Private credit's software problem creates a potential opportunity for high yield as exposure gaps reveal structural vulnerabilities in direct lending portfolios.

Anne Greenwood, Institutional Portfolio Manager on RBC GAM's BlueBay U.S. Fixed Income team, analyzes how AI-driven repricing may redirect capital flows across credit markets.

1. Widespread credit repricing pushes spreads to widest levels since last year, driven primarily by software sector concerns, while energy tightens on geopolitical supply pressures.
2. Direct lending holds over 30% software exposure compared to less than 4% in high yield, concentrating AI displacement risk where liquidity is most constrained and underwriting scrutiny intensifying.
3. Investors pausing private credit allocations may find natural alternatives in today's higher-quality, more liquid high yield market with minimal software sector overlap.