Private Debt and Direct Lending - Articles & White Papers

Explore why asset owners must rethink their role and manage liquidity at the portfolio level as risk migrates from traditional banks to non-bank financial institutions in a new market-led regime.

At a time when artificial intelligence, or AI, is spurring wholesale change in business and finance, private credit offers up its own distinctive set of challenges. U.S. institutions want to understand the potential of AI to change the mechanics of the private credit market, one of the fastest growing asset classes in the world…

Explore Nuveen's Global Investment Committee's perspectives on the state of the economy, portfolio construction themes and our best investment ideas.

In the background of all macro and market happenings is a constant flow of capital: from issuers to investors, employers to employees, banks to businesses. This global flow of capital can be referred to as liquidity – and though it enables every aspect of economic and financial life, a common market definition of liquidity is…

As hyperscaler capital expenditures outgrow internal cash flow, financing is shifting toward leases, joint ventures, project debt, private credit, securitization, and special-purpose vehicles. These structures expand funding capacity but also raise asset-level leverage, obscure contingent obligations, and expose investors to…

Dramatic capital growth has compressed spreads and eroded key risk-mitigating features of direct lending. The rise of the semi-liquid vehicle has amplified that pressure; particularly in the upper middle market.

AI’s financing boom is bringing venture-style risk to an unlikely place: insurance.

The outlook remains constructive, but tighter policy is testing that view. The Fed has delivered its first rate hike in three years, with another expected before year-end, while rising real yields have pushed long-end rates further into multi-decade-high territory.

How engagement in private markets supports risk mitigation and value creation — with Nuveen’s TAI framework and case studies across five asset classes.

Amid AI disruption risk and elevated refinancing costs, PIMCO expects a valuation gap to persist between software loans and the broader loan market.

The direct lending market has experienced significant growth and has become an important part of institutional investors’ portfolios, offering potentially attractive risk-adjusted returns with higher current income than most fixed income alternatives.

As the fourth quarter begins, the macro backdrop is defined by resilient growth, stubborn inflation, and a sharp repricing of the policy outlook. Strong consumer spending, robust earnings, and AI-related capital investment continue to support the economy, but higher energy prices and limited progress toward the Fed’s…

A series of headlines have thrust private credit-backed AI and software deals under the microscope. But savvy investors may still find advantages in the sector, they just need to know where to look.

Real estate credit has historically demonstrated resilience during periods of market volatility, supported by the contractual income and structural protections inherent in debt investments.

As credit markets become more complex, attractive opportunities are emerging beyond traditional bonds and loans. Opportunistic credit seeks to generate differentiated returns, reduce dependence on market direction, and help manage downside risk.

After years of abundant capital and intense competition that produced increasingly borrower-friendly terms, the tide may be shifting.

Private credit has become a major source of corporate finance, but risks are emerging in some fast-growing segments. Do these threaten the wider asset class or strengthen the case for selectivity? In this extract from a special topic in Robeco's 5-year Expected Returns publication, Client Portfolio Manager Maurice…

Why invest in private markets now for DC schemes.

Julien Dauchez, Head of Client Solutions Group at Natixis IM, dissects the forces driving the $15 trillion private market.

Churchill's Derek Fricke and Jill White on why scale, institutional backing, and consistency matter most in today's private credit market.