PDF | Research |Week of Mar 7, 2022
Quote of the Week
“From a business standpoint, [borrowers] with
better ESG practices are lower risk investments.”
– Partners Group, PRI survey, “Spotlight on Responsible Investment in Private Debt.
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Capital Markets Outlook:
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2022 Capital Markets Outlook
(Fourth of a series)
This week Churchill’s Carol Loundon, managing director, underwriting and portfolio management, joins her colleagues Kelli Marti and Jessica Nels as we continue our special series for 2022 [link] with a discussion of ESG and private credit.

Increased focus on ESG in the past five years has mirrored the rise of private credit as an established asset class. This may not be a coincidence. The examination of environmental, social and governance factors as part of risk management has a long history in private credit given its illiquid nature. However, we are seeing more specificity and demand for detailed ESG information, putting additional responsibilities on both investors and managers.

Additionally, the size of the private market – at over $1 trillion rivaling both the broadly syndicated loan and high-yield bond markets – means more institutional investors are being introduced to privates. Investors looking to expand into private credit are also seeking similar transparency on ESG data...
2022 Capital Market Outlook 
View more cov-lite, inflation & rising interest rates and mega-tranche trends in our newly published 2022 Capital Markets Outlook report.
Readers' Say
Last Week’s Results
Which of the following are your firm’s back-to-the-office practice?
Chart of the Week
Dynamic Duo
Institutional investors believe that ESG factors and borrower performance work in concert.
Source: Churchill, Morrow Sodali’s Institutional Investor Survey 2021
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Stat of the Week
Loan Stats at a Glance 
PDI Picks
Safety first is good news for senior debt
Investors coming from fixed income, and with anxiety around inflation, see the senior end of the spectrum as their natural entry point into private debt...
Leveraged Loan Insight & Analysis
US LBO first-lien leverage at all-time high
Total leverage on US LBO deals continues to hover around the 7.1x mark in 1Q22, the same area its averaged over the last seven quarters. What is different this quarter is an...
Missed yesterday? Watch now! In yesterday’s SOFR discussion, 47% of the those tuning in said as the US loan market expands adoption of SOFR, the market will normalize and credit spread adjustments will become less relevant.
Watch on demand: Refinitiv LPC’s virtual conference (link)
The Pulse of Private Equity
Private debt overhang drops
The cumulative capital overhang for the private debt industry dropped for the first time in more than a decade, according to PitchBook’s Annual Global Private Debt Report. It’s another indication of how accelerant today’s PE market is, considering almost...
Contact: Alex Lykken / PitchBook
Covenant Trends 
Share of New-Issue Institutional Loans
with a Pick-Your-Poison Provision by Quarter
High-Yield Bond Statistics
Weekly fund flows source: Lipper
Private Debt Intelligence
Private debt AUM growth
will spur product innovation
Preqin expects private debt to be the fastest growing alternative asset class over the next five years, with forecast compound annual growth rate of 17.4% from 2021 to 2026 outpacing infrastructure (16.7%), private equity (15.8%), and...
Debtwire Middle-Market
Loan secondary pricing slumps
amid Russia-Ukraine tensions
Average bids on term loans in the US secondary market tumbled 156 basis points (bps) since hitting a high of 98.11 in January, as a combination of high inflation and escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine sent jitters through financial markets...
Source: Debtwire Par, Markit
Middle Market Deal Terms at a Glance
Select Deals in the Market
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