EM Private Credit: The Quiet Revolution — Capital Shifts to the Global South and East

As returns compress in developed markets and questions arise around underlying credit fundamentals and structural integrity, private credit is pivoting to emerging markets. Higher yields, collateralised structures and conservative borrowers are underpinning a growing asset class that is funding infrastructure, energy transition and growth projects from Angola to Turkey and Latin America. Emerging markets are rewriting the rules of global investing – and capital is flowing south and east as the global map of opportunity is redrawn.

Against this backdrop, Ninety One, has announced the current fund raise of US$615 million (as at 30.09.25) for its Emerging Markets Transition Debt (EMTD) strategy, an integrated private and public credit portfolio that invests at the intersection of return and impact. The strategy aims to catalyse investment into the emerging market energy transition by providing commercial financing to companies providing decarbonisation solutions or with credible transition plans — supporting real-world emissions reduction while delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns for investors. Launched in 2024 at the G20 Finance Ministerial with former Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, the EMTD strategy has attracted strong interest from institutional investors including the Wiltshire Pension Fund, La Caisse (formerly CDPQ), OMERS, L&G and Sanlam, reflecting growing appetite for scalable private credit solutions that aim to deliver commercial returns while promoting measurable transition impact.

Financing the energy transition: where capital is being deployed

Since late 2024, alongside its existing public credit energy transition investments, EMTD has deployed capital across a diversified portfolio of private credit transactions. These transactions span Latin America, Africa, India, and Turkey, and support the decarbonisation of essential sectors such as power, transport, digital infrastructure, agriculture and industry. Together, these transactions (included in the table below) represent close to 80 million tonnes of cumulative gross CO₂e mitigation potential to 2030.

Matt Christ, Portfolio Manager, Portfolio Manager, Emerging Markets Transition Debt, Ninety One: “We purpose-built this strategy to channel private capital into the real economy where it can have the most tangible impact. We’re proving that investors do not have to sacrifice returns for climate outcomes — the opportunity set in emerging markets is both commercially attractive and critical for global decarbonisation.”

Nazmeera Moola, Chief Commercial Officer, Private Markets, Ninety One: “Momentum is building for the emerging market energy transition. With the right frameworks and investor partnerships, private credit can play a defining role in financing climate progress. The Emerging Markets Transition Debt strategy is a concrete example of what private capital can achieve. A successful global energy transition is not possible without a successful emerging markets transition. EMTD is designed to provide investors with an attractive return while also financing that transformation — one credible, measurable project at a time.”

Emerging Market Transition Debt Strategy Deal Deployment