What Actually Drives Returns? Correlation gets a lot of attention in investing. What drives that correlation matters just as much. Many asset classes ultimately respond to the same underlying forces — interest rates, market sentiment, liquidity conditions, broad economic cycles. When those pressures emerge, positions that once looked diversified can start moving together. That is why understanding…
The Cost of Recovery Most investors understand volatility. What is often underestimated is how long recovery can take once capital is impaired. A drawdown is not always just a temporary decline in value. In many cases, it can represent years spent trying to rebuild what was lost. For investors relying on portfolios to generate income, preserve…
When Liquidity Terms and Loan Duration Don’t Match Aligning investor liquidity with the cash mechanics of the underlying loans. One of the simplest ways to evaluate a private credit strategy is also one of the most overlooked: How long does it take for the underlying loans to turn into cash, and how quickly can investors access that cash?…
The Families Behind the Facilities Disciplined capital for lower middle-market businesses with real assets, real operators, and real stakes. A third-generation, family-owned trucking company serving the Southeast and Midwest. For decades, their trucks have moved goods across short-haul and long-haul routes, quietly supporting regional supply chains. Relationships with shippers built over years. A fleet maintained through economic cycles.…
The Garrington Edge: Volume 8 – Private Credit Under Pressure: Why Structure Matters More Than Scale
Private Credit Under Pressure: Why Structure Matters More Than Scale In the past six months, private credit has moved from the business pages to the front pages. Federal fraud indictments. Emergency liquidations. Halted redemptions. The names now dominate the headlines: Tricolor Holdings, First Brands Group, Renovo Home Partners, BlackRock TCP, and most recently, Blue Owl Capital. We have addressed several…
Revisiting the Boutique Advantage in Private Credit There is growing recognition that “scale” in private credit does not always equate to “strength.” In fact, the structural realities of the underserved North American middle market continue to reinforce why a boutique approach, when executed with discipline, can offer something genuinely different. Given recent conversations with allocators in several regions, this…
Inside the Portfolio: An Aviation Services Refinancing As we begin to share select examples from the Garrington Private Credit portfolio, our objective is to provide greater transparency into how capital is deployed across operating businesses. Each investment represents a distinct set of operating dynamics, counterparties, and collateral profiles. What remains consistent is our underwriting approach, focus on senior secured structures,…
Where Private Credit Fits in a Portfolio For decades, the 60/40 portfolio has been the standard framework for long-term investors. Equities were expected to drive growth, while bonds provided income and stability. That structure has endured because, over long periods, it has worked. What investors have also seen is that the diversification provided by traditional assets has not been consistent…
Tricolor – When Incentives Overrun Controls The bankruptcy of Tricolor Holdings has drawn global attention to subprime auto finance. Tricolor was a Dallas-based used car dealer and subprime auto lender serving borrowers with limited credit history. It operated at the intersection of retail car sales and consumer lending, a model that can blur incentives when sales and underwriting sit under…
When “Boring” Wins: Lessons From Recent Industry Bankruptcies The recent bankruptcies of Tri-Color and First Brands have caught investors’ attention and sparked questions about the health of certain corners of private credit. Both companies operated in areas that overlap with strategies often used in specialty finance, subprime auto lending, and factoring. On the surface, their collapses could be interpreted as…

