Pearl Diver Eyes $1.5B Fundraise as SRTs Move Toward Center of Credit Portfolios

Reporting: Vincent Nadeau

Pearl Diver Capital recently announced the first close of the Pearl Diver Aquanaut Fund, a global interval fund dedicated to significant risk transfer, or SRT, investments. First closing of cornerstone commitments occurred on Nov. 12.

Through this launch, Pearl Diver aims to raise up to $1.5 billion of capital over the next 18 to 24 months. The vehicle represents a strategic evolution for the manager, utilizing an interval structure to offer access to the SRT asset class to a broader range of investors, including private wealth platforms alongside traditional institutional limited partnerships.

Commenting on the launch and the fund’s positioning, Matthew Layton, a partner at Pearl Diver, noted that while the SRT market has historically required an “educational angle,” it is rapidly moving toward the center of credit portfolios, adding that banks increasingly use these structures as a permanent “capital efficiency mechanism.”

The fund has already secured commitments from a combination of large family offices and endowments. While interval funds are often associated with retail-led wealth platforms, Layton emphasized that the structure appeals to institutional investors who value the ability to liquidate positions over time while maintaining a long-term, permanent capital exposure.

A key pillar of the fund’s strategy is its approach to managing the inherent liquidity profile of the SRT asset class within an interval structure. Addressing potential concerns regarding liquidity mismatches, or in the eventuality of a turn in the credit cycle, Layton pointed to a robust framework of structural buffers and a naturally hedged redemption process.

“We benefit from a tenured investor base that has historically partnered with us across multiple illiquid vintages,” Layton said. “To ensure structural stability, we have implemented specific buffers, including an initial lockup period. Crucially, the high predictability of SRT cash flows allows us to service redemptions from investors using the organic income generated by the vehicle, rather than relying on secondary asset sales.”

In terms of strategy, the fund is supported by the firm’s 17-year track record in underwriting portfolios of corporate credit, primarily through its historical activity in CLO tranches. Investments are backed by portfolios of corporate credit across the investment-grade and sub-investment-grade sectors originating from global financial institutions. The fund maintains a global mandate, focusing on portfolios from banks in North America, Europe and the United Kingdom.

Pearl Diver’s move into the interval sector sits within a broader theme of a consistently expanding SRT market. As regulatory support remains strong and bank supply increases to meet growing investor demand, Layton said that it anticipates that 2026 will be a “significant growth year” for the vehicle.

The firm is already looking toward this horizon with a clear deployment strategy. “We are off to a very good start,” Layton noted. “The plan is to match significant investor demand with the healthy pipeline we have already built out across our core lanes.”

Pearl Diver management remains sanguine about the current competitive environment and tightening spreads across the credit spectrum. While spread compression has been a “trend across the board” in private credit markets, Layton argued that the risk-reward ratio for SRTs has stayed intact, particularly when compared with other asset classes such as private credit, ABS or high yield.