Tag: Institutional Investing
Private Credit and Its Role in a Diversified Portfolio with Phil Huber, CFA, CFP® (Ep. 101)

Private Credit and Its Role in a Diversified Portfolio with Phil Huber, CFA, CFP® (Ep. 101)

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Private credit has become one of the fastest-growing areas of investing, yet it’s also surrounded by headlines that often create uncertainty.

How should long-term investors evaluate the opportunity? When does media attention reflect genuine risks, and when does it distract from the bigger picture?

In this episode, Robert Curtiss welcomes back Phil Huber, CFA, CFP®, Managing Director and Head of Portfolio Solutions at Cliffwater, to discuss private credit and its growing role in diversified portfolios. They explain why recent headlines about defaults, liquidity, and valuations deserve context, how private credit differs from traditional fixed-income investments, and why institutional investors continue to allocate to the asset class. 

They also explore how long-term discipline, diversification, and a rules-based investment process can help investors separate meaningful information from market noise.

Key takeaways:

  • Why private credit has expanded as banks reduced lending to middle-market businesses
  • How private credit generates returns through contractual income rather than stock-like appreciation
  • Why institutional investors continue increasing allocations despite concerning headlines
  • How diversification and manager selection can help reduce borrower-specific risks
  • Why long-term discipline often leads to better investment decisions than reacting to headlines
  • And more!

Resources:

Connect with Phil Huber:

Connect with Robert Curtiss:

About Our Guest:

Phil Huber, CFA, CFP®, is the Managing Director and Head of Portfolio Solutions at Cliffwater, where he focuses on research, portfolio construction, and helping advisors and investors better understand private markets and alternative investments. He regularly analyzes topics including private credit, private equity, and portfolio diversification, translating complex investment concepts into practical insights for long-term investors. Through his research and industry commentary, Phil helps financial professionals evaluate alternative investment opportunities within disciplined, diversified portfolio strategies.
Private Markets and Long-Term Investing with Chris Schelling, CAIA (Ep. 92)

Private Markets and Long-Term Investing with Chris Schelling, CAIA (Ep. 92)

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Long-term investing can feel more difficult when headlines are loud and markets seem unpredictable. 

What happens when investors stop reacting to daily noise and start thinking like institutions that plan decades ahead?

In this episode, Robert Curtiss welcomes Chris Schelling, CAIA, Managing Director at Aksia, to explore how private markets have shaped institutional portfolios and why some individual investors may now gain access to approaches like those used by institutions, depending on account type, regulatory eligibility, and minimum investment requirements. They break down private equity, private credit, liquidity planning, diversification across vintages, and the importance of manager selection. 

The conversation also touches on volatility, long-term return expectations, and what advisors and investors should look for when evaluating alternative investments.

Key takeaways:

  • How institutional investors approach private markets — and what does that mean for access and implementation for individual investors with long-term horizons and diversified portfolios
  • Why private equity and private credit returns differ from public markets over multi-year periods
  • The role of liquidity planning and why private investments are not truly locked up for a decade
  • Why manager selection matters more in private markets than in public equities
  • How simplified structures have made private investments easier for individual investors to access
  • And more!

Resources:

Connect with Chris Schelling:

Connect with Robert Curtiss:

About Our Guest:

Chris Schelling is an investor, advisor, and published author. With degrees in psychology, business, and finance, Chris is an expert at incorporating insights from behavioral finance into investment decision-making. During his 20+ year tenure in the investment industry, building portfolios, mostly focused on alternatives, Chris has met with over 4,000 managers and allocated roughly $7 billion, generating top quartile to top decile returns across hedge funds, real assets, private credit, and private equity.

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The Real Role of Private Credit in Portfolios with Tod Trabocco (Ep. 86)

The Real Role of Private Credit in Portfolios with Tod Trabocco (Ep. 86)

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When most investors think about private credit, they picture direct lending. But as Tod Trabocco, Head of Private Debt Advisory at StepStone Group, makes clear, it’s much more nuanced than that. 

With over two decades in the space, Tod walks us through the four silos of private credit, including corporate, asset-based, asset-backed, and risk-sharing strategies, using unforgettable examples like leasing aircraft and monetizing Van Halen’s music catalog.

Listeners will learn:

  • Why private credit offers control that public markets don’t
  • How bilateral negotiation changes risk dynamics
  • What recent high-profile defaults reveal (and what they don’t)
  • Why institutions are doubling down on asset-based finance
  • And more!

Resources:

Connect with Tod Trabocco:

Connect with Robert Curtiss:

About Our Guest:

Mr. Trabocco is Head of Private Debt Advisory for StepStone Private Debt. He is responsible for helping public and private pension plans, endowments, and foundations build private credit portfolios and sits on the Private Debt Advisory Investment Committee.

Prior to joining StepStone Private Debt, Mr. Trabocco served as a consultant and product specialist at Aksia, where he sat on the firm’s credit fund investment committee. Prior to Aksia, he served as Head of Product for ITE Management, a leading transportation leasing fund. Prior to that, he was Cambridge Associate’s first Head of Private Credit, and chaired that firm’s Credit Investment Committee. He began his career in private credit in 2005 as Head of Research and Underwriting for LBC Credit Partners, now CIFC’s direct lending unit.

He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a MALD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

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