KBRA releases its recap of Opal Group's European Private Credit ABF Summit, held at the London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square on 5 October 2026. The conference brought together market participants to discuss the performance and outlook for European private credit, the continued expansion of asset-based finance (ABF), and the growing use of fund finance, rated structures, and significant risk transfer (SRT) transactions.
Panellists generally described underlying portfolio performance as resilient and realised losses as moderate, while noting that higher financing costs, slower private equity exits, selective fundraising conditions, and increased competition are likely to produce greater differentiation across borrowers and managers. Discussions also highlighted the continued broadening of private credit beyond traditional sponsor-backed direct lending, supported by bank balance-sheet optimisation and growing demand from insurers and other institutional investors.
Across the sessions, underwriting discipline, manager experience, differentiated origination, asset-level due diligence, collateral controls, structural protections, and jurisdiction-specific regulatory considerations emerged as recurring themes as the European private credit and ABF markets continue to develop.
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KBRA, one of the major credit rating agencies, is registered in the U.S., EU, and the UK. KBRA is recognized as a Qualified Rating Agency in Taiwan, and is also a Designated Rating Organization for structured finance ratings in Canada. As a full-service credit rating agency, investors can use KBRA ratings for regulatory capital purposes in multiple jurisdictions.
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