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

Gearing up private credit CLOs in Europe
Hybrid deals are the latest attempt to make private credit CLOs work in Europe. They aim to combine private credit and leveraged loans to create a vehicle that delivers yield and liquidity

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

European outlook is rosy, say direct lenders
Attendees at Debtwire’s Private Credit Forum Europe 2026 argued that, despite pockets of distress, demand for private capital is high and the sector’s record shows it is resilient

Europe sees new 1Q direct lending record
Despite exposure to software companies and worries about fund redemptions, European direct lenders made a strong start to 2026 — and the market is optimistic about the rest of the year

US direct lending holds steady in 1Q
Fears about AI-impacted software companies took their toll on US direct lenders in the first quarter, yet overall market volume remained resilient as other sectors took up the slack

Finding the upside in private credit CLOs
Compared to the first quarter of 2025, the opening months of 2026 have been tough. Managers are still issuing private credit CLOs, but the timing has to be right as the macro backdrop shifts

Direct lending braces for redrawn landscape
After a stellar 2025, direct lenders are coming under pressure. Large-cap financings are colliding with record tight spreads in public markets, while competition is rising in mid-market lending

Can funds find pots of gold in Europe?
For years, US private credit has been tapping high net worth individuals. Now funds are trying to do the same in Europe — but markets across the pond are fragmented and heavily regulated

How direct lending took off in Europe
In the second of our two-part history, we look at the evolution of direct lending in the UK, the sector’s expansion to other parts of Europe, and its growth into a dominant asset class

Watch out for the cockroaches
After the collapse of First Brands, some of the biggest hitters in global finance have been quick to argue that any bugs in the system won’t affect them — but are bad news for everyone else

How direct lending took off in Europe
In the first of a two-part history, we look at direct lending’s origins in US junk bonds, its leap across the Atlantic and the rise of the huge firms that now dominate the European industry

Venture debt lenders gear up for growth
Lending to venture capital-backed companies is hitting an all-time high in the US and Europe, with AI, enterprise software, fintech, sustainability and biotech among the busiest sectors

Private lenders fund record mega-loan for Clearlake
A large group of private credit firms clubbed together to raise the USD 5bn Clearlake Capital needed for its acquisition of Dun & Bradstreet. But is this huge deal a sign of things to come?

Cliffwater’s evolution: from consultant to co-investor
Cliffwater

The powers behind the loan
Thought that Wall Street still pulled the shots in LBO financing? Meet the real power brokers of the new world order — the people who run buy-side capital markets desks at private equity firms

Rapid growth shows middle market CLO no longer BSL’s little brother
Middle market CLOs, the once niche sector that securitises private credit loans, is seeing a growth spurt. What was a junior partner to the much larger BSL world is now a sizeable entity of its own.