US Credit Market Year in Review with Erin (Welter) Lyons, Head of US IG Credit at CreditSights
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“No one knew how bad it would get…we had to build out very detailed projections for some of these issuers to see if they could even get by”
In today’s episode, I sat down with Erin (Welter) Lyons, W’01, Head of US Investment Grade Credit at CreditSights to dig into the absolutely hectic year in financial markets.
In her role at CreditSights, one of the world’s top credit research firms, Erin had a front-row seat to the COVID crisis and its effects on the credit markets across all industries. With clients in need of her advice more than ever, Erin and her team worked around the clock to get an accurate picture of the markets and how the Fed’s response could play out.
Today’s episode was extremely informative and certainly a more technical, markets focused one compared with some of our previous topics. Erin did not disappoint, balancing 10,000-foot views and simple explanations with deep knowledge and credit specifics, making this a great episode for listeners of any credit acumen.
We cover:
- Her journey from Wharton to Wall Street’s top institutions to landing at CreditSights
- What she saw during the COVID crisis, especially March 15 — April 15, how her team tackled the problem, and how the outcomes really surprised her
- The incredible power (and transparency) of the Fed’s “Bazooka” COVID response, and how it saved the markets
- The massive search for yield in the fixed income market
- Her approach to analyzing credit products
- Her outlook on the coming year for markets, including potential implications of a Biden administration
- The reasons they were just bought by Fitch and their own investment in Singapore Fintech “Alphastream”
- “Throwing Toast” at Penn
- and more!
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Ryan Zauk
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Ryan Zauk is an MBA Candidate at The Wharton School, where he runs the Wharton FinTech Podcast. He currently works with the US International Development Finance Corp looking at technology impact investments in developing markets. After graduation, Ryan will join Morgan Stanley’s Menlo Park Office working with the world’s largest technology companies. He has a passion for music, media, and all things FinTech.
You can reach him at rzauk@wharton.upenn.edu or on Twitter.
