Opinions & Commentary
Editorial perspective and guest commentary on the credit markets.
Contributor Commentary | Private Credit
Private Credit Has Already Won the Middle Market. Now Comes the Harder Part.
Direct lending has decisively displaced broadly syndicated loans as the default financing channel for most middle-market companies backed by financial sponsors. The harder question is whether the asset class is equipped for what comes next.
Contributor Commentary | Capital Markets
The Syndicated Loan Market Isn't Dead — But It's Playing Defense
Broadly syndicated leveraged finance didn't disappear when private credit arrived. But it retreated to a distinct market segment that looks very different from the syndicated market of a decade ago.
Contributor Commentary | Private Credit
Why Insurance Companies Are Becoming the Most Important Players in Private Credit
The arrival of insurance company capital as a structural force in private credit is not a trend — it is a permanent realignment of who holds and prices credit risk in the U.S. economy.
Contributor Commentary | Capital Markets
The CLO Manager Consolidation Wave Has Only Just Begun
The CLO market has expanded to record issuance while the economics of CLO management have become increasingly concentrated. The consolidation that follows is already underway.
Contributor Commentary | Capital Markets
Covenant-Lite Is a Feature, Not a Bug — Until It Isn't
The market consensus on covenant-lite has evolved from 'this is dangerous' to 'this is standard.' The next evolution will come when the first major credit cycle tests what covenant-lite actually means for lender recoveries.
Contributor Commentary | Commercial Real Estate
Office Real Estate Credit: The Long Reckoning Has Arrived
Office real estate credit is not in a temporary distress cycle. It is in a permanent structural repricing as a combination of remote work adoption, oversupply, and rising capital costs redefines what office buildings are worth.
Contributor Commentary | Markets
How the Fed's Rate Cycle Reshaped the Credit Risk Calculus
The Federal Reserve's most aggressive rate hiking cycle in decades was also a test of credit market structures, underwriting assumptions, and portfolio management approaches that had been built for a decade of near-zero rates.
Contributor Commentary | Private Credit
The BDC Boom: Democratization or Concentration Risk?
The rapid expansion of BDC vehicles — particularly non-traded structures targeting wealth management channels — has democratized access to private credit. It has also introduced a new and potentially less experienced class of investors into a market that demands patience.
Contributor Commentary | Markets
AI's Real Credit Market Impact Is Infrastructure Finance, Not Credit Scoring
Discussions of AI's impact on credit markets typically focus on the use of AI in credit scoring and underwriting. The more immediate and quantifiable impact is the extraordinary capital demand generated by AI infrastructure investment.
Contributor Commentary | Private Credit
Direct Lending's European Expansion: Opportunity or Overreach?
Every major U.S. direct lending platform has established or expanded European operations over the past three years. Whether the European middle market can absorb the capital they plan to deploy is one of the most important questions in private credit today.
Contributor Commentary | Capital Markets
The Maturity Wall Was Real — Here Is How the Market Absorbed It
The 2024-2026 leveraged loan maturity wall was one of the most discussed risks in credit markets. Its orderly absorption revealed that the market's self-correction mechanisms are more robust than feared — but also more concentrated than is comfortable.
Contributor Commentary | M&A
Middle Market Sponsor Behavior Is Changing. Lenders Need to Catch Up.
The private equity sponsors who dominated middle market M&A a decade ago operated differently than their 2026 counterparts. The evolution in sponsor behavior has significant implications for how direct lenders should underwrite and manage their portfolios.
Contributor Commentary | Markets
Distressed Credit in 2026: Selective, Not Systemic
The distressed credit opportunity in 2026 is real but concentrated. Practitioners who built strategies for broad market defaults will find less to do than those who have deep expertise in specific stressed sectors.
Contributor Commentary | Private Credit
The Private Credit Secondaries Market Is Quietly Reshaping How the Asset Class Thinks About Liquidity
Private credit was historically characterized as an illiquid asset class. The rapid development of the secondaries market is challenging that characterization — with important implications for how investors and managers think about the asset class.
Contributor Commentary | Markets
What the Current Credit Cycle Actually Tells Experienced Investors
The current credit market environment — tight spreads, low defaults, abundant liquidity — has prompted declarations that this cycle is different. History suggests the cycles that feel most benign often produce the most surprising reversals.
Contributor Commentary | Capital Markets
Why Loan Repricings Should Worry Senior Credit Investors
The leveraged loan repricing wave is a symptom of a supply-demand imbalance that has moved decisively in borrowers' favor. Its implications extend beyond spread compression to questions about lender leverage and portfolio return management.
Contributor Commentary | Capital Markets
The Case for Public Credit in a Private-Credit-Saturated World
The institutional flight to private credit has been so decisive that the relative value case for investment-grade and high-yield public market credit deserves a fresh evaluation. In several segments, public credit now offers more than private credit's advocates have acknowledged.
Contributor Commentary | Private Credit
Cross-Border Middle Market Lending: Convergence or Divergence?
Private credit has become a global market with U.S. managers dominating European expansion. Whether the structural features of European direct lending converge toward the U.S. model or maintain distinct characteristics will significantly affect the risk-return profile of cross-border allocations.