Earlier this month your correspondent traveled to Tokyo and Seoul, in part to assess how institutional investors view private debt there today.

One highlight was serving on a panel at the Private Debt Investors Forum with several other experienced asset managers. The panel headline was “Global Debt Under the Microscope.” Andrew Hedlund, PDI’s top reporter on the space, moderated.

To an audience comprised mainly of LPs, questions focused on the role of private debt in a diversified portfolio, how an increasingly competitive fundraising and deal making environment is affecting terms and returns, and what to expect in the coming year.

In the Q&A of both this and the other panels of the day, what struck us was the similarity of concerns among Asian investors (and managers) with those in the US and Europe. First and foremost is where we are in the business cycle. The US economy remains in the longest expansion in its history. How long will that last, and what are the consequences of a downturn on private credit?