Private Credit’s Latest Golden Moment Is Hiding the Cracks
Investors are still flocking to the $1.6 trillion asset class, even as questions persist about the strength of its underlying assets.
Scott Bessent speaks at the Milken Institute Global Conference on May 5, 2025.
Photographer: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFPAnyone betting on the end of the private credit boom has been on the back foot of late as the upstart $1.6 trillion asset class has notched up a string of wins. But the industry’s naysayers won’t be conceding defeat just yet.
First up was Apollo Global Management Inc.’s credit business lifting management fees by almost a quarter in the first three months of 2025, then fellow titan Ares Management Corp. said it had pulled in $20 billion more client money. Talk of a golden opportunity for direct lenders has been revived as borrrowers seek safer shores amid the chaos of Donald Trump’s trade policies.