Hiring boom in direct lending finally runs out of steam
The US direct lending market has found itself under repeated critical scrutiny over the past year – and for some credit professionals in this line of work, the news is taking another unwelcome turn

Antares may be big but it’s still growing
When Antares launched 30 years ago with seed capital of USD 1bn, ‘none of us could have predicted how large private credit would become’, says CEO Timothy Lyne

Software troubles in direct lending not indicative of systemic risk – Carlyle
There should instead be more focus on how the issues impact marginal returns and portfolio construction, CEO Harvey Schwartz said

Private credit returns seemingly bounce back after AI-driven loan write downs – MSCI
EXCLUSIVE: When private equity buyout returns turned negative in Q1 for the first time in years, that also forced sponsor-backed direct lenders to mark down their loans, MSCI’s Uday Karri said

Audax Private Debt raises USD 10bn for North American direct lending fund
The fund closed at its hard cap and was oversubscribed, the middle market direct lender said

Debt funds explore AI’s potential as direct lending recruitment slows – Private Credit Comment
AI transforms credit analysts' jobs, focusing more on benchmarking; AI-driven changes slow recruitment, with focus on specialised roles and AI fluency

Jefferies Credit Partners reaches European direct lending first close in just six months
EXCLUSIVE: The asset management business accelerated the first close by tapping the bank’s private capital advisory team to run a dual secondaries and primary capital raising process

Audax ties Churchill in 1H26 US direct-lender rankings as deal sizes increase – 1H26 US Direct Lender Rankings
US direct lending volume was broadly stable in the first half of 2026, reaching USD 155.6bn across 1,645 deals, compared with USD 154.2bn across 1,716 transactions in 1H25, according to Debtwire's 1H26 US Direct Lender Rankings report

BlackRock’s listed BDC taps successor as CEO Phil Tseng exits
Tseng’s resignation comes as BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. has seen its share price tumble and battle underperforming credits in its portfolio

Ares co-head of US direct lending says there is real dispersion for the first time in years
PODCAST: Speaking with Lisa Lee on the latest episode of Credit Exchange, Kort Schnabel notes that dispersion among direct lenders is manifesting in a few different ways

North American private credit fundraising tumbles, ceding ground to global strategies—S&P Global
While fundraising boomed for European and multi-region private credit strategies, private credit focused on North America dropped 13% year-over-year

US direct lending deal volume falls off in 2Q, even as lenders become more open to AI risk—Configure
Sponsor-backed direct lending deal volume tumbled to less than half of what was recorded for the first quarter

The character of your sourcing determines your portfolio’s destiny
Private credit should rediscover its middle market roots, writes Randy Schwimmer

BlackRock HPS readies latest opportunistic direct lending fund
The predecessor fund in the series, Specialty Loan Fund VI, had raised more than USD 21bn

Manulife Comvest raises USD 5.4bn for North American direct lending
This fund close comes after Manulife Financial Corporation acquired 75% of Comvest Credit Partners in November

PGIM acquires outstanding 25% interest in direct lender Deerpath
The purchase of the remaining one-quarter share follows PGIM’s initial acquisition of a 75% stake in 2023

Private credit drives nearly half of Blackstone inflows in Q2
The alternative asset management giant said institutional investors are continuing to commit capital but also that redemption requests for its semi-liquid direct lending fund BCRED appear to be slowing

Blackstone, Wellington and Vanguard collaborate on all-in-one private market vehicles for wealth channel
The three asset managers have launched two products that will give individual investors exposure to a mix of private market assets within a single allocation

Private credit secondaries deals more than doubled in 1H—Evercore
The first half of the year saw private credit secondaries volume balloon to USD 20bn, surpassing full-year 2025 volumes, with GP-led deals dominating, a new report from Evercore shows

The right moment to take a chance
Stephen Ketchum founded Sound Point during the global financial crisis with seed funding of USD 35m. He moved into CLOs in 2012. Today, the firm has many arms and AUM of USD 46bn

Direct lending: a history of resilience
They said defaults would get it, then redemptions, then fraud, AI and redemptions (again!). But direct lending has been with us for over a decade — and it keeps proving its staying power

US private credit eyes return of contrarians
Retail investors may have retreated from private credit, but attendees at Debtwire’s Private Credit Forum New York say some institutional investors are now pivoting back to the sector

Silver Point hires Goldman MD for private credit origination
Michael Cote previously served as a managing director in Goldman Sachs’s leveraged finance business

Phoenix and Texas Capital partner on direct lending perpetual nontraded BDC
The new Spurstone Credit fund is anchored by institutional investors and will launch in the third quarter

Ares leads USD 1.7bn direct lending deal backing private country club operator LBO
The large-cap direct lending deal comes at a time when both sponsors and direct lenders are showing more caution amid the uncertainty posed by fast artificial intelligence adoption and the Iran conflict