Laks Ganapathi Launches Minerva Hedge Fund Targeting Private Credit

Laks Ganapathi is launching Minerva Investment Management, a short-biased hedge fund that aims to profit from declining stock prices by targeting vulnerabilities in private credit loan books. The fund has appointed renowned short seller Michael Burry as a senior adviser to utilize his expertise in identifying market bubbles.

Minerva is focusing its analysis on the retail, restaurant, healthcare, and small banking sectors. Ganapathi believes the opacity of private credit in these industries may be hiding significant financial strain. This launch follows data from Fitch Ratings showing that United States private credit default rates hit a record 6.3% in August 2026.

Ganapathi, who also founded the research firm Unicus Research, views the current credit risk as a systemic threat. He stated, "This time around, it is not going to be like 2008. It's going to be a lot worse."