerations in constructing an infra portfolio and potential risks
- Leverage of commercial, residential, and retail debt for strong returns
14:50 - 15:10
Track C: Private debt in middle & lower middle markets
- Building out the definition of the middle market outside of deal size and what that
- Means for performance, risk-adjusted returns, and value creation
- Differentiators between lower and upper segments of private credit
- Analysis of alpha that investors can generate
Breakout sessions
15:30 - 16:10
Track A: Climate debt
- Emerging trends in ecological debt, with a specific focus on adaptation and emissions debt
- Development of a climate debt framework and enforcement policies
15:30 - 16:10
Track B: Private debt real estate
- Identifying the best assets and sources for alpha
- loan structures and strategies for high performance
- Inflation concerns and interest rates in housing markets
15:30 - 16:10
Track C: Private debt secondaries
- Opportunity and potential growth opportunities
- Benefits and risks of investing in private credit secondaries
Networking
16:10 - 16:40
Networking break
Breakout sessions
16:40 - 17:20
Track A: US vs. EU debt markets
Anna Dayn
- Appetite for European credit amongst US investors
- Effects of the current global geopolitical environment
- Challenges of regulation and an increased push for global frameworks
Speakers:
Anna Dayn, Managing Partner, New End
16:40 - 17:20
Track B: Venture debt
- Risk profile differentiators for venture and growth debt
- Keys to driving increased interest from LPs and credit managers
- Understanding what return profiles look like
16:40 - 17:20
Track C: Sponsored vs. non-sponsored lending
- Benefits of both strategies in a portfolio
- Comparison of origination, execution, and performance
- Risk and returns and how they are driving appetite over one another
Breakout sessions
17:20 - 18:00
Track A: BDCs & CLOs
- Where are we seeing the most opportunity and why?
- What does investor appetite look like in both markets?
- Where are we seeing the biggest cashflows?
17:20 - 18:00
Track B: Product development
- Product development including specific strategies, asset-focused funds, fund-level credit lines, and evergreen funds
- Pros of alternatives to traditional and sponsored lending
17:20 - 18:00
Track C: Structured equity in private debt
- Addressing macro issues including inflation and supply chain disruption
- Opportunities for structured equity and its role in private credit and equity allocation
End of day 1
18:00 - 19:00
Networking Reception
Agenda
Day 2 - Thursday 7th
Breakfast
08:00 - 09:00
LP think tank breakfast
08:00 - 09:00
GP working group breakfast
Welcome
09:00 - 09:30
Opening Keynote
Plenary sessions
09:30 - 10:10
Investor panel
Douglas Porter
- Key priorities for private debt investors
- Emerging investment strategies across the direct lending capital structure
- Increased focus from investors on ESG, real estate, and infrastructure debt and their yield returns
Speakers:
Douglas Porter, Managing Director, MainePERS
10:10 - 10:50
Play that tune: Catalogue selloffs for high returns
- Current trends in arts and entertainment that are leading to music legends selling off their catalogues, what opportunities lie here?
- With high risk and volatile cash flows, what continues to make these assets increasingly popular?
- How can investors protect themselves against the notoriety of these assets and ensure they will continue to see yield?
Networking
10:50 - 11:20
Networking break
Plenary sessions
11:20 - 12:00
Private credit & technology
- The growth of data analytics and AI for quality of credit scoring, disbursement, and monitoring.
- Future of blockchain, data management, crypto
- The role of data and technology models for regular financial disclosures of borrowers, compliance information, portfolio level accounting, liquidity management analytics, and the aggregation of fund performance data for investor reporting.
12:00 - 12:40
Private debt fundraising
- Dynamic ways of raising capital during difficult market conditions, how are we using secondaries or balance sheet assets?
- How are GPs sourcing deals? What asset classes are seeing the most deal flow? As deal sizes continue to increase, who is supplying the capital?
- Innovative deal strategies from lenders looking to address high volumes of dry powder
12:40 - 13:20
Private credit in M&A transactions
Dane Graham
- Addressing the highly competitive M&A market by providing more flexibility and certainty from loans to fund acquisition
- An analysis of direct loans outpacing syndicated loans in the middle market
- Future of existing borrowers doing add-on acquisitions
Speakers:
Dane Graham, Managing Director, 17Capital
13:20 - 14:00
Private credit in emerging markets
- Credit strategies for emerging economies and how they differ from established economies (EU, Asia, & North America)
- Appetite from investors to explore new markets with attractive growth rates
- Mitigating political and regulatory risk in the build-out of these strategies
End of day 2
14:00 - 14:00
Lunch and End of Conference
Hotel & venue
Conference venue
Convene
117 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036
All conference sessions will take place at Convene.
The room block for attendees at the Kimpton Muse Hotel is now closed. If you would still like to reserve a room at the hotel, please use the link below or call reservations at 1-800-KIMPTON.
Connect with private debt investors and fund managers
Form invaluable relationships with the expansive community of asset managers, institutional investors, and other private debt professionals attending the forum.
Ensure you are at the forefront of the latest trends affecting your investment strategies by participating in networking sessions and having important conversations with industry leaders.
Network with top institutional investors
Take advantage of the unique opportunity to meet with institutional investors looking to allocate capital to private debt.
Participate in interactive discussions
Improve your strategy for allocating funds to private debt and generating high returns through conversations with private debt leaders.
Create lasting connections
Build your network of knowledgeable and experienced contacts within the private debt sector by networking with your fellow attendees.
Browse past investor attendees
Connect with private debt investors
Apply for a complimentary institutional investor pass
The Private Debt Investor New York Forum is the largest meeting place for private debt professionals in North America. Complimentary passes are available for eligible allocators and institutional investors to join the event.
To qualify for a complimentary pass, you must meet the eligibility criteria in representing a pension fund, insurance company, sovereign wealth fund, foundation, endowment, trust, family office, or corporate investment division.
Apply for a pass and a member of our team will follow up with you to secure your pass.
Investors at PDI New York 2023
The forum is the largest gathering in North America for institutional investors, private investors, and other members of the private debt community.
Check out the benefits of joining the conference and see which of your peers you will be joining. Apply for a complimentary pass for you and your team today.
How will you benefit as an investor?
Gain exclusive insights
Enrich your network, build lasting relationships, and exchange valuable perspectives with your investor peers.
Explore new opportunities
Discover private debt opportunities across strategies such as direct lending, secondaries, and real assets.
Meet with leading fund managers
Arrange one-to-one meetings and network with the biggest leaders engaged in the private debt asset class.