Director, Partner & Co-President, Ares Management
Search every verified Robert Deveer interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. R. Kipp DeVeer, CEO of Ares Capital and a director, partner, and co-president at Ares Management, spoke at a KPMG event in February 2015 about the growth of direct lending to middle-market companies. DeVeer described direct lending as "non-bank lending to middle-market companies" and noted it is a "very large business — about $200 billion a year of new issuance." He attributed the shift away from bank lending to regulations such as Basel III, Dodd-Frank, and OCC guidance on leveraged lending, stating that "the regulators looking at the banks simply do not want the banks making highly leveraged loans." DeVeer highlighted that business development companies (BDCs) have become a significant source of new deal flow, originating about $90 billion in middle-market loans over the previous five years. He promoted Ares Capital's performance, claiming the firm generated about $220 million in gains for investors over ten years and arguing that BDCs offer advantages over other investment vehicles due to their ability to deliver yield and total return with daily liquidity.
“Direct lending is, generally speaking for us, non-bank lending to middle-market companies. It's a very large business — about $200 billion a year of new issuance — and these are companies that generally have been left behind by the banks over time.”
“All driven obviously by things like Basel III, Dodd‑Frank and most recently the OCC guidance around leveraged lending — the regulators looking at the banks simply do not want the banks making highly leveraged loans, and the regulations specifically around our asset classes is thicker than it's been in quite a while.”
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