Direct lending weathers Covid storm, inspiring new fundraising push
Silas Brown – GlobalCapital
PennantPark Founder and Managing Partner Art Penn spoke with Silas Brown of GlobalCapital for his piece on the resiliency of direct lending throughout the pandemic and the growth of private credit fundraising across Europe. Art noted that the asset class’ performance was primarily a reflection of managers’ tendency to avoid cyclical industries. “Covid was different because specific sectors of the economy were shut down entirely, like hospitality, leisure and travel,” he said. “The GFC, on the other hand, was, by and large, a broad-based downturn across the economy. The sectors hit by Covid were underweighted in the direct lending asset class. We don’t lend to hotels or airlines or energy. Many of us are old line credit geeks who don’t like cyclicality.”