Oak Hill Advisors’ CIO says Treasury needs to bring a “bazooka” to make an impact

“The market clearly is saying that he (US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent) didn’t threaten a bazooka, he didn’t bring a bazooka, and he hasn’t shown a bazooka,” says Alan Schrager, chief investment officer at Oak Hill Advisors, on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee.The US Treasury Department has the capabilities to make an impact on rising sovereign bond yields, but the world hasn’t seen a major or real commitment to buy the long end, Schrager says: “In the absence of a bazooka, it’s very hard to make too much of an impact.”Schrager, who in his role as CIO helps oversee OHA’s $100bn+ of AUM, also discusses inflation, the health of corporations, the crowding out of capital by artificial intelligence investments, and private credit. While corporations are performing well and there’s no default cycle in near sight, there are idiosyncratic issues. The upshot is that private credit managers are going to end up owning more companies “than we would have traditionally done”, Schrager predicts, and they have to be prepared for that.