Description

Two of the biggest growth areas in finance over the last decade, but the differences between private equity and private credit are often misunderstood, especially by candidates trying to decide between them. In this episode, Debs sits down with Graham, who spent a decade at Ares Management for a Q&A-style explainer that breaks down what each actually is and how the day-to-day differs.

Learning Objectives

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1. The fundamental distinction between investing in companies vs. making illiquid loans.
2. Motivation gap, upside potential vs. capital preservation, and what capped upside means in practice.
3. Return profiles: 15%+ IRR in PE vs. high single digits to low double digits in credit, plus how fund-level leverage closes some of that gap.
4. Why PE and credit arms within the same firm don't typically finance each other's deals.
5. How PE sponsors and credit providers negotiate, and what makes a company attractive to both sides.
6. Market opportunity vs. downside protection, and how the two diligence mindsets differ.
7. Deal flow, depth vs. volume, generalist vs. specialist, and how to break in today.