Marc Lasry on Distressed Debt and Distressed Markets (SPY, EWG)

Chairman and CEO of Avenue Capital Group, Marc Lasry was just interviewed by David Faber of CNBC.

The Co-Founder of Avenue Capital Group, a hedge fund worth more than $20 billion, had this to say about global credit markets, “There’s been a lot less liquidity…which is a positive for us because you can buy bank debt and bonds for much lower prices.”

When asked about the word of the day “de-risking,” he was quick to point out that they are not really selling anything, instead “We are trying to buy debt of solid companies and not so much de-risking.”

When asked about the recent turmoil in Europe, he said “We’ve been nervous that markets have less fundamental risk all of a sudden and more government risk,” adding that recently, “Everybody is trying to understand what Germany (NYSE: EWJ) is saying,” which is not something that markets really care about under normal circumstances.

“What is happen on a global basis is effecting what we’re doing on a local basis which shouldn’t be the case,” commented Mr. Lasry.

When asked about the state of the U.S. equity markets (NYSE: SPY) he said that “as people get more nervous, you’re not going to see people taking as much risk as they were just a few weeks ago.”

Marc Lasry is a self-made billionaire with a net-worth of over $1.1 billion.