Smaller infrastructure loans can pay 200 to 400 basis points more than larger deals for like-for-like risk. Jennifer Powers of Eagle Point Credit argues that mega funds, banks and rated markets cannot or will not chase these deals.

Ares Capital valued its loans to Flinn Scientific near full value for two years, then cut them to 78 cents in a single quarter. A PMI analysis of its filings finds the same pattern across its weakest credits, hidden inside a portfolio still marked at about 99% of cost.

Brookfield Asset Management's fee-related earnings rose 15% to $864 million as fundraising reached $123 billion year to date and fee-bearing capital grew 13% to $682 billion. Connor Teskey and Hadley Peer Marshall of Brookfield argue that larger flagship funds, $68 billion of commitments not yet earning fees and a fundraising baseline above $100 billion a year have built growth into the business ahead of time.

Probably half of direct lending inventory dates from the cheap-money 2021 to 2022 vintage, and those loans come due in 2027 and 2028. Brendan McGovern of 26North argues workout and restructuring skill will decide which managers come through it.

Private credit's coming losses will trace back to lenders who loosened underwriting during the benign years after the GFC. Rick Miller of TCW argues that software exposure is a symptom of concentration and that manager selection will decide outcomes.

Recent asset-based finance fraud cases trace to double pledging and loose cash controls in upper-market deals. Tim Kim and Jason Gelberd of Manulife Comvest Credit Partners argue that middle-market lenders, with one lender and full cash control, face less of that risk.

Carlyle's distributable earnings rose 17% to $1.12 per share on a fivefold jump in net realized performance revenues, while fee-related earnings slipped 6% to $293 million. CEO Harvey Schwartz and CFO Justin Plouffe argue that returning capital will carry the firm's next fundraising super cycle.

StepStone Group grew fee-related earnings 61% to a record $126 million, lifted its FRE margin to 42% and raised $43 billion over the past year. Scott Hart and David Park of StepStone argue that fundraising spread across separate accounts, commingled funds and private wealth can drive earnings while exits stay slow.

Bank disintermediation in Europe runs 4 or 5 years behind the US, leaving different borrowers, sectors and deal flow. Mark Jochims of Morgan Stanley Investment Management argues that this makes European private credit a real diversifier for US insurers.

Apollo posted record fee-related earnings of $802 million, up 23%, on record origination of $114 billion. Marc Rowan and Jim Zelter of Apollo argue that high valuations call for taking risk down, and that making private credit tradable will drive the next leg of growth.

Hamilton Lane grew fee-related earnings 18% to $90.8 million in its fiscal second quarter, as fee-earning assets rose 12% to $86 billion and non-GAAP EPS climbed 29% to $1.98. Co-CEO Hartley Rogers and Executive Co-Chairman Erik Hirsch argued that specialized funds and evergreen products now carry growth, and that wealth demand is recovering after a quarter of negative headlines.

Middle-market CLO pricing stayed calm while unsecured BDC bonds widened, pointing to a liquidity problem in private credit. Pranay Subedi of T. Rowe Price argues that moving credit risk from banks into lightly levered BDCs made the system safer.

The median company going public in 2025 was 11 years old, up from 6.9 years in 2014. Morgan Stanley's Tim Clarke and David Miller argue that late-stage private growth investing now captures the returns IPO buyers once got.

Only 58 of the 254 US venture-backed companies that looked IPO-ready in 2023 are still expected to list within three years. PitchBook's Susan Hu and Andrew Akers argue the backlog is a myth, with most of those companies raising private capital instead of going public.

Contracted demand separates investable datacenter exposure from thematic exposure across chips, gas, and construction. PitchBook's analysts favor names with signed hyperscaler offtake, fee-based income, or code-mandated work.

StepStone research counts more than $250 billion of real estate net asset value in closed-end funds past their 10-year life. Margaret McKnight and Brendan MacDonald of StepStone Real Estate argue that those deadlines will push owners into GP-led secondaries and recapitalizations.

Borrowers able to use both syndicated loans and private credit now want advice, hedging and financing from a small circle of trusted banks. Taylor Boswell of AGL Credit argues that lenders tied to bank franchises will see deals first and pick the best.

An average buyout now needs about 12% annual EBITDA growth to return 2.5x gross. Bain's Emilio Domingo argues that with margins flat and multiple expansion gone, buyouts must earn their returns through operations.

Inflexion's latest testing and inspection platform completed 18 acquisitions in a single year. Flor Kassai argues that repeat sub-sector playbooks let mid-market buyers price risk better than generalist rivals.

Roughly 19,000 US private equity funds compete for capital, and Latham & Watkins' Yen Sum expects private credit to be even more crowded. She argues that scale and rising regulatory barriers will force private capital managers to consolidate.