Survey of 380+ senior credit professionals highlights industry’s outlook for growth of assets, with inclination towards ABF, AI, and risk discipline

Oxane Partners (“Oxane”), a leading technology-driven solutions provider to the private credit markets, today announced the results of Compass 2026, a credit-only survey of 380+ professionals across global private credit markets. Capturing sentiment across investment banks, institutional investors, asset managers and private credit firms, the survey offers a timely read on the market at a critical point as Private Credit+ continues to scale.

Compass 2026 finds that private credit remains firmly positioned for growth, with 83% of respondents expecting assets under management (AUM) to increase over the next 12 to 18 months while pointing to a more disciplined phase for the market, defined by risk management, and the need for a scalable operating infrastructure. The survey spans direct lending, asset-based finance, fund finance, real estate, securitized products, infrastructure, and SRTs, a market that Oxane defines as ‘Private Credit+’.

“Private credit remains one of the most important growth stories in financial markets, but the next phase of growth will look different from the last,” said Sumit Gupta, CEO and Co-Founder of Oxane Partners. “As private credit grows further, firms will need to pair investment conviction with prudent risk management, and the operating discipline required to scale with confidence. Compass 2026 captures a market that is still ambitious, but increasingly clear-eyed about the infrastructure needed to support that ambition.”

Key findings from Compass Survey 2026 include:

ABF and specialty finance lead Private Credit+ growth, cited by 66% of respondents, ahead of fund finance at 60% and corporate direct lending at 56%. Securitized products also show notable momentum, with 49% of active firms planning to increase deployment.
Risk management ranks as the top operational challenge, cited by 42% of respondents market-wide and 60% of funds.
Four-in-five firms expect technology budgets to rise by 20% or more, reflecting the technology infrastructure needed to manage the growing complexity of Private Credit+.
87% of respondents are actively engaging with AI, either using it in production, piloting it or developing AI capabilities internally.
Security, scalability, execution certainty and financial stability are the top vendor evaluation criteria, showing that firms are prioritizing resilience and delivery confidence as much as innovation.

The survey also points to a clear distinction in modernization priorities across market participants. Banks appear further along in moving AI into production, with 40% reporting live AI use, even as legacy modernization remains a key challenge. Funds, meanwhile, are feeling the operating consequences of scale more directly, with greater emphasis on technology investment, valuation confidence and regulatory readiness.

The findings also reflect a broader convergence across the market, with banks and institutional capital moving deeper into credit alongside alternative lenders. As investments expand across strategies, collateral types and financing structures, firms need controls that go beyond investment performance to identify risk pockets, data inconsistencies, collateral issues and concerns around fraud or double pledging. AI has a role to play in this shift, but the practical opportunity lies in embedding it into existing workflows and control frameworks.

“Both banks and private credit firms are not simply looking for more tools; they are looking for operating infrastructure that helps them respond rationally to a more complex market,” said Kanav Kalia, Managing Director at Oxane Partners. “Compass 2026 shows a clear mandate for stronger operating discipline. Firms are still focused on growth, but they are also strongly prioritizing the infrastructure to manage that growth. There’s a clear realization that this is what will give firms the confidence to scale through changing markets.”

Oxane brings a credit market vantage point to Compass 2026 through its work with 23 of the top 30 global banks and 13 of the top 30 global private credit funds. Today, Oxane Panorama is running $1.4 trillion in aggregate client AUM globally.

Compass 2026 builds on Oxane’s Private Credit+ thesis, launched last year, which identified a $45 trillion opportunity across the expanding Private Credit+ ecosystem. The survey captures how senior credit professionals are thinking about growth, deployment, risk, technology and operating models as the asset class enters its next phase. Oxane is pleased to share these findings with the wider market as part of its annual Compass survey series.

To download the full Compass 2026 report and view the complete survey findings, visit Oxane Partners’ website HERE.

Methodology

Oxane partnered with strategic insights agency Opinium to survey 380 private credit industry professionals based in the U.S. and U.K. Respondents held Director-level or higher roles at investment banks, asset managers, private credit firms, private equity firms and institutional investors. The study was conducted online between mid-March and mid-May.

About Oxane Partners

Oxane Partners is defining the new industry standard for technology solutions across Private Credit+ strategies and structures. Through its Oxane Panorama platform and deep credit domain expertise, Oxane helps investment banks, private credit funds, and institutional investors maintain stronger governance, consistent outcomes, and scalable growth across the private credit lifecycle. Founded in 2014, Oxane has offices in London, New York, Gurgaon, and Hyderabad, and is running over $1.4 trillion of aggregate client AUM across 100+ clients.

For more information, please visit oxanepartners.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260603466140/en/

Press contact
Gurneet Singh
Marketing Communications
gurneet.singh@oxanepartners.com
UK: +44 (20) 7993 6893
US: +1 347 329 4561

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