The 10 Largest Private Credit Funds in the World (Top Firms by AUM)
Private credit has quietly become one of Wall Street's favorite asset classes.
In the last five years, more than $700 billion in capital was raised by just 10 firms for their private credit funds. BlackRock projects the total private debt market will reach $3.5 trillion by the end of 2028.
The money has been pouring in. And it's not hard to see why.
What is private credit?
Private credit is a catchall term for any private, non-bank lending. Following the 2008-2009 financial crisis, tighter regulations made it harder for banks to lend to middle-market companies, creating a funding gap that private credit stepped in to fill.
Why private credit?
Over the last ~10 years, private credit has produced some of the strongest risk-adjusted returns of any asset class.
Since 2016, it has averaged 10.3% returns and less than 3% default rates.
Unsurprisingly, these high, predictable returns are extremely attractive to a wide range of income-focused investors, especially at the institutional-level.
The asset class has also shown a low correlation to public markets, making it a valuable addition to portfolios mostly made up of traditional assets like stocks and bonds.
For these reasons, private credit has become a staple in many asset managers alternative investment strategies, with some holding extremely sizable positions.
Here's a list of the institutions with the largest portfolios of private credit.
The 10 largest private credit fund managers
These are the 10 asset managers with the largest private credit funds in the world based on the total amount of assets invested in private credit.
| Company | Location | Private credit AUM | Private credit capital raised (last 5 years)* |
| Apollo Global Management | U.S. | $480 billion | $48.7 billion |
| Blackstone | U.S. | $354.7 billion | $98.4 billion |
| Ares Management | U.S. | $335.3 billion | $116.3 billion |
| KKR & Co. | U.S. | $242 billion | $34.8 billion |
| The Carlyle Group | U.S. | $211 billion | $43.9 billion |
| Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors | U.S. | $198 billion | $1.8 billion |
| Neuberger Berman Group | U.S. | $182 billion | $21.3 billion |
| Goldman Sachs | U.S. | $130 billion | $87.8 billion |
| Oaktree Capital Management | U.S. | $129 billion | $36.6 billion |
| Brookfield Asset Management | U.S. | $124 billion | $17.4 billion |
Sources: S&P Global, Private Debt Investor*
Keep reading for more information on each of this institutions.
1. Apollo Global Management
- Private credit AUM: $480 billion
- Total AUM: $938 billion
- Headquarters: New York
Apollo Global Management (APO) is a global, full-spectrum alternative asset manager, specializing in private equity, public and private credit, infrastructure, and real estate.
Like others on this list, Apollo has its roots in private equity. However, over the last handful of years, it's become the leader in private credit.
Today, Apollo's full credit business — which spans public and private credit and asset-backed financing — makes up $749 billion of its $938 billion in assets under management.
2. Blackstone
- Private credit AUM: $354.7 billion
- Total AUM: $1+ trillion
- Headquarters: New York
Blackstone (BX) manages over $1 trillion in assets, making it the world's largest alternative asset manager.
The company is best known for investing in real estate and private equity, though it also has substantial investments in infrastructure, energy, private credit, and more.
Blackstone's primary private credit portfolio, known as BCRED, has investments totaling $82.7 billion and has generated a 9.8% annualized total return since inception.
The BCRED fund is only available to institutional investors (such as pension funds, insurance companies, banks, and hedge funds), financial advisors for the ultra-wealthy, and family offices.
Family offices
A family office is a private wealth management firm set up to manage the wealth of a single ultra-high-net-worth family or a group of families. An individual should have at least $100 million in investable assets to make a family office viable.
3. Ares Management
- Private credit AUM: $335.3 billion
- Total AUM: $623 billion
- Headquarters: Los Angeles
Ares Management (ARES) is one of the purest “credit-first” giants in alternatives. Yes, it runs private equity and real assets too, but credit is the engine.
Its private credit footprint stretches from typical direct lending to specialty finance and liquid credit, and is frequently a player in complex, structured deals.
4. KKR & Co.
- Private credit AUM: $242 billion
- Total AUM: $744 billion
- Headquarters: New York
KKR (KKR) is another major private equity firm which has since expanded into credit, infrastructure, and other real assets.
KKR's credit business, which spans direct lending, opportunistic credit, and asset-based finance, now represents a significant portion of its AUM.
5. The Carlyle Group
- Private credit AUM: $211 billion
- Total AUM: $477 billion
- Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
The Carlyle Group (CG) is a global investment firm with strategies across private equity, credit, and real assets.
Carlyle's global credit segment — which includes direct lending, opportunistic credit, and liquid credit — is its largest, with more than 205 investment professionals deploying $211 billion of assets under management.
6. Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors
- Private credit AUM: $198 billion
- Total AUM: $359 billion
- Headquarters: Chicago
Guggenheim Investments is the asset management and investment advisory division of Guggenheim Partners.
Like Carlyle, its credit platform (made up of private credit, structured credit, and fixed income strategies) accounts for the largest share of its AUM.
7. Neuberger Berman Group
- Private credit AUM: $182 billion
- Total AUM: $563 billion
- Headquarters: New York
Neuberger Berman is a little different than the big “alts” brand names. It's employee-owned, broader across traditional asset classes, and tends to show up quietly in a lot of institutional portfolios.
That said, its private markets business is substantial, and private credit has become a major pillar alongside its equities and fixed income franchises.
8. Goldman Sachs
- Private credit AUM: $130 billion
- Total AUS*: $3.5 trillion
- Headquarters: New York
*Assets under supervision (AUS)
Goldman reports assets under supervision (AUS), not AUM, which includes both assets they manage and other client assets where they don't have investment control. They earn fees for advisory and other services on these assets.
Goldman Sachs (GS) is one of the biggest financial institutions in the world, generating over $59 billion in annual revenue on $3.5 trillion in assets under supervision.
The firm invests in private credit via its Asset Management division. Its private credit strategies focus on providing customized financing solutions, including direct lending, mezzanine debt, and special situations. This portfolio now stands at $130 billion.
All of Goldman's investment products, including its private credit funds, are only available to institutional investors and Goldman's ultra-high-net-worth clients.
However, if you have several million dollars, you may be able to access its private credit deals via one of the firm's financial advisors.
9. Oaktree Capital Management
- Private credit AUM: $129 billion
- Total AUM: $223 billion
- Headquarters: Los Angeles
Oaktree Capital Management is another global investment firm specializing in credit, particularly distressed debt and opportunistic strategies which make up almost half of its invested assets.
The Oaktree Strategic Credit Fund is its flagship private credit portfolio. Its Class I shares have generated a total return of 9.44% since inception.
10. Brookfield Asset Management
- Private credit AUM: $124 billion
- Total AUM: $1+ trillion
- Headquarters: New York
Brookfield Asset Management (BAM), a subsidiary of Toronto-based Brookfield Corporation (BN), is a global alternative asset manager focused on real assets, infrastructure, renewable power, and credit.
Brookfield's credit business includes private credit, real estate debt, and insurance solutions, and is one of its fastest growing segments.
About the list
Although Europe has expanded its footprint, the U.S. still dominates the space, and is home to 17 of the 20 largest private credit managers by AUM.
You may also notice that most of the top private credit managers have roots in private equity. All four of the largest publicly-traded private equity firms — Blackstone (BX), KKR (KKR), The Carlyle Group (CG), and Apollo (APO) — appear in the top 10 of this list.
More about private credit
What is a private credit fund?
A private credit fund is an investment vehicle offered by a fund manager, which raises capital from investors and invests that money into a portfolio of private credit deals.
The fund manager collects a management fee for their work, while investors benefit from having a professional perform the due diligence and make investments on their behalf.
What are the different types of private credit?
Private credit encompasses a broad category of non-publicly traded debt and credit instruments.
A few of the most common are:
- Direct lending: Direct lending occurs when private credit funds extend loans directly to businesses or borrowers. Direct lending accounts for 31.8% of all private credit capital.
- Distressed debt: Distressed debt involves investing in the debt of financially troubled companies.
- Mezzanine financing: A hybrid of debt and equity, often used in private equity deals.
- Structured credit: Bundled and securitized credit assets, including collateralized loan obligations.
- Venture debt: Debt extended to early-stage, venture-backed startups.
Here's a breakdown of the global private debt market by strategy, which shows the split between direct lending, distressed debt, and other approaches:
Source: Irish Funds / Preqin
Why invest in private credit?
Private credit is a popular investment for several reasons, primarily:
- Relatively high risk-adjusted returns: As you can see in the chart below, private credit has generated annualized returns of almost 10%, with minimal volatility.
- Portfolio diversification: Private credit's nearly double-digit returns, consistent income, and low volatility add stability to almost any portfolio.
- Floating interest rates: While private credit is fairly illiquid, most offerings last from between nine months to five years, and have floating interest rates.
Here's a look at private credit's annualized returns and volatility compared to traditional fixed income:
Source: Golub Capital
Plus, the historical default rate of private credit assets is around 2%, lower than the 3.6% default rates in the high-yield bond market.
How can you invest in private credit?
Unfortunately, the vast majority of private credit funds are only available to institutional investors and ultra-high-net-worth individual ($30+ million in investable assets).
That said, there are two publicly-available private credit funds that any retail investor can own: Morgan Stanley's MSDL and New Mountain Capital's NMFC.
Additionally, accredited investors can invest in individual private credit deals on Percent, an investment platform specializing in private credit.
