Episode summary
Is There a Bubble in Private Credit? This CEO Weighs In. | At Barron's
At Barron's
· · Hosts: Andy Serwer · Guests: George Walker
Summary
George Walker says Neuberger Berman is now a roughly $558 billion investment manager with about a third in stock picking, a third in fixed income and a third in alternatives, and that the firm has grown under broad employee ownership since buying itself out of Lehman in 2008. He argues the ownership structure gives the firm a competitive edge because profits are recycled into pay, hiring, research and technology rather than to an outside shareholder. That, he says, helps retention and aligns the business more closely with clients.
Walker also says Neuberger has been more conservative than many peers in private markets, especially private credit and secondaries, because he worries about rushed deployment and accounting-driven behavior. On the headline question, he does not think private credit is in a real bubble. Instead, he says the market is likely a long-term trend that can reduce risk for institutions shifting out of public equities, though mistakes will surface as the cycle progresses.
He is constructive on the economy and markets, citing balance-sheet strength, fiscal stimulus, rate cuts and AI investment. The conversation also touches on Roy Newberger’s art collection, much of which the firm still owns after buying back pieces from Lehman’s creditors.
Key takeaways
- Walker says Neuberger Berman is about one-third equities, one-third fixed income and one-third alternatives, with roughly 70% of assets institutional.
- He argues employee ownership lets the firm spend more on talent and reinvestment, which he says improves retention and client alignment.
- Walker says Neuberger has been slower than peers to push into private credit and secondaries because it is skeptical of rushed capital deployment and accounting-driven returns.
- He does not see private credit as a bubble, saying the bigger risk is that some entrants will prove weak under a full cycle.
- Walker is constructive on the economy, citing fiscal support, likely rate cuts and AI investment as tailwinds.
- He says the firm’s broad employee ownership and independence from an outside shareholder are major competitive advantages.
Notable quotes
“we are definitely in a bubble of talking about private credit as a bubble”
“I don't think it's a bubble”
“by virtue of being 100% employeeowned and having that ownership be broad and deep”
“the firm still does. Um it's actually it's interesting the the firm Roy Roy took a lot of Roy wanted to be an artist”
“I think the economy is uh is is strong”
How the episode opens
Hello everyone and welcome to At Barons. I'm Andy Sir and welcome to our guest George Walker, CEO of Newberger Berman. George, great to see you. Thanks for joining us. — Honored to be here, Andy. — So an investment management company. That's what Newberger Burman is with what 558 billion under management in the last report I saw.
Plus or minus. — Plus or minus. Um there's a lot of history firms goes back to what 1939 — But some of the recent history is just unbelievable and fascinating. So can you get into that right away a little bit and tell us about some of the recent history of New Ber B.
Um I presume you mean not in the past few weeks but out of — Global financial crisis.
Yes. Uh I I feared that was the question. Uh uh so Newberger Berman was acquired by Lehman Brothers.
Um, Lehman Brothers also uh purchased a firm called Lincoln Capital uh in Chicago, which was a an institutional fixed income firm and a small private equity fund of funds called the Crossroads Group in Dallas. Um, put them together as uh the third operating division uh of Lehman Brothers, which they call investment management. Uh ship hit the iceberg.
Um uh the other parts of Lehman Brothers were sold to Barclays um in the United States and Namira outside the United States the capital markets and investment banking uh business and through a uh long story which I'd be happy to share. uh the employees of Newberger Berman were the employees of the investment management division were able to purchase the firm from the creditors and so it has been it is operated as a a wholly owned wholly employee owned we have 817 owners uh uh firm uh uh since 2008
Right I want to talk about that private ownership and how that differentiates you a little bit later but first I want to ask you about just the lines of business known as you know an old line money management firm value shop, but you're a lot more than that these days, right?
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- private credit bubble
- alternative investments
- ceo insights
- art collection
- private markets
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Neuberger Berman
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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