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What podcasters are saying about Private credit
Summary
In the past 30 days, 28 speakers on 22 finance podcasts discussed Private credit in 42 views. Chorus has followed Private credit since September 25, 2026: 44 views from 30 speakers on 23 shows.
Who talks about it most
- Jeff Snider · 6
- Nick Nemeth · 3
- Tim Melvin · 2
- Jim Vanek · 2
- Lotfi Karoui · 2
- Bruce Richards · 2
- George Noble · 2
- Steve Eisman · 2
- Chris Hentemann · 2
- Connor Teskey · 1
The latest views
Newest first. Every quote is checked against the episode's transcript.
Connor Teskey · Brookfield Asset Management
Credit is becoming a core pillar of private markets; buying Oaktree accelerated Brookfield's entry.
Teskey explains why Brookfield bought a majority stake in Oaktree in 2019. Brookfield already had a very large, market-leading equity franchise on the private investment side, but he judged that credit was becoming a core pillar of private markets. Brookfield could have built a credit franchise over 10 to 15 years, but it judged the acquisition worth it to accelerate that process. In hindsight he calls it a great decision.
“we did feel that credit was becoming a core pillar of private markets going forward. Could we have built a market leading credit franchise over ten or fifteen years? Absolutely. We thought it was worth it to accelerate that process.”at 14:27
Goldman Sachs Exchanges: Brookfield’s Connor Teskey on the Real Bottleneck in the AI Buildout ·
Thomas Hoenig · Mercatus Center at George Mason University
Private credit risk is rising through interlinked private equity, life insurers and lending, and markets are pricing it.
Private equity firms have bought life insurers, which provide deposits to private credit funds, and those funds lend to other private equity subsidiaries. This creates an intertwined, more leveraged industry. Hoenig says the market is beginning to pay attention to these risks because investors have money at stake, and an unwinding process may still take place.
“you have private equities who have bought life insurance companies... So you have a intertwined industry now becoming more complicated and leveraged. And those are all risks that I think the market is beginning to pay attention to.”at 23:12
The David Lin Report: Fed's Next Mistake? Ex-Fed President Warns Of Market Fallout | Thomas Hoenig ·
Tim Melvin · Community Bank Investor
Gated redemptions in private credit and real estate funds were justified to protect remaining investors from fire sales.
When investors demand their money at once from funds holding illiquid assets, honoring every request would force fire sales that hurt everyone left in the fund. Melvin sees the refusal to pay out in private credit and real estate funds as managers protecting the other investors, even though investors who signed the agreements are unhappy.
“They were really protecting the interest of the other investors in the fund because if you start giving everybody their money back, you're gonna just hammer these markets for illiquid assets.”at 34:32
The Acquirers Podcast: Tim Melvin: Finding Value Where Wall Street Isn’t Looking ·
Tim Melvin · Community Bank Investor
Smaller post-crisis private lenders lack credit-cycle experience and will pay a price; avoid them.
Banks largely left middle-market and leveraged lending after the financial crisis at regulators' request, and a wave of newer lenders filled the gap. Melvin argues many of them are less experienced and have never been through a bad credit cycle. He expects outcomes to depend on experience, capital levels and survivability, and says lenders that have not been in the space and make stupid loans will pay a price. He would avoid those players and own Ares instead.
“I would not own those, but I would own [Ares] all day.”at 44:19
The Acquirers Podcast: Tim Melvin: Finding Value Where Wall Street Isn’t Looking ·
Jim Vanek · Apollo Global Management
Private credit grew strongly in benign markets; demand also rises during public-market stress.
The private credit market is measured at more than $2 trillion in AUM, and its fastest growth over the past four to five years has been in transactions for very large companies. Growth has continued over the past three years even though market conditions have been relatively benign. Demand has also risen during stress, as in April 2025 around new trade policy announcements. Vanek concludes that growth does not require volatility, though volatility does increase usage.
“I think the fact that the market's grown so much despite the fact that conditions have been benign and generally calm is an indication of the fact that you don't need that volatility to really see growth.”at 4:31
Apollo: The Allocation and the Daily Spark: Direct Lending: Strong Fundamentals, Shifting Dynamics ·
Jeffrey Gundlach · DoubleLine Capital
Rating agencies' investment-grade ratings on private-credit-linked insurers are losing market credibility.
Gundlach sees a growing crisis of confidence in rating agencies. Insurance companies owned by private credit and private equity firms lean on investment-grade ratings that the market does not seem to believe. He compares this to the ABX triple-B subprime episode and says the trend is picking up steam and is worth following.
“We're starting to get a little bit of a crisis of confidence on how rating agencies in the private credit, particularly related areas where insurance companies owned by private credit, owned by private equity firms are leaning on these investment grade ratings that the market doesn't think are real.”at 10:41
Jim Vanek · Apollo Global Management
European private credit demand is rising faster than in the US, given shallower public markets and bank and insurance constraints.
European public credit markets are smaller, shallower and less diverse than US markets, so they are less suitable for businesses. The European banking system faces constraints that the US system does not. Insurance investment regulation also limits insurers' role in Europe, whereas US insurers supply a large share of business capital. Because of these factors, Vanek sees a relatively faster uptick in private credit usage in Europe than in the US, and expects this to continue.
“And in Europe, the public credit markets are smaller, shallower, and less diverse than they are in The United States... we see an increase in demand for private credit solutions from companies across the spectrum in Europe relative to what we're seeing in The US, and we think that that's gonna continue.”at 22:36
Apollo: The Allocation and the Daily Spark: Direct Lending: Strong Fundamentals, Shifting Dynamics ·
Jeff Snider · Atlas Financial
Private credit stress is deepening; listed private credit firms hit new lows as investors demand bigger discounts.
Publicly traded private credit companies are hitting new lows, and these stocks are among the few places where investors can continuously price concerns about an otherwise opaque market. Snider notes that the declines do not prove every private loan is impaired. They do show that investors are less willing to accept reported asset values, dividend promises and assumptions about future recoveries without demanding a much larger discount. Snider presents this as part of a broader credit downturn that began with tricolor lenders and private credit funds facing investor withdrawals and has since spread into leveraged loans and higher-quality debt.
“Their declines don't prove every private loan is impaired, but they show investors are becoming less willing to accept reported asset values, dividend promises, and assumptions about future recoveries without demanding a much larger discount.”at 8:47
Eurodollar University: Elon Musk Warns Banks Have STOPPED Lending to AI Companies ·
Lotfi Karoui · PIMCO
Private credit's fundamental issues are unlikely to become a systemic shock, though a recession would expose weakness.
Private credit and direct lending have real fundamental issues, but the bar is very high for those issues to become a systemic shock like the run-up to the global financial crisis. Karoui says the systemic debate is largely settled. Headline fears have passed their peak because the market understands how private credit works better than in late 2025. The caveat is that the view depends on the cycle. A recession would expose the weakness again, and older vintages could still disappoint if the cycle keeps going.
“Private credit and direct lending in particular has fundamental issues for sure. But I think the bar is very, very high for those fundamental issues to morph into something that looks like a systemic shock”at 13:34
UBS On-Air: Fixed Income Conversation Corner with Lotfi Karoui (PIMCO) and Leslie Falconio (UBS CIO) ·
Lotfi Karoui · PIMCO
Direct lending will bifurcate: older 2021-23 vintages likely to disappoint while newer vintages look better.
The 2021-2023 vintages were underwritten during record fundraising, when underwriting standards loosened and capital outran deployable assets. Their sector mix leans heavily on software, which is vulnerable to AI disruption. Newer vintages should have better underwriting and possibly better valuations. Early evidence is tentative: spreads on newly originated loans widened even as the broader market tightened, leverage multiples on deals have declined, and lender-friendly terms are returning. Karoui says this shift will take several quarters to affect the whole stock of debt. He compares the situation to 2023 commercial real estate, where regional bank retrenchment created survivorship bias in later vintages.
“I think the theme in direct lending is going to be bifurcation. Newer vintages are gonna look better, both from a fundamental standpoint and a performance standpoint. I think some of the older vintages will probably disappoint from a performance standpoint.”at 15:49
UBS On-Air: Fixed Income Conversation Corner with Lotfi Karoui (PIMCO) and Leslie Falconio (UBS CIO) ·
Gary Gensler · MIT Sloan School of Management
Insurers have built large holdings of AI-linked debt through private credit, a worrying concentration.
Gensler says the insurance sector appears to hold much of the AI-related debt, either directly or through private credit. He is worried about that concentration, given the guarantees and off-balance-sheet structures tied to data center financing.
“And who holds it? I think it's insurance sector, I worry about that's picked up a lot of holding of debt through private credit or just directly.”at 31:20
Bloomberg Surveillance: Previewing the Fed Meeting and AI IPOs ·
Arthur Hayes · Flop Labs
PE firms use captive insurers to offload AI data-center debt, creating systemic risk akin to AIG.
Hayes says a Nick Namath essay describes a scheme PE firms such as Apollo and KKR run with captive insurance companies. A lot of the so-called AAA and investment-grade debt tied to SPVs that finance data centers ends up on insurers' balance sheets. Policyholders' premiums are invested in this debt, and when it is re-rated to where it should trade, the PE sponsors have put in no equity because the strategy is to offload risk to captive insurers. He calls this systemic, comparing it to AIG, and says politicians cannot let policyholders take the loss, which makes a multitrillion-dollar bailout inevitable.
“scam that PE firms like Apollo and KKR are running with these captive insurance companies. ... a lot of the so called AAA investment grade rated debt associated with these SPVs to finance these data centers ends up on insurance companies' balance sheets.”at 9:14
Wealthion: Arthur Hayes: Stocks Peak in 2027 Before the AI Bubble Bursts ·
Matt Reed · Fidelity Investments
Private credit is a complement to banks, an evolution of the financial system, and the regulatory story has played out.
The regulatory changes after the financial crisis have largely played out, with only edge issues left. Matt sees private credit as the latest step in a long line of ways to channel capital into the economy, following leveraged loans, corporate bonds, high yield and securitized debt. The financial system is always seeking the most efficient capital for each use case, so private credit is part of that ecosystem. He calls it a complement, with some competition or coopetition.
“I view private credit as a part of that ecosystem. And so at this point, I view it as a complement, and they're part of the ecosystem.”at 17:37
Fidelity Viewpoints: 10.27.26 - Why a recession may be farther away than you think ·
Bruce Richards · CVC Marathon
Credit is cheap at wider spreads; opportunistic lending will be the best vintage in a generation.
Richards says investors can move up in credit at much wider spreads and higher base yields than a few months ago. High yield started the year yielding about 7%, and a performing portfolio now yields 8.5% to 9%. Marathon lends to growth companies growing revenue 8 to 15% a year with protected margins, and to companies transitioning through difficult periods as credit is rationed. He expects the best vintage for opportunistic credit in a generation because of the capital structure fixes corporate America, Europe and the globe need. Marathon is already doing this for clients.
“I think this is going to be the best vintage for opportunistic credit in a generation because of all the capital structure fixes and the capital structure needs that corporate America and the Europeans and the globe needs.”at 15:27
Bloomberg Talks: Marathon Asset Management CEO Bruce Richards Talks Anticipated Anthropic IPO ·
Bruce Richards · CVC Marathon
Private lenders extending maturities and waiving covenants is effectively default, lowering long-run recoveries.
Richards argues that when a company's financials have deteriorated, extending its maturity is effectively default, especially when the lender is the sole or small-group lender. Deferring interest or waiving covenants, which he calls amend and pretend, delays a hard default. For most companies it lowers the terminal recovery rate. He says this happens more in private credit, where lenders control the deal, than in the broadly syndicated loan and high yield markets. The 22% of BDC loans maturing within two and a half years, about $117 billion, adds to this risk as floating-rate coverage gets harder.
“as far as I'm concerned when the company's financials have deteriorated and you're extending a maturity, and you're the sole lender or group lender in a very small group, that's effectively default”at 16:59
Bloomberg Talks: Marathon Asset Management CEO Bruce Richards Talks Anticipated Anthropic IPO ·
Jeff Snider · Atlas Financial
Private credit stress is spreading: fund withdrawals are restricted and fund losses are mounting.
The first warning signs came from private credit funds restricting withdrawals, followed by investors rushing to redeem. Snider cites Bloomberg reporting that Arena Capital's master fund lost 6.9% in the first half of October after falling 15.7% through September. Sona Asset Management's main fund lost about 3.1% over two weeks, erasing its 2026 gains. Each manages over $20 billion, and neither had previously lost money over a full calendar year. He reads this as evidence that the long-running credit cycle is ending. He also says the full paper losses have not yet appeared because many firms have not reported updated numbers.
“Private credit funds restricted withdrawals, leveraged loans fell, CCC rated bond spreads surged to now well above 1,300 basis points,”at 0:09
Eurodollar University: The Credit Cycle Just Flipped (The Stock Market Is Next) ·
Patrick Ceresna · Big Picture Trading
Private credit is deteriorating, with the BDC ETF BIZD breaking to fresh lows.
Private equity credit was a major worry in Q1 and into Q2, but the market has since stopped discussing it. Over the last two weeks the BDC-linked ETF BIZD has broken to fresh new lows. Ceresna reads this as continued deterioration in the private credit segment. The first shock hit high-quality Treasuries, and the stress has now moved into riskier parts of the bond market, where the consequences of an accident are larger.
“when looking at an ETF like the BIZD, we have now just seen it break to fresh new lows. So we continue to see actually a deterioration in this part of the credit markets.”at 1:25:29
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Rob Sechan · NewEdge Wealth
Private credit funds and banks say companies with solid contracts will get AI buildout financing.
Sechan says that when he talks to private credit funds and investment banks, they say companies that need financing and have proper contracts will get it. Those lenders can underwrite the growth. He frames the market as a world of haves and have-nots, where contracted borrowers get funded and weaker ones do not. The view is based on conversations with lenders rather than on specific deal data.
“when you talk to any of the private credit funds, when you talk to the the investment banks, they are saying that the companies that need it and have proper contract will get the financing. We'll be able to underwrite that growth.”at 47:06
CNBC Halftime Report: The AI Race Deepens as Access to Capital Shrinks: Your Next Move 10/22/26 ·
George Noble · Noble Capital Advisors
Private equity-controlled life insurers have breached investment limits by buying illiquid assets.
Noble says that after demutualisation, private equity owners of life insurers have used policyholder funds to invest in private equity, private credit and related-party transactions. He claims this has violated regulatory restrictions on what these companies can do, and that they have been excessively investing in illiquid securities. He describes a developing crisis that is not yet front-page news. The transcript is cut off before he finishes the point, so the full argument is incomplete.
“I'll take it one step further. They have violated these restrictions. They've been excessively investing in illiquid securities and related party transactions.”at 34:29
The David Lin Report: Tech Stocks Going To ZERO: 'The Whole Thing Is Going To Collapse' | George Noble View test report Edit title ·
George Noble · Noble Capital Advisors
Oracle-linked AI debt was financed via private credit, so losses sit with insurers and pensions, not banks.
Noble says much of the financing for Oracle's debt came through private equity and private credit, not public bond markets. As a result the risk sits in the portfolios of insurers and pension funds rather than in the banking system. Bulge-bracket banks that underwrote some of the issues are stuck with paper they are trying to offload. Noble says whoever is left holding the bag on Oracle's debt has a problem.
“a lot of this financing occurred in the form of private equity, private credit, and the risk therefore lies in the portfolios of many [insurance] and pension funds. It's less about the banking system.”at 38:36
The David Lin Report: Tech Stocks Going To ZERO: 'The Whole Thing Is Going To Collapse' | George Noble View test report Edit title ·
Jan van Eck · VanEck
Private credit pressure is mainly rate-driven, not collapsing holdings; credit marks will lag.
Jan argues the pressure comes mainly from higher yields. At 9-10% yields in a zero-rate environment, private credit looked attractive, but with the 10-year above 5%, that value proposition is diminished and puts pressure on the rest of portfolios. He says regulatory scrutiny and SaaS pressure were the first-half fundamentals, which he thinks are largely priced in. Loans marked below about 80 cents rose in the first half and are settling, and credit marks lag because loans are not marked to market, as with commercial real estate after COVID.
“The bond squeeze, all of these value propositions, it's one thing to offer 9%, 10% yields in a zero interest rate environment. It's different if the ten year bond is offering over 5%”at 46:36
Thoughtful Money: The Big Squeeze: High Bond Yields Now Becoming A Problem For Stocks | Jan van Eck ·
Jim Bianco · Bianco Research, L.L.C.
Tricolor and First Brands failures did not break private credit; the sector and credit markets are surviving.
Jim recalls that last year many people said the Tricolor and First Brands failures showed private credit was on the ropes and would be in trouble. Private credit wobbled in the first quarter of this year but has survived, and credit markets are functioning fine. He says the failures are now a footnote that people forgot. His point is that those early warnings were overstated and the sector has held up.
“we all said last year that that was a sign that private credit was on the ropes and private credit was gonna be in trouble... but it's surviving and the credit markets are surviving just fine.”at 18:51
Thoughtful Money: A.I. To Cause Even Higher Inflation & Interest Rates? | Jim Bianco ·
Danny Moses · Moses Ventures
Private credit, now a couple trillion dollars and lent heavily to AI and tech, looks fragile.
Danny says lending has moved outside the banking system into firms like Blackstone and Apollo, and the amount is a couple trillion dollars. Much of it has gone into AI and technology. He says nobody really knows the total exposure or what the money is funding, and that things feel fragile. He points to funds gating redemptions at 5% because requests exceed what they will pay out. He also notes that marks are model-based rather than market-based, which gives managers little reason to mark down, and that covenant-light loans and coverage ratios are a concern.
“A couple trillion dollars, what are they doing? Private credit. And a lot of the private credit trade has lent itself into the AI growth sector and the technology sector.”at 20:30
The Real Eisman Playbook: Big Short Reunion w/ Danny Moses: Rising Rates, AI & Private Equity | The Real Eisman Playbook Ep 80 ·
Bob Michele · J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Nonbank private credit is a legitimate lending channel, and public-private convergence is healthy for bond markets.
Bob sees private credit as a legitimate nonbank lending channel that banks can accept, as mortgages showed when banks originated loans and sold them to nonbank lenders such as Rocket Mortgage. Banks and nonbanks now coexist there. Large borrowers now weigh public debt markets against direct loans. JPMorgan's commercial bank, the largest lender to corporate America, sources and originates loans. Its asset management group then does a fiduciary review and places suitable loans in client portfolios. He says the convergence of public and private markets is happening everywhere and is healthy for bond markets.
“I love it. I love the fact that a legitimate nonbank lending channel has been opened up.”at 48:04
Masters in Business: Financing In The AI Boom: Masters in Business with Bob Michele ·
Steve Eisman · The Real Eisman Playbook
Private credit is overexposed to software as AI disrupts it, possibly a harbinger of a credit cycle.
Private credit is exposed to software, and software is being hit by AI. Eisman sees definite problems from overexposure to software in private credit. He suggests these software issues may be harbingers of an approaching credit cycle. Bank credit data remains benign, but private credit is much more opaque than bank reporting, which makes economic weakness harder to foresee. Private credit is one of the places where bad outcomes could emerge.
“Yes, there are definite problems in private credit with respect to overexposure to software. And perhaps these software issues are harbingers of an approaching credit cycle.”at 17:25
The Real Eisman Playbook: Market Cracks Under AI Debt Burden | The Weekly Wrap ·
Jeff Snider · Atlas Financial
Private credit valuations are stale and lagging public prices, so investors are right to exit.
Private loans don't trade on exchanges, so managers estimate values with models, comparable assets and recovery assumptions, which lets marks adjust slowly. Snider argues this happens even as public securities from similar borrowers fall rapidly. He says the lack of daily volatility delays recognition of economic risk rather than eliminating it. Investors submitting redemptions are therefore responding to what the public market shows, not overreacting. He describes the stress as hidden behind valuation practices, with public CCC bonds now providing the price discovery private funds lack. Redemption gates, he adds, reinforce the incentive to exit early and repeatedly.
“The absence of daily volatility doesn't eliminate economic risk. It merely delays its recognition,”at 6:33
Eurodollar University: The Private Credit Crisis Just Went Public... ·
Jeff Snider · Atlas Financial
Sponsors shopping their public BDCs at discounts signals they don't expect a rebound.
Snider cites Bloomberg reporting that many publicly traded business development companies are being evaluated for sales or strategic transactions, including names such as Ares, Barings, BC Partners, Churchill, TCP Capital, Whitehorse and MidCap Financial. He notes that sponsors normally value BDCs for management fees and permanent capital, so they are usually reluctant to give them up. BDC shares trade at large discounts to reported NAV, so a buyer could pay a premium to the share price and still buy the portfolio below its stated value. If managers believed their marks were recoverable, they would hold and wait for a rebound. Shopping the vehicles instead suggests they don't expect a recovery, which he describes as the people closest to the portfolios now looking for an exit.
“Shopping the vehicle suggests at least some managers don't expect that rebound or believe the effort required to obtain it will outweigh any of the rewards.”at 11:30
Eurodollar University: The Private Credit Crisis Just Went Public... ·
Jeff Snider · Atlas Financial
Australia's private credit market is highly exposed to real estate, so a property failure is dangerous.
Snider uses the Bathla Group collapse to show that the problem is global, not confined to the US. Bathla had roughly A$3.3 billion of debt from more than 40 private credit funds, with some loans offering returns near 15%. Those high returns reflected a borrower exposed to rising construction costs, higher interest expenses, weaker property demand and falling prices. Floating-rate private loans raised its debt burden as rates rose. He estimates Australia's private credit market at around A$200 billion, with as much as 60% potentially linked to real estate. That concentration makes a large property failure especially dangerous, and the resulting regulatory scrutiny is widening.
“Australia's private credit market is estimated somewhere around 200,000,000,000 Australian dollars with as much as 60% potentially connected to real estate. And that concentration makes a large property failure particularly dangerous.”at 14:41
Eurodollar University: The Private Credit Crisis Just Went Public... ·
Jeff Snider · Atlas Financial
Private credit is the epicenter of the credit downswing, like subprime mortgages before 2008.
Snider says his team has focused on private credit for most of the year because that is where the credit cycle's epicenter has been. He draws a comparison to subprime mortgages before 2008, while stressing that he is not predicting a 2008 rerun. He notes that the credit cycle has not had a downswing since 2006 to 2007, and that these cycles follow similar patterns of human behaviour.
“We've been focusing on private credit for the better part of the year because that's where the epicenter has been... I hesitate to use this analogy, but same way that subprime mortgages were before 2008.”at 17:24
Eurodollar University: Paul Tudor Jones Just Issued a Terrifying Warning for 2027 ·
Jeff deGraaf · Renaissance Macro Research
Stress from higher real rates shows up first in private credit, then moves into triple-C spreads.
He sees the grains of sand piling up first in private credit, which then works into triple-C spreads. Private equity firms, which hold much of the private credit when pressure arrives, are forming big top patterns. He reads this sequence as a sign that the stress is spreading up the credit spectrum, and he says the lowest tier moves first as it should.
“we're seeing it pile up first in private credit, then that's worked its way into the triple c spreads.”at 10:21
On The Tape with Danny Moses: Jeff deGraaf: Erase Chips From Your Memory ·
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