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#42, Mike Harmon, Former Managing Director, Oaktree Capital Management
Description
On this episode of the CLO Investor Podcast, Shiloh Bates sits down with Mike Harmon, author of The Financial Restructuring Tool Set: How to Fix Your Broken Balance Sheet. Mike teaches financial restructuring at Stanford and spent 21 years in Oaktree Capital's Special Situations Group. They discuss why defaults remain elevated in a strong economy and why loan recoveries have fallen. They also look at how covenant-lite loans and liability management exercises (LMEs) have changed the restructuring playbook. Mike shares his view on rising default risk in software as AI reshapes the sector, how private credit recoveries compare with broadly syndicated loans, and why manager selection and a seat at the table matter more than ever for CLO investors.