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Building your ABF pitch

Your pitch is the core document of your fundraise. It must convey credibility, differentiation, and return potential in a format that works for both the quick skim and the deep evaluation. This guide covers thesis construction, deck structure, and how to handle the questions that determine whether you advance to the next stage.

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The core investment thesis

Your thesis must answer four questions in under three minutes. If you cannot do this clearly, you are not ready to raise.

Why ABF, why now?

Ground your macro thesis in specific numbers, not vague narratives.

Bank retrenchment: “Banks have reduced their consumer loan exposure by 23% since 2019, creating $180B of annual origination capacity for non-bank capital providers.”

Originator ecosystem growth: “The number of specialty finance originators has grown from 150 to 400 over the past decade, creating differentiated sourcing opportunities.”

Regulatory capital advantages: “Insurance company capital charges for asset-backed securities are 30-50% lower than equivalent corporate bonds, creating structural demand.”

Yield-seeking: “With 10-year treasuries at 4.5%, private credit must offer meaningful premium. ABF delivers 300-500 bps over liquid alternatives.”

Do not simply list tailwinds. Quantify them and explain why they persist.

Why this team?

Your unfair advantage must be specific and verifiable. Strong positioning:

Relationships: “Our founding team has originated $3.2B across 47 facilities with 15 originators over 12 years. Eight of those originators have exclusive or preferred relationships with us.”
Track record: “We have realized a 12.4% gross IRR with a 1.1% annual loss rate across two credit cycles, including the 2020 COVID stress.”
Infrastructure: “We operate proprietary loan-level monitoring systems that cover 2.3M individual accounts across our portfolios.”
Expertise: “Our team includes the former chief credit officers of two top-10 consumer finance companies.”

Avoid generic claims: “We have deep experience in credit.” This says nothing.

Where does return come from?

Attribution matters. Break down your target return into components:

Component	Contribution	Notes
Base yield from performing assets	8-10%	Weighted average coupon on portfolio
Structuring fees and OID	1-2%	Upfront economics recognized over life
Portfolio management	0.5-1%	Prepayment optimization, reinvestment
Less: credit losses	(1-2%)	Expected loss based on historical data
Less: expenses and fees	(1.5-2%)	Management fee, admin, custody
Net to LP	10-12%

LPs will probe each line. Be prepared to defend your assumptions.

How do you protect capital?

Your risk framework must be concrete:

Asset selection criteria: “We decline 85% of opportunities. Minimum requirements include 24+ months originator history, audited financials, and bank-quality servicing.”
Concentration limits: “No single originator exceeds 15% of portfolio. No single industry exceeds 25%.”
Advance rate discipline: “Our weighted average advance rate is 78%, providing 22% subordination before we take first-dollar loss.”
Monitoring triggers: “We have 47 discrete early warning indicators that trigger enhanced surveillance or protective actions.”

Include specific examples of deals you declined and why. This demonstrates discipline better than any policy description.

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Deck structure that works

Keep your initial deck to 20-25 pages. LPs have seen thousands of decks; yours will not be read cover-to-cover. Structure it for both the skim-read and the deep-dive.

The first five pages

These pages determine whether the LP keeps reading:

Page 1: Title and summary One sentence on who you are and what you do. Fund name, target size, strategy description.

Page 2: Team overview Who are you and why are you credible? Names, relevant titles, years of experience, key accomplishments. No photos or full bios here.

Page 3: Strategy overview What asset types do you target? What is the return profile? What is the risk/reward positioning?

Page 4: Differentiation What is your unique access, expertise, or approach? Why can you win deals that others cannot?

Page 5: Summary track record Proof that you can execute. Key numbers: total deployed, realized IRR, loss rate, number of transactions.

If these five pages do not compel continued reading, the remaining twenty will not matter.

Track record section

Present gross and net returns, realized and unrealized, with clear calculation methodology.

Required metrics:

Metric	What it shows
Gross IRR	Return before fees
Net IRR	Return after all fees and expenses
Gross MOIC	Multiple on invested capital (gross)
Net MOIC	Multiple on invested capital (net)
Default rate	Percentage of facilities with credit events
Loss severity	Loss given default
Net loss rate	Default rate times severity
Yield performance	Actual yield versus underwritten target

Benchmark selection:

Benchmark against relevant indices, not the S&P 500. Appropriate benchmarks:

Credit indices: ICE BofA High Yield, Credit Suisse Leveraged Loan Index
Private credit peer data: Cambridge Associates, Preqin private credit benchmarks
Public comparables: BDC returns, public specialty finance company performance

Do not cherry-pick. If you beat high yield but lag private credit peers, acknowledge it and explain why (different risk profile, shorter duration, etc.).

Case studies

Include 2-3 deals that demonstrate your process. Each case study should be one page.

Deal #1: Bread-and-butter transaction Show your typical deal. What does a “normal” investment look like? This demonstrates repeatable process.

Deal #2: Complex or differentiated transaction Show a deal that required creativity or specialized expertise. This demonstrates value-add beyond capital provision.

Deal #3: A deal where something went wrong Show how you handled adversity. What deteriorated? What did you do? What was the outcome? This demonstrates workout capability and honest reporting.

For each case study, cover:

Originator background and why you worked with them
Asset characteristics (type, duration, yield, collateral)
Structure (advance rate, covenants, reserves)
Pricing (spread, fees, OID)
Performance (actual versus underwritten)
Lessons learned

Team slides

LPs care about:

Relevant experience: Years in credit, ABF specifically, roles held
Track record attribution: What did this person actually do, not just where did they work
Team stability: How long has this team worked together? What is the succession plan?
Alignment: Personal investment in the fund, vesting schedules, non-competes

Skip the photos and bios. Lead with a matrix showing who does what and what experience backs it up.

Role	Years in credit	ABF experience	Prior relevant roles
Chief Investment Officer	20	12	Head of Specialty Finance, Major Bank
Portfolio Manager	15	8	Credit Officer, Consumer Finance Co
Head of Origination	12	10	Managing Director, ABF Platform

Terms and fundraise status

Be transparent about:

Target fund size and hard cap
Management fee structure
Carried interest and preferred return
Key terms (lock-up, extensions, distributions)
Current commitments and pipeline
Timeline to first and final close

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Addressing the hard questions

Prepare crisp answers to these questions. You will be asked every time.

”Why would originators work with you vs. larger competitors?”

Strong answers are specific:

Speed: “We close in 4 weeks versus 8-12 weeks for bank facilities. For originators with time-sensitive opportunities, this matters.”
Flexibility: “We will take $20M deals that banks will not staff. We structure creative solutions for unusual asset types.”
Relationship: “We were their first institutional capital partner. We helped them scale from $5M to $200M monthly origination. They are loyal.”
Terms: “We offer 85% advance rates versus 75% from banks for equivalent credit quality. Our pricing is competitive because our cost of capital is efficient.”

Be prepared to name specific originators and explain why they stay with you.

”What happens to your deals in a recession?”

Walk through your stress case with specific numbers:

“In our downside scenario, we model:

3x increase in default rates (from 2% to 6%)
30% decline in recovery rates (from 70% to 49%)
This produces a 3.1% annual loss rate versus our base case of 0.7%
Net returns decline from 11% to 7.5%

Our structure protects capital through:

22% average subordination before we take losses
Cash reserves of 3-5% of outstanding
Early amortization triggers that redirect cash flows
Diversification across 12 originators and 4 asset types

We experienced a mild version of this in 2020. Our loss rate increased from 0.8% to 1.4%, and we maintained positive returns throughout."

"How liquid is this portfolio really?”

Be honest:

“These are illiquid assets. In normal markets, we estimate 6-12 month sale timelines for most positions at par. In stressed markets, we might sell at 85-90 cents to liquidity-constrained buyers.

However, the short duration provides natural liquidity:

Weighted average life of 18 months
60% of portfolio runs off within 2 years
We do not depend on asset sales for liquidity

For LPs who need to exit early, we would facilitate secondary transactions, but we cannot guarantee price or timing."

"What is your edge in credit selection?”

Your answer must be specific and verifiable:

Proprietary data: “We have access to loan-level performance data covering 15M accounts across our originator network. This lets us benchmark new opportunities against demonstrated performance.”
Specialized expertise: “Our team includes the former head of credit for the largest equipment finance company in the US. We can evaluate residual value assumptions that generalist investors cannot.”
Relationship access: “We see opportunities that do not go to market. Three of our originators bring deals to us exclusively before running broader processes.”
Infrastructure: “We can evaluate 500-deal pipelines in 48 hours using our automated underwriting tools. Speed lets us win competitive processes.”

Generic claims do not work: “We are good at credit analysis.” Prove it.

”Why has this strategy not been competed away?”

Address barriers to entry:

Relationship depth: “Originator relationships take 3-5 years to build. Our competitors cannot replicate overnight what we have built over a decade.”
Operational complexity: “Servicer oversight, loan-level data systems, and regulatory compliance require specialized infrastructure. Minimum viable investment is $5-10M per year.”
Specialized expertise: “Understanding equipment residual values, consumer credit behavior, or specialty asset performance requires domain expertise that takes years to develop.”
Scale requirements: “Minimum viable portfolio is $200M+ to cover fixed costs. This creates barriers for new entrants.”

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Pitch delivery

Meeting structure

Do not start with slide 1 and power through the deck. Better approach:

Open with context (2 minutes): Why you are excited about this meeting. What you know about their portfolio and how this fits.
Present core thesis (10-15 minutes): Cover slides 1-10. Hit the key points without reading every bullet.
Stop and invite questions: “I have covered the core thesis. What questions do you have before I go deeper?”
Let the conversation drive: Based on their questions, pull up relevant supporting slides.
Close with next steps (5 minutes): What do they need to advance? What is the timeline? Who else should you meet?

Two-person meetings

Two people from your side: one senior (CIO or PM) and one supporting (deal or IR).

Senior person leads the pitch and handles investment questions
Support person handles logistics, note-taking, and operational questions
More than two signals disorganization or insecurity

Follow-up discipline

Within 24 hours of every meeting:

Send thank-you email with any promised materials
Document meeting notes (who attended, what was discussed, objections raised, next steps)
Update your CRM with status and next action
Brief your team on key findings

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Common pitch mistakes

Overcomplicating the thesis

If you cannot explain your strategy in three minutes, you do not understand it well enough. Simplify ruthlessly.

Hiding weaknesses

LPs will find problems. Better to surface them yourself with explanations and mitigations than to have them discovered in diligence. A proactively addressed weakness builds trust; a discovered weakness destroys it.

Generic differentiation

“We are experienced investors with strong relationships” applies to every manager. Your differentiation must be specific, quantified, and verifiable.

Wrong return framing

Promising returns you cannot deliver destroys credibility when you miss. Present a range (10-14%) and explain conditions for high and low scenarios. Underpromise and overdeliver.

Ignoring competition

“We have no competitors” is never true and signals naivety. Acknowledge competitors and explain specifically why you win against them.

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Key takeaways

Three-minute thesis. If you cannot articulate why ABF, why now, why this team, where returns come from, and how you protect capital in three minutes, keep refining.
First five pages determine everything. Structure your deck so the quick skim conveys the essentials.
Show, do not tell. Case studies and specific examples build credibility that claims cannot.
Prepare for the hard questions. Recession scenarios, liquidity, competitive dynamics. Practice crisp answers.
Follow up relentlessly. The meeting is the beginning, not the end. Discipline in follow-up separates winners from also-rans.