The massive hiring in 2023 is in private credit

efinancialcareers.com:

It's not just multi-strategy hedge funds that are going all out on recruitment this year. Recruiters covering theprivate credit space say they too are awash with work, and that they're only likely to become more busy. 

«We're doing searches for five different firms,» says Richard Risch CEO of private markets specialist recruiter The Risch Group. «Private credit funds have been adding headcount, big time.»

Risch, who is based in New York, tracks the number of people moving jobs in private credit. In the first six months of 2023 his data shows there were 1,211 moves globally. "About 375 of those were in the marketing space, the rest were spit up between investment/origination/portfolio management."

Growth in the private credit market is well documented. From nothing in 2000, assets under management in private credit went to $500bn in 2015 and $1.5 trillion last year according to the Financial Times, quoting figures from Preqin.

As AUM have increased exponentially, so has the need for people to manage those assets and keep the fires burning. «There's been a lot of hiring activity around fundraising and marketing,» says Risch. «Funds don't just want people who can give introductions, but who really understands the way the credit product works and how it's structured.»

Risch says a lot of business development and marketing professionals are moving into private credit from capital introduction in banks, or — if they can prove an understanding of the space — from private equity or real estate funds. By comparison, he says origination and structuring professionals in private credit are more likely to come from banks. Diligence and underwriting talent comes from banks or insurance firms. 

The big players in private credit include