Private Debt Investor Podcast

This episode is sponsored by Sculptor Capital Management The last 24 months have been a period of uncertainty and volatility in credit markets, with rising inflation and higher interest rates putting borrower capital structures under pressure and making it difficult for lenders to price risk. These headwinds have proven challenging for mainstream lenders. But for opportunistic credit investors, it has provided a window to unlock attractive risk-adjusted returns in situations that are obscured by complexity. In this episode, we sit down with Jimmy Levin, the chief investment officer of Sculptor Capital, a global alternative investment manager with more than $20 billion of credit assets under management across corporate, asset based and real estate credit. He discusses the opportunistic credit investment opportunity set, reflects on how it’s reshaping old thinking about the credit default cycle, and explores other strategies – notably, asset based finance – that benefit opportunistic lenders who can operate free of constraints.

This episode is sponsored by Arrow Global Private debt has enjoyed sustained success in recent years, with private credit firms stepping in to fill the void left by the retreat of banks from their traditional lending role. The outlook for the asset class in Europe remains strong, as firms continue to find compelling opportunities, even in sectors that face market headwinds. A persistent supply-demand imbalance in the housing market across most European countries means that residential real estate is a particularly attractive sector for lenders. Changing work patterns are also giving a long-term boost to parts of the hospitality real estate sector, with southern European markets able to take advantage of a boom in demand. In this episode of the Private Debt Investor Podcast, Zach Lewy, founder and CEO of Arrow Global, discusses how asset-backed lending enables private credit firms to minimise risk while capitalising on emerging opportunities. Success, he notes, hinges on maintaining strategic discipline in a landscape ripe with potential.

This episode is sponsored by Bain Capital Asia’s credit markets are the largest in the world, yet they remain heavily bank dominated. While large blue-chip businesses are well serviced, there is a material undersupply of custom, fit-for-purpose capital for SMEs, mid-market businesses, and financial sponsors. This is creating a significant opportunity for direct lenders. Asia’s credit markets are also complex and nuanced, which places a premium on managers with the right networks, insights, and experience. In this episode of the Private Debt Investor Podcast, Bain Capital’s Andrew Schantz, discusses how to navigate Asian private credit and what the future holds for an asset class having a “golden moment” across the globe.

In this episode, Andy Thomson meets with Raymond Wright, a portfolio manager in private markets at the London Collective Investment Vehicles, which was established in 2015 as one of eight UK Local Government Pension Scheme asset-pooling companies. Wright discusses the organisation’s private debt-focused funds of funds and how he has gone about building portfolios through client collaboration – which, by his own admission, is a process that has challenged some of his assumptions around portfolio construction. He talks about why asset-based finance, secondaries and sustainability are all favoured areas currently, but also why he has concerns about an economic downturn and private debt’s possible systemic risk. To hear more of our episodes, head to privatedebtinvestor.com/podcast [https://www.privatedebtinvestor.com/podcast/] or you can search and subscribe to the Private Debt Investor Podcast wherever you like to listen.

This episode is sponsored by 17Capital NAV finance used to be a niche, little known corner of debt capital markets, but over the past 10 years it has evolved into a firmly established part of the private markets ecosystem. As NAV finance has moved into the mainstream, private capital managers have taken up NAV facilities in ever greater numbers to address a wide range of financing requirements. So, how are managers using NAV finance across their platforms, and how has the market navigated a cycle of rising inflation and interest rates? What do LPs think of NAV finance and what is the outlook for the industry in the next 12 to 24 months? In this episode, we sit down with 17Capital partner Dane Graham to discuss what has driven the NAV finance industry’s rapid growth over the last 10 years, unpack how managers are using NAV facilities at the portfolio company and fund level, and look ahead to what comes next following a period of higher interest rates and tighter liquidity.