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Australian private markets

Private credit, measured from the public tables: what super funds hold, what banks and non-banks lend, and where the strain shows. Private equity to follow.

Mark led the analytics behind INSIGHT, the equity research product Canaccord Genuity acquired, worked on market data at the ASX, and founded ETFtracker.

$46.2bn
private debt held by super funds, 1.5% of super assets
77%
of that held by ten funds
11%
of new housing loans from non-bank lenders, from about 5%
1,540
NSW construction companies entering administration in 2025-26, flat on the year before

Inside the report

  1. 01How big is it?The published estimates side by side, and the one slice we can measure.
  2. 02Who supplies the moneySuper funds’ private debt by fund and over time, with a caution on reclassification.
  3. 03What it lends to, and where banks standBanks’ property exposures, and non-banks’ rising share of lending.
  4. 04Signs of stressConstruction insolvencies, the August cluster, and how listed managers and credit trusts traded.
  5. 05What we do not knowThe gaps in the data, and a check of claims in circulation.

Quick answers

How big is private credit in Australia?

Nobody knows exactly. Published estimates range from $50bn to $250bn, with ASIC's review at about $200bn. The RBA says the full size is not directly observable. Super funds, the one group measured directly, held $46.2bn of private debt in June 2026.

How much private debt do super funds hold?

$46.2bn in June 2026, or 1.5% of super assets, up from $16.4bn in June 2022, according to APRA. The top ten funds hold 77% of it.

Has private credit replaced the banks in property development?

Not on the tables. Banks' exposures to land development ($34.5bn) and other residential property ($66.7bn) are higher than two years ago. Non-bank lenders' share of new housing loans has also risen, from about 5% to 11%.

Are construction insolvencies rising in NSW?

They tripled over four years but have flattened: 1,540 NSW construction companies entered external administration in 2025-2026, against 1,567 the year before. One group collapse in August 2026 added 545 companies in a single day.

Why is private credit hard to measure?

There is no register of funds with their sizes and strategies, super funds report private debt as one line, and the RBA’s own series for non-bank lending ends in 2019.

General information only, not legal, financial or investment advice.