The Credit Edge by Bloomberg Intelligence

Secondary trading of private credit is on track to more than double last year’s record volume, according to HarbourVest Partners. “Through the first quarter we’re run-rating above $50 billion this year,” Greg Ciesielski, the $150 billion global private markets firm’s head of credit secondaries, tells Bloomberg News’ James Crombie and Bloomberg Intelligence’s Jean-Yves Coupin in this episode of the Credit Edge podcast. “It’s certainly a buyer’s market at the moment, which is what you generally see in dislocation,” he adds. They also discuss the impact of private credit stress on pricing, opportunities to buy assets from business development companies and how HarbourVest uses AI for valuation.
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Rookie private lenders that have to sell in a downturn are a potential threat to credit markets, according to Citi. “If the cycle turns and these tourists, rather than working out loans, just start selling them at below the economic value — what happens to the rest of the market?” Mickey Bhatia, the firm’s head of spread products, tells Bloomberg News’ James Crombie and Bloomberg Intelligence’s Sam Geier in this episode of the Credit Edge podcast. “That’s a big worry,” says Bhatia. They also discuss global fund flows, investment in AI infrastructure and expansion of electronic trading to incorporate collateralized loan obligations.
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Middle East shipping disruptions are boosting US companies bruised by cheap Chinese supply, according to Sycamore Tree Capital Partners. “It really slows down the ability for some of those Asian-based chemical companies to produce,” Trey Parker, the asset manager’s co-founder and chief investment officer, tells Bloomberg News’ James Crombie and Bloomberg Intelligence’s Phil Brendel in the latest Credit Edge podcast. “You’re going to have more US- and European-based chemical companies have an inherent advantage,” Parker added. They also discuss health-care relative value, the outlook for debt defaults, a slowdown in liability management exercises and opportunity in credit secondaries.
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US companies with $770 billion in loans are hitting a wall as interest rates stay elevated, according to Davidson Kempner. “We’re in year three of what’s already the longest default cycle in 20 years,” Suzy Gibbons, the hedge fund’s head of research, tells Bloomberg News’ James Crombie and Bloomberg Intelligence’s David Havens in the latest Credit Edge podcast. “About a third of the market is stressed based on fundamental credit data,” she said. They also discuss liability management exercises, software defaults, distressed-debt returns and the broader impact of leveraged-debt stress on markets.
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A retail exodus from business-development companies has dragged their debt to levels that are starting to look attractive, according to MFS Investment Management. “Pressure for redemptions that they’re facing likely ends up creating some opportunities within the public credit markets,” Alex Mackey, the firm’s co-chief investment officer for fixed income, tells Bloomberg News’ James Crombie and Bloomberg Intelligence’s Robert Schiffman in the latest Credit Edge podcast. “You can line up all the public and the private BDCs and you can go through and see which ones have the leverage metrics that are most attractive,” said Mackey, whose firm oversees $622 billion in assets. They also discuss the deluge of technology sector debt issuance and how wide credit spreads would have to go before they’d look attractive.
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