Odd Lots What's Actually Going On With Private Credit
211 snips
Apr 27, 2026 
Craig Manchuck, a veteran credit portfolio manager at Osterweis, and John Sheehan, a longtime fixed-income investor at Osterweis, unpack the private credit boom. They trace its roots before and after 2008. They dig into underwriting pressure, evergreen fund structures, gates, software lending, ties to private equity and insurance, and rising worries around defaults and a possible credit crunch.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
How Post Crisis Regulation Supercharged Private Credit
- Private credit exploded after 2008 because regulators pushed risky lending off bank balance sheets while leveraged borrowers still needed financing.
- John Sheehan traces the chain from junk bonds to leveraged loans to CLOs, then to private credit filling the post-crisis lending vacuum.
GE Capital Was An Early Private Credit Giant
- Craig Manchuck argues private credit's roots run through industrial finance, not just modern buyout funds.
- He points to GE Capital financing rail cars, aircraft engines, MRIs, and healthcare equipment long before today's private credit boom.
Why Investor Hunger And Borrower Need Met Perfectly
- Private credit grew fast because investor demand for yield collided with borrowers shut out of bank lending.
- John Sheehan ties it to weak post-dotcom equity returns, zero rates after COVID, and leveraged companies needing new funding sources.