Corporate Finance & Advisory
Capital Advisory — Partner & Team Search
Debt advisory, equity capital and refinancing / recapitalisation leaders for a higher-for-longer rate environment — the fastest-structurally-rerating talent market in corporate finance as private credit reshapes how mid-market deals are funded.
Market overview
Capital advisory has structurally re-rated in the higher-for-longer rate era, and its talent market with it. As low-cost debt raised in the cheap-money years matures and banks lend more selectively, a widening funding gap is pushing borrowers toward non-bank capital and toward advisers who can navigate it [1]. Refinancing, recapitalisation and capital-structure advice — once episodic — have become a continuous fee stream, and firms are building dedicated debt-advisory benches to capture it.
Private credit is the engine of that re-rating. Asia-Pacific private-credit AUM is projected to climb from about US$59 billion in 2024 to US$92 billion by 2027, and Knight Frank sees a US$90-110 billion growth opportunity across Australia, Hong Kong, India and South Korea over three years, with Australia alone roughly half of it [1][2]. Crucially, around 90% of APAC private-credit deals are sponsorless — borrowers without PE backing — which is precisely the mid-market, advice-dependent segment where independent capital advisers add the most value and win the most mandates [2].
The hiring challenge is that this is a young discipline in APAC with a shallow senior talent pool. Genuine debt-advisory partners — people who can structure a refinancing, run a lender process, and broker between banks, private-credit funds and borrowers — are scarce, and they are being competed for by accounting firms, boutiques, the banks themselves and the credit funds. Candidates who carry live lender and fund relationships across both the bank and non-bank universe are the rarest and most aggressively pursued.
Equity capital advisory adds a second, more cyclical leg. APAC's IPO and equity-raising windows open and close with sentiment, so firms want capital advisers who can flex between debt and equity mandates as conditions shift — pre-IPO advisory and private placements when equity markets are receptive, debt and recapitalisation work when they are not. That dual-track capability, paired with strong investor and lender networks, defines the most valuable senior hires in this space.
What we cover
- Debt advisory
- Equity capital advisory
- Refinancing & recapitalisation
Roles we place
Debt Advisory
- Partner, Debt Advisory
- Director, Debt & Capital Markets
- Leveraged & Acquisition Finance Lead
- Private Credit Advisory Director
Equity Capital Advisory
- Partner, Equity Capital Advisory
- Pre-IPO Advisory Director
- Private Placement / Private Capital Lead
- Equity Capital Markets Manager
Refinancing & Recapitalisation
- Director, Refinancing & Recapitalisation
- Capital Structure Advisory Lead
- Special Situations Capital Director
- Lender Negotiation & Process Lead
Candidate profile
CFA and / or CA / ACA qualified, often with leveraged-finance, banking or credit-fund pedigree alongside accounting credentials.
Live, portable relationships across both the bank and non-bank lender universe — relationship banks, private-credit funds and institutional investors.
Demonstrated ability to structure and execute refinancings, recapitalisations and lender processes for mid-market, frequently sponsorless borrowers.
Dual-track debt-and-equity capability and APAC-corridor coverage, with Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, India and the Middle East the highest-demand markets.
Seniority
- Manager / Associate Director
- Director / Vice President
- Senior Director / Principal
- Partner / Managing Director
Sectors served
- Private credit & private capital
- Real estate & infrastructure
- Mid-market corporates
- Financial sponsors
- Energy & resources
- Special situations
Frequently asked
- Why is capital advisory hiring growing structurally, not just cyclically?
- The higher-for-longer rate environment turned refinancing and recapitalisation from episodic events into a continuous fee stream, while private credit opened a whole new funding channel. APAC private-credit AUM is forecast to rise from ~US$59bn in 2024 to ~US$92bn by 2027, and firms are building permanent debt-advisory benches to capture it.
- What's the scarcest profile in this market?
- A debt-advisory partner who carries live relationships across both banks and private-credit funds and can broker between them and a borrower. The discipline is young in APAC, the senior pool is shallow, and accounting firms, boutiques, banks and credit funds are all competing for the same people.
- Why does sponsorless deal flow matter for hiring?
- Around 90% of APAC private-credit deals involve borrowers without PE backing — the mid-market, advice-dependent segment. Those borrowers need an adviser to run their capital-raise, which is exactly where independent capital advisers win mandates, so partners with mid-market relationships are in high demand.