Key Takeaways
- • PIMCO group CIO Daniel Ivascyn said on April 15, 2026 that the private credit market does not pose a systemic risk to the wider financial system, describing current conditions as "disappointment" and lower-than-anticipated returns rather than systemic stress, according to Reuters.
- • The $3.5 trillion private credit sector has come under pressure from AI-linked risks, fund outflows and credit stress fears, which have hammered alternative asset manager stocks this year.
- • Ivascyn expects more motivated sellers and forced private credit trading later in 2026, which he said will create opportunities for investors with fresh balance sheets, including PIMCO; he gave no specific deal details.
- • PIMCO reportedly bought all $400 million of bonds issued by a Blue Owl Capital private credit fund, per Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter.
- • Blue Owl, Ares Management, Apollo Global and KKR have all limited redemptions from private credit funds, while JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon said "I don't think it's systemic."
Summary
PIMCO group chief investment officer Daniel Ivascyn said the private credit market does not pose a systemic risk to the broader financial system, echoing Wall Street executives who have signalled the sector's problems are manageable. Speaking at a PIMCO media conference in London, Ivascyn said, "We do not see systemic risks within private credit, we see disappointment, we see lower returns than anticipated." PIMCO manages more than $2 trillion in assets.
The comments come as the $3.5 trillion private credit sector has been under scrutiny over risks linked to artificial intelligence, fund outflows and fears of credit stress, which have weighed heavily on alternative asset managers' stocks this year. Blue Owl Capital, Ares Management, Apollo Global and KKR have all limited redemptions from their private credit funds. Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter, that PIMCO had purchased all $400 million of bonds issued by a Blue Owl Capital private credit fund.
Ivascyn said he expects more private credit trading given liquidity challenges in the sector, noting that risk could be transferred in a variety of ways. "Out of necessity, there's going to be a lot more of this selling, and that's going to create a great opportunity for investors with fresh balance sheets, including PIMCO," he said, adding that PIMCO had already participated in certain deals that took advantage of this dynamic. He did not identify specific transactions, but said attractive terms could include more favourable investor protections, known as covenants, obtained more cheaply.
Other industry leaders offered similar assessments. Ares Management's head said private credit defaults are relatively contained and that most sector stress is liquidity- and rate-driven. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, asked on an analyst call whether private credit risks were systemic, said, "I don't think it's systemic." At the same event, multi-asset strategist Lotfi Karoui said that even if defaults rose during an economic downturn, the bar for a financial stability threat was high, and that current conditions differ from the 2008 financial crisis, when leverage and asset-liability mismatches amplified the shock. "Private credit as an asset class is not a leveraged asset class," he said, adding that redemption limits helped avoid a fire sale of assets.
The comments come as the $3.5 trillion private credit sector has been under scrutiny over risks linked to artificial intelligence, fund outflows and fears of credit stress, which have weighed heavily on alternative asset managers' stocks this year. Blue Owl Capital, Ares Management, Apollo Global and KKR have all limited redemptions from their private credit funds. Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter, that PIMCO had purchased all $400 million of bonds issued by a Blue Owl Capital private credit fund.
Ivascyn said he expects more private credit trading given liquidity challenges in the sector, noting that risk could be transferred in a variety of ways. "Out of necessity, there's going to be a lot more of this selling, and that's going to create a great opportunity for investors with fresh balance sheets, including PIMCO," he said, adding that PIMCO had already participated in certain deals that took advantage of this dynamic. He did not identify specific transactions, but said attractive terms could include more favourable investor protections, known as covenants, obtained more cheaply.
Other industry leaders offered similar assessments. Ares Management's head said private credit defaults are relatively contained and that most sector stress is liquidity- and rate-driven. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, asked on an analyst call whether private credit risks were systemic, said, "I don't think it's systemic." At the same event, multi-asset strategist Lotfi Karoui said that even if defaults rose during an economic downturn, the bar for a financial stability threat was high, and that current conditions differ from the 2008 financial crisis, when leverage and asset-liability mismatches amplified the shock. "Private credit as an asset class is not a leveraged asset class," he said, adding that redemption limits helped avoid a fire sale of assets.
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