Kat Hidalgo

Public sentiment about private credit has become “divorced from the market-wide reality,” according to a report from the Alternative Credit Council, which represents fund managers in the industry.

With direct lending deals chalking up their worst quarter in more than three years, some private credit firms are moving downmarket.

Apollo Global Management has traded more than $35 billion since it began making markets in private credit, according to John Cortese, partner and co-head of corporate credit.

Partners Group AG is exploring a deal to shift around €800 million ($917 million) of its private credit loans into a continuation vehicle, according to people familiar with the matter.

Either private credit has a serious default problem, or barely one at all — it all depends on who’s counting.

A KKR & Co. fund serving wealthy clients outside of the US has seen withdrawal requests drop, even as redemption pressure continues to build in the North American private credit market.

Jefferies Credit Partners is seeking to raise around €1 billion ($1.16 billion) from investors who trade private credit in the secondary market.

Bridgepoint Group is exploring a deal to sell more than €1 billion ($1.15 billion) of private credit stakes in a secondaries transaction, according to people familiar with the matter.

Ares Management Corp. is preparing to sell €3 billion ($3.4 billion) of bundled stakes in a flagship European direct-lending fund, one of the largest credit-secondaries deals ever.

Private credit firms’ efforts to reap leveraged debt business from Wall Street is coming at a steep cost — safeguards that made them less vulnerable to an economic downturn.