
The U.S. Private Credit Industry Conference on Direct Lending

ABOUT THE EVENT
This 5th annual conference provides the latest and most relevant content for direct lending funds, BDCs, and their bank funding partners including fundraising strategies, financing pathways (NAV, warehouse/sub lines and CFOs) and major regulatory developments. Allocators will have the opportunity to network with funds, hear the outlook for credit performance, and identify investment opportunities.
Schedule Overview
Day 1 - Thursday, April 16
7:00 AM - Registration Opens
9:00 AM - Conference Begin 9:00 AM
5:30 PM - Conference Concludes
& Networking Reception Begins
Day 2 - Friday, April 17
9:00 AM - Conference Begins
12:45 PM - Conference Concludes
2026 SPONSORS
The U.S. Private Credit Industry Conference on Direct Lending 2025 saw...

The 2025 Collaterized Loan Obligation Industry Conference Saw...

2026 SPEAKERS
Tim is Chief Executive Officer of Antares Capital. He is a member of Antares’ Investment Committee as well as Antares’ Board of Directors.
Previously, Tim served as chief operating officer at Antares Capital. He was responsible for leading the company’s sponsor coverage and capital markets activities, operations and technology functions, as well as marketing and enterprise risk.
Tim was head of Asset Management for Antares from August 2015 through April 2018. Previously, he was a senior managing director at GE Antares where he was the commercial leader for two joint ventures including the Senior Secured Loan Program and the Middle Market Growth Program. He also led West Coast sponsor coverage activities for Antares and GE from 1996 through 2011, and was a member of the GE Antares Investment Committee. Tim also worked in GE Capital’s merchant banking group and Heller Financial’s corporate finance group. He is a founding partner of Antares.
Tim graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in economics and earned his MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Executives’ Club of Chicago and on the Dean’s Business Council at Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Mr. Hunt joined Apollo Global Management, Inc. in 2021 in Credit and serves as CEO of Apollo Debt Solutions and co-head of Credit Secondaries. Prior to joining Apollo, Mr. Hunt was a Partner in the Global Markets division at Goldman Sachs where he was responsible for strategic client coverage. He also served as a member of the Goldman Sachs's Partnership committee and Global Markets Operating
Committee. Previously, Mr. Hunt was co-head of U.S Distressed and Par Loan sales at Goldman Sachs.
Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in 2015, Mr. Hunt worked at Citi for 11 years, where he was a director in Leveraged Finance sales. Mr. Hunt is a member of the Board of Trustees of Brown University. Mr. Hunt earned a BA in Economics from Brown University.
Mr. Miller is a Partner, Portfolio Manager and Co-Head of U.S. Direct Lending in the Ares Credit Group. Additionally, he serves as President of Ares Capital Corporation, President of Ares Strategic Income Fund and is a member of the Ares Credit Group's U.S. Direct Lending Investment Committee. He also serves on the Ares Sports, Media and Entertainment Investment Committee and acts as a co-lead for the strategy. As part of this strategy, he currently serves as a board member for Atletico de Madrid. He may from time to time serve as an officer, director or principal of other entities affiliated with Ares Management or investment funds managed by Ares Management and its affiliates. Prior to joining Ares in 2006, Mr. Miller was a Vice President at Silver Point Capital, where he focused on building its sponsor finance business, which led the firm's middle market financing and principal investing. Previously, Mr. Miller was a Vice President at GE Capital, where he was responsible for a variety of investing and investment banking services to private equity funds including high yield, bank debt, mezzanine debt and rescue financing. Mr. Miller holds a B.A. from Fairfield University in Economics and an M.B.A. from Columbia University's Graduate School of Business.
Mascha Canio serves as the managing investment director of private debt and assumed the role in October 2025.
The program she oversees primarily invests in privately negotiated, non-traded debt-like instruments typically issued to companies. In addition, the Private Debt Program provides other types of financing for the real economy.
Canio is a leader in the private debt industry and has decades of experience managing a variety of asset types on behalf of pension systems. She joined CalPERS after nine years as head of credit and insurance-linked investments at Dutch pension fund service provider PGGM, where she managed assets valued at approximately $17 billion. While at PGGM, she developed a high-performing private credit strategy that has earned international recognition.
In other senior positions at PGGM, Canio managed credit risk sharing as well as infrastructure, private equity, and insurance-linked investments. Her financial expertise was also tapped to shore up financially troubled segments of the Netherland’s economy during the 2008 financial crisis.
Before PGGM, Canio served as head of Europe at Octagon Credit Investors, a U.S.-based manager of collateralized loan obligations. She set up the firm’s European office after it decided to expand into Europe, and managed investments in the European market for leveraged bank loans and high-yield bonds.
Her career began in 1991 at Shell Pension Fund in the Netherlands where she quickly rose through the ranks to become a senior member of the fixed income team. In her role as a fund manager, Canio actively managed a portfolio in government debt, corporate bonds, and emerging markets debt.
Canio earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Nijenrode Business University in the Netherlands.
Fran Beyers, Managing Director, is the Head of Capital Markets at Cliffwater, an investment advisory and asset management firm specializing in alternative investments, including private equity, private debt, hedge funds, real assets, and real estate.
Fran is also a portfolio manager for the firm’s $13.0 billion flagship interval fund, Cliffwater Corporate Lending Fund (CCLFX). Fran is responsible for sourcing middle market lending opportunities and maintaining manager relationships to support Cliffwater’s rapidly growing multi-manager private debt asset management business.
Prior to joining Cliffwater, Fran served as the Head of Analysis for Middle Market Loans at Refinitiv LPC. While in this role, she provided data and analytics on the direct lending market, while also developing innovative web-based products such as Refinitiv’s BDC Collateral, a comprehensive resource for analyzing BDC holdings and performance. Prior to that, she held positions at Churchill Asset Management focused on middle market leveraged financings for private equity portfolio companies. She began her career at J.P. Morgan, with roles including Ratings and Capital Structure Advisory and Credit Portfolio Management.
Fran has been acknowledged as a thought leader for her research, commentary, analysis and data collection for the direct lending and middle market asset class for over a decade and is frequently cited by media outlets.
Fran received her B.S.B.A. from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis.
Rakesh (Rick) is a Partner and the Global Head of Private Credit at Pantheon. Since joining the firm in 2019 to build and lead the firm’s dedicated private credit strategy, the business has grown to become one of the largest providers of secondary solutions capital to private credit fund managers and investors globally. Throughout his career prior to Pantheon, Rick gained experience as a direct credit investor across a range of strategies, including unsponsored and sponsored direct lending, special situations and distressed, asset-based finance, specialty finance, mezzanine, and control/minority private equity. Previous roles include as a Managing Director and investment committee member at private credit firms including Stone Tower Capital (acquired by Apollo), Green Brook Capital, Star Mountain Capital and Citigroup Alternative Investments. Rick began his career in the Financial Institutions Group at Morgan Stanley. A native of Toronto, Rick received a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Finance from McGill University.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
| BDCs and Credit Funds CFO Issuers Allocators and Investment Consultants Secondary Funds Unsecured Bond Investors Structured Finance Investors Private Credit CLO Managers CLO/CFO Arrangers Direct Private Placement Investors |
Bank and Non-Bank Fund Finance Providers Accounting & Valuation Firms Law Firms Rating Agencies Technology & Data Providers Trustees Placement Agents |

Enhance your conference experience with exclusive Private Credit Club networking opportunities. PCC members enjoy access to invitation-only events and dedicated members' lounge throughout the day, offering an intimate settings for meaningful conversations with peers. Membership is open to GPs, LPs, and Borrowers. Learn more about the PCC at privatecreditclub.com.
Day One
Wednesday, Apr 15
Day Two
Thursday, Apr 16
Time: TBD
U.S. Direct Lending GP & LP Welcome Reception
The members-only Welcome Reception will bring together global LPs and GPs for meaningful discussions, maintaining a 1:1 GP–LP ratio to ensure high-quality networking and facilitated introductions
PCC Members-Only Lounge
PCC Members enjoy access to the Members-Only Lounge at the conference. Designed as a quiet retreat from the event’s bustle, it provides a space for private meetings and enhanced networking with fellow PCC Members in a relaxed, focused environment.
Time: TBD
U.S. Direct Lending Allocator-Only Roundtable
Allocators are invited to join an informal, peer-led discussion on “Quantitative and Qualitative Considerations in Choosing Your Fund Manager and Investment Strategy in Private Credit.”
PCC Members-Only Lounge
PCC Members enjoy access to the Members-Only Lounge at the conference. Designed as a quiet retreat from the event’s bustle, it provides a space for private meetings and enhanced networking with fellow PCC Members in a relaxed, focused environment.
WHAT ATTENDEES SAID ABOUT LAST YEAR'S CONFERENCE
"The 2025 US Private Credit Industry Conference on Direct Lending in Nashville was an excellent event. The content was relevant, timely, and insightful, and it was great to reconnect with industry peers and leaders."
"Congratulations on an excellent conference! I think it's the best I've ever attended on the subject. Great networking opportunities, lots of LPs, and great speakers."
"I found the entire production smooth and efficient and the quality of the attendees was amazing."
"Your conference yet again turned out to be very informative and an excellent forum for networking."
"The event was well-attended by key industry people who shared great insights. As a sponsor/exhibitor, we came away with many quality connections and opportunities."
Continuing Our Partnership with Culinary Care
See the difference we made together in 2025
$26.5K
26 families supported
1,200+
Families served
$1M+
First-time milestone
3
New sponsors
Join us in supporting families fighting cancer
Learn More →UPCOMING DEALCATALYST CONFERENCES
European Private Credit Conference on Direct Lending
February 23, 2026
London, U.K.
In partnership with AFME

