The $1.8 trillion private-credit industry has boomed in recent years, with firms and banks investing in deals, and Bank of America is one of the last big US banks to make a formal commitment to private credit.
Bank of America Corp. is committing $25 billion to private-credit deals, joining its Wall Street rivals in putting its own balance sheet behind lending in the fast-growing market, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The company will invest its own capital in private-credit opportunities, an extension of the firm's existing direct-lending efforts, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The bank plans to originate the deals from its capital-markets division, which is part of its investment-banking business, the people said.
Bank of America named new leaders for the private-credit initiative. The firm tapped Anand Melvani as head of private credit within the firm's global capital-markets division, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg. Melvani, who's spent three decades at the firm, will also keep his role as head of Americas leveraged finance, reporting to Chris Munro, head of global leveraged finance.
Scott Wiate will become head of private credit, structuring and underwriting, reporting to Bruce Thompson, who is vice chair and head of enterprise credit, according to a separate memo. Wiate was most recently head of enterprise credit risk for global leveraged finance, global credit, and municipal banking and markets.
A Bank of America representative confirmed the contents of the memos.
The $1.8 trillion private-credit industry has boomed in recent years. Firms such as Ares Management Corp. and Apollo Global Management Inc. have poured money into deals in the market. Other investors, such as banks, have also been keen to make more wagers.
Bank of America is one of the last big US banks to make a formal commitment to private credit. Last year, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set aside an additional $50 billion of the firm's balance sheet. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has deepened its ties to the market through its asset-management arm.
Some lenders, including Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc., have formed partnerships with asset managers in order to get deeper into the market.
"This commitment further strengthens our ability to meet the evolving needs of our corporate and private equity clients and to drive strong returns for our shareholders," Lisa Clyde, co-head of global capital markets, and Sarang Gadkari, co-head of global capital markets and co-head of global capital solutions, wrote in one of the memos Thursday.
As the pendulum continues to swing from the syndicated-loan market to private credit and back again, the two worlds have vacillated between friend and foe. That's made for a complex -- and at times fractious -- relationship between banks and alternative-asset managers, with bank executives at time questioning the fast-paced growth of private credit.
The industry has attracted scrutiny in recent months over valuations and the quality of lending. On Thursday, Blue Owl Capital Inc. shares dropped after the company said it would restrict withdrawals from one of its private credit funds. Last month, a BlackRock Inc. private debt fund disclosed writedowns across a series of troubled investments.
