The U.S. private credit crisis is spreading! The "world's largest asset management" is also forced to "restrict redemptions" of its private credit funds

BlackRock's flagship private credit fund, with a scale of $26 billion, announced a redemption limit, capping investor withdrawals at 5%, causing the company's stock price to drop and lead declines in financial stocks.

According to a statement released by BlackRock on Friday, shareholders of the HPS Corporate Lending Fund (referred to as HLEND) applied to redeem a total of 9.3% of their shares, but the fund management decided to set the buyback limit at 5%.

According to Bloomberg's calculations, the total value of the shares requested for redemption by shareholders is approximately $1.2 billion, while the approved redemption amount is about $620 million, corresponding to 5% of the fund's net value at year-end.

After the news was announced, BlackRock's stock price fell by as much as 8.3% on the same day. Alternative asset management companies such as Blue Owl and Ares Management also saw their stock prices decline, marking the worst performance at the beginning of the year in nearly a decade.

The private credit industry is facing pressure from a wave of investor redemptions, as these funds had attracted hundreds of billions of dollars from retail investors and wealthy individuals, who were initially drawn by high returns but began to withdraw at the first signs of stress.

Surge in Redemption Requests, Fund Implements "Flow Control"

BlackRock stated that the measure to limit redemptions aligns with its consistent liquidity management principles for its flagship direct lending retail product HLEND and is a "fundamental" characteristic of the investment. BlackRock stated in the announcement:

Without this mechanism, there would be a structural mismatch between investor capital and the expected duration of private credit loans invested by HLEND.

The company also added that it would limit capital inflows when there were no attractive investment opportunities, "rather than dilute the returns of existing shareholders or compromise our underwriting standards."

HPS executives also stated on Friday that limiting redemptions would help the fund seize "attractive investment opportunities" amid current uncertainties and market volatility.

Last month, HLEND had routinely proposed to buy back up to 5% of its shares, while the previous round faced redemption requests of about 4.1%. The current 9.3% redemption demand indicates a significant increase in investors' willingness to exit.

Additionally, another private credit fund under BlackRock, with an asset size of approximately $2.2 billion, also disclosed on Friday that investors requested to redeem 4.5% of their holdings. This fund is named the BlackRock Private Credit Fund, with an asset size of approximately $2.2 billion at year-end. The fund will meet all these redemption requests.

Concerns Over AI Impact Intensify, Private Credit Industry Under Pressure

Private credit funds are generally facing pressure from a new wave of redemption, with core concerns arising from two aspects: whether the overall loan standards in the industry are prudent, and the exposure risk of invested companies to the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence.

HPS Investment Partners is one of the largest alternative credit management institutions globally and was acquired by BlackRock last year as an important part of the latter's strategic expansion into private assets This redemption event occurs against the backdrop of significant macroeconomic uncertainty in the alternative asset management industry, and the market will closely observe how various participants in private credit balance liquidity management and investor relations moving forward.

According to Bloomberg, Blackstone's flagship private credit fund this week met a record 7.9% redemption request, with some of the funds coming from the company's own involvement and employees to hedge against some withdrawals.

However, analysts have questioned whether this industry can withstand sustained high redemption pressure in the long term. The reason is that the assets held by these semi-liquid funds are mostly loans, and these loans rarely, if ever, circulate in the market.

Blue Owl announced last month a permanent suspension of redemption requests for one of its funds, further exacerbating market turmoil at a time when investors have generally lost interest in this asset class