Key Takeaways
- • Private credit media coverage remains more than 3X its pre-crisis level, averaging 879 articles per month from April through July 2026 versus approximately 260 per month before the September 2025 failures, according to Highwire's analysis of 8,298 distinct stories.
- • Negative sentiment has stayed elevated, at 31% of current coverage compared with roughly 19% before the crisis, after peaking at 51% negative during March 2026 when monthly coverage hit 2,217 articles.
- • Private equity's share of negative private-credit-adjacent coverage rose from 10.8% at the start of the crisis to 15% in the latest analysis, signaling growing scrutiny of valuations, leverage and distressed borrower exposure.
- • Executive positioning materially shapes media profiles: Ares Management CEO Michael Arougheti's negative coverage share fell from 48% during the acute phase to 1% in the post-panic period.
- • Highwire's report, What Comes After the Cockroaches?, concludes no single recovery narrative has yet been established, creating an opening for firms to define positions through evidence-backed messaging and executive visibility.
Summary
Communications agency Highwire released a research report on October 27, 2026, examining how heightened scrutiny of private credit has changed media coverage of private markets. The report analyzes more than 8,000 private credit news stories published between August 2025 and July 2026, and follows the collapse of First Brands and Tricolor, subsequent concerns over software valuations, and a wave of private credit fund redemption requests. According to Highwire, coverage has retreated from its March 2026 peak but has established a new baseline well above prior levels, with negative sentiment accounting for nearly one-third of current coverage.
The findings indicate that private credit coverage has expanded beyond specialist financial publications into mainstream business and consumer-facing media, bringing questions of risk, liquidity, transparency and investor access to a wider audience. Private equity is absorbing a growing share of the scrutiny, with its portion of negative private-credit-adjacent coverage increasing from 10.8% to 15%, reflecting attention to portfolio valuations, leverage and exposure to distressed borrowers. Highwire states that the implications extend to private equity, wealth management, investment banking and the broader financial services ecosystem.
The report also examines how executives have influenced their media profiles. Ares Management CEO Michael Arougheti's negative coverage share declined from 48% during the acute phase to 1% in the post-panic period, which Highwire attributes to credible market interpretation and forward-looking perspectives. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon's widely cited warnings, despite appearing in negatively framed coverage, helped shape the broader market conversation. Oaktree's Howard Marks and Goldman Sachs' David Solomon are cited as examples of consistent market education and strategic interpretation.
Greg Hassel, Executive Vice President of Financial Services at Highwire, said financial institutions can no longer rely on communications strategies that worked when growth and returns dominated the narrative, and that organizations able to explain risk and demonstrate resilience have an opportunity to build lasting authority. The report, developed by Highwire's Financial Services and Insights & Analytics teams, is available at teamhighwire.com. Note that the figures are drawn from the agency's own analysis and are presented as company research rather than independently verified data.
The findings indicate that private credit coverage has expanded beyond specialist financial publications into mainstream business and consumer-facing media, bringing questions of risk, liquidity, transparency and investor access to a wider audience. Private equity is absorbing a growing share of the scrutiny, with its portion of negative private-credit-adjacent coverage increasing from 10.8% to 15%, reflecting attention to portfolio valuations, leverage and exposure to distressed borrowers. Highwire states that the implications extend to private equity, wealth management, investment banking and the broader financial services ecosystem.
The report also examines how executives have influenced their media profiles. Ares Management CEO Michael Arougheti's negative coverage share declined from 48% during the acute phase to 1% in the post-panic period, which Highwire attributes to credible market interpretation and forward-looking perspectives. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon's widely cited warnings, despite appearing in negatively framed coverage, helped shape the broader market conversation. Oaktree's Howard Marks and Goldman Sachs' David Solomon are cited as examples of consistent market education and strategic interpretation.
Greg Hassel, Executive Vice President of Financial Services at Highwire, said financial institutions can no longer rely on communications strategies that worked when growth and returns dominated the narrative, and that organizations able to explain risk and demonstrate resilience have an opportunity to build lasting authority. The report, developed by Highwire's Financial Services and Insights & Analytics teams, is available at teamhighwire.com. Note that the figures are drawn from the agency's own analysis and are presented as company research rather than independently verified data.
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