Capital Commitments and Private Debt Lending in Crises

I study how capital commitments affect the resilience of private debt funds’ lending during crises by comparing private and public Business Development Companies (BDCs) during the COVID-19 shock. Using borrower-level regressions with firm-quarter fixed effects, I find that, in comparison to public BDCs, private BDCs sustained lending, providing about 7%, or $1.2 million, more credit to the same firm. My findings show that committed capital, rather than liquidity buffers, shields private BDCs from financing frictions and enables them to maintain their credit supply when market-based funding is impaired. The results highlight how funding structures shape the cyclicality of non-bank credit. 

Available here or on SSRN

Staffing the Private Debt Boom: Skills, Talent, and Consequences

Co-authored with Victoria Ivashina and Zach Wallace-Wright

Available on SSRN

From Bridge Loans to CLOs to Private Credit: The Transformation of Pipeline Risk in LBO Financing

Co-authored with Ruediger Fahlenbrach and Sascha Steffen

Available on SSRN

ESG Ratings are Worse Than You Think

Co-authored with Kornelia Fabisik

Available upon request