Secured corporate debt is becoming a rarity. From making up 98.5% of total bond issuance in 1900, the median corporate issuers’ secured debt as a share of total outstanding debt has declined to more recently average around 15% since the Great Recession. This finding comes from a National Bureau of Economic Research joint research paper recently summarized by the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance. Interesting context for the fund finance market, where the availability of secured debt is still growing.
Vanguard and HarbourVest announced a private equity partnership on Feb. 5. Vanguard’s private equity offerings will initially be offered to institutional investors, with plans to expand into individual investor participation in the future.
