In Conversation with Julie Segal

In Conversation with Julie Segal is a dialogue with the people who have shaped and continue to influence the world of institutional investors. The podcast will feature both familiar names talking about new ideas and upstarts who want to do things differently.

In Conversation with Julie Segal is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 23 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts In Conversation with Julie Segal, a business show with 23 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #22

  It’s Not Just Public Versus Private Credit Anymore

  Aug 13, 202630 min

  In this episode, Julie Segal speaks with Matt Harvey, head of direct lending at PGIM Private Capital, about how he evaluates opportunities as more companies tap both public and private credit markets for financing. The episode is a follow on to my podcast of July 17th, “AI’s Debt Boom Is Giving Credit Investors Rare Leverage. PGIM’s Greg Peters Says They Should Use It.” Harvey explains why he views illiquidity as a hurdle rate rather than simply a premium, why PGIM integrated its private and public credit teams, and how demanding covenants, which are often misunderstood, allows lenders to actively manage risk after a loan is made. The discussion also explores AI-driven concentration risk, why private credit deals, contrary to popular opinion, can often provide more information than public ones, and how all these shifts are changing the way credit portfolios are constructed.

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  Episode #21

  AI’s Debt Boom Is Giving Credit Investors Rare Leverage. PGIM’s Greg Peters Says They Should Use It.

  Jul 16, 202637 min

  AI is fueling the largest borrowing boom in at least a generation. But Greg Peters argues that focusing on AI alone misses the bigger story playing out across credit markets. In this conversation, the co-chief investment officer of PGIM Fixed Income explains why PGIM is pursuing some AI-related financings while walking away from many others, why he believes we're entering a true credit-picker's market after years of the opposite, and what lessons he learned from the tech bubble in the late 1990s. You’ll enjoy his story about false diversification and an invented market sector from that time. Peters also discusses the uncertainty surrounding AI's long-term economics, why he readily admits what he doesn’t know, and how the lines between public and private credit continue to blur, and why that matters to investors. Other topics we touched on: The debate inside PGIM over AI companies’ claims about future revenue and the difficulty of getting information. Why "30 years is a long time" when financing a rapidly changing technology. What protections investors should get when financing data-centers Why Peters believes credit investors have unusual negotiating power despite being late in the credit cycle and why they should use that power. How investors should think about diversification when so many assets share similar underlying risk drivers.

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  Episode #20

  Churchill's Ken Kencel on Private Credit's Second Act

  Jul 2, 20261h 16m

  Private credit isn’t the new story anymore. The more interesting questions are about what happens as the industry matures. That's where my conversation with Churchill CEO Ken Kencel begins. I found myself coming back to one phrase from our conversation: "the sediment at the bottom of the barrel." It's how Kencel explains why the highest-returning private credit manager isn't necessarily the best one. In credit, headline returns can look attractive for years until the weakest loans finally reveal themselves. Only then do investors discover what was really sitting at the bottom of the portfolio. The same thing comes up again as we turn to retail. Kencel argues that recent redemption pressures say less about private credit itself, but rather that investors and managers are still adjusting to the realities of an illiquid asset class. As he puts it, private credit isn't "semi-liquid." It's fundamentally illiquid, and products need to reflect that. Another part of the conversation I found particularly interesting was Churchill's role as both a lender and an investor in hundreds of private equity funds. I asked why private equity firms would allow one of their lenders into their funds. Kencel's answer was that Churchill isn't just another lender. As a long-term LP, the firm has relationships that extend well beyond individual loans, giving it a different perspective on managers, businesses, and opportunities across private markets. We also discussed where he sees legitimate stress building today, why relationships still matter in the middle market despite the industry's growth, and what institutional investors should be paying closer attention to as private credit enters its next phase.

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  Episode #19

  The World Is Changing Faster Than Markets Can Process

  Jun 11, 202637 minS0

  <p>More than a decade ago, I wrote a story called "Is Alpha Dead?" The premise was simple: Markets had become so competitive, so efficient, and so crowded that generating excess returns was getting harder and harder.</p><p>Andre Perold, CIO of HighVista Strategies, was one of the people I interviewed for that piece.</p><p>So I was curious how he thinks about the question today.</p><p>Perold argues that we're living through a period of such rapid technological and economic change that opportunities for alpha may actually be expanding. In a world shaped by artificial intelligence...

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  Episode #19

  The World Is Changing Faster Than Markets Can Process

  Jun 11, 202637 min

  More than a decade ago, I wrote a story called "Is Alpha Dead?" The premise was simple: Markets had become so competitive, so efficient, and so crowded that generating excess returns was getting harder and harder. Andre Perold, CIO of HighVista Strategies, was one of the people I interviewed for that piece. So I was curious how he thinks about the question today. Perold argues that we're living through a period of such rapid technological and economic change that opportunities for alpha may actually be expanding. In a world shaped by artificial intelligence, breakthroughs in healthcare, and shifting business models, markets don't always adapt as quickly as investors assume. As Perold says, “the ability to get an edge is much greater when new things are happening, for better or worse. You can see things, understand things, and react more easily in this new world.” That doesn't mean alpha is easy to find. Perold has always believed investors need to look in what he calls "beautifully inefficient" markets, smaller corners of the investing world where size, specialization, and human behavior still create opportunities. That may be more important than ever. We talked about biotech, small buyouts, risk, the real definition of a mistake, diversification, and why some of the most interesting investors are what he calls "small geniuses" operating far from Wall Street's spotlight until great performance attracts more capital and the search for the next small genius begins again. We also discussed a topic that feels particularly relevant today: why networks (of people) still matter. At a time when we’re swimming in information and AI-generated stories about that information, Perold believes the edge comes from long relationships with people whose judgment you trust, and who help you see opportunities and risks that aren't obvious from the data and endless crunching of it. And data won't introduce you to that next great investor. Take a walk and listen to my conversation with Andre.

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