Mergermarket Private Equity Forum New York
Elevate your strategic capital allocation journey
The Pierre, A Taj Hotel, New York
30
Apr
Private credit’s time to shine
The private credit asset class continues to be the fastest growing segment of the alternatives market, and this is expected to continue in light of high interest rates, pushback in traditional lending and a challenging private equity exit environment. Institutional investors have increasingly turned their attention to private credit strategies, with the asset class capturing a larger share of LP portfolios, whilst an increasing number of GPs are tapping into strategic opportunities and establishing private credit funds of their own. Will this momentum continue, and how will this impact the private equity market? Our panel of private credit managers will discuss the opportunity set.
- How are GPs and LPs thinking of the private credit market in today’s changing interest rate environment? Will it continue to be a compelling investment opportunity in the year ahead?
- Are more GPs pivoting from traditional buyouts to private credit funds, despite lower returns?
- Private equity vs private credit portfolio construction- will we see a shift in private credit allocations increasing at the expense of private equity allocations?
- What are some challenges associated with private credit that market entrants need to be aware of?
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SpeakersPreet Chawla Senior Director CARNEGIE CORPORATION
Thomas Cockburn Senior Director, Corporate Credit CDPQ
Trent Hickman Managing Director VSS CAPITAL PARTNERS
Jay Ramakrishnan Senior MD, Head of Originations AB PRIVATE CREDIT INVESTORS
Lisa Fu Reporter DEBTWIRE
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Preet Chawla is senior director at Carnegie Corporation of New York, responsible for manager selection, across the Corporation’s public and private portfolios.
Prior to joining the Corporation, Preet was research director at Benchmark Plus Management, responsible for manager selection across hedge fund portfolios. Previously, he was an investment manager at the Institute for Advanced Study, where he was responsible for partnerships with both public and private managers; vice president at Canterbury Consulting, where he led the hedge fund research efforts; and an analyst for Attalus Capital and UBP Asset Management.
Preet was a dual major at the University of California, Davis, graduating with a BS in applied mathematics and a BA in economics, and obtained an MBA degree from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. He is also a CFA Charterholder.
Thomas Cockburn is Senior Director, Corporate Credit at CDPQ. Mr. Cockburn has responsibility over origination and execution of private credit opportunities in the U.S. and Canada. In addition, he is engaged in the development and monitoring of the private debt investment strategy and portfolio.
Before joining CDPQ, Mr. Cockburn worked for Power Corporation of Canada, a diversified holding company with a focus on financial services, where he was responsible for mergers & acquisitions as well as corporate finance activities for the holding’s portfolio companies. Prior to this, he spent 8 years at GE Capital, successively in real estate M&A and in leveraged finance roles. During his tenure at the company, he was involved in the creation of Mubadala GE Capital, a structured finance joint venture between Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala and GE Capital. He later joined Mubadala GE Capital’s investments team as a Vice-President and was responsible for executing leveraged and structured finance transactions in the U.S. and Europe. Prior to his time at GE Capital, he started his career in investment banking at Desjardins Securities.
Mr. Cockburn holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and a Master of Science - Finance, both from HEC Montréal.
Trent is a Managing Director and is responsible for developing investment opportunities, conducting due diligence, arranging debt financing for portfolio investments, structuring investments, and monitoring portfolio companies.
Since joining VSS in 1999, he has been active in the Firm's investments in AccessIntelligence LLC, Centroid, Coretelligent, GreenSlate, Hanley Wood, Mediatel (Yellow Brick Road), MetSchools, Pepcom, QuadraNet, Really Great Reading, Southern Theatres, TMP Worldwide (now Radancy), Tranzact, and Vault.com.
Trent is currently a member of the Board of Managers of the following VSS portfolio companies: Centroid, GreenSlate and QuadraNet. In addition, he is a board observer of Coretelligent. He previously served on the boards of AccessIntelligence, Coretelligent, Radancy, Really Great Reading, Southern Theatres, Tranzact, and Vault.
Prior to attending business school, Trent was an Analyst and Associate in the Media & Entertainment Investment Banking Group of First Union Securities (now Wells Fargo Securities), where he was involved in structuring and underwriting syndicated leveraged loans and high yield issuances for several VSS portfolio companies, including Rifkin Acquisition Partners, Canon Communications, Centaur Communications, and The Official Information Company.
Trent serves on the Finance Committee for the New York State Ski Racing Association as an Alpine Ski Racing Coach for Windham Mountain. He previously served as a Trustee and member of the investment committee for the Hunter College Foundation and as a Trustee and Chairman of the board of trustees of Bronx Charter School for the Arts.
Trent holds an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an AB in History and French from Duke University.
Jay Ramakrishnan joined AB in 2014 and is a founding member, Head of Originations, and a member of the investment committee of AB Private Credit Investors. In addition, she is responsible for business initiatives such as technology-focused growth capital solutions, oversees investments in the healthcare/HCIT sectors, and covers select East Coast financial sponsors with an emphasis on technology, healthcare and business services. Previously, Ramakrishnan was a managing director with Barclays Private Credit Partners, and as a founding member of the business was involved in various aspects of business launch, transaction sourcing and execution. Prior to joining Barclays, she was a vice president at Goldman Sachs, in the Specialty Lending Group in New York, and in London, where she oversaw a European leveraged-loan portfolio and managed restructurings. Before that, Ramakrishnan was in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns, and she started her career as an associate consultant for Bain & Company. She holds a BA (Hons) in economics from the University of Cambridge, England, and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Location: New York