Despite the politics of #climatechange, the burden of scientific evidence and rise in extreme weather events has compelled global policy makers to largely unite their efforts towards decarbonization...

Today’s #ESG river had many tributaries. From Mosaic law in 1500 BC and the Koran, to 18th century England, to the 20th century’s socially responsible investing, or SRI, all have joined doing business with doing good...

Last week we took our eight-year daughter to the library to stock up on books from her reading list. (The “Ready, Freddy!” series, in case you’re curious.) On the way out, a mother and her two young sons preceded us. The boys ran into the automatic revolving door. “No,” she said. “Come this way,” opening the swinging door...

Investors are settling into the view that economic effects of the war in #Ukraine will be more local than widespread. As the head of equities for a top European asset manager said, “You can draw a correlation map between proximity to the conflict and market impact.”...

It was almost a clean getaway. Two years since it emerged, Covid was crumbling. Vaccinations and infection immunity were finally having an effect. Hawaii became the last state to announce an end to indoor masking...

Increased focus on #ESG has mirrored the rise of private credit as an established asset class. This may not be a coincidence. The examination of environmental, social and governance factors as part of risk management has a long history in private credit given its illiquid nature...

Once considered a novel concept, the #unitranche – a one-stop senior secured financing melding senior and subordinated tranches into one – has captured the attention of private equity sponsors and lenders alike. Unitranche structures accounted for a remarkable 36% of middle market LBO financings in 2021, up from 10% in 2016...

From loan issuance, to LBO and M&A activity, to record CLO volume, 2021 was an unprecedented year in many forms. Coming off that record-breaking activity, we consider what lies ahead in 2022. In December 2021, our content partner S&P / LCD surveyed buy-side, sell-side and advisory professionals to gauge sentiment for the year ahead...

Historically, #covenant-lite was not a topic for much conversation in the middle market, as these loans were seen mostly in the broadly syndicated market. However, as the market has evolved, competition has intensified and lines have blurred between public and private credit.  Cov-lite has increasingly gained share among smaller, unrated loans. What prompted this change?  We observed the following dynamics...

We caught up recently with our chief investment strategist at Nuveen, Brian Nick for a conversation on markets and the economy:  

“4Q was the best quarter of 2021 from a GDP perspective,” he told us. “Last year’s growth was 5.5%, best since 1984. Even half that rate in 2022 would still be above trend. But the hairpin turn by the Fed was remarkable. We went from one possible hike to 4 or 5 hikes today!  

“Everything’s selling off in unison with nowhere to hide. Markets are adjusting to a more hawkish Fed, and a different set of winners and losers than we saw last year...