Private credit is entering a more complicated phase, and Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM) sees an opportunity for investors willing to go beyond traditional corporate lending.
In a new August 2026 white paper, Brookfield argues that the private credit market is expanding into increasingly specialized corners of finance, where deep industry knowledge and sophisticated underwriting could give investors an edge.
"The expansion in private credit has increased the need for specialized expertise to fully understand asset-level and structural credit risk," Brookfield’s credit experts stated in the report.
The shift comes as private credit has grown into a much broader market. While direct lending remains a core strategy, investors are increasingly exploring opportunistic credit, real-asset credit and asset-backed finance. Specialty finance accounted for roughly 20% of private credit fundraising in 2025, up from just 4% in 2024, according to data cited by Brookfield.
Brookfield sees parallels between today’s private credit market and the evolution of public credit. What began as a relatively standardized market eventually expanded into more specialized areas, including high-yield bonds, senior loans and collateralized loan obligations.
