Goldman Sachs Asset Management's 2026 Investment Outlook reveals that private equity valuations have reached record highs at the median, while roughly 15% of private credit borrowers can't cover interest payments—signaling that manager selection and disciplined underwriting will separate winners from losers as exit activity accelerates.

In a recent interview on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast, Oaktree co-CEO Armen Panossian outlined the firm's defensive positioning ahead of an expected uptick in private credit defaults, warning that the 2018-2021 vintage of leveraged buyouts represents the market's soft underbelly as weak credits face a "day of reckoning" in 2027—while simultaneously highlighting asset-backed finance as a multi-trillion dollar opportunity created by banking sector retreat.

ING built Europe's largest evergreen alternatives platform by treating private markets as "slow money" requiring human-centric design.

Private credit crossed $2 trillion in AUM in 2025, cementing its status as the dominant force in alternative investments. But the year also brought the asset class's first real stress test since the 2008 financial crisis—exposing cracks that had been papered over during 16 years of benign conditions.

Private markets emerged from a three-year fog in 2025—but into an environment of radical transformation rather than simple recovery. Global buyout dealmaking hit $2 trillion (+14% YoY), the third-most-active year on record. For the first time since 2015, distributions to LPs finally exceeded capital contributions. Yet underneath these headline numbers, the industry confronted existential questions about its business model, investor base, and relationship with regulators.

What's New Morgan Stanley Investment Management's 2026 Private Equity and Private Credit Outlooks signal a decisive inflection point for alternative investments, with M&A activity recovering from a three-decade low relative to GDP and private credit yields expected to remain elevated in the 8.0-8.5% range despite rate cuts. The reports highlight that PE-backed companies leveraging AI adoption are creating a widening performance gap, while scaled private credit platforms are p

Mercer's inaugural "Private Markets in Motion" report reveals overwhelming optimism among private debt managers, with 80% expecting an increase in fund managers raising capital over the next three to five years and 87% anticipating growth in limited partner allocations to the asset class. The survey of 57 global firms managing over $2 trillion in assets finds wealth management clients will drive the fastest-growing inflows, as the democratization of private markets accelerate

What's New John Cortese, Partner and Co-Head of Corporate Credit at Apollo Global Management, argues in the firm's 2026 Credit Outlook that the technical backdrop defining credit markets has fundamentally shifted, as $1.5 trillion in announced hyperscaler capex and reviving M&A activity are flooding markets with new issuance—transforming what was a seller's market into one that rewards disciplined buyers with the broadest opportunity set in a decade. Why It Matters The conv

Federated Hermes' Private Markets 2026 Outlook reveals that deal activity is gaining positive momentum following interest rate normalization in H2 2025, positioning private asset classes to deliver greater capital distributions from older vintages—which should fuel new allocations toward specialist strategies rather than generalist, diversified approaches.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management's Investment Outlook 2026 reveals that private market valuations have reached record highs across buyout holdings and exits, yet the data masks significant underlying dispersion. While median multiples suggest elevated pricing, recent transaction activity has been skewed toward higher-quality companies commanding premiums.

Record Q3 deal activity signals private markets inflection point as $13T industry prepares for democratization wave and 2026 rebound.

Markets near historic highs demand disciplined investing as PE activity rebounds and AI drives USD 1T opportunity.

The Alternative Credit Council's "Private Credit in Asia 2.0" report forecasts Asia-Pacific private credit assets under management will grow from US$59 billion in 2024 to US$92 billion by 2027, representing a 16% compound annual growth rate that outpaces global averages.

As artificial intelligence reshapes the global economy, institutional investors face a critical question: how to capture the AI opportunity without betting on which software company will emerge victorious. Alexey Teplukhin, Managing Director at Blue Owl Capital, argues the answer lies in owning the physical infrastructure rather than picking winners—data centers representing the "airports of information" that every competitor must use.

Private credit is evolving far beyond direct lending into a $14 trillion opportunity as banks retreat from traditional lending activities, yet most wealth channel investors remain underexposed and undereducated about the asset class. Robert Stark, CEO of Nomura Capital Management and Head of Investment Management in the Americas for Nomura Group, recently discussed building a private credit business from scratch within the century-old Japanese financial institution.

Marc Nachmann, global head of asset and wealth management at Goldman Sachs, sat down with CNBC's Leslie Picker at the firm's alternatives conference in New York to discuss how Goldman quietly built a $542 billion alternatives powerhouse over three decades—and why the coming credit cycle will create clear winners and losers in an asset class that has grown explosively during a period of relative calm.

The life insurance industry's structural transformation since the GFC is being heavily influenced by the growing nexus between life insurers and Private Equity (PE) firms according to a recent paper by the Bank of International Settlements. This relationship has driven a significant shift in investment strategy toward riskier, less liquid private assets , such as structured credit and private credit/direct lending. PE-linked insurers are significantly more likely to hold thes

Steve Pagliuca, senior advisor at Bain Capital Private Equity and veteran of the largest leveraged buyout in history before the recent Electronic Arts deal, spoke with Bloomberg's Jonathan Ferro and Annmarie Hordern about why he dismisses concerns about private credit while warning that the national debt trajectory represents an existential fiscal challenge.

Private credit continues its explosive growth trajectory, but the industry now faces a critical inflection point around competitive positioning and return sustainability. Ken Kencel, President and CEO of Churchill Asset Management, a $57 billion private capital affiliate of Nuveen, offers a contrarian perspective on Bloomberg Talks.

According to Oaktree Capital Management's Howard Marks in his November 2025 memo "Cockroaches in the Coal Mine," recent high-profile bankruptcies in private credit—including First Brands and Tricolor—signal a familiar pattern where bullish market conditions lead to relaxed lending standards and increased fraud. The $2 trillion private credit sector, which has operated in largely benign conditions since 2011, is now facing its first real stress test with six suspected fraud ca