Bloomberg Podcasts
“The vast majority of the private market is investment grade. There's a $40,000,000,000,000 market, and 99% of the headlines are focused on a little slice of a trillion and 0.5 called levered lending.”
Rowan contrasts the private markets landscape forty years ago with today's more diversified options.
“Forty years ago, private was three products, Private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds. All can be good investments, but all have risk. And public were 8,000 public companies, diversified portfolios of stocks and bonds.”
Rowan predicts investors won't distinguish between public and private investment grade credit within 18 months.
“Eighteen months from now, I do not believe investors will actually know the difference between investment grade public and investment grade private.”
Rowan notes active equity managers failed to beat the market 93% of the time over twenty years.
“Here are people who have spent their whole lives becoming good investors, and they as an industry have failed to beat the market 93% of the time for twenty years.”
Rowan states public companies halved to 4,000 while 80% of large companies are now private.
“We now have 4,000 public companies. People think most of the action is in public markets. 80% of companies over 100,000,000 of revenue and 80% of employment is in private companies.”