Blackstone President Jon Gray says firm has navigated outflows comparable to BCRED before
Blackstone saw elevated outflows a few years ago with its semi-liquid real estate product, BREIT, and believes BCRED will prove similarly resilient, President Jon Gray said on the firm’s first-quarter earnings call

Washington, Louisiana systems approve large distressed debt commitments
WSIB approves USD 300m for Monarch's latest distressed debt fund; TRSL allots USD 150m to Centerbridge distressed, mezzanine debt funds

LPs eye jettisoning asset allocation model in pursuit of uncorrelated returns
CalPERS, CalSTRS among recent converts to the total portfolio approach; Adoption requires significant changes in team setup, governance, incentives

Lending to nonbank entities like BDCs will be a growth area—State Street
Additionally, the firm said its investment grade private credit ETF, developed with Apollo, hit USD 800m in assets under management during the quarter

Benefit Street Partners CEO says private credit’s doomsday scenario is overblown
PODCAST: The ‘doomsday scenario’ for software loans represents a complete over-exaggeration, says David Manlowe, CEO of Benefit Street Partners, on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee

Kayne Anderson Private Credit issues rated feeder
Kayne Anderson has priced a rated feeder fund for its Kayne Senior Credit Fund V, with Wells Fargo arranging the USD 206.425m transaction

Sycamore Tree to hire six more in private credit secondaries build-out
EXCLUSIVE: Co-founder and CIO Trey Parker told Creditflux that the new platform will complement its existing credit business and focus on providing liquidity to the undercapitalised opportunistic space within the credit secondaries market

Mercer zeroes in on AI exposure in GPs’ operations, portfolios and deals
EXCLUSIVE: The firm is ready to deploy its eighth flexible private market fund-of-funds, as the growing capabilities of AI cement themselves as a key factor across private market asset classes

Virginia, Arkansas among systems expanding into alternative credit strategies
Recent Ares funds gain momentum with allocations from VRS, TCDRS; Arkansas Teachers plan multi-strategy credit SMAs with KKR, Brookfield

KKR prorates investor exits from semi-liquid ABF fund
The firm will fulfill around 69% of each shareholder’s exit request to keep the total liquidity offering this quarter to 5% of the fund’s net asset value

CLO manager Sycamore steps into credit secondaries with new hire
The firm tapped a former managing director at Banner Ridge Partners to lead the new credit secondaries platform.

Barings hires former Northleaf MD to expand capital solutions platform
CJ Wei has joined Barings as a managing director for capital solutions and a portfolio manager for specialty asset-based finance

Adams Street raises USD 7.5bn for senior direct lending
The middle market-focused alternatives firm held a close for its Private Credit III fund and is expanding its direct lending platform globally

ICG’s head of US liquid credit says Iran war will cause pain for consumers, housing
PODCAST: Consumer-related aspects of the economy – ranging from housing and travel to apparel and retail – are already “feeling a decent amount of pain”, and the trend is expected to continue, according to ICG's David Saitowitz, speaking on the latest episode of the Credit Exchange podcast with Lisa Lee

UK pension fund taps Crescent for US direct lending mandate
UK pension fund Nest has appointed Crescent Capital to manage a GBP 450m US direct lending mandate

Direct lending secondaries are no longer worth paying par – Corbin Capital
EXCLUSIVE: The alternatives firm says it is unwilling to pay 95 cents on the dollar for any private credit secondaries deals right now as the market reprices

Ares to launch new private credit fund with USD 10bn-15bn equity target
The fund has the same equity target as its record-breaking predecessor, Ares Senior Direct Lending Fund III

Ares backs Arcmont’s USD 2.5bn private credit continuation vehicle
The vehicle acquires senior direct lending assets from Arcmont’s 2019-vintage fund and marks the largest credit secondaries transaction in Europe, according to Ares

Northleaf private ABF managing director exits
CJ Wei, who focused on asset-based finance at the Canadian private markets firm, departs for a new role

Perpetual nontraded BDC fears are exaggerated—KBRA
Credit quality and liquidity at these semi-liquid private credit funds remain comfortable despite the negative shift in investor sentiment, the ratings agency said  

Investors prefer clarity over full exits as semi-liquid private credit funds grapple with exit request surge
ANALYSIS: Whether private credit managers cap exits at the 5% limit or stretch to cover all requests, explaining the decision is key, wealth management firms say

Liberty Mutual strikes private credit partnership with Square Nine Capital
Square Nine Capital was founded last year by Morgan Stanley private credit alum Peter Ma and former CalPERS CIO Nicole Musicco

King Street wins Saudi backing for new Middle East-focused private credit fund
A new credit fund will seek to provide private capital solutions to corporates and to conduct asset-based lending within Saudi Arabia and MENA

Blackstone raises USD 10bn for oversubscribed opportunistic credit fund
The alternative asset management giant will use the fund’s flexible mandate to invest across industries, capital structures, and geographies

Private credit in the crosshairs: stick to the plan or relax rules?
The private credit industry has faced a test of nerves in recent months as a swarm of investors rushed for the exits only to find their off-ramp blocked. As the pressure builds, credit managers are asking themselves whether they should stick to the advertised redemption rules for their vehicles, or lift the barricade to let skittish investors exit with their money