DoubleLine’s Robert Cohen, Director of Global Developed Credit, joins Bloomberg’s The Close live from DoubleLine’s L.A. offices to discuss AI financing, credit markets and the growing cracks in private credit. On AI, Mr. Cohen notes that demand for debt issuance remains insatiable as corporate credit supply has actually shrunk since the pandemic, but he warns that without visibility into returns on capital – particularly from issuers that don’t break out AI profitability – it is difficult to assess whether capital is being deployed wisely. He favors the picks and shovels over the gold itself, and Mr. Cohen flags software as the most vulnerable sector if AI deployment disrupts traditional business models.
On portfolio construction, he advocates for short-duration, high-income portfolios that sidestep the concentrated AI spending risk embedded in cap-weighted credit indices, pairing selective corporate credit with securitized products and real estate. He closes with a candid assessment of private credit, noting that roughly 90% of the market is rated B3 or lower, and pointing to the syndicated bank loan market – where software loans are trading roughly 10 points below the broader index, and CCC loans are down 8% on the year – as the clearest window into what is actually happening beneath the surface of a market where headline spreads remain deceptively tight.
Mr. Cohen joined DoubleLine in 2012 and serves as Director of Global Developed Credit. In this role, he oversees the firm’s corporate credit team and is the lead portfolio manager for investment grade, high yield and leveraged loan credit strategies. Mr. Cohen also developed DoubleLine’s leveraged finance investment platform, which is utilized across closed-end fund, floating-rate, CLO and multi-sector fixed-income strategies. In addition, he is a permanent member of the Fixed Income Asset Allocation Committee. Mr. Cohen has over 30 years of experience in corporate credit investing. Prior to joining DoubleLine, he held investment roles at West Gate Horizons Advisors, ING Capital Advisors, Union Bank and Bank of Montreal. Mr. Cohen holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Arizona and an MBA from the University of Southern California. He is a CFA® charterholder.
