Research| Education | Advice

Sascha Steffen is the DWS Senior Chair in Finance and Professor of Finance at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. His work focuses on private credit and nonbank financial intermediation, combining rigorous research with policy-relevant insight for Europe’s financial system.

Talks about: Private Credit & Nonbank Finance · Financial Intermediation · Banks & Capital Markets · AI-enabled measurement of opaque financial markets

About Sascha

Annual Conference 2026: Financing European Sovereignty

Annual Conference 2026: Financing European Sovereignty

Financing Europe’s Sovereignty.

The 3rd Annual CfET Conference brought together leading investors, corporates, and policymakers to mobilize capital for Europe’s defence and energy resilience—moving decisively from ambition to execution. And we launched the CfET “Transformation Investment Compass”.

→ Click here to explore the conference learnings and some details about the Transformation Investment Compass.

Latest Updates

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Europe's private credit fundraising just hit a record — and ELTIF 2.0 has opened a second fundraising dimension
Europe's private credit fundraising just hit a record — and ELTIF 2.0 has opened a second fundraising dimension

European private credit fundraising hit a record in 2025-2026, with $65bn raised in just nine months and six funds clearing €10bn, led by Ares Europe VI at €17.1bn. Non-European LPs are driving the institutional growth, while ELTIF 2.0 has quietly opened a parallel wealth-distribution channel now holding over €20bn in semi-liquid AUM.

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Is Private Credit Normalizing?
Is Private Credit Normalizing?

First-quarter data say private credit is "normalizing, not deteriorating." But every reassuring number describes the asset side. A facility-level panel of 195 BDCs shows the fragility sits on the liability side — short-dated bank lines, a building unsecured maturity wall, record redemptions behind gates, and the largest funds meeting outflows by adding leverage rather than taking losses.

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The Funding Chain Paradox: European Banks, Private Credit, and the Backstop That Depends on What It Replaces
The Funding Chain Paradox: European Banks, Private Credit, and the Backstop That Depends on What It Replaces

Private credit acts as a countercyclical backstop for the real economy — but that backstop is itself funded by the banking system. Drawing on two new papers and a presentation to the ESRB Advisory Scientific Committee, I trace the funding chain from European G-SIBs through BDC credit facilities to middle-market borrowers, and explain why facility-level transparency matters before the next downturn, not after it.

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