Parent company Franklin Templeton has joined forces with its Benefit Street Partners (BSP) subsidiary to launch a new multi-strategy private credit interval fund.
The Franklin BSP Private Credit Fund is offering a multi-strategy approach to U.S. middle market private credit with access to higher-yielding, senior-secured, credit-focused strategies that are not as readily available in traditional fixed-income mutual funds, officials said.
“With inflation and interest rates on the rise, diversifying with private credit can reduce portfolio volatility while providing consistently high risk-adjusted returns. Combining BSP’s diverse credit strategies, this fund offers investors the ability to invest in high conviction ideas across the credit spectrum and the capital structure. We take a flexible but disciplined approach to investing and seek to capitalize on attractive risk-adjusted returns throughout the credit cycle with a focus on proprietary deals,” President of BSP Richard Byrne said in a statement.
The private credit interval fund popularity continues to grow among individual and HNW investors. The latest fund is managed by BSP Managing Directors Anant Kumar and Saahil Mahajan, who will allocate to a combination of traditional direct lending, opportunistic/rescue lending, high yield, liquid loans and real estate debt. Shifts in the portfolio will be determined by the changes in relative value across the credit spectrum, according to the Franklin Templeton, which now has roughly $260 billion in alternative assets under management.
“With this new platform, we’re making our proven institutional managers including BSP, Clarion, Lexington Partners and K2, accessible to wealth managers across the country, enabling more investors to benefit from the diversification of private markets and alternative strategies,” said Jeff Masom, Franklin Templeton’s head of US Distribution. “Franklin BSP Private Credit Fund presents an exciting opportunity to bring BSP’s experience and capabilities in private lending to a broader range of investors through the interval fund structure.”