The tricks Pallas Capital learned from Jon Adgemis
The doctors and dentists of Bondi Junction may want to read the fine print.
Last month, I lifted the hood on Australia's private credit pirates, Metrics Equity Partners, and its co-morbid major shareholder, Pinnacle Investment Management.
Joe Aston
Andrew McKean
I should say at the outset that my objective here is not to foment a gross generalisation that private credit is a dodgy asset class. For discerning investors, it can be a terrific one.
But two things can be true at the same time: private credit is a legitimate investment product, and one where danger lingers in Australia's very poor standards of disclosure. This opacity serves as a honey pot for unscrupulous operators, of which there are many.
After the Australian Securities and Investments Commission deployed Richard Timbs and Nigel Williams to lift the lid on private credit's self-indulgences, ASIC responded by setting out its expectations for the sector in a November 2025 surveillance report. It complained that, "Many funds did not fully inform investors of related-party transactions or arrangements, including instances where the fund invested in loans made to a related party of the investment manager…"
A standout purveyor of this practice is Pallas Capital, the preferred real estate credit manager of Sydney's eastern suburbs set.
