DEBT SERIOUS Podcast

This episode features Lee Robinson of Altana Wealth. We discuss his current positions on distressed sovereign debt, his bet against mortgage-backed securities during the global financial crisis, and his current concerns about insurers, particularly those tied to private equity and exposed to private credit. NOTE: This episode was recorded on October 1, 2026. Market conditions and circumstances may have changed since then.This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities.Premium subscribers get the full episode as soon as it is published. Free subscribers get a preview, with the full episode released at a later date.BiographyLee Robinson is the founder and chief investment officer of Altana Wealth. He has more than 30 years of experience in financial markets and has generated significant gross profits for investors. Before co-founding Trafalgar Asset Managers in 2001, he worked at BNP Paribas and Tudor. At Trafalgar, he was chief investment officer of the Trafalgar Catalyst Fund and the Trafalgar Special Situations Fund. Trafalgar launched with $6 million in capital, grew its assets under management to more than $3 billion, and sold a stake to a Goldman Sachs PE fund. Lee founded Altana in 2010 to focus on niche investment opportunities offering asymmetric returns. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit debtserious.substack.com/subscribe

“EBITDA add-backs are like Instagram filters of financial performance…” That was just one of the many sharp one-liners Jennifer Daly shared during our podcast episode, where she discussed how legal documents in private credit deals have changed over the years.The episode covers a lot of ground, including what makes documents borrower-friendly or lender-friendly, which clauses to pay special attention to, LMEs, the restructuring process, and much more.Premium subscribers get the full episode as soon as it is published. Free subscribers get a preview, with the full episode released at a later date. BIOJennifer Daly is chair of Private Credit and Special Situations and a partner in the Corporate Department at Paul Hastings’ New York office. She is lead counsel for private credit funds, special situation and opportunistic funds, business development companies (BDCs), hedge funds and other investment advisers, leading financial institutions and borrowers in LBOs, leveraged finance, unitranche, first lien/second lien, mezzanine, debtor-in-possession financings, rescues, exits, liability management transactions and other secured and unsecured lending transactions, with a focus on both performing credit and the finance elements of in-court and out-of-court workouts and restructurings.Jennifer’s selected significant representations include Antares, Apollo, Blue Torch Capital, CVC, Blackstone Credit, KKR, Owl Rock, MSD Capital, Park Square Capital, Sound Point Capital and New Mountain Capital.Jennifer previously held senior roles in the financial services and investment management sectors at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and distressed credit fund Avenue Capital, and was the chief operating officer and chief compliance officer of the hedge fund Hunter Peak Investments. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit debtserious.substack.com/subscribe

John Cox is the Founder, CEO, and CIO of Cox Capital Partners, an alternative asset manager focused on niche secondary markets. The firm provides asset management solutions to investors and liquidity to sellers in fragmented, capacity-constrained markets.John founded Cox Capital Partners in 2020. Before that, he served as Head of Strategy at Alternative Investment Exchange (AIX) and was a Director at Future Standard. He began his career in private banking at Credit Suisse.In this interview, we discuss the investment thesis behind John’s tender offers, what makes these opportunities attractive, and how he evaluates the risks and returns.Subscribe to DEBT SERIOUS at https://debtserious.substack.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit debtserious.substack.com/subscribe

Ron is Co-Head of Lincoln International’s Global Valuations and Opinions Group, leading a team of more than 250 portfolio valuation and transaction opinion professionals. Ron provides capital advisory and valuation expertise to clients across industries and serves on the firm’s Global Executive Committee.Ron has more than 30 years of experience advising corporate and private equity clients on the structuring and arranging of financings for acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, refinancings and dividend recapitalizations. He maintains strong relationships with a wide network of financing sources, enabling him to provide issuers with financing solutions tailored to their specific needs. Ron also provides valuations and fairness opinions to a variety of clients including business development corporations, hedge funds, private equity funds and private debt funds. Throughout his career, Ron has worked with a variety of companies in the manufacturing, distribution and service industries.Ron serves on the Board of Directors of Parksite Inc. and Osterman & Co. He is also on the Board of Trustees of the National Public Radio Foundation and is Chairman of the Investment Committee. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit debtserious.substack.com/subscribe

Andrew Eversfield joined Sound Point Capital in 2021 and is currently the Co-Head of Direct Lending. He was a Managing Director at CVC Credit Partners when Sound Point Capital acquired their Direct Lending platform in June 2021.Before CVC, Andrew was part of GE, where he was selected for the Corporate Leadership Staff and held a range of senior roles across finance, sales, and platform leadership in North America, Europe, and Africa. He spent a significant portion of his career within GE Antares Capital, where he helped build the Senior Secured Loan Program and had investment selection and workout responsibility.Subscribe to the weekly DEBT SERIOUS newsletter here: https://debtserious.substack.com/DISCLAIMER: This material does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. It is being provided solely for informational and reference purposes only and is not intended to be, and must not be, the basis for any investment decision. Statements represent the subjective views of Sound Point and cannot be independently verified and are subject to change. Investments made by Sound Point Direct Lending include risks such as: market related risks; transaction related risks; credit risks; non-investment grade debt investment risks; and risks associated with investing in debt obligations or securities of middle-market companies. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit debtserious.substack.com/subscribe

Tom Gober is President of Thomas Gober Forensic Accounting Services and specializes in forensic accounting and fraud investigations, primarily in the insurance and reinsurance industries. Since the 2008 financial crisis, his work has focused on the financial condition of the U.S. life and annuity sector, particularly captive reinsurance structures used to offload liabilities and inflate liquidity, surplus, and RBC ratios, resulting in referrals to federal law enforcement and engagement with regulators on systemic risk concerns. Tom has conducted Medicare fraud examinations for hospitals, consulted with the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office on criminal insurance investigations, provided expert testimony in federal courts on fraud, money laundering, and asset forfeiture, advised plaintiffs and defendants in insurance litigation, and led comprehensive statutory insurance audits, including serving as a state Examiner-in-Charge.You can contact Tom via his website at www.DeepDiveAnalytics.bizFor the Supplemental Deck, go to the episode page on https://debtserious.substack.comContact: [email protected] informational purposes only. Not investment advice or an offer to buy or sell any securities. Conduct your own due diligence. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit debtserious.substack.com/subscribe

Leyla Kunimoto is an investor and editor of Accredited Investor Insights, a newsletter that helps investors navigate private markets. She writes about private equity, private credit, and real estate, focusing on the practical realities of evaluating alternative investments from the limited partner perspective. Leyla began investing in public markets in 2001 and expanded into private markets in 2020, with current holdings spanning public equities, real estate, and alternatives. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit debtserious.substack.com/subscribe

Jim Grant is the founder and editor of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer and one of the most respected voices in financial markets. Grant is the author of ten books on finance and history. His most recent book is Friends Until the End: Edmund Burke and Charles Fox in the Age of Revolution. His other works include Money of the Mind, a history of borrowing and lending in America; a life of John Adams, the second president of the United States; and a biography of the great Victorian financial journalist and central bankers’ muse, Walter Bagehot. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit debtserious.substack.com/subscribe

Michael Kao has been in the investment business for 30+ years, with extensive experience analyzing and investing across a wide range of markets and asset classes — from commodities and credit to convertible arbitrage, capital structure and event-driven strategies, and distressed debt and equity.He began his career in the early 1990s in the commodities unit at Goldman Sachs in New York. After Goldman, he joined Canyon Capital Advisors, where he was a partner and co-founder of the Canyon Arbitrage Fund. In 2002, he founded Akanthos Capital Management, a long/short value fund focused on opportunities driven by volatility, equity, and credit structure dynamics, with an emphasis on convertible and capital structure arbitrage, as well as event-driven investing.Mike stopped actively managing external capital in 2019 and now invests primarily through his family office while writing about markets and the economy on his Substack Kaoboy Musings. FOLLOW THE LINK to read Michael’s detailed write-up, examples, and his full thoughts on what we discussed in this episode (MUST-SEE).Disclaimer: This interview talks about some Idiosyncratic positions that Michael currently holds and actively trades. He uses the examples to illustrate his broader points about CLO structural resilience. This is NOT investment advice, and people are reminded to do their own homework. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit debtserious.substack.com/subscribe

Joe Sarachek is one of the most seasoned voices in distressed debt. He is the Managing Partner at Sarachek Law and has spent three decades working on hundreds of bankruptcy cases.Joe also runs Strategic Liquidity Fund, teaches bankruptcy investing at NYU Stern, and published The Distressed Investing Playbook—a book that combines case studies, strategy, and legal insight for anyone serious about distressed investing. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit debtserious.substack.com/subscribe