JANA launches private credit trust

JANA Investment Advisers has launched the JANA Private Credit Trust, expanding its suite of investment trusts to provide wholesale investors with access to a diversified global private credit strategy through an institutional-quality investment structure.

JANA said the trust already has $270 million in funds under management and aims to provides access to high-quality global private credit opportunities that are often difficult to source directly in Australia.

JANA said the trust brings together its institutional manager research, portfolio construction and governance capability within a single investment solution.

The trust has been designed to address common implementation challenges associated with private credit investing, including manager access, portfolio diversification, capital deployment and ongoing governance.

JANA said the launch reflects growing demand from wholesale investors for private credit solutions that combine rigorous manager selection, strong governance and efficient implementation.

JANA head of debt Robert Moore said private credit has rewarded investors well, but the way investors access the asset class matters.

In building the JANA Private Credit Trust, we considered the practical issues that can affect investor outcomes, including slow deployment, cash drag, fee leakage during ramp-up, cash-style benchmarks and unhedged currency exposure," Moore said.

"We set out to address each of these in the JANA Private Credit Trust through a structure designed to provide efficient implementation, day-one credit market exposure and a more relevant framework for measuring private credit performance."

In addition to the launch, JANA has appointed Arcmont, an investment affiliate of Nuveen, and Jefferies Credit Partners through customised mandates designed specifically for the JANA Private Credit Trust.

JANA said this will provide tailored portfolio guidelines rather than relying on off-the-shelf flagship funds.

The trust targets core middle-market corporate direct lending across the US and Europe, and has been designed to provide investors with immediate market exposure while capital is progressively deployed into private market investments, helping reduce the cash drag often associated with open-ended private credit products.

The trust adopts the Cliffwater Direct Lending Index, net of fees, unlevered and hedged into Australian dollars, providing a more relevant reference point for measuring private credit performance than traditional cash-style benchmarks.

JANA Investment Trusts head of investments Claire Simpson said private credit has evolved into an increasingly important component of diversified portfolios, yet many of the highest-quality opportunities remain difficult for investors to access directly.

"As private credit continues to mature as an asset class, we believe the differentiator will increasingly be manager selection, efficient implementation and product design, portfolio construction and strong governance - not exposure alone," Simpson said.

"The JANA Private Credit Trust brings these disciplines together through carefully selected global managers, customised mandates and JANA's institutional research and governance capability.

"Designed for wholesale investors with a long-term investment horizon, the trust provides access to institutional-quality private credit exposure through a professionally managed structure focused on efficient implementation and long-term investment outcomes."