LPC - Lending Lowdown Series

Alex Gorokhovskiy, Head of Direct Lending and Venture Debt at Deutsche Bank, joins host CJ Doherty to discuss current conditions in the US direct lending market and the outlook for the remainder of 2024. "There's consumer health that's ever evolving," said Gorokhovskiy. "Sponsors are now focused on making differentiated investments as opposed to paying the highest multiple for the next best asset."

Richard Leong, a senior reporter at IFR, dives into the booming demand for financing in digital assets driven by AI and data consumption. He highlights a staggering $418 billion needed to optimize global operations and discusses how private credit and insurers are stepping in to meet this demand. The conversation also touches on the increasing use of securitization to manage loans. Additionally, concerns about energy consumption in the digital assets ecosystem are raised, underscoring the importance of sustainable financing as infrastructure grows worldwide.

Host CJ Doherty sits down with David Brooks and Alice Cavalier, Partners & Co-Heads of Capital Solutions at Arcmont Asset Management, to discuss capital solutions lending and the outlook for the rest of 2024. "Loans have been up about 250% year to date and accounting for about 60% of the market as of last week and bond issuance has increased as well significantly," said Cavalier. "People are busy, more bullish on M&A."

Host CJ Doherty sits down with John Wright, Global Head of Credit at Bain Capital Credit, to discuss current conditions in the US CLO market and what’s ahead in the remainder of 2024. "Coming into this year, we're seeing much greater interest and much greater willingness on behalf of the banks to underwrite loans," said Wright. "That's driven by strength in the secondary market and the new issue market for leveraged loans."

David Puchowski, Director of Analysis at LSEG LPC joins CJ Doherty to discuss the key trends that shaped the direct lending market in 2023 and preview what is in store for 2024. "59% of total US LBO loan volume was done in the direct lending market," said Puchowski. "That was the first time that direct took the majority over the syndicated market."

Noelle Sisco, Managing Director and Portfolio Strategist at Napier Park joins CJ Doherty to discuss the outlook for the structured credit market as we head into 2024. “The big question mark for the U.S. consumer will be the trajectory of unemployment,” said Sisco. “Going forward into 2024, on the corporate side, we expect to see a continuation of elevated defaults with lower than historical recovery levels as we saw in 2023.”

Host CJ Doherty and Dan Lee, partner at Comvest Credit Partners, discuss the current lending landscape in the US lower middle market. “The lower middle market generally has held up, volumes have been more steady,” Lee said. “The trends in the lower middle market…tend to follow the larger market but to be not quite as volatile.” Check out Lending Lowdown episode 18 wherever you get your podcasts.

Host CJ Doherty sits down with Ben Thompson, Head of EMEA Leveraged Finance Capital Markets at JP Morgan for a discussion on the European leveraged loan and high yield bond markets.

Host CJ Doherty sits down with Laura Holson, Managing Director and COO of Credit at New Mountain Capital for a discussion on the evolving interest in private credit from retail investors. 

US CLO market activity slowed in 2Q23, with issuance falling 37% to US$21.3bn as the challenging arbitrage impacted dealflow, ultimately constraining liquidity. In Episode 15 of our podcast, join CJ Doherty, Director of Market Analysis and Kristen Haunss, Assistant Editor US Loans at Refinitiv LPC, for a discussion of current trends in the US Collateralized Loan Obligations market.