Golub Capital Private Credit Education and Visual Guide
A direct lender's own course on private credit: how it differs from public credit, why it grew alongside private equity, where it sits in the capital structure, and why manager selection matters so much.
Free to read
Golub Capital's education site is the most complete free course on middle market direct lending. The Visual Guide to Private Credit is divided into six short series: defining private credit, why the middle market matters, the investment characteristics of direct lending, why the manager matters, what to look for in a manager, and how direct lending fits in a portfolio. Each tile is a chart with a few bullets, so the material moves quickly.
The first series covers the basics well. It separates public credit (investment grade bonds, high yield, syndicated loans) from private credit (direct lending, mezzanine, distressed), and shows direct lending growing from about $2 billion in 2004 to more than $850 billion, roughly half of private credit. It also ties that growth to private equity's own expansion. A separate three-part white paper traces how bank regulation pushed sponsor finance to non-bank lenders.
This is written by a lender selling its strategy, so the sections on manager quality favor firms like Golub. The structural explanations of senior secured loans, covenants and the sponsor-lender relationship are clear and hard to find elsewhere.
Start with
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1
Visual Guide Series 1: Defining Private Credit
Three tiles that explain private versus public credit and how private credit grew alongside private equity.
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2
Private Credit: How It Started, Where It's Headed
A three-part history of sponsor finance and a direct answer to the question of whether the market is crowded.
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3
Visual Guide to Private Credit
The full six-series index, so you can go straight to capital structure or manager selection.