Direct lending has emerged as a crucial funding channel for mid-market companies, and has seen significant growth over the past 10 years, primarily due to a search for yield by lenders and investors. In some investors’ minds, it may have usurped the position of high-yield; we ask, are there good grounds for that?
Across private wealth portfolios, private credit has become something of a buzzword – frequently cited, but often misunderstood. At the Investment Leaders Forum in Byron Bay, Justin Hooley, head of Australian private credit at Barings, brought clarity to the category with a deep dive into its structural complexity, sector segmentation, and the due diligence discipline required to navigate it well.
If there was any doubt that private credit has moved from the margins to the mainstream, John Valtwies dispelled it at the Investment Leaders Forum held at Crystalbrook in Byron Bay. Representing Blue Owl Capital—one of the world’s largest direct lending managers—Valtwies took delegates deep inside the mechanics of this fast-evolving segment, making a calm but powerful case for its relevance in diversified portfolios, especially in today’s yield-starved and liquidity-fractured environment.
The mid-market private manager’s co-founding partner, Mick Wright-Smith, expounds on the biggest red flag borrowers can wave, as well as the lending advice he’d like to give to his younger self.
Two years after the launch of its inaugural direct lending fund, Epsilon have forged a partnership with a prominent multi-office family to debut a new low correlation private credit fund.
