Economic conditions have given private credit lenders more power

Chris Oberbeck, chairman and chief executive at Saratoga Investment Corp., says that the balance of power in the lender-borrower relationship has shifted dramatically in the last 12 to 24 months, with banks now pulling back which is leaving private lenders with better terms and more power to insist on superior deals. Oberbeck notes that those conditions are putting BDCs generally -- but Saratoga specifically, thanks to an all-weather portfolio of loans -- in a better position to minimize any damage that might be done if the economy goes through a recession.