At Morgan Lewis’ recent Advanced Topics in Hedge Fund Practices conference, Morgan Lewis partners Marion Giliberti Barish and Matthew Edward Schernecke discussed the mechanics of investments in syndicated loans; opportunistic and defensive lending; common risks associated with direct lending; and recent trends in direct lending. This article highlights the key takeaways from the presentation. See our two-part primer on compliance issues for credit strategies: “Key Credit Concepts and Risks in Credit Investing” (Apr. 4, 2019); and “Additional Risks in Credit Investing” (Apr. 11, 2019); and our two‑part series “Ropes & Gray Survey and Forum Consider Credit Fund Structures, Leverage, Conflicts of Interest and Challenging Environment”: Part One (Jul. 19, 2018); and Part Two (Jul. 26, 2018).