HPS Investment Partners

What they do

HPS Investment Partners is an alternative credit manager with $197bn under management across private and liquid credit at 30 June 2026, run by 293 investment professionals across 19 separate strategies. It was founded in 2007 within J.P. Morgan Asset Management, became employee-owned in 2016 and is now part of BlackRock. Its capital comes from pension funds, insurers, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and individual investors, the last partly through HPS Corporate Lending Fund, a non-traded BDC. The business has three platforms. Corporate-focused private credit, at about $131bn, lends to upper-middle-market and large corporations, from senior secured debt through junior capital to special situations. Asset-based finance, about $39bn, lends against real estate, infrastructure, equipment, intellectual property and fund assets. Liquid credit, about $27bn, runs syndicated loans, bonds, securitised credit and CLOs. A corporate lending record of $227bn across more than 1,100 investments shows the scale it works at, well beyond this market.

Who they lend to

HPS describes its corporate borrowers as upper-middle-market and large-scale corporations in developed markets around the globe. Its core senior lending strategy looks for established borrowers with what it calls stable cash flows and operations in historically less cyclical industries. Strategic Investment Partners, its junior capital strategy, favours large companies in less cyclical industries with relatively low capital intensity, and specialty direct lending takes borrowers of the same size where transactional or business complexity needs structuring. In September 2026 HPS argued that larger, well-established companies have handled higher rates better than smaller issuers. It publishes no EBITDA floor, sponsor policy or sector exclusions. Smaller businesses appear only inside its asset value strategy, which holds leases and asset-based loans to small and medium-sized enterprises and investment-grade corporates through platforms in Europe and the US.

How they structure a facility

Core senior lending and specialty direct lending both invest mainly in privately originated, floating-rate first-lien and unitranche senior secured loans. Private high grade corporate is investment grade-oriented, lending cash flow-based debt to larger established companies, secured or unsecured, at fixed or floating rates. Strategic Investment Partners moves between subordinated debt, preferred equity and, selectively, common equity, while special situations structures direct investments and buys secondary assets, including distressed ones, at discounts to underlying value. HPS does not publish tenor, amortisation, leverage or pricing for any of these. Its September 2026 market view describes new direct lending deals instead: gross asset yields up from about 8.5% at the start of the year to about 10%, wider spreads, improved documentation and tighter covenant packages. It says borrowers continue to value the speed, certainty and flexibility of private capital, which public markets often cannot offer.

How a deal reaches them

HPS publishes no application route for borrowers. It credits its deal flow to a diversified sourcing approach and a willingness to execute at scale, and its asset-based finance team combines proprietary origination platforms, a network of principals and intermediaries, and opportunities from the corporate lending book. Investments are run by a 262-person private credit investment team shared across corporate and asset-based lending, but the site does not describe its investment committee or how long an approval takes. Its people listing shows business development and product specialists in London. There is no enquiry form for companies on the site.

Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise

HPS offers a company raising at this market's size no product, but its market commentary shows where direct lending terms are moving. Its September 2026 paper reported gross yields on new direct lending near 10%, wider spreads and tighter covenant packages, with borrowers still valuing the certainty of private capital. Its argument that larger companies have weathered higher rates better than smaller issuers also explains why its corporate lending stays with upper-middle-market and large businesses. Smaller companies reach HPS only indirectly, as lessees and borrowers inside the asset value portfolios it holds. Kreos Capital, now BlackRock's venture and growth lending desk, lends inside the £3m to £15m band and is profiled separately; within BlackRock, that is the business working at this size.

Where they are not the fit

Any borrower below the upper middle market is the wrong fit: HPS's corporate strategies target upper-middle-market and large companies, and none publishes a smaller tier. The site offers owner-managed businesses no application route. Its real estate strategy lends mainly in the US, so a UK property loan sits outside its stated focus. Venture-stage and early growth companies find no product on its pages; within BlackRock that business belongs to the separate venture and growth lending desk. Its non-traded BDC and liquid credit funds hold investor capital and have no facilities to apply for.

Recent activity on the public record

In October 2026, HPS published its fourth-quarter credit outlook, which described a renewed tightening cycle, and a paper comparing how large and small businesses face disruption from artificial intelligence. In September 2026, it argued that direct lending economics had improved, citing gross asset yields of about 10% against about 8.5% at the start of the year and, from Preqin data, a record $72bn raised by direct lending drawdown funds in the second quarter. In August 2026, it published work on assessing artificial intelligence risk in private credit. In March 2026, its chief executive discussed the next wave in private credit in a Bloomberg interview.

This profile is a curated reference note drawn from public sources, not financial advice or a recommendation. Appetite and terms change; a lender's fit for a given credit is established by approaching it, not inferred from a page.