Octopus Investments has announced it is launching a private debt offering, as it looks to meet the needs of today’s institutional investors by unlocking private capital to solve the world’s greatest challenges.
The firm writes that the offering will focus on delivering customised solutions that deliver on both returns and impact, particularly to the likes of insurers and pension funds, and will begin by exploring asset-backed lending in infrastructure and real estate.
The private debt offering will expand upon the existing Octopus capability and track record established in the real estate debt part of the market, the firm says. Since 2013 it has lent over GBP4.3 billion into the asset class, which includes lending from its three previous commercial real estate debt fund vintages. As a result of these funds, Octopus has become one of the most established non-bank real estate lenders in the UK, the firm says.
To lead the private debt expansion, Alan Cauberghs has been appointed as Head of Private Debt. Alan joins Octopus following a 30-year career in finance, with roles at Fischer Francis Trees & Watts, Schroders and Generali Investments. Alan spent the last 18 months at Investcorp, where he was mandated to diversify its private credit business through building out a bilateral lending platform.
The build out of the private debt offering is supported by the arrival of Allan Vlah, Freddy Murray and Martin Zdravkov. Allan has had a 25-year career in the investment management industry with roles at River & Mercantile, Aviva Investors and Macquarie, primarily looking at equity and debt infrastructure strategies with a focus on energy transition investments.
Freddy joins Octopus from MRY Renewables, a company he founded that aims to deliver high quality renewable energy solutions. This follows a 15-year career managing and advising on infrastructure assets.
Martin has spent his career as a fund manager at Aviva Investors, LaSalle Investment Management, and most recently, at DWS Group, where he was lead portfolio manager focusing on European real estate.
Lieven Debruyne, CEO of Octopus Investments’ institutional business says:
“We believe we are launching our private debt offering at an opportune time. When looking at the financing mix of real estate, infrastructure and private equity projects, the largest part of the capital stack is debt. In addition, as the demographic shift towards retirement is accelerating, investment strategies are moving away from capital growth towards generating income in order to meet institutional client need. This results in a very sizeable market opportunity that we are excited to start exploring as we continue growing our institutional business.”
Alan Cauberghs, Head of Private Debt, says:
“Providing reliable income streams is a key expectation of investors. At Octopus we are looking to meet that client demand through purpose driven, asset-backed and cashflow-based debt strategies. We look forward to working more collaboratively than ever with our clients to close an important funding gap in the market, and I’m so pleased to have Allan, Freddy and Martin all on board alongside me to make that happen.”
