Risk and Reward with Marek Capital Co-Founder Matt Cherwin | At the Money
Why It Matters
Cherwin’s systemic‑risk lens highlights hidden credit opportunities, guiding investors through a reshaped financial landscape where traditional banks and non‑bank lenders operate in separate, yet interlinked, arenas.
Key Takeaways
- •2019 repo crisis revealed hidden systemic risk for investors.
- •Merrick Capital applies five‑lens framework: money, capital, credit, liquidity, regulation.
- •Cherwin’s 2008 crisis experience shaped his risk‑management philosophy.
- •Disaggregation of financial system mirrors a modern Glass‑Steagall split.
- •Current market conditions present unique, large‑scale opportunity for niche credit strategies.
Summary
In this Bloomberg Masters in Business episode, host Barry Ritholtz sits down with Matt Cherwin, co‑founder and chief investment officer of Merrick Capital, to unpack his 20‑year trading career and the firm’s contrarian credit strategy.
Cherwin recounts moving from JPMorgan’s spread‑markets desk to Merrick’s buy‑side treasury in late 2019, just before the repo‑rate shock and the COVID‑19 pandemic. The turmoil gave him an “engine‑room” view of liquidity, prompting the development of a five‑lens framework—money, capital, credit, liquidity and regulation—that he says underpins every investment decision.
He likens the insight to putting on new glasses: “I could finally see how the system works.” He also argues that today’s financial architecture is re‑splitting along Glass‑Steagall‑like lines, with globally systemically important banks on one side and non‑bank credit providers such as Apollo, Blackstone and KKR on the other.
For investors, the takeaway is that Merrick’s granular, cross‑segment analysis uncovers mispricings in a fragmented market, offering sizable risk‑adjusted returns. Understanding the interplay of the five lenses may become essential as regulators reshape capital rules and liquidity dynamics evolve.
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