Infrastructure debt - a catalyst for net zero in the UK and Europe
Could you contribute to decarbonisation and tap into long-term investment potential?
Private Credit
An asset class combining potential for yield and exposure to unique performance drivers.
A range of advantages
Private and alternative credit offer investors the potential for higher yield and lower risk, relative to similarly rated public bonds. Furthermore, exposure to economic drivers generally not available in the public credit markets can result in significant diversification benefits.
ESG is at the heart of our process
ESG is central to our investment capabilities. We look to deliver robust financial outcomes for our clients – as well as actively contributing to a fairer, more sustainable world. We focus on understanding the ESG risks and opportunities of our investments alongside other financial metrics to make better investment decisions and produce superior risk-adjusted returns for our clients.
Our capabilities
abrdn offers clients access to the major areas of Europe private credit, including commercial real estate debt, infrastructure debt, corporate private debt and fund financing among other areas.
What we offer our clients
Commercial Real Estate Debt
Commercial real estate debt finances property across a range of sectors including office, industrial and retail, with security provided by the property itself.
Corporate Debt
Private corporate lending can take many forms. Large corporates sometimes prefer to borrow privately to circumvent the constraints of public market issuance, and loans to mid-size corporates.
Infrastructure Debt
Infrastructure debt finances social and economic projects which often have monopoly-like characteristics, providing investors with uncorrelated, high quality cash flows.
Fund Finance
We provide credit facilities to private equity funds so that they can bridge investment requirements without having to draw capital from their investors. The benefits across stakeholders include operational efficiency, enhanced internal-rate-of-returns (IRRs) and, in turn, less negative returns in the early years of an investment.
Why are we offering fund financing to investors:
- We have a good short-term liquidity profile, targeting both investment grade and credit-rated facilities
- This is deemed a low risk strategy given recourse against a diversified base of institutional investors, with no evidence of historic defaults
- We have a history of delivering strong risk-adjusted returns
Key Documents
Risk warning
The value of investments, and the income from them, can go down as well as up and an investor may get back less than the amount invested. Past performance is not a guide to future results.
Meet the team
Our Private Credit teams consist of 19 dedicated investment professionals and additional supporting resources. Below are the team heads of some of our areas:
Neil Odom-Haslett
Head of Private Credit
Neil joined the company in 2013 and has worked in the credit industry for more than 30 years. As Head of Private Credit, Neil is responsible for leading on all private credit activities across abrdn.
Neil started his career with NatWest and subsequently worked for a number of international banks, including Fortis, Eurohypo, RBS and Deutsche Pfandbrief Bank, where he was the only non-German domiciled person to be given the powers of a voting member of the credit committee.
Neil has extensive experience in both originating and restructuring private credit transactions in the UK and Europe. Neil is also the immediate past President of the Association of Property Lenders (the UK lending representative body) and has eleven years’ investment experience at abrdn, and over 30 years’ in the industry. Neil is also an associate at the Associate of the Institute of Bankers.
Martin Barnewell
Head of Commercial Real Estate Lending
Martin joined the company in 2014, bringing over 20 years of experience in commercial real estate and lending. Before this, he worked at Allied Irish Bank and later at Anglo Irish Bank, where he was responsible for the origination, underwriting and management of commercial real estate debt working in both the Dublin and Chicago offices. In 2012, Martin joined Capita Asset Services as Head of Client Relations, based in London, where he was responsible for the management of a portfolio of over £40billion of syndicated and securitised loans. He holds a Bachelor of Business and Law from University College Dublin.
Jeremy Allcock
Head of Infrastructure Debt
Jeremy is the Head of the Infrastructure Debt Team with responsibility for sourcing, analysing and managing illiquid debt opportunities within agreed policy and mandate frameworks.
Prior to joining the company in September 2014, Jeremy was Head of the Public Sector Team at Nationwide Building Society. Whilst at Nationwide, his primary areas of focus had been in Infrastructure (primarily PFI) and Social Housing where he has over 20 years of experience and was responsible for an overall loan book exceeding £12bn. Jeremy has 10 years’ investment experience at abrdn and more than 40 years’ experience in banking & finance.
Abrdn manage debt investments exceeding £4bn across the breadth of infrastructure sectors. Jeremy has been personally involved in sourcing and writing a significant proportion of this book including debt investments in renewable energy, utilities, affordable housing and transport. Jeremy is an associate at the Associate of the Institute of Bankers.
Shelley Morrison
Head of Fund Finance
Shelley Morrison leads the strategy for Fund Finance at Abrdn. She has extensive experience in the origination, structuring and execution of fund level debt facilities across multiple asset classes. She has been with abrdn since 2019. Before joining abrdn, Shelley was a Director in the Fund Finance team at RBS for 6 years where she managed a portfolio of subscription loans, NAV loans and GP finance to global funds across Private Equity, Private Debt, Infrastructure and Real Estate. Prior to that, she worked in structured asset finance at RBS and Lloyds for 10 years, with a focus on commercial ship finance. Shelley holds the both the IMC and CISI certificate in Corporate Finance and the CFA Certificate in ESG Investing. Shelley sits on the Fund Finance Association EMEA Executive Committee and Women in Fund Finance Committee. Shelley received a first class MA (honours) degree in Geography and an MSc in Social and Political Theory, both from the University of Edinburgh.