Fixed + Floating - The Credit Podcast

Covenant quality is weakening at a measurable rate, and software credits are where it is going to matter most.

Full analysis: https://open.substack.com/pub/fixedfloating/p/why-software-credits-are-lme-catnip?r=718tew&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Josef Pschorn speaks with Sabrina Fox of Fox Legal Training about the systematic erosion of lender protections in leveraged finance documentation and why software credits sit at the intersection of weak covenants and uniquely portable assets.

Key takeaways:
* LBO covenant quality deteriorated from 3.33 in 2023 to 3.53 in Q1 2026, compounding on a base that had been weakening since the early 2010s — 2024 saw a record 34 LME transactions
* Software IP can be transferred to unrestricted subsidiaries, valued at board discretion without independent appraisal, and licensed back the same day — making drop-downs a low-friction exercise that standard covenant packages were never designed to prevent
* Xerox circumvented its own J.Crew blocker by structuring a joint venture instead of a subsidiary, exploiting the definition of "subsidiary" as >50% voting power — a maneuver ION Platform lenders should be watching closely
* Two pending court cases on creditor co-ops could determine whether lenders retain their primary collective defence mechanism against LMEs in 2026

Sabrina Fox: [email protected]
Fox Legal Training: https://foxlegaltraining.com | LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sabrinafox

Connect with Fixed + Floating: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/fixed-floating | X https://twitter.com/FixedFloating

Disclaimer: Fixed + Floating is for informational purposes only. Not investment, legal, or tax advice.
Recorded: 17.04.2026

#CreditAnalysis #FixedIncome #CorporateCredit #LiabilityManagement #SoftwareCredit #CovenantAnalysis #LeveragedFinance #DropDown #JCrewBlocker #IONPlatform #Xerox #DistressedDebt

A three-notch downgrade on a zero-default portfolio can more than double an insurer's capital requirement.
Read the full investment breakdown on Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/fixedfloating/p/when-annuities-meet-private-credit?r=718tew&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Catch our first deep dive with Jakub on the PE Insurance Flywheel (Episode 3): https://fixedfloating.substack.com/p/private-credits-insurance-flywheel
Josef Pschorn speaks with Jakub Lichwa of TwentyFour Asset Management about how PE-backed insurers use annuities to fund private credit exposure, why offshore reinsurance creates regulatory arbitrage, and where these capital structures begin to echo pre-2008 shadow banking patterns.

Key Takeaways:
Rating downgrades hit capital requirements faster and harder than actual credit defaults
Private placements offer an illiquidity premium that structurally matches annuity durations
Asset-intensive reinsurance enables massive capital release through offshore affiliated structures
State guaranty funds provide backstops today that were absent in the shadow banking era
Full analysis: https://open.substack.com/pub/fixedfloating/p/the-invisible-tech-moat?r=718tew&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Connect with Fixed + Floating: LinkedIn ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/fixed-floating⁠ | X ⁠https://twitter.com/FixedFloating⁠
Check out Jakub's work at TwentyFour Asset Management

Disclaimer: Fixed + Floating is for informational purposes only. Not investment, legal, or tax advice. Host/guest views are their own. Consult professionals before investing.
 
#CreditAnalysis #FixedIncome #CorporateCredit #PrivateCredit #Insurance #Annuities #RegulatoryArbitrage #Reinsurance #LifeInsurance #PEInsurance

Many dominant firms may be harder to disrupt today than popular narratives suggest.

Josef Pschorn speaks with James Bessen of Boston University’s Technology & Policy Research Initiative about how proprietary software creates structural advantages for incumbent issuers, why AI capex may carry more tail risk than many investors assume, and how software complexity can create hidden credit risk.

Key takeaways:
Proprietary software becomes a true moat when scale, data, and workflow complexity reinforce one another
AI capex may be more fragile than earlier infrastructure cycles
Software complexity can create regulatory and operational risks thattraditional credit analysis may miss
Technology spending can act as business-model defense, not just capex

Full analysis: https://open.substack.com/pub/fixedfloating/p/the-invisible-tech-moat?r=718tew&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

James Bessen:
TPRI at BU: https://sites.bu.edu/tpri/
X: https://x.com/JamesBessen

Connect with Fixed + Floating: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/fixed-floating | X https://twitter.com/FixedFloating

Disclaimer: Fixed + Floating is for informational purposes only. Not investment, legal, or tax advice.
Recorded: 19.02.2026
#CreditAnalysis #FixedIncome #CorporateCredit #TechMoats #HighYield #ArtificialIntelligence #CompetitiveAdvantage #JamesBessen #TechCapex

A growing pool of software loans is trading below 80 as the market reassesses durability, pricing power, and AI disruption risk.

Josef Pschorn speaks with Alec Keblish and Matthew Hughes of 9fin about which software credits look fragile, which still have resilience, and how investors should distinguish repricing from real impairment in software credit.
Key takeaways:
Loans below 80 need a more differentiated framework than simple “cheap or distressed”
Software business models will not be affected equally by AI
Recurring revenue and switching costs still matter, but not uniformly
Investors need to separate spread pain from lasting impairment risk

Full analysis: https://open.substack.com/pub/fixedfloating/p/40b-below-80-a-credit-analysts-framework?r=718tew&utm_medium=ios
Transcripts and analysis: https://fixedfloating.substack.com
Connect with Fixed + Floating: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/fixed-floating | X https://twitter.com/FixedFloating
Disclaimer: Fixed + Floating is for informational purposes only. Not investment, legal, or tax advice.
#CreditMarkets #HighYield #PrivateCredit #LeveragedFinance #FixedIncome #SaaS #AIDisruption #SoftwareCredit #LBOs #PrivateEquity #CreditAnalysis #DistressedDebt #9fin #BDC #TechDebt

Private credit’s pressure points are harder to see than its growth story.

Josef Pschorn speaks with John Giordano of Seaport Global about BDC redemptions, PIK income, valuation marks, and what current stress signals may be telling investors about the broader private-credit market.
Key takeaways:
BDCs have become a major channel for private-credit risk
Redemption pressure may matter more than many investors assume
PIK income can obscure underlying borrower weakness
Valuation marks deserve more scrutiny in illiquid markets

Full analysis: https://open.substack.com/pub/fixedfloating/p/bdcs-and-the-private-credit-puzzle?r=718tew&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true 

Transcripts and analysis: https://fixedfloating.substack.com
Connect with Fixed + Floating: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/fixed-floating | X https://twitter.com/FixedFloating
Disclaimer: Fixed + Floating is for informational purposes only. Not investment, legal, or tax advice.

#BDCs #PrivateCredit #PIK #BlueOwl #BlackRockBDC #CreditResearch #FixedIncome #SeaportGlobal #FixedFloating