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.

PwC's Asset and Wealth Management Revolution 2025 report projects private markets will capture more than half of total industry revenues by 2030, cementing their position as the sector's most profitable engine. While alternative AUM is expected to reach $34 trillion with private markets specifically hitting $26.6 trillion, the report warns that rising competition will put growing pressure on the standout fees and margins that have defined the asset class.

What's New Carta's 2025 survey of 100 senior investment professionals reveals that 92% of funds of funds report GP data issues have negatively impacted their investment decisions or reporting obligations, with 41% saying it always affects their decision-making. The findings expose a systemic breakdown in private markets data infrastructure as AUM has grown 20-fold since 2000 to reach $22 trillion. Why It Matters These data failures aren't just operational headaches—they're th

According to Goldman Sachs Asset Management's 2025 Alternatives Summit, corporate M&A volumes in 2025 are expected to match 2021 levels, with IPO markets showing significant recovery despite earlier tariff impacts. The October gathering brought together leaders including former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who delivered a stark warning that the next decade will be "the most dangerous and transformational of our lifetime."

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.

Dominick Carlino, PGIM's Global Head of Alternative Investments, articulates how the convergence of insurance, asset management, and wealth distribution creates competitive advantages in an increasingly crowded marketplace where over 300 evergreen funds compete for shelf space and firms race to build or acquire private markets capabilities.

The Institutional Limited Partners Association published a comprehensive analysis examining how retail investment vehicles are fundamentally reshaping private equity fund dynamics. According to ILPA's 2025 whitepaper, the retail private markets segment has grown at nearly 60% compound annual growth rate over four years to reach approximately $360 billion in assets, with private equity vehicles expanding 56% in 2024 alone.

Robert F. Smith, founder, chairman, and CEO of $100 billion Vista Equity Partners, argues that companies lacking "sovereignty and dominion" over their proprietary workflows and data sets face existential threats in this new era, while incumbents positioned correctly could see operating margins surge from 25% to 40% and beyond.

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.

Henry Ward, CEO and co-founder of Carta, a technology company managing cap tables and equity for over 50,000 private companies representing trillions in institutional capital, spoke with Bloomberg's Barry Ritholtz about the structural transformation underway in private markets. Ward argues that congressional efforts to push companies toward public listings miss the point entirely—the future lies in creating safe retail access to private capital.

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

S&P Global Market Intelligence's 2026 Private Markets Outlook reveals that private credit firms have significantly expanded their market presence, with the global market exceeding $1.7 trillion and dry powder totaling more than $160 billion as of September 2025. Traditional banks are simultaneously losing market share to these competitors while actively partnering with them through joint ventures, referral arrangements, and direct lending relationships.

According to White & Case LLP, European infrastructure M&A deal value reached $144.8 billion by late October 2025, surpassing full-year totals for both 2023 and 2024. Private infrastructure managers are capitalizing on structural transformation across data centers, digital assets, and renewable energy, with Europe-focused fundraising hitting €40 billion by mid-2025—already 63% of the bumper 2021 total. Major closes include EQT's €21.5 billion Infrastructure VI fund and Copenh

Japan's private credit market is poised for explosive growth as the country experiences its busiest M&A year in three decades, with deal values doubling to $300 billion in 2025 and creating unprecedented demand for sophisticated financing structures that traditional banks cannot provide. Mark Glengarry, Senior Managing Director and Head of Asia-Pacific Private Credit Strategies at Blackstone, joined Bloomberg's Global Credit Forum in Tokyo.

According to a recent academic study by Ludovic Phalippou, Professor of Financial Economics at Oxford University's Saïd Business School, private capital fund managers have accumulated more than $1 trillion in carried interest—the performance-based compensation known as "carry"—from funds raised between 2000 and 2019.

Bain & Company's Technology Report 2025 reveals that technology deals increased their share of all buyouts to 22% in the first half of 2025, up from 19% at year-end 2024, but the era of easy returns from simply riding software growth is ending. Private equity investors must fundamentally shift their value creation strategies as software market penetration flattens and traditional revenue sources lose steam.

According to KPMG's 2025 Global PE Value Creation Survey, private equity firms face an inflection point as traditional strategies of financial leverage and multiple expansion fade. With fundraising contracting by 12% CAGR from 2021-2025, median holding periods exceeding six years, and over $3 trillion in unsold assets, PE firms must pivot from "stock-picking" to systematic, data-driven value creation to deliver expected returns.

According to PitchBook's Q2 2025 Private Capital Indexes report, private capital delivered a near-flat return of just 0.1% in the second quarter, marking a significant deceleration from the 1.0% gain in Q1. The slowdown was driven by a notable -1.1% decline in private equity, while venture capital rebounded with a 2.7% return. Direct lending surged 8.0% for the quarter, and funds of funds jumped 6.1%, reflecting diverging fortunes across asset classes as market conditions rem