Our thoughts are with our friends in Paris this week, as events prove again our world can be a troubling and unpredictable place.

We mark the fourth quarter’s midway point with a brief review of what we are seeing from our private equity clients and key middle market lender relationships.

Let’s start with deal volume. Despite data suggesting somewhat slower transaction activity relative to earlier this year and 2014, our platform has seen a steady flow of both buyout, recap, and refinancing loans. This seems unrelated to any year-end deadlines, but rather the natural evolution of sponsors and lenders putting money to work.

The overhang of uncommitted LP capital remains over $500 billion from both newly raised and earlier vintage funds. The fundraising environment is also propitious for private credit, and financing is relatively cheap and available, with some exceptions.

Loan terms continue to be sell-side friendly, particularly for repeat issuers and larger ebitda companies.