Over the past five months, we’ve dedicated this space to examining the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and the markets. We’ve also spent time interviewing top private equity and investment banking partners on the state of deal making in the U.S.

What has gotten largely lost in other media reporting on the capital markets is the dramatic turn of events for credit investing.

A decade ago private credit emerged from the ruins of the Great Recession to become one of the fastest growing asset classes in terms of fundraising and investing. Various trends lent momentum to that growth. Greater bank regulation, vast PE dry powder, soaring valuations – all pushing issuer terms to increasingly competitive levels.

Credit investors found themselves presented with a dilemma: choose the largest fund managers, who were winning transactions with the least investor-friendly terms, or pick opportunistic direct lenders who offered higher yields…with much higher risk.