Sad news reached us last week on the consumer products front. We’re referring, of course, to Coca-Cola’s decision to discontinue Tab by year end.

Launched in 1963 against the first diet cola, Diet Rite, Tab came of age in the 1960’s and ‘70’s, appearing in Back to the Future, Terminator and Ghostbusters. But competition from Diet Coke (and the better taste of aspartame) spelled its demise.

Who remembers Scooter Pies, Quisp, or FudgeTown cookies – beloved snack and cereal names of our childhood, now defunct. It takes superior brand management to keep them vital. Some have staying power, others lose their grip as tastes change.

We take a similar view of private credit. As an asset class, private credit features a number of participants, each with their own customers and strategies. But not all are created equal. Some have long track records of investing successfully in the industry. Others, as one friend put it, “are operating without a driver’s license.”