The Credit Clubhouse E53: Everything Is a Portfolio: Asset-Based Finance with Joel Holsinger of Ares
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Mar 6, 2026 Joel Holsinger, Co-Head of Ares Alternative Credit and portfolio manager with decades in asset-based finance. He defines asset-based finance as portfolios of contractual cash flows. He explains why ABF went mainstream, how insurance and other LPs differ, and the trade-offs between captive and flexible investing. He also discusses NAV lending, secondaries, market resilience, philanthropy, AI-driven growth, and skepticism about crypto.
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Fund Structure Is Your Kitchen
- Fund structure must act like a kitchen matching asset life, returns and liquidity to avoid forced selling.
- Holsinger compares ABF originators to chefs and emphasizes fund-level asset-liability alignment.
Too Much Insurance Money Can Be Dangerous
- Insurance capital can add scale but creates feedback loops where hot inflows force buying into mispriced assets.
- Holsinger cautions that large inflows plus rating-seeking innovations can produce hot-potato buying and occasional fraud exposure.
Fund Finance Is Part Of ABF Not Separate
- Fund finance (sublines, NAV loans, CFOs) is a subsegment of ABF because it's financing diversified portfolios, not single-name risk.
- Holsinger stresses diligence on underlying leverage and advance rates despite portfolio diversification.
