The HPScast

The HPScast returns for a special between-season episode with host Colbert Cannon leading a discussion on current credit market trends as we head towards 2026. Learn what we are seeing from a macro perspective and how credit markets could be affected. Our discussion features Vikas Keswani, a Managing Director from our private credit team, and Scott Crocombe, a Managing Director from our liquid credit team, as well as Amanda Lynam, Head of Macro Credit Research with BlackRock’s Private Financing Solutions platform.

To close out Season 12 of The HPScast, host Colbert Cannon revisits some of this season's most memorable moments. We brought on some heavy hitters from across industries, and the country, including: a former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, a Chief Investment Officer of a South Carolina retirement system, a CNBC reporter extraordinaire, and colleagues from across HPS. The HPScast team thanks our guests and listeners for another great run. We’re taking a short break, but we’ll return soon with all-new conversations in Season 13.

Each season, we devote one episode to a discussion of current credit market trends. This week, host Colbert Cannon is joined by Purnima Puri, an HPS Governing Partner and Head of Public Credit, and Mike Patterson, an HPS Governing Partner and Co-Head of Private Credit. With the magnitude of market volatility currently, the discussion focuses what they are seeing from a macro perspective and how credit markets could be affected.

This week, host Colbert Cannon sits down with Geoffrey Berg, Chief Investment Officer of the South Carolina Retirement System Investment Commission, to discuss his strategic leadership of the system's approximately $50 billion investment portfolio and share insights into private credit as an early adopter of the asset class among peers. Then, we find out what's next for the Southern state’s retirement system.  Read Geoffrey’s Best Idea, Unreasonable Hospitality, by Will Guidara, here—and listen to Colbert’s earlier conversation with Danny Meyer here. Learn more about Charleston, South Carolina, Colbert’s Best Idea for this week, here.

Host Colbert Cannon sits down with Madelaine O'Connell, a leader in HPS's private high-grade business to discuss the evolution of the private placement market and the nuances of private versus public high grade debt. She also talks about her transition from leading the private placements business at Goldman Sachs to joining HPS, and shares her vision for scaling the private high-grade market within HPS. Learn more about Madelaine and her work at HPS here.  Find a local SoulCycle class near you—Colbert’s Best Idea for this week—here.

This week, host Colbert Cannon sits down with Robert Kaplan, former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs, to discuss his career spanning finance and public service. Kaplan reflects on the evolution of Goldman Sachs, his transition from deal-making to management, and the valuable lessons he learned from both Wall Street and academia. He also shares his insights on the interplay between public and private markets, headwinds to fiscal policy, and his outlook on the Fed’s interest rates. Learn more about Robert Kaplan and his work at Goldman Sachs, here. Read All The Pretty Horses, a novel by Cormac McCarthy—Colbert’s Best Idea for this week—here.

This week, we are looking at trends in the US real estate market, where the delta between debt and equity returns is as small as it’s been in 15 years. Mike Van Konyenburg, President of Eastdil Secured, oversees large, real estate transactions including financings, capital raises, sales, and investment banking transactions for institutional real estate owners and lenders. He joins David Lehman, Head of Real Estate Strategies at HPS, as they discuss the property market, the impacts of current policy, and how data centers could fit into investors’ allocations.

On this week’s episode, host Colbert Cannon sits down with Shawn Ury, Executive Director and Head of Alternatives at USAA, a financial services company providing insurance and banking products to members of the military, veterans, and their families. Shawn’s team oversees 13 different asset portfolios and two charitable foundations. We discuss Shawn’s time serving as a medic in the Army, and later, as the Police Captain of San Antonio. He shares how this background of service led him to USAA, his current perspective on private credit as an asset class, and what’s on the horizon for USAA.  Learn more about the Love and Logic program, Shawn’s Best Idea for this week, here. Visit Colbert’s Best Idea for this week, Armando's Boot Co., in Raymondville, TX, here.

Welcome to Season 12 of The HPScast. Join host Colbert Cannon for a conversation with Sara Eisen, co-anchor of CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” & “Money Movers”. She shares how preparation met opportunity on her path to national television—and how taking a chance on forex market coverage gave her a competitive edge in her early days as a financial reporter. She also shares insights into the future of CNBC, including its growing focus on coverage for retail investors. Tune into Sara’s latest reporting on CNBC here—and learn more about Room to Read, the financial literacy non-profit she serves on the board of, here. Find out where to catch the artist Lorde on tour—Colbert’s Best Idea for this week—here.

To wrap up Season 11 of the HPScast, host Colbert Cannon revisits some of his favorite moments. We heard from mavericks across a range of industries: from Hollywood, to brick-and-mortar retail, to bankruptcy and restructurings. We also featured deep dives into the private and public credit markets with esteemed colleagues in finance.  The HPScast team thanks our guests and listeners for making this an unforgettable season. We’re taking a brief hiatus, but we’ll return in the new year for Season 12.

On this week’s episode, host Colbert Cannon sits down with Bradley Beman, Head of Fixed Income Asset Management at Nationwide, one of the nation's largest insurance and financial services companies. We discuss Bradley’s transition from the investing side to managing portfolios—and how private credit fits into Nationwide’s portfolio. Learn more about Bradley Beman and his work at Nationwide here. You can watch the classic sports movie Field of Dreams, Colbert’s Best Idea this week, here.

On this week’s episode, host Colbert Cannon sits down with Johnny Chow, Chief Investment Officer for Legal & General Institutional Retirement Division, one of the UK's largest insurance and asset management businesses. We discuss his decision to join L&G after an eight-year tenure at J.P. Morgan, working across a range of credit trading businesses. Johnny discusses how his passion for mathematics and assessing risk has shaped his career—and how he views private credit as part of that equation in the coming years.  Learn more about Johnny and his work at L&G, here. Watch Colbert’s Best Idea for this week, the television series, Drops of God, here.

This week’s podcast focuses on current trends in the private and public credit markets. We discuss interest rates, credit spreads, M&A activity, and sectors that have our attention. Host Colbert Cannon sits down with two of HPS’s senior investment leaders: Vikas Keswani, a Managing Director and Head of North American Specialty Direct Lending, and Scott Crocombe, a Managing Director and Head of Research on the HPS Liquid Credit team.

This week’s podcast focuses on current trends in the private and public credit markets. We discuss interest rates, credit spreads, M&A activity, and sectors that have our attention. Host Colbert Cannon sits down with two of HPS’s senior investment leaders: Vikas Keswani, a Managing Director and Head of North American Specialty Direct Lending, and Scott Crocombe, a Managing Director and Head of Research on the HPS Liquid Credit team.

On this week’s episode, host Colbert Cannon sits down with James “Jamie” Sprayregen, Vice Chairman at Hilco Global, a financial services firm focused on asset valuations, monetization, and disposition services. We discuss Jamie’s 31-year tenure growing Kirkland & Ellis’ restructuring and bankruptcy law practices globally. He shares insights on some of the most complicated bankruptcies in history. Then, we pivot to learn about his transition to Hilco Global. Learn more about James and his work at Hilco Global, here. Find out where to watch Colbert’s Best Idea for this week, the play, The Lehman Trilogy, here.

On this week’s episode, host Colbert Cannon sits down with James “Jamie” Sprayregen, Vice Chairman at Hilco Global, a financial services firm focused on asset valuations, monetization, and disposition services. We discuss Jamie’s 31-year tenure growing Kirkland & Ellis’ restructuring and bankruptcy law practices globally. He shares insights on some of the most complicated bankruptcies in history. Then, we pivot to learn about his transition to Hilco Global. Learn more about James and his work at Hilco Global, here. Find out where to watch Colbert’s Best Idea for this week, the play, The Lehman Trilogy, here.

On this week’s episode, host Colbert Cannon sits down with Steven Silverstein, Chief Executive Officer at Spencer Spirit Holdings, Inc, which operates two distinct experiential lifestyle brands, Spencer’s and Spirit Halloween. We discuss what pushed Steven to pursue a career in brick-and-mortar retail, his foundational lessons in crafting memorable in-person shopping experiences in the digital age, and how these early learnings helped him scale Spirit Halloween’s one-of-a-kind pop-up retail business model. Learn more about The Heart Of Spirit Halloween: Spirit Of Children charity and how to donate, Steven’s Best Idea for this week, here.

On this week’s episode, host Colbert Cannon sits down with Steven Silverstein, Chief Executive Officer at Spencer Spirit Holdings, Inc, which operates two distinct experiential lifestyle brands, Spencer’s and Spirit Halloween. We discuss what pushed Steven to pursue a career in brick-and-mortar retail, his foundational lessons in crafting memorable in-person shopping experiences in the digital age, and how these early learnings helped him scale Spirit Halloween’s one-of-a-kind pop-up retail business model.  Learn more about The Heart Of Spirit Halloween: Spirit Of Children charity and how to donate, Steven’s Best Idea for this week, here. 

This week, we welcome Lotfi Karoui, Chief Credit Strategist and Head of Credit and Mortgage Strategy Research at Goldman Sachs. Lotfi shares his macro and credit market outlook on the HPScast with host Colbert Cannon.

Welcome to Season 11 of the HPScast. To kick us off, host Colbert Cannon sits down with Franklin Leonard, the founder & CEO of The Black List, an online marketplace that connects writers and their scripts to television & filmmakers looking to develop their next project. We discuss how Franklin navigated the “whisper network” to break into Hollywood — and how he’s now using his platform to reshape the entire television & film industry by broadening access to diverse talent to create a more robust and profitable creative space for all to play in.  Learn more about Franklin Leonard and The Black List, here. You can watch the movie They Cloned Tyrone, Colbert’s Best Idea this week, here.