Test Your Private Credit Knowledge

This year’s Private Credit Summit in New York kicked off with the first-ever Summit Showdown, an interactive gameshow that was a high-energy cross between a debate tournament and team trivia contest. Hosted by Dechert partners Jay Alicandri and John Timperio, two teams of three players took turns explaining market trends, predicting what’s ahead and challenging conventional wisdom, all in two minutes or less.

The first section, “Market Debates,” included questions such like:

• Is the noise finally behind us? And when the history books are written, how will 2026 be remembered as a year for private credit: Good, bad or somewhere in the vicinity of “fine, all things considered”?
• Is having insurance companies play such a large role in private credit a genuine positive for the market, for managers and for policyholders?
• As private credit platforms allocate capital, how should they be thinking about the different layers of the “AI stack,” such as power and energy demand, AI and data generation, enterprise application, etc. Where are the most compelling opportunities?
• Where will the next round of capital be coming from (institutional, retail, public or private)?

The next section, “On the Other Hand,” challenged teams to consider a position and make the case for or against, regardless of their personal opinions. These included:

• Goldilocks walked into a private credit conference. The first bowl of porridge, in 2021, was too hot. The second bowl, in 2023, was too cold. And she is still looking for the third bowl. Is private credit's Goldilocks moment over? Or is there a just-right future ahead?
• If geopolitical issues continue, the Federal Reserve will be forced to raise interest rates, which most assume will be a windfall for investors in private credit. What could go wrong?
• Is the impact of artificial intelligence on the way deals are underwritten and monitored overstated? Or is it just distributed unevenly?

The final section was all trivia, with multiple-choice, true/false and two truths and a lie-style questions (see below for more).

When all was said and done, it turned out the competitors were all fighting for the same good cause, with the event donating $17,500 to The Ride for Mental Health. One of the first charity bicycle rides in the U.S. focused on mental health, the Ride raises funds for McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate, for the education, research, and treatment of mental illness. Founded by Dechert senior counsel Mac Dorris, the Ride is committed to end the stigma surrounding mental illness and to help accelerate the progress being made to develop increasingly effective treatments. For more information on participating as a rider or supporting the cause, visit The Ride for Mental Health here [link]

Now it’s your chance to match wits with the experts. Take a shot at these nine questions and see below for correct answers. Get all nine right? Email [address] and we’ll give you a shoutout in our next newsletter.

The Quiz

• Question 1: What is widely regarded as the first BDC?
  1. Allied Capital Corporation
  2. Heizer Corporation
  3. Ares Capital Corporation
  4. Gladstone Capital Corporation

Answer: Click Here

• Question 2: According to Pitchbook, since what year has private credit financed more leveraged buyouts than the traditional syndicated bank loan market?
  1. 2014
  2. 2017
  3. 2020
  4. 2022

Answer: Click Here

• Question 3: Blackstone was founded in 1985 by Stephen Schwarzman and Peter Peterson. How did they choose the name "Blackstone"?
  1. A spin-off of "BlackRock"
  2. "Schwarzman" is German for "black"; "Peter/Peterson" is Greek for "stone"
  3. Saw a shiny rock on the beach where they decided to start the firm
  4. "Blackstone" is Schwarzman's mother's maiden name

• Question 4: According to Morgan Stanley, global banks' share of the leveraged buyout market dropped to as low as what percentage in 2023?
  1. 5%
  2. 7%
  3. 25%
  4. 33%

Answer: Click Here

• Question 5: Three Truths and a Lie – Spot the Lie
  1. Meta tapped private credit for $29B to finance a data center
  2. Private credit secondaries grew ~300% YoY in GP-led transaction volume in 2025
  3. Specialty finance fundraising in 2025 exceeded the prior two years combined
  4. Private credit has surpassed PE as the largest alternative asset class by AUM globally

Answer: Click Here

• Question 6: True or False :According to PwC's 2026 Global Private Credit Survey, technology was identified as the sector most likely to face acute stress over the next 1–2 years.
  1. True
  2. False

Answer: Click Here

• Question 7: Which BDC’s 2004 IPO — raising $930M in just a few months — is widely credited with igniting the modern BDC industry boom?
  1. Ares Capital Corporation
  2. Prospect Capital Corporation
  3. Apollo Investment Corporation
  4. Golub Capital BDC

Answer: Click Here

• Question 8: In what decade was the first-ever rated middle market CLO completed?
  1. 1980s
  2. 1990s
  3. 2000s
  4. 2010s

Answer: Click Here

• Question 9: True or False: According to Preqin data, the BDC market increased roughly fourfold from 2020 to 2025.
  1. True
  2. False

Answer: Click Here

Answers

Question 1: a)      Allied Capital Corporation

Question 2: c)     2020

Question 3: b)     "Schwarzman" is German for"black"; "Peter/Peterson" is Greek for "stone"

Question 4: b)     7%

Question 5: d)     Private credit has surpassed PE as the largestalternative asset class by AUM globally

Question 6: b)     FALSE

Question 7: c)     Apollo Investment Corporation

Question 8: c)     2000s

Question 9: a)     TRUE