NEW YORK (Reuters) - GoldenTree Asset Management raised over $1.35 billion for its first pure private credit fund, the firm said in a statement on Monday, getting a strong foothold in a booming market.

The firm, with $53 billion in assets under management, has already invested $6 billion in private credit through its other fixed income funds for over the last ten years, but it had never launched a fund fully dedicated to an asset class that has benefited from banks pulling back from lending in recent years to preserve capital.

The fund, which started receiving contributions in 2022, has drawn almost half the capital raised, and posted a net return of 22%, according to the statement. The fund has extended loans to roughly 30 companies across ten industries so far.

A source familiar with the matter said GoldenTree's fund has been lending to large companies in the U.S. and in Europe, with annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) above $500 million, but without signing big checks to each of them individually.

Lee Kruter, partner and head of performing credit at GoldenTree, said in a statement the firm is more focused on transactions that can yield "differentiated risk-adjusted returns" than on "executing on a high volume of transactions."

An over $1.6 trillion industry, the private credit sector is expected to hit $2.8 trillion in assets by 2028, according to Preqin, luring more assets managers and investors to the industry.

"Private credit continues to experience the most innovation across credit asset classes," said Steve Tananbaum, GoldenTree's founder and Chief Investment Officer, in the statement.