Franklin Templeton has aligned its U.S. and European alternative credit businesses, Benefit Street Partners and Alcentra, under an updated Benefit Street Partners (BSP) brand, completing the firms’ integration following Franklin Templeton’s acquisitions of BSP in 2019 and Alcentra in 2022.
The rebrand includes a refreshed logo and a new website domain, and Alcentra-branded funds are beginning to adopt the BSP name starting this week. Franklin Templeton’s broader alternative credit platform, which also includes European direct lender Apera, is on track to exceed $100 billion in assets under management in 2026.
Alongside the brand alignment, BSP released new research based on a survey of 135 global institutional investors representing a combined $8 trillion in AUM. The survey found that 93% of respondents plan to either maintain their alternative credit allocations in 2026 (42%) or increase them (51%). Investors cited diversification (85%) and the potential for higher total returns versus traditional fixed income (81%) as leading motivations. As allocations expand and diversify, 81% of respondents said specialist asset class focus is key to delivering strong performance.
In terms of strategy preferences over the next 12 months, respondents most frequently pointed to infrastructure debt, with 47% planning to increase exposure. Direct lending followed at 39%, then asset-based lending at 35%, special situations and distressed debt at 30%, commercial real estate debt at 28%, and CLOs at 16%.
BSP said it plans to pursue a combination of organic and inorganic growth over the next five years, including potential acquisitions that complement its existing capabilities. The firm also highlighted ambitions to expand into new markets in Asia and the Middle East and into adjacent areas across the alternative credit landscape.
Franklin Templeton said that while it is integrating its expanding alternative credit platform, it intends to maintain clearly differentiated investment capabilities for clients within the global platform, particularly in certain local markets and in areas of specialized focus. The firm pointed to the October 2025 addition of Apera Asset Management, focused on lower-middle-market direct lending across Europe, as an example of that approach.
With Apera now forming part of BSP, the combined business is responsible for $78 billion in AUM in corporate credit strategies and $14 billion in commercial real estate debt strategies, based on an estimate as of December 31, 2025. BSP also described itself as an alternative credit specialist with $92 billion in AUM, including Apera, as of the same date.
KEY QUOTES
“BSP and Alcentra are complementary pioneers in alternative credit with long track records of successfully supporting investors through multiple market cycles. So this alignment under a unified brand is a natural next step for our combined global platform, which has become increasingly integrated in recent years and already shares world-class research, distribution, as well as operational teams and infrastructure.”
“Critically, this move ensures we are optimally positioned to meet our clients’ evolving alternative credit needs, including exposure to new asset classes and geographies around the world, leveraging our global platform and institutional capabilities to support the full scope of our investors’ ambitions.”
David Manlowe, CEO, Benefit Street Partners
“The message from our clients is clear: they want access to the best investment opportunities available across the expanding alternative credit landscape, but managed by a single, trusted and global partner. That means providing a multijurisdictional yet integrated platform, which brings together decades of alternative credit experience, long-standing relationships, and on-the-ground expertise to help investors achieve their goals.”
Allison Davi, Senior Managing Director, Co-COO and Head of Business Development, Benefit Street Partners
