In the latest "Credit Matters" podcast, we are joined by Ian Walker, the Head of Legal Innovation at Covenant Review, to explore the complex realm of financial covenants. Ian, a seasoned expert in legal covenant analysis, shares his insights on how these covenants serve as essential guardrails for lenders and investors, ensuring financial stability and offering early warning signs of potential default.

Financial covenants, Ian explains, are agreements within loan contracts and high-yield bonds that monitor the borrower's financial health. Over the years, the market has seen a shift towards "cov-lite" agreements, which reduce the constraints traditionally placed on borrowers. This evolution reflects a broader market trend towards more flexible lending terms, driven by competitive pressures and the increasing sophistication of borrowers.

Ian draws attention to the ongoing tug of war between issuers and lenders as each strives to achieve favorable terms. Despite the challenges, Ian emphasizes the critical role of these covenants in maintaining market stability. The discussion also covers the intricate dynamics of liability management transactions, highlighting the innovative approaches the market takes to manage distressed situations and preserve value.

In the latest episode of "Credit Matters", Jonathan Anderson, Global Head of Debt Syndicate and US DCM at SMBC Nikko Securities America, joins Shankar Ramakrishnan and Bruce Clark to discuss the growing influence of Asian and Middle Eastern investors in US dollar fixed income, including Reg S markets and how liquidity and attractive yields support demand.

They address whether “sell America” narratives after Liberation Day tariffs and the Iran war showed up in order books, and explore the impact of diverging global monetary policy, including Bank of Japan changes.

The conversation covers surging emerging market issuance, risk sentiment and spread behavior, funding diversification across currencies, record Reverse Yankee and “kangaroo” activity, concentration-risk concerns, strong M&A financing volumes, and private credit/BDC market support, plus how syndicate execution has become faster and more efficient and how AI may augment junior roles.

In the latest episode of "Credit Matters," guest Dan Botoff, Global Head of DCM Syndicate at RBC Capital Markets, joins Shankar Ramakrishnan (Head of U.S. Credit & Market Engagement, Informa Global Markets) and Bruce Clark (Head of Rates Market Coverage, Informa Global Markets) to discuss hybrid bonds and preferred securities—capital instruments blending debt and equity that can provide issuers equity credit, regulatory benefits, tax advantages, and non-dilutive balance-sheet support while offering investors higher yield.

They review where hybrids sit in the capital structure, who uses them (banks, utilities, industrials, non-bank financials), and current issuance trends (US just under $30B YTD vs mid-$80B last year) with 30–40% growth in major markets over recent years.

The conversation covers how rate cycles affect issuance, investor base expansion, lessons from stress events like Credit Suisse AT1s, liquidity and private credit/BDC market sentiment, cross-currency funding opportunities amid divergent central-bank paths, market efficiency gains since the 1990s and during COVID, and how AI and better information flow are reshaping capital markets and junior banker skill needs.

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In the latest episode of "Credit Matters," guest Meghan Neenan (NA / Head of North America Non-Bank Financial Institutions, Managing Director) joins host Shankar Ramakrishnan and co-host Bruce Clark to explain what private credit is, how it has grown since the global financial crisis, and why it matters for financial markets.

Neenan breaks down key segments such as direct lending and business development companies, discusses fund financing tools like NAV facilities, and explains how bank regulatory capital and leveraged lending guidance helped shift lending outside banks. The conversation covers cyclicality, refinancing and amend-and-extend dynamics, PIK features, and Fitch’s due diligence and rating approaches, including macroeconomic inputs and lessons from the GFC.

They also address recent stress headlines, redemption-driven liquidity concerns, retail participation, dispersion among managers, and why Fitch sees private credit as systemically relevant but not likely to trigger broad contagion.

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Hosts Shankar Ramakrishnan and Bruce Clark are joined by Dave Corbell to discuss the state of US and European primary credit markets amid volatility tied to the Iran conflict, inflation concerns, private credit risks, and shifting rate expectations.

They note heavy front-loaded issuance as banks push borrowers to seize brief market windows, with the US posting a record $651bn investment-grade first quarter and Europe also seeing a record Q1, while spreads have widened only mildly and often tighten when supply slows.

Demand remains strong with cover ratios above four times, though higher Treasury yields and rising new-issue premiums lift borrowing costs. They discuss risk-on behavior despite negative headlines, changing rate-cut versus hike pricing, a slowdown in European high yield, emerging market issuance strength, refinancing risks from COVID-era debt, and signs of strain in some structured finance assets without clear systemic fallout.

On this episode of Credit Matters, host Shankar Ramakrishnan is joined by Bruce Clark and European credit analyst Matthew Barrett, to discuss the surge in “reverse Yankee” issuance—US companies raising debt in Europe—as AI infrastructure funding drives jumbo deals and issuers seek diversification to avoid overcrowding the dollar market and rising costs.

They explain how rate differentials, a tight cross-currency basis swap (around 0–5bp), and attractive all-in euro funding have pulled issuers across the pond, citing IBM’s lower euro coupons and record multi-tranche trades from Amazon and Alphabet, including landmark sterling and Swiss franc issuance.

The team also explores how Middle East-driven volatility and shifting rate-hike expectations in Europe and the UK are lifting yields and new-issue concessions, slowing supply, and making timing issuance windows harder even as demand remains strong when investors are compensated.

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On this episode of “Credit Matters,” Shankar Ramakrishnan and Bruce Clark recap a volatile week in rates and credit as Middle East conflict headlines pushed oil prices higher, helping stall US investment grade issuance after a busy start to the week.

Bruce outlines a dramatic repricing of global central bank expectations, with Europe and the UK turning notably more hawkish while US futures shift from pricing multiple cuts to a small chance of a hike by year-end. Guest Meghan Robson, Head of US Credit Strategy at BNP, says credit’s reaction has been muted as Powell stayed data-dependent, but investors are moving away from the “several cuts” narrative; she notes IG spreads have widened about 20bp since January though fundamentals remain mid-cycle.

Meghan discusses positioning, preferred opportunities in IG and select high yield cyclicals, AI-driven software sentiment risk versus fundamentals, private credit concerns tied to leverage and transparency, key red flags (earnings declines and asset coverage), and practical hedging tools like CDX and options.

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On the second episode of "Credit Matters", Shankar and Bruce discuss record-breaking US investment grade issuance and a rebound in high yield, including a triple-C tap, despite growing strains and broader volatility.

Guest Winnie Cisar of CreditSights says issuance is “bananas” even as borrowing costs rise, driven by strong fundamentals and investor demand for attractive all-in yields (IG above 5%, HY above 7%) despite tight spreads. She highlights sector-specific cracks (media, chemicals), private credit risks and floating-rate pressure, and notes default rates remain relatively low (HY ~2.4%, loans near 5%).

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This week on Credit Matters, Shankar Ramakrishnan kicks off with expectations for a massive March with $230B of new supply and a potential $2T year.

He and Bruce Clark discuss the demand “technicals” behind strong issuance, attractive 4–6% yields, and near-non-existent default rates, alongside risks from volatility tied to the Iran war, oil-price shocks, inflation, and shifting rate-cut expectations.

Clark outlines how early-2026 “Goldilocks” conditions were supported by strong earnings and falling treasury yields before the conflict reversed yields and darkened sentiment, amplified by a weak February payroll report.

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Shankar Ramakrishnan, Head of U.S. Credit and Market Engagement at Informa Global Markets, breaks down the hottest topics in the world of investment banking in IGM's weekly podcast.

Find out more about Informa Global Market's data services: https://informaconnect.com/igm/