Since then, private credit assets under management in Europe have grown to $476.4bn as of September 2024, according to Preqin data, up from $36.8bn. In its 2025 Global Private Equity Outlook, law firm Dechert reported that 63% of private equity firms say they use private credit for acquisition financing in their portfolios.

“There has just been an enormous sea change, that private credit today is very mainstream,” says Robin Doumar, founder and managing partner of Park Square Capital.

The inaugural Twenty Most Influential in Private Credit list from Financial News sister title Private Equity News recognises the individuals who helped drive that growth.

There were a few early movers in the European market that saw an opportunity due to the retrenchment of banks from lending during the financial crisis, such as Park Square, Hayfin, Ares Management and Arcmont Asset Management, all of which are represented on the list.

Private markets firms like Blackstone and Apollo Global Management, who are also represented, now have large businesses offering direct lending and other forms of private credit.

There has also been a trend over the past year of banks forging deals to get in on the action. They include UBS, which announced in May that it was partnering with General Atlantic to offer private credit products through its advisory and investment banking units.

Lazard signed an agreement with Arini Capital Management in March to offer direct lending to mid-cap clients, while Citi and Apollo agreed a deal last year to distribute $25bn in credit to back deals originated by the bank.

The fast-paced growth of the market has led to some concerns. Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston recently said that the increase in bank lending to private credit firms could pose a risk to the stability of the financial system.

There have also been questions raised about whether firms will be able to invest vast swathes of money they have raised.

But leaders in the sector say the market has proved its worth.

“Since the financial crisis we’ve been through other periods of volatility — Covid, the Ukraine war, now Trump’s tariffs — one of the things direct lending has demonstrated is very consistent returns with very low volatility, so that is attractive to investors,” says Anthony Fobel, founder and CEO of Arcmont Asset Management.

“During all those periods of volatility, direct lending has remained one of the reliable sources of capital for private equity firms.”

Find out who made the Twenty Most Influential in Private Credit list here

Write to Clare Dickinson at CDickinson@efinancialnews.com

This article was originally published by Financial News sister title Private Equity News