Arcmont Asset Management and Carne Global Fund Managers have received approval from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to launch a joint long-term asset fund (LTAF).

The LTAF is open-ended, providing an element of liquidity to investors and exposure to European direct lending opportunities via a Luxembourg fund.

Through the LTAF, a wide range of investors, including UK defined contribution (DC) schemes, will be offered an alternative to traditional fixed income investments and an opportunity to enhance portfolio diversification via exposure to private debt, while “tapping into the illiquidity premium available in private markets”.

The LTAF will leverage the firm’s dedicated direct lending expertise and a 13-year track record of providing direct lending solutions to European upper mid-market businesses, the firms announced.

The FCA approval exemplifies Arcmont’s focus on designing and delivering innovative solutions to make private debt accessible to a wider investor base, they said.

Anthony Fobel, chief executive officer at Arcmont, said the LTAF presents a solution for DC pension scheme investors, which were previously restricted in their ability to access direct lending strategies.

He said: “The strong support for our Direct Lending Fund IV, is evidence of the fact that global investors now recognise the attractiveness of private debt as a reliable and flexible source of capital for many companies.

“We believe that our size, scale and Pan-European network, backed by Nuveen’s global platform, means that we are well positioned to continue to deploy capital as a partner of choice.”

Ben van den Tol, director of business development at Carne Group, added that as DC pension fund managers increasingly turn to private markets to drive enhanced risk adjusted returns for members, there is a growing interest in the LTAF structure, with investors recognising the “compelling benefits the structure can bring in providing investor exposure to the private markets opportunity”.

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Pamela is IPE's UK correspondent. Before joining IPE in May 2023, she spent five years writing about the insurance industry. During her career so far she won awards for Most Promising Newcomer in 2020 and Best Investigative Article in 2022 from the British Insurance Brokers Association, and was also highly commended at the WTW Media Awards for Insurance Features Journalist of The Year.View full Profile

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