Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee

The US Federal Reserve should not be tempted to overreact as it seeks to tackle rising inflation, says Cindy Beaulieu, CIO of Conning North America, on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee. A combination of rising energy prices and the lingering after-effects of the Trump administration’s tariffs agenda mean inflation continues to be a key issue for the economy. For Beaulieu, Fed Ch...

Two pools of capital – the franchising of AI digital infrastructure buildout and government spending – are interest rate-insensitive and require a massive quantum of debt, says Gregory Peters, co-chief investment officer at PGIM Credit. Peters, who in his role oversees $1.2 trillion of assets under management, says the Federal Reserve has to hike interest rates to remain credible. But even with a...

“Interest rate markets are telling you that they really are concerned about inflation, and to a certain degree, concerned about the size of government debt,” says Symon Drake-Brockman, co-founder and managing partner at Pemberton Asset Management, on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee, taped on 9 September 2026. The re-engagement of hostilities between US and Iran has set that bac...

“The market clearly is saying that he (US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent) didn’t threaten a bazooka, he didn’t bring a bazooka, and he hasn’t shown a bazooka,” says Alan Schrager, chief investment officer at Oak Hill Advisors, on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee. The US Treasury Department has the capabilities to make an impact on rising sovereign bond yields, but the world ha...

“Here we are again,” reckons Kort Schnabel, co-head of US direct lending at Ares Management, on the surprising return of inflation. Still, the economy is in a good place to be able to manage through these inflationary pressures we’re seeing, Schnabel explains to Lisa Lee on the latest episode of Credit Exchange. On artificial intelligence and disruption of software companies, Schnabel says we are...

“The markets are recognising the risks around longer-term inflation. I think it’s recognising the ballooning deficits of governments around the world,” says Chris Wright, CEO and president of Crescent Capital Group, on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee, taped on 19 August 2026. “What you’re seeing is the repricing of long-term assets based on a recognition of a higher inflationar...

The rise in real yields because of government deficit spending, alongside ongoing huge demands for AI investment, are underpinning the rise in interest rates, says Ashok Bhatia, chief investment officer at Neuberger, an investment management firm with more than $600 billion in AUM. Speaking with Lisa Lee on the latest episode of Credit Exchange, Bhatia says that real interest rates are the key to...

“Whenever you have noise, that leads to more selling volume in our market – so volatility for us as secondary investors is a very good thing,” says Michael Schad, head of credit at Coller Capital, a secondaries specialist with $55 billion in AUM, on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee. Schad is positive about the overall health of private credit, describing it as a “very attractive...

“It’s just like nothing we’ve ever seen before,” says Bryan Whalen, CIO of fixed income at $200 billion global asset manager TCW, in reference to AI’s capital spend, equity prices and momentum on the latest edition of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee. “What we’re looking at here is just everybody on one side of the boat, too much enthusiasm,” he says. “It just feels like it’s the beginning of the end...

“One of the predictions I would make is that the private equity industry is in a tectonic, Darwinian moment itself,” says David Golub, co-CEO of Golub Capital, a direct lending specialist with more than $90 billion in AUM. Speaking on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee, Golub also sees a ‘Darwinian moment’ for private credit due to higher-than-usual credit stress and lower-than-ex...

Lotfi Karoui, multi-asset credit strategist at fixed-income behemoth PIMCO, says the top risk to markets and the economy is the potential unwinding of the AI capex cycle, on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee. “Then you’re going to tighten financial conditions,” says Karoui, which is bad news for equities. That will have wealth effects and probably affect the broader economy. The...

“We certainly have noted from an oil price or fuel price perspective, just how comfortable businesses have gotten with oil price or gas price pass-throughs,” says Aaron Kless, CEO and CIO of direct lending specialist Andalusian Credit Partners, on the latest edition of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee. “They’ve really been able to manage that price volatility, and price spikes, quite well.” Andalusia...

“Last frontiers of alpha is in the sports and entertainment-related real estate,” says Jonathan Fascitelli, founder and CEO of sport and entertainment real estate firm Seregh, on a special edition of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee, recorded at the FII Institute’s conference in Rome. Just 18 months since founding, Seregh already has more than $35 billion in their pipeline. Seregh, which has the back...

“We’re clearly in late cycle, but we’re not obviously at the turning point,” says Ariadna Stefanescu, co-head of Permira Credit, in the latest edition of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee. Permira is a global investment firm with buyout and credit businesses holding nearly €90 billion in committed capital. The current environment provides an opportunity for different managers to differentiate themselv...

Middle-market direct lending finances growing businesses, says Gauthier Reymondier, head of European credit at Bain Capital, a private equity and credit powerhouse with more than $225 billion in assets under management. Reymondier speaks about the fundamental difference between US and European economic growth, the impact of artificial intelligence and capex spending, and consumer habits. While Eur...

Issues in the software space and a looming maturity wall will result in a return to more traditional distressed opportunities, says Jeff Kivitz, chief investment officer at Canyon Partners, on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee. There’s a wall of software debt maturities looming and while in the past these have “magically gone away, I think this wall is a little bit different,” Ki...

“We’re starting to see some impact on cost. Very manageable, but it’s hard to ignore,” says Alex Chi, deputy CIO of global credit at Carlyle, one of the world’s largest investment managers with nearly $500bn in assets under management. Speaking on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee, Chi says that they are being very careful about how they underwrite new credits going forward. But...

The Iran war is currently in a “mushy middle”, says Marko Papic, a macro and geopolitical expert at global investment research firm BCA Research, in the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee. “[What] investors really have to focus on is not the verbiage, not the rhetoric, not the negotiations – but rather, the ships going in and out of Hormuz,” says Papic. While difficult to track, Hormu...

The US healthcare space is very interesting as far as real estate is concerned, says David Mihalick, co-head of global investments at Barings, a $500 billion alternative asset manager with expertise in credit, real assets and emerging markets. Mihalick points to demographic trends with an ageing population and the need for medical offices and senior housing as reasons why Barings is keen. “We thin...

“The dispersion in performance is becoming more visible, certainly to institutional investors,” says James Reynolds, global co-head of private credit at Goldman Sachs, on the latest episode of the Credit Exchange podcast with Lisa Lee. “It’s clear, as you travel the world and speak to LPs, that there is a flight to quality happening. There is a flight to quality and scale,” he says. The headlines...

“We’ve been very opportunistic about deployment in cycles or dislocations, which I think we’re in the very early innings of,” says Milwood Hobbs, Jr., deputy chief investment officer of Oaktree’s strategic credit platform, on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee. There were about USD 200bn of private credit loans inked in 2021 and 2022, when tech-related business valuations had reac...

“Everybody’s still searching for that easy button on AI,” says David Neuenhaus, US head of asset management and private equity at KPMG, on the latest edition of the Credit Exchange podcast with Lisa Lee, taped at the conclusion of the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills. Neuenhaus says AI was among the hottest topics at the conference, which featured a who’s-who of the finance worl...

“We have ample liquidity,” says Dan Leiter, head of international at Blackstone Credit & Insurance, on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee, as he explained the firm’s decision to honour all withdrawal requests at its private credit perpetual fund. “[As a result] it was not an issue to honour the redemption, and we thought it was the right thing to do,” says Leiter. Competitors...

Global economies are adjusting to the oil shock from the Iran war, says Juhi Dhawan, macro strategist at Wellington Management, on the latest episode of the Credit Exchange podcast with Lisa Lee – and China has shown surprising resilience that may improve its competitiveness against Europe, Japan and some other Asian countries. Looking at the past performance of economies and markets to oil shocks...

“The doomsday scenario is a complete over-exaggeration,” says David Manlowe, CEO of Benefit Street Partners, on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee. Manlowe asserts that investors will have time to see the impact of artificial intelligence, which could even help boost margins at software firms. “I don’t see a big company like, for example, Franklin Templeton, ripping out their core...