Churchill Raises $1.54B for Third Junior Capital Fund

Churchill Asset Management has closed its third Junior Capital Opportunities Fund with $1.54 billion in commitments, beating its $1 billion target by more than 50% and more than double the $737 million raised by the previous fund.

It is the largest fund to date in Churchill’s junior capital program. The fund invests in junior debt of U.S. middle-market companies backed by private equity sponsors.

Investors included pension funds, insurance companies, asset managers and family offices. About $665 million of the commitments came through rated feeder structures, which are designed to give insurers a capital-efficient way to invest in the strategy.

The fund has already deployed about $600 million across 44 portfolio companies, alongside 30 private equity firms.

“Our approximately $14 billion in private equity fund commitments, combined with longstanding sponsor relationships, provide us with a differentiated sourcing advantage,” said Derek Fricke, senior managing director and head of direct investments, junior capital and private equity solutions at Churchill.

Churchill’s junior capital and private equity solutions team invests across junior capital, equity co-investments, secondaries and private equity fund commitments. Since 2011, the team has invested more than $10 billion across more than 290 junior capital deals and served as the lead provider in about 70% of them.

The raise builds on recent momentum. In June 2025, Churchill closed its second co-investment fund at its $1.5 billion hard cap, nearly 3.5 times the size of its predecessor.

Churchill, the U.S. arm of Nuveen Private Capital, had more than $66 billion of committed capital under management as of June 30. Together with its European sister company, Arcmont Asset Management, it forms Nuveen Private Capital, one of the largest private debt managers globally.