• Value approach to credit – it’s all about finding the lowest price for a given risk.
• Private markets mindset– we engage directly with borrowers, aiming to achieve the best outcomes whether in public or private markets.
• Active sourcing – by seeing more deals, we can make better decisions about where the value is.
• Risk Discipline – we focus on performing credit markets and separate risk assessment from the investment decision.
We are value investors that seek to provide high income, defensive, and diversified investment opportunities. Every basis point matters in credit markets, whether they are public or private. Unlike many private lending platforms, we have a mark to market philosophy and will move into and out of different parts of the credit market dependent on where we see the best value.
Our platform takes a private approach to lending. A private approach means underwriting credit risk as an owner – not a trader. Direct engagement combined with detailed underwriting allows us to provide more flexible solutions to borrowers and to charge an appropriate excess return for such solutions . Ultimately, we believe this leads to better return outcomes for our clients.
In order to build a successful credit platform, we need to be able to source quality investment
opportunities. Our platform was established in 2005 with the goal of being the first call for borrowers requiring scalable, flexible and tailored lending across corporate, asset backed and commercial real estate markets.
Risk is central to everything we do at Challenger IM. By separating risk assessment and rating from the investment decision we ensure that downside risk is appropriately considered and mitigated in every deal we do. Our risk assessment flows through to valuations where we take a mark to market approach striving to ensure all our clients are treated fairly and equitably at all times.
The Challenger IM Fixed Income team has been a signatory to the Principles of Responsible Investment as part of Challenger since 2015. Consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors is fully integrated into the investment process and embedded into the Fixed Income investment philosophy which emphasises strong engagement. The team believes that attractive returns can be generated by identifying ESG risk factors, engaging with borrowers to mitigate these risks and incentivising positive outcomes through structure as well as price. For more detail on how ESG is integrated in our investment process please refer to our Responsible Investment page.