ABF is a generally accepted market term and the one we use at TwentyFour but within private credit it is sometimes used interchangeably with asset-based lending, specialty finance or structured credit.
Whatever the term used, the basic principle such investments all share is exposure to an asset pool. Where they can differ is in how the asset exposure is obtained, as well as the legal structure wrapped around the investment. This could be a conventional bond structure, a loan, or a guarantee, but all will be focused on creating, acquiring and taking exposure to a pool of assets and taking an income from the cashflows generated by those assets.
ABF is not a niche industry. In fact, it dwarfs the rest of private credit (see Exhibit 1). Citi estimates the global ABF market currently totals $5.2tr, and it is expected to grow to $7.7tr by 2027.