Royal London Asset Management strengthens private markets platform with new Asset Based Finance capability

Royal London Asset Management has expanded its private markets platform with the launch of the Royal London Asset Based Financing Fund (ABFF), part of a wider strategy to grow its private credit capabilities and give clients access to differentiated sources of return.

The development builds on the firm’s commitment to providing investors with access to private, high-quality cashflows and diversified, secured lending opportunities not typically available in public markets.

To support this growth, Royal London Asset Management has in recent years expanded its credit management team with specialist hires, deepening its expertise in originating and managing private, secured investments.

With an average investment-grade (BBB) rating, the ABFF will focus on private, primarily senior, secured lending structures. The Fund aims to capture illiquidity and complexity premia, offering flexibility, downside protection, and relative yield advantages compared with equivalently rated public bonds.

Jeremy Deacon, Head of ABS and Leverage Finance, Royal London Asset Management, said:

“Asset-based finance is playing a growing role in the modern lending ecosystem. The tightening of bank lending standards has created space for long-term, relationship-led capital, and we’re seeing strong institutional demand for this type of exposure.

Expanding our capability in this space is a key step in delivering more private market opportunities to clients seeking stable income, diversification, and attractive relative value.”

Alok Bedekar, Head of Asset Based Finance, Royal London Asset Management, added:

“Asset-based finance is rapidly reshaping the lending landscape, with market growth driven by regulatory constraints on banks and rising demand for flexible capital. By focusing on investment-grade, short-duration assets backed by high quality collateral, we will look to deliver contractual cash flows with attractive relative value. Our approach prioritises capital preservation by sticking to traditional collateral in strong jurisdictions, maintaining an equal focus on sponsor and non-sponsor owned businesses, and deliberately avoiding structures where complexity meets leverage.

This ensures investors benefit from stable high income, robust downside protection, and attractive relative value.”

The new capability forms part of Royal London Asset Management’s long-term ambition to build a leading private credit platform, offering clients access to secured, high-quality private assets alongside its established Asset Backed Securities (ABS) offering.

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Notes to editors

• The Royal London Asset Based Financing Fund (ABFF) is an Irish-domiciled Qualified Investor Alternative Investment Fund (QIAIF).
• It invests in a range of private, primarily senior secured debt instruments, typically rated between AAA and B, with an average rating of BBB, and is GBP-denominated.
• The Fund is managed by the Structured Finance team, with an ESG-integrated investment process developed in collaboration with the Responsible Investment team.

Alok Bedekar – Head of ABF and Fund Manager

Alok Bedekar is a Fund Manager within the Private Assets Team focusing asset-based financing. Prior to joining Royal London Asset Management, Alok gained 14 years of experience in structured credit, the most recent seven years of which was at Insight Investment, where he was responsible for building and scaling the private credit ABS offering, through origination, execution, and ongoing portfolio management of private asset-backed credit investments. Prior to Insight, Alok originated and managed £1.5bn of AUM for the higher yielding strategies across pooled funds and segregated mandates.

Jeremy Deacon – Head of ABS and Leverage Finance

Jeremy Deacon is the Head of Public ABS within the Private Assets Team. Prior to joining Royal London Asset Management Jeremy spent 14 years at Insight Investment, latterly as Head of Liquid European Secured Finance, where he managed a team and was responsible for a range of Asset Backed portfolios of both Public and Private assets. Prior to Insight, Jeremy worked at CQS, Rabobank, Fitch and GE in a range of Asset Backed roles. Jeremy began his career at Santander as a Specialist Underwriter. Jeremy has managed £24 bn of AUM across pooled funds and segregated mandates.

The views expressed are those of the author at the date of publication unless otherwise indicated, which are subject to change, and is not investment advice.