For years, as private credit exploded into a $1.7 trillion industry, the line from the market’s biggest players was that their deals were, simply put, safer. Certainly safer than the high-yield bond market, and also safer than the leveraged loan market, where struggling companies could take advantage of weak investor safeguards and team up with hedge funds to aggressively restructure their debt at the expense of existing creditors. “Some sponsors will be more reluctant than others to do this, but if it avoids a bankruptcy filing or in-court solution, it’s something to consider,” said Nick Caro, Business Law partner and a member of the Private Equity and Debt Finance groups to Bloomberg.