Episodes
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.
Published 11/20/24
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.
Published 11/20/24
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...
Published 11/13/24
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.
Published 11/13/24
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...
Published 10/30/24
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...
Published 10/30/24
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.
Published 10/23/24
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...
Published 10/16/24
Today marks the end of Season 10 of The HPScast. Join host Colbert Cannon for a listen back to some of our best moments this season. We had the great pleasure of hearing from insightful voices across health care, law, media and finance — including some of our own colleagues here at HPS.
The HPScast team is grateful to all of our guests for taking the time to share their knowledge and stories with us. And thanks to you, dear listener, for tuning in. We’re taking a quick break, but Season 11...
Published 06/19/24
This week, host Colbert Cannon sits down with Robert Carlock, Emmy Award-winning writer and producer best known for his work as showrunner on Tina Fey's acclaimed sitcom, 30 Rock. We hear how Robert cut his teeth producing Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” and first met Tina. Robert discusses the professional partnership and friendship that he and Tina have built over nearly three decades. We also talk about his transition from being a writer to running a show. And Robert shares his...
Published 06/12/24
This week, host Colbert Cannon sits down with Chris Stainton, a Managing Director in HPS’ London office focused on direct lending and special situations investing. We talk about Chris’s early career at Bain Capital and how sitting across the negotiation table with HPS led to his eventual decision to join the firm. We also do a deep dive into the evolution of the global distressed credit market to today.
Published 06/06/24
On this week’s episode, host Colbert Cannon sits down with Gareth Mee, Chief Financial Officer at Legal & General Capital, the investing arm of one of the UK's largest insurance and asset management businesses. We talk about Gareth’s early career working as a consultant and eventual partner at Ernst & Young and his transition to join Legal & General Capital’s executive team. We also discuss his perspective on private credit and how it fits into Legal & General Capital’s...
Published 05/29/24
On this week’s episode, host Colbert Cannon sits down with Jonathan Stromseth, Professor of the Practice at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. Jonathan teaches and researches globalization, foreign aid and governance reform work in Asia. We talk about Jonathan’s time spent across Asia working for the U.S. international development organization, the Asia Foundation, his transition to lead China and Southeast Asia policy planning for the U.S. State Department and his most recent...
Published 05/22/24
On this week’s episode, host Colbert Cannon sits down with Jared Solomon, Co-Founder and CEO of Five Iron Golf, an indoor golf simulator and events & entertainment business catering to urban centers. We talk about Jared’s first foray into entrepreneurship with Flux Stables, a poker staking business he started in law school. And he shares how he’s continued to merge his passion for business and recreation through Five Iron Golf — and what’s on the horizon for the business.
Published 05/15/24
This week’s episode features a discussion of current credit market trends with HPS Governing Partners Purnima Puri and Mike Patterson joining host Colbert Cannon.
Published 05/08/24
On this week’s episode, host Colbert Cannon sits down with Jay Goffman, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Smith Goffman Partners, a restructuring advisory firm with a merchant bank component. We talk about Jay’s early start in bankruptcy law, his journey to becoming partner at Skadden and the origin of Smith Goffman Partners.
Published 05/01/24
The HPScast is on a midseason break, but we’ll be back with all new episodes starting Wednesday, May 1st. We encourage you to take a listen back to any conversations you might have missed. Or, check out our Best Ideas shared so far. You'll find links to books, podcasts, movies and TV shows in our show notes.
Published 04/24/24
This week, host Colbert Cannon sits down with Dr. Brendan Carr, Chief Executive Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System. Dr. Carr became the head of the Emergency Department of Mount Sinai in 2020 — just one month before the hospital reported New York City’s first case of COVID-19. He shares his takeaways from the frontlines of a global pandemic as a new leader. We also discuss Dr. Carr’s diverse career background, which spans clinical care to healthcare policy and research — and how this...
Published 04/17/24
On this week’s episode, host Colbert Cannon sits down with Salim Ismail, Co-Founder and Chairman of OpenExO, a global community that connects professionals with organizations, institutions and people who want to build a better future through cutting-edge ideas and actionable methodologies. We talk about how Salim works with global organizations to navigate disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). He shares his thoughts on how AI will impact society and his best advice on how...
Published 04/10/24
This week, host Colbert Cannon sits down with David Lehman, Managing Director for HPS Investment Partners. David manages HPS's real estate finance practice. We discuss David’s early career learnings while trading structured products at Morgan Stanley and later Deutsche Bank before joining Goldman Sachs, where he eventually led the firm’s global real estate finance group. We also hear about David’s transition to public service as the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and...
Published 04/03/24
Welcome back to Season 10 of The HPScast. Host Colbert Cannon sits down with Kristin Kallergis Rowland, Global Head of Alternative Investments for J.P. Morgan Wealth Management. Kristin’s team oversees $140 billion in assets under management with private equity, private credit, real estate and hedge fund firms globally. We talk about Kristin’s early career learnings, from starting at J.P. Morgan in its mortgage center business during the 2008 housing crisis to the culture shift of managing...
Published 03/27/24
We’ve reached the end of Season 9 of The HPScast. Join host Colbert Cannon for a listen back to some of our best moments this season.
We heard from thought leaders across industries, from entrepreneurs turned VC backers to organizational psychologists, as well as chief investment officers of leading pensions and global insurers. Their stories reinforced the ethos of The HPScast — that success does not happen in a vacuum.
Thank you to all of our listeners for your continued support. We’ll...
Published 12/06/23
This week, host Colbert Cannon sits down with Francesco Martorana, Group Chief Investment Officer at Generali, a global insurance and asset management provider. We discuss Francesco’s time at J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Allianz before joining Generali, where he oversees an approximately €400 billion global portfolio. Francesco shares Generali’s stance on private credit and the qualities he looks for in a portfolio manager.
Published 11/29/23
This week, we have a special episode recorded recently from HPS’s Investor Symposium. Colbert hands over his hosting duties to Hugh Lawson, a Managing Director at HPS, who sits down with Maud Texier, the Global Director of Clean Energy and Decarbonization Solutions at Google. Maud shares Google’s experience in its plan to become carbon free by 2030 while giving perspective on energy transition efforts, globally.
Published 11/22/23