CONTEXT
A leading French private credit platform identified a compelling thematic opportunity across Europe: defence spending was surging across European nations, with structural geopolitical drivers creating multi-year tailwinds for defence-adjacent businesses. The platform launched a first-time defence private credit fund, but faced three critical dynamics that shaped the positioning challenge:
1. First-time fund credibility barriers – Institutional LPs are risk-averse with debut strategies. The fund needed to establish credible investment discipline and operational rigour to overcome scepticism
2. Asset class education in a PE-dominated sector – The defence thematic was perceived as private equity only. LPs needed education on why specialised defence private credit represented an attractive investment distinct from PE.
3. Execution under tight deadlines – To capitalise on the narrow market window, Accellency needed to rapidly equip the fund’s IR and product teams with institutional-grade positioning, materials, and execution capabilities.
APPROACH
Accellency ran the process by using its systematic 8-step methodology, running a series of workshops with the investment, sales and investor relations teams as well as benchmarking the fund against peers before presenting recommendations for a revised fund positioning to the practice head. Accellency then transformed this new positioning into a full set of marketing materials: professionally produced slides, fully-scripted talking points and an elevator pitch. Working closely with the investment team, Accellency deployed three parallel work streams to compress timeline without sacrificing quality.
· Strategy Positioning & Asset Class Education: Intensive workshops crystallised the fund’s investment thesis and competitive differentiation. Accellency developed educational messaging positioning defence private credit as an attractive debt opportunity distinct from PE.
· Advanced market research: Accellency analysed the European defence sector, identifying investable opportunities and market dynamics to substantiate the fund’s deployment strategy.
· Institutional Marketing Materials & IR Capability: Accellency produced best-in-class marketing materials and equipped the IR team with deployment-ready assets, including fundraising presentations, institutional-grade DDQ and PPM documents.
RESULTS
The fund achieved first close in under 6 months and went on to raise significantly more capital than anticipated, becoming the largest fund ever raised by the French platform.
