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JPMorgan is seeking to offload risk tied to more than $4bn in loans to private equity funds as the biggest US bank looks to cut its exposure to an industry grappling with a prolonged slowdown.
The New York-based lender is in talks with investors over a transaction that would allow it to transfer risk tied to so-called net asset value loans backed by private equity fund assets.
JPMorgan’s discussions about reducing its exposure to NAV loans come as private equity companies have struggled to exit their investments. Investors and analysts also fear that portfolio companies, particularly in the software sector, will be disrupted by AI.
JPMorgan was working on a risk transfer that would allow it to retain the NAV loans on its balance sheet while shifting a portion of potential losses to investors, the people familiar with the matter said. The pool of assets includes dozens of loans tied to private equity funds across North America, Europe and the Middle East.
Under the deal, JPMorgan would shift the risk of up to 12.5 per cent of an NAV loan pool worth more than $4bn, one of the people said. The structure would offer investors a low-teens return for absorbing the first loss on the NAV loans. The terms were still under discussion and could change, the people said.
JPMorgan declined to comment.
Japan’s largest lender, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, is also seeking to offload risks tied to loans to listed private credit funds using a risk transfer, the FT previously reported.
Private equity firms have increasingly turned to NAV loans, which are backed by the market value of existing investments in a fund, to return cash to investors or add more financing for growth. Secondary buyers of PE fund stakes also use NAV loans to amplify their returns.
Many banks rushed to extend NAV loans as they sought to build financing businesses that catered to the world’s biggest private equity managers.
NAV loans are taken by PE firms against an entire fund’s assets and are considered low risk by many lenders because of the diversification of the underlying portfolio. Generally, firms borrow against as much as a quarter of a fund’s assets.
However, the recent lack of exits and fears over technology valuations could put pressure on the returns of PE funds that have relied heavily on such borrowings.
The market for such loans, which sits around $100bn, is expected to grow to $350bn by 2030, according to a May report from AllianceBernstein.
The increased use of NAV loans has come under scrutiny from US and European regulators, which have warned of “leverage over leverage” risks given that the underlying private companies are already carrying heavy debt burdens.
Market participants also worry that using NAV loans to support a fund’s portfolio companies after the formal investment period could artificially inflate its performance.
Additional reporting by Antoine Gara
