Cutting through the noise: Blackstone and CMB Monaco discuss what truly matters in private credit today.

The media narrative around North American private credit has focused heavily on software exposure, liquidity concerns and credit risk. As someone managing one of the largest direct lending strategies in the market, how do you separate signal from noise, and what does the underlying economic reality actually look like from where you sit?

Carlos Whitaker: The number one thing that gives me confidence today is the broad-based momentum we’re seeing in corporate earnings. Within our credit business we finance over 5,000 issuers and 500 private credit borrowers. Within these borrowers we’re seeing double-digit earnings growth year-on-year and average interest coverage ratios up nearly 40% over the last two years*. That means our borrowers are in a stronger place today than they were one or two years ago. So, while we do expect some normalization of default rates from historically low levels, we believe the broader credit metrics remain healthy and the economy continues to demonstrate resilience.

On liquidity, repurchase limits exist by design so managers don’t have to be forced sellers. Elevated repurchase requests have been an industry-wide dynamic, but the structures are absorbing them as intended. That means we can balance liquidity for shareholders seeking to redeem without sacrificing the ability to deploy into what we see as an increasingly attractive market.

It's also worth separating the broad narrative on software from what's actually happening at the company level. We assess the impact of AI across many sectors — not just software. We believe Blackstone has become the world's largest investor in AI-related infrastructure** and we have a dedicated team embedded directly with portfolio companies on strategy and implementation, both to manage through disruption and to benefit from it. Looking at our software portfolio specifically, we’re seeing companies that are actually growing at a faster rate than the rest of the portfolio. Even where disruption exists, companies can be proactive.

From your perspective, is scale an advantage? How do you maintain the credit discipline and selectivity that define quality direct lending, and what does that mean in practice for the deals you choose to walk away from?

Carlos Whitaker: Scale is an advantage, but only when paired with discipline. Our focus is first lien, senior secured loans, with conservative structures and downside underwriting — and we hold that standard regardless of how accommodative the market around us becomes.

Scale also matters after the investment is made. We have over 180 portfolio management professionals, an AI implementation team, and the breadth of Blackstone's operational network. That means we can intervene early in stress and help companies grow through disruption.

But the reason scale is particularly relevant right now is the opportunity set. We believe the investment environment today remains attractive; wider spreads, stronger documentation, better overall terms for lenders — and that dynamic tends to favor platforms with the capital base to lead transactions, the sourcing to see the full market, and the conviction to deploy when others are more cautious. Institutional investors see the same thing — demand for private credit remains healthy*** and we continue to see strong interest across our platform. We believe the quality of companies hasn't changed, but the economics of lending to them have improved

Private credit has historically been an institutional asset class. How does CMB Monaco think about its responsibility in providing clients with access to strategies of this kind? 

Alex Bogdanovskij: Access is only half the equation. Our responsibility as a private bank is to ensure that when we bring a strategy to a client, we have done the work, thoroughly and independently. In private credit, that means manager selection is everything. The dispersion of outcomes between the best and the rest in this asset class is significant, and it is not always visible on the surface. We spend a considerable amount of time understanding how a manager constructs a portfolio, how they behave when a credit deteriorates, and whether their stated discipline holds under pressure.

Markets cycle, narratives shift. As a private bank managing multigenerational wealth, how do you sustain conviction in an asset class like private credit through periods of uncertainty, and how does that shape your conversations with clients today?

Alex Bogdanovskij: We always take the longer view: when you manage wealth across generations, you are not optimising for a quarter or even a cycle. And when you look at direct lending over the long term, the track record is genuinely compelling: consistent income, lower volatility than public markets, and a structural seniority in the capital stack that has proven its worth through multiple periods of stress. The current noise around the asset class does not change that underlying reality. If anything, it creates an opportunity for investors with patience and the right manager relationships to enter (or to add) at an interesting moment. Our role is to help clients see through the short-term narrative and stay anchored to what has historically driven returns. 

*Source: Blackstone, as of March 31, 2026.

**Source: Blackstone Q1 2026 Earnings Call, April 2026.

***PwC Global Private Credit Survey 2026.

This material does not constitute an offer to sell any securities or the solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities. This should not be construed as research, investment advice, or any investment recommendation. Capital is at risk and investors may not get back the amount originally invested. There can be no assurance that the trends depicted herein will continue or will not reverse.

 

About Blackstone

Blackstone is the world's largest alternative asset manager. Blackstone seeks to deliver compelling returns for institutional and individual investors by strengthening the companies in which the firm invests. Blackstone's over $1.3 trillion in assets under management include global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, credit, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, secondaries and hedge funds. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com.

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