Cerebro Capital, a commercial loan marketplace platform, partnered with Ken Singleton, professor of management at the graduate school of business at Stanford University, to study activity in the middle market and create analysis and content to help borrowers and lenders better understand movements and drivers within the credit market.
The credit market for private middle market U.S. companies is nearly $3 trillion and is comprised of loans from commercial bank and non-bank lending institutions. These loans are used for a range of financing purposes, from working capital and acquisitions to equipment and owner-occupied real estate. Unlike the consumer mortgage industry, information on loan terms and underwriting requirements is difficult to source because borrowers in this sector are mostly private corporations. Cerebro and Singleton’s research will be focused on comparing, contrasting and understanding bank and non-bank lending institution behavior. Specifically, analysis will be conducted on how market changes impact interest rates, loan structure, lender risk appetite and other variables affecting the ability of corporate borrowers to access and benefit from the credit markets.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Ken Singleton to deepen our analysis of the credit markets,” Matt Bjonerud, founder and CEO of Cerebro Capital, said. “Ken will be critical to helping Cerebro better define, predict and understand the market activity, including loan terms and risk appetites that we’re seeing across both bank and non-bank lenders.”
Singleton is the Adams distinguished professor of management, emeritus, at the graduate school of business at Stanford University. He has written on financial risks and their impacts on economic decision-making, including books on credit risk and dynamic asset pricing. He is a fellow of the American Finance Association, served as executive editor of the Journal of Finance, and his professional awards include the Frisch Medal and the Stephen A. Ross Prize in Financial Economics. He is an advisor to Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs, serves on the investment committee of the Stanford GSB Impact and is co-founder of the nonprofit 1 Grain to 1000 Grains.
“I’m excited to work with Cerebro to analyze difficult to access market data on the private credit markets,” Singleton said. “Cerebro is uniquely positioned to provide insights from both middle market borrowers and the lenders that serve them, including both commercial banks and non-bank lenders.”
