(Bloomberg) — PGIM is looking to grow its private market assets by more than 50% to $500 billion in the next five years, with a big push into private credit through acquisitions.

The New Jersey-based money manager is evaluating options to buy asset-backed financial firms with particularly strong origination capabilities, Eric Adler, chief executive of PGIM Private Alternatives, said in an interview. The firm is also looking for businesses with similar underlying capabilities that allow them to structure products based on the loans they've taken out, he said.

“Private credit is the biggest area for everyone,” Adler said. “Its definition is becoming broader and opening the door to all kinds of different solutions, such as asset-backed finance.”

Demand for private loans has boomed in recent years, making it a $1.7 trillion market, as rising borrowing costs and the risk of default prompted traditional banks to cut back on loans, allowing other classes of lenders to step in.

PGIM has been in private lending for decades, but its plan for a major push comes at a time when some of the industry's titans are beginning to worry that the boom is coming to an end. END. Having expanded their offerings, some alternative asset managers are now facing challenges as they try to return money to investors and banks are back, undercutting direct lenders.

Read more: Private credit and its investors worry that the golden age is gone

PGIM consolidated its capabilities in the private market last year with the new division and named Adler to lead and grow the unit, which now manages $320 billion, of which about $102 billion is in private loans and $210 billion is in real estate. Overall, the company has about $1.3 trillion in assets under management.

Adler said he is looking to benefit from an increase in reinsurance mandates, a recovery in markets such as real estate where the firm already has a presence, as well as expansion into new markets, including the Middle East. The firm is also looking to make an acquisition in infrastructure equity.

Clients are looking to invest with fund managers who can offer a wide variety of strategies because they are consolidating their relationships, which is why PGIM created its private alternatives unit last year, Adler said.

“We will see more differentiation within private credit,” he said. “Those players who can get deals directly and through sponsored and intermediary channels have an advantage” from diversification, he added.