March 12, 2026 | Why So Many Private Credit Investors Want Out

The plan to bring mom-and-pop investors into ‘alternative’ investments was always about finding a pool of greater fools to keep inflows coming. The ‘free money’ years covered up a lot of naked swimmers that are now being revealed. When people need cash, they sell what they can, and this is how liquidation contagion spreads between different asset classes.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Brian Chappatta and Olivia Fishlow unpack the recent tumult in the world of private credit. How cracks formed in this $1.8 trillion market, how companies are trying to tamp down investor anxiety and what it all could mean for the private credit industry’s efforts to get into 401(k)s. Here is a direct audio link.

The banks are involved because they lent to everybody in the loop, which is why the JP Morgan CEO has been warning about cockroaches for the past few months. See, JPMorgan Chase reins in lending to private credit firms after marking down software loans:

JPMorgan Chase is reducing its exposure to the private credit industry by marking down the value of loans held by the bank as collateral, according to a person with knowledge of the moves.

The bank’s giant Wall Street trading division has reduced the value of loans — most of which were made to software firms — sitting within the financing portfolios of private credit clients, said the person, who declined to be identified speaking about the client interactions.

JPMorgan’s move indicates the biggest U.S. bank by assets wants to get ahead of potential turbulence involving private credit loans to software companies.

Danielle Park March 12th, 2026

Posted In: Juggling Dynamite

Next: Culture War, Part 1: Ayaan Hirsi Ali Defends the West »