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Summary
What are the biggest opportunities and risks facing alternative investors in the second half of 2026? Join S&P Global Ratings' analysts and sector leads as they unpack the trends reshaping the buyside alternatives landscape, offering forward-looking insights and perspectives on the developments in the space.
During this webinar, they will cover:
- Private Credit & Direct Lending: Key market trends, portfolio trends growth drivers, and evolving credit considerations.
- AI-Related Risks and Opportunities: Emerging vulnerabilities and potential impacts across alternative investment portfolios.
- Outlook for H2 2026: Key risks, opportunities, and themes shaping the buyside alternatives landscape.
Speakers
S&P Global Ratings
Beth Campbell
Director and Lead Analyst, Asset Management Sector
Director and Lead Analyst, Asset Management Sector
S&P Global Ratings
Carmi Margalit
Managing Director and Life Insurance Sector Lead
Carmi Margalit is Managing Director and the Life Insurance Sector Lead for the North American Financial Services Ratings group. Carmi leads the group’s research, commentary and analytical outreach efforts on life insurance. He serves as the subject matter expert on life and annuities in North America and is one of the primary voices of S&P Global’sinteractions with the market in the sector. He directly covers a portfolio of high profile life insurers and follows the entire sector very closely.
Prior to his current role, Carmi was the analytical manager of the life and health insurance team; he was an analyst on the life team and in the structured finance group before that.
Carmi is a Chartered Financial Analyst, holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a B.A. in industrial engineering from the Tel Aviv University.
S&P Global Ratings
Andrew Watt
Managing Director, Regional Practice Leader for North America Financial Services
Andrew Watt is a Managing Director at Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. Andrew has responsibility for the strategic direction, business priorities and financial performance of the Corporate Ratings business as a member of the leadership team. Andrew directly manages U.S. and Canadian Corporate Ratings and the industry teams that constitute about 2500 issuer relationships. He is also responsible for Loan & Recovery Ratings business in North America for Corporate Ratings.
Andrew assumed his current position in 2016. Prior to his current role, Andrew held various managerial and analytic responsibilities in Ratings Services. Andrew has also been a member of the Analytics Policy Board of Ratings Services, which oversees and governs the development of analytical criteria.
Earlier in his career, Andrew held various engineering roles for Allied Signal Aerospace and completed an intensive rotational leadership development program.
Andrew received his MBA from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. He also holds a Bachelor and Masters degree of Electronic Engineering from the City College of the City University of New York. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the New York Society of Securities Analysts.
S&P Global Ratings
Gaurav Parikh
Director and Lead Analyst
Gaurav Parikh is a Director in the Financial Services Ratings practice at S&P Global Ratings. He is the Lead Analyst for non-bank financial companies ratings in North America and covers a diversified portfolio of approximately 30 companies across business development companies, middle-market lenders, and consumer & auto financing companies. In his prior role with S&P, he also covered asset managers, commercial real estate lenders & servicers, residential mortgage originators, and money transfer service companies.
Prior to joining S&P Global Ratings in 2015, Gaurav was a Senior Associate in the Capital Markets group at Emigrant Bank where he actively managed short-duration client portfolios and conducted credit analysis on high yield bonds for the Bank’s portfolio.
Gaurav double majored in Finance and International Business at Drexel University, Philadelphia and received his received his MBA in Investment Management from Drexel University’s LeBow School of Business. While at Drexel University, Gaurav played on Men’s Division I tennis team. Gaurav is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) chaterholder
Questions?
Please contact us if you need more information or have trouble accessing the webinar.