Private Credit: How Healthy is Today's Middle Market?

November 2020 – 43 min listen
Barings’ Jon Bock weighs in on the current dynamics driving today’s private credit markets from deal activity, to leverage metrics, to spread levels, and discusses the pro’s and con’s of investment structures from public and private BDCs to commingled funds.

Episode Segments:

07:20 – How spreads and leverage levels have changed in the pandemic
12:20 – Understanding the current environment for originating loans
14:14 – M&A and the low-rate environment
16:50 – Areas of weakness in today's market
18:35 – When senior debt isn't really senior
22:15 – Is too much capital chasing the same deals?
24:15 – The case for continued structural growth in the asset class
26:56 – Assessing value across the entire private debt spectrum
32:38 – Pros and cons of structures from public and private BDCs to commingled funds
38:00 – Why principal investing and alignment of interests are critical

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