LSTA Member Firm Survey Shows U.S. Private Corporate Credit Market Has Grown to More Than $1.5 Trillion, Affirms Funds Employ Modest, Stable Leverage

NEW YORK & WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LSTA, Inc. (the “LSTA”), the trade association for the U.S. corporate lending market, today released a report detailing data from its landmark survey on the U.S. private corporate credit market (“PCC”). The report provides a foundation for greater visibility on the size and leverage used in the asset class and a benchmark for the broader leveraged finance market.

The LSTA data is the first-of-its-kind, sourced directly from LSTA member firms. By design, the scope of this inaugural survey was targeted to a subset of members comprising some of the most active U.S. PCC managers/originators.

Based on the proprietary survey data, the PCC market is well north of $1.5 trillion, surpassing the size of the broadly syndicated loan market ($1.4+ trillion) and the high-yield market ($1.4 trillion). These three categories combined bring the U.S. leveraged lending landscape to over $4.3 trillion.

“This data confirms what has been becoming abundantly clear – the use of private corporate credit is expanding, that it will continue to grow and that the relationship between private corporate credit and the syndicated market is enduring,” said Sean Griffin, CEO of the LSTA. “Private corporate credit, at its core, shares many similarities with syndicated lending, and provides U.S. corporate borrowers increased access to the capital they need. The LSTA is fortunate to have many members that are active leaders in both markets. Our inaugural survey is foundational, providing a basis for comparison across the leveraged finance markets and increases insight and visibility into critical market features, like leverage.”

Tess Virmani, Executive Vice President and Head of Policy at the LSTA, said, “Like the BSL market, PCC has grown and evolved since the Global Financial Crisis, now reaching well beyond the boundaries of traditional middle market lending, offering corporate borrowers of all sizes increased access to credit on a consistent basis. Private corporate credit has become an important pillar of the corporate lending ecosystem offering a dependable, mature financing alternative. There are gaps in the data available on the PCC market that this report begins to fill.”

The LSTA survey also captured data on assets under management by PCC fund type, the amount of leverage employed in those funds, and the types of leverage employed.

The release today of the LSTA Private Corporate Credit Survey Report is part of a series of initiatives by the LSTA focusing on PCC. In November last year, the LSTA issued The PCC Glossary, which contains explanations of 125 of the most frequently used terms in private corporate credit and The PCC FAQ, which is comprised of 10 key questions and answers about the asset class in addition to a series of PCC thought leadership.