Last week we kicked off our special series on middle market industries and why they should matter for private credit investors. This week we explore how experienced lenders established winning track records by learning from the lessons that previous economic cycles taught them, and how that shapes their ability to absorb risks from future macro events.
The roots of middle market direct lending came from traditional commercial bank lending in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Designed to serve regional companies that lacked size and scale to access the broadly syndicated loan or high yield markets, this arena was driven by relationships. Founder- and private equity-owned borrowers clubbed together like-minded lenders they trusted to provide their significant capital needs...
Quote of the Week
"It is time to steer a little bit clear of highly levered companies that are exposed to the consumer…if you get it wrong, it is very hard to recover those losses.” - Mitch Reznick, Federated Hermes (Bloomberg).
Featuring Charts
Chart of the Week: Lessons Learned
Experience is a tough teacher, but the best managers pass the test. Source: Cliffwater Direct Lending Index.
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Chart of the Week: More Than Meets the Eye
The sectors you pick determine everything that follows. Source: Cliffwater Direct Lending Index
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Chart of the Week: Closer Than You Think
Turns out, the marks agree more often than not. Source: KBRA
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Chart of the Week: The Clear Choice
Transparency and track records matter most to private credit investors. Source: Coalition Greenwich, Private Credit Market Structure Survey
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Chart of the Week: Success, Not Overnight
Private credit’s growth story, over a decade old, is still evolving. Source: Preqin.
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Chart of the Week: Open for Business
When public credit markets close, private credit absorbs the shock. Source: FT, Hinze, Rintamaki, Mondini, Steffen.
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Features
Bloomberg: Leveraged Lending Insights – 6/29/2026
Retail Loan Funds See Outflows in final week of June Demand for leveraged loans has been muted in recent weeks, with redemptions outpacing investments by $22.59b in the week ending June 26th. The Invesco Senior Loan ETF (BKLN) recorded June inflows of just 55.3b, a significant slowdown from the $3258b added in May and the…
Octus: Private Credit & Deal Origination Insights – 6/29/2026
Nonaccrual Marks Decline Broadly Request access to the full report… Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a member? Log in here...
Middle Market & Private Credit – 6/29/2026
Credit Journal-Private Credit Click here to download report. Fitch Ratings’ latest Credit Journal series is a subject-specific, curated compilation of in-depth research and commentary. This edition explores the growing world of private credit, including non-bank lending across business development companies…. Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a member? Log in here...
The Pulse of Private Equity – 6/29/2026
Share of PE IRR distribution by TEV size bucket (weighted by invested capital) Download PitchBook’s Report here. Source: SPI by StepStone / Geography: US / As of December 31, 2025 Pooled IRRs for recent middle-market vintages have compressed alongside the broader cycle. The 2021 vintage stands at 13% pooled and the 2022 vintage at 11.5%…. Subscribe
Leveraged Loan Insight & Analysis – 6/29/2026
At US$465bn, 2Q26 US syndicated loan volume buoyed by 22% jump in investment grade lending US lenders completed over US$936Bn of loan issuance via the broadly syndicated market in 2Q26, to bring 1H26 totals to nearly US$1.873trn, up roughly 6% compared to the same time last year…. Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a member? Log in
Middle Market Deal Terms at a Glance
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Beginning in July 2022 The Lead Left published a series of articles on credit market. This report consolidates those articles.
Cov-lite trends Inflation & rising interest rates – LIBOR to SOFR transition Mega-tranche uni trend ESG takes center stage Login to view interactive report and download PDF version. … Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a member? Log in here Related posts: 2H 2021 Midyear Outlook Report State of the Capital Markets – Fourth Quarter 2016 Review and
Beginning in September 2021 The Lead Left published a series of articles on supply chain. This report consolidates those articles.
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