DE Shaw & Co, one of the world's largest hedge fund firms with over $60bn in assets, has raised $1bn for its latest private credit-focused fund, Alkali VI, which will invest in corporate and structured debt as well as synthetic securitisations, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The report cites a statement shared with Bloomberg News as confirming that the new fund, the sixth in DE Shaw's Alkali series since its inception in 2012, focuses on less liquid, credit-related assets. Approximately half of the capital raised comes from existing investors in previous Alkali funds, marking an increase from its prior 2021 fund.

With $2bn now raised across the two most recent Alkali funds, the total capital in the Alkali family now stands at around $3.9bn. Alkali VI is managed by Richard McKinney, Marianna Fassinotti, and Seth Charnow, who lead DE Shaw's private credit strategies.

DE Shaw, which manages money across a mix of systematic, discretionary, and hybrid strategies, is also expanding its private credit portfolio through the Diopter series of funds. Fund II is currently in development, following the $650m raised by the inaugural Diopter fund in February 2023.