Following the Private Credit Loan Books | Laks Ganapathi

This episode is brought to you by Sarmaya Partners. Learn more about Sarmaya’s LENS ETF, their full data and comparison, including performance here: https://sarmayaetf.com/ Laks Ganapathi, founder of Unicus Research and Minerva Investment Management, where Michael Burry recently joined as a senior advisor, argues that private credit has become a landmine hidden inside retirees’ portfolios. She lays out what she calls the “$2,500 Trap”: wealth managers putting retail investors into illiquid private credit funds that are now gating redemptions. Laks walks through her team’s loan-book forensics across roughly 150 private credit funds and follows the trail into insurers and their affiliated reinsurers in Bermuda and the Caymans, where she has sent a forensic investigator. She tells the story of 777 Partners’ double-pledged collateral and the fallout at Atlantic Coast Life, and describes an insurer she is short whose surplus could be cut in half if its affiliated reinsurers went away. She argues that “AI is disrupting software” is a convenient excuse, since the biggest markdowns in Blue Owl’s OBDC are in healthcare, education, and consumer, and she asks how many first liens are actually first. Laks also covers extend-and-pretend in auto loans, BNPL propping up the consumer, and why she thinks data center debt cracks before direct lending. Recorded November 6, 2026. Follow Unicus Research on X https://x.com/UnicusResearch Jack Farley on X https://x.com/JackFarley96 Pieces by Unicus Research: “PIK Your Poison: Blue Owl's (OBDC) Version - I OBDC’s borrower map, the nesting problem, and what happens to the companies at the end of the chain when the funds get redeemed”: https://contrarianunicus.substack.com/p/pik-your-poison-blue-owls-obdc-version “777 Partners Double-Pledged Collateral. Atlantic Coast Life’s Retirees Are Exposed. How Many Insurers Are on the Edge of Receivership? - I”: https://contrarianunicus.substack.com/p/777-partners-double-pledged-collateral “The $2 Billion Insurance Failure and the Private Equity Firm Golden Gate Capital: The Rise of Insurance Companies’ Quiet Failures. - II”: https://contrarianunicus.substack.com/p/the-2-billion-insurance-failure-and “Fire Sale Season? Stargate, Vantage and CyrusOne Hit the Auction Block Hospitality Blues: Hotel debt from the last boom comes due as data center debt from this one goes up for bid”: https://contrarianunicus.substack.com/p/fire-sale-season-stargate-vantage Follow Monetary Matters on: Apple Podcasts https://rb.gy/s5qfyh Spotify https://rb.gy/x56dx5 YouTube https://rb.gy/dpwxez Important Information The Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses must be considered carefully before investing. This and other important information are contained in the prospectus, which may be obtained by following the links Prospectus and Summary Prospectus or by calling +1.215.330.4476. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing. There is no assurance that the fund will achieve its investment objective. The Fund may not be suitable for all investors. Investors should continue to review their investment objectives and risk tolerance periodically. An investment in the Fund involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Exchange traded funds (ET