Ares Sees ‘Fragile’ Debt Markets; Freight Costs Soar

Geopolitics are a potential menace to public debt markets that could present opportunities for private lenders, according to Mike Dennis, co-head of European credit at Ares Management. “The capital markets in general are still pretty fragile,” Dennis tells Bloomberg News’ Lisa Lee and James Crombie in the latest Credit Edge podcast. “It wouldn’t take much for that liquidity to reverse out of the system,” he said. Volatility may open the door for private credit firms to participate more in larger corporate loan deals, Dennis says, adding that there’s more demand for European transactions than supply. Also in this episode, Bloomberg Intelligence’s Stephane Kovatchev analyzes the shipping sector after a 300% increase in freight rates. Greater supply of ships coupled with fading demand are expected to relieve some of the price pressure, Kovatchev says.

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