DealCatalyst’s direct lending and middle market finance event takes place May 9-10 in Fort Lauderdale (full agenda here). Ahead of that, 9fin has partnered with its organizers to host a number of interviews with speakers scheduled to talk.

The second of three interviews we conducted with speakers at the conference is with Alan Schrager, a senior partner at Oak Hill Advisors, focused on direct lending. (You can find the previous interview with Kirsten Hagen, co-founder of Brinley Partners here.)

Private credit reporter Peter Benson spoke with Alan about the lack of M&A activity so far this year, but how that is expected to change in the near term, as well as the challenges that banks’ uptick in lending and high interest rates pose for private credit firms today.

You can sign up for the DealCatalyst event here. And if you’re there, be sure to say hello to the 9fin team!