Benchmark prior transactions, bonds, loans or company profiles using over 300 credit metrics.

Comparables

AI transcripts & instant analysis, making earnings season easier than ever.

Earnings

A full suite of ESG data and analysis. Built for your workflow

Spot undervalued credits and potential future restructurings with our purpose-built tools.

Distressed and Restructuring

Full Financial profiles with 3 statements, KPIs, segment splits & credit metrics. All traced to source documents.

Financials

New deal analysis and covenant comparison tools, understand key risks in seconds not days.

Covenants

Say goodbye to CTRL + F with our powerful search. Thousands of documents text searchable for any keyword or phrase.

Search

We've successfully predicted more than 65 price sensitive events - before they happened.

Deal predictions

We use AI to aggregate newsflow from 2,000 sources, and deliver it to your inbox quicker than anyone else.

News

Track high yield deals from issuance through to maturity, with integrated legal, credit and ESG analysis.

High Yield Bonds

Shine a light on private markets with 9fin's news and legal analysis of syndicated loans

Leveraged Loans

21st century tech and expert analysis to help CLO teams make informed decisions faster.

Structured Credit 

Find information others can't see in one of the fastest growing corners of finance

Private Credit 

Anna Russi

Shubham Saharan

The Unicrunch is our US private credit newsletter, in which we break down everything from unitranches to ABL lending. Find out more about 9fin for private credit here.

Things are not quite right in the private credit market today. One need only look at the taking over of Pluralsightand Sirva in recent weeks to see that cracks are appearing.

Fund managers will tell you they are always preparing for difficult situations. Some credits will be winners and some will be losers and in the case of latter it’s about having the requisite resources and expertise to take ownership of a company.

So it’s perhaps no surprise that at the recent Private Equity Wire conference in New York, distress was on everyone’s mind.

There are plenty of tools in the private credit toolbox to help aid struggling companies. For existing borrowers, lenders have been utilizing delayed draw term loans (as discussed here) or inserting PIK components into capital structures to help ease the pain of higher debt costs.

But views are split on what this may signal about the private credit market itself. At the conference some executives argued that this the result of a steady degradation of terms that will translate into higher risk for lenders and lower recovery rates. Others said this was not synonymous with distress but a highlight of private credit’s flexibility.

As one executive said on the development of synthetic PIKs, they are “not positive developments” but “a lot of smart managers who know how to make sure those numbers look ok”.

What are institutional investors to make of this? For years the market waited for these difficult times so LPs could begin distinguishing between different firms, who for years rode a tide of a healthy lending environment fueled by historically low interest rates.

That time has seemingly come for a clear dispersion in manager performance. Conference attendees spoke of concern about poor fund performance should the distress continue to filter through managers’ portfolios.

“We’re seeing a lot of LP dissatisfaction with the outcomes in their credit portfolios, and then we're also hearing a lot of LPs say [they] are worried about defaults. They are worried about shitty documentation,” said a partner of a private credit firm at the conference.

Retail investors can rejoice because State Street and Apollo are bringing private debt to the common person.

Earlier this week, the ETF pioneer and alternatives giant announced a new partnership via the SPDR SSGA Apollo IG Public & Private Credit ETF.  Per the filing, the new fund will allow 80% of the vehicle's assets to be dedicated to investment-grade debt and a sprinkling of private credit magic courtesy of Apollo.

The ETF is designed to give retail investors a slice of the private credit pie that's usually reserved for the big fish. The fund allows up to 15% of assets to be put into private funds and other niche assets, like interval funds and BDCs.

It's not the first attempt at the democratization of private credit — VanEck and Franklin Templeton already have a few BDC ETFs in the market. Still, if approved, it would be the first ETF that would directly allow investors to take a stake in the underlying credit, as opposed to being limited to investing in a BDC’s equity.

But that's the essential caveat, before private credit goes truly mainstream, regulators first have to approve the new ETF and there may be a few bumps in the road on that front.

For regulators and commentators alike have expressed a degree skepticism of private credit. In April of this year, the IMF warned of "heightened risk" posed by the fast growth of the private credit market, and last year, US senators also sounded the alarm bells.

Blackstone and Vista looking for $3.2bn PC loan for Smartsheet

State Street and Apollo partner to launch private credit ETF

Alkegen nears $2bn debt deal led by Oak Hill and Apollo

Sagard launches private credit fund targeting retail investors

Connecticut pension scheme again commits $300m to SLR

Anaqua — the Astorg-backed IP software firm is up for sale with the help of Jefferies and Arma Partners

MRI Software — in the market for a repricing of its existing $2.5bn debt and is seeking a $250m incremental loan for additional M&A

Porter Airlines — looking to raise CA$250m in preferred equity to bolster its liquidity and pursue growth objectives

Jaggaer — Vista is reportedly pursuing a dual-track process with both banks and direct lenders to support its acquisition of Jaggaer, per BBG

Netsmart secures private credit to refinance syndicated loans (Pitchbook)

Private debt looks for growth as traditional capital flatlines (BBG)

Private-credit fundraising on track to decline for third straight year (WSJ)

Enjoyed this weekly wrap? Our customers receive this content ahead of the crowd — find out more about 9fin’s news and analysis.

The Unicrunch — Increasing distress prompts self-reflection in private credit market

Owen Sanderson

Excess Spread — Sweet release, baked Danish

9fin team

Webinar Replay — Free fallin': Chapter 11 trends that defined 2025 and what's next

Sasha Padbidri

Luke Viner

The Singapore cross-class cramdown provision’s future is now

Webinar Replay — The art of the LME: defining trends in 2025, and looking ahead to what’s next

Save time, react faster to news, outperform your peers.

Asset Managers & Hedge funds

Save time, pitch more efficiently, and win business.

Investment Banks

Turbocharge your trading desk P&L, with the market's fastest news alerts.

Sales & Trading

Spot novel covenants, save time drafting and win business.

🍪 Our Cookies

The Unicrunch — Increasing distress prompts self-reflection in private credit market

Quality control

Read all our public content for free

Recently Published

Excess Spread — Sweet release, baked Danish

Webinar Replay — Free fallin': Chapter 11 trends that defined 2025 and what's next

The Singapore cross-class cramdown provision’s future is now

Webinar Replay — The art of the LME: defining trends in 2025, and looking ahead to what’s next

What are you waiting for?