These private-credit funds are giving back less than half the money their investors want

MW These private-credit funds are giving back less than half the money their investors want

By Tomi Kilgore

Apollo and Ares funds have capped redemptions at 5%, despite requests for more than 11%

Shares of Apollo Global Management and Ares Management dropped after private-credit funds the firms managed disclosed receiving more than double the redemption requests that the funds were willing to honor.

Shares of asset managers were hit hard Tuesday after two private-credit funds disclosed that they would not honor most of the requests for redemptions from their investors.

The funds are now part of a growing list of redemption denials, as more private-credit investors want more of their money back amid heightened concerns about the stability of the asset class. If not for the surge in oil prices due to the Iran conflict, these liquidity concerns would be at the forefront of investor worries about the health of the stock market.

Late Monday, Apollo Debt Solutions BDC, which is managed by Apollo Global Management $(APO)$, said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has received requests to redeem about 11.2% of its shares outstanding during the first quarter. But the fund said it was keeping its cap on redemptions at 5% per quarter for the good of the fund and its investors.

That put gross outflows from the ADS fund, with a portfolio valued at $25 billion as of Feb. 28, at $730 million for the quarter, compared with gross inflows of about $724 million in new subscriptions.

On Tuesday, Ares Management's $(ARES)$ Ares Strategic Income Fund disclosed that it has received redemption requests for 11.6% of its shares outstanding but intends to accept requests for just 5% of the shares outstanding. Given that the fund's net asset value was $10.7 billion as of Feb. 28, that meant the fund was honoring about $535 million of the requested redemptions of about $1.24 billion.

Apollo Global Management's stock dropped 4.6% in recent morning trading, while Ares Management shares slid 3.4%.

Among other asset managers, shares of KKR $(KKR)$ slid 3.1%, Blackstone's stock (BX) lost 3.3%, Carlyle Group shares $(CG)$ were down 2.5% and TPG shares $(TPG)$ declined 2.6%.

In its filing with the SEC, Apollo's ADS acknowledged the "heightened market volatility and increased scrutiny to private credit," but the fund looked to assure investors that the recent liquidity concerns aren't new to its managers, and that it was sticking to the long-term plan for its portfolio.

"Liquidity management, the discipline of mark-to-market accounting and the recognition that secular shifts can be as sudden as they are profound are all hallmarks of sound risk management and are core to how we manage our clients' capital, as well as our own, each day," ADS said in its filing.

Before the ADS redemptions disclosure, Apollo's stock had been bouncing off a 19-month closing low hit on March 12. Including Tuesday's declines, the stock was still up 0.7% in March, following a 22.3% tumble in February - the worst monthly performance since a record 25.1% drop in August 2011.

Meanwhile, Ares shares have lost 7.6% in March, after suffering a record monthly drop of 25.2% in February.

The private-credit worries were stoked in February after Blue Owl Capital's $(OWL)$ $1.6 billion fund sold off loans amid redemption requests.

-Tomi Kilgore

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March 24, 2026 10:29 ET (14:29 GMT)

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