Retail investors in private credit

Key takeaways

• Private credit is poised for wider participation from retail investors through the rapid growth of business development companies and, more recently, private credit exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
• ETFs may introduce price signals that make the opaque private credit market more transparent, especially during downturns when discounts to net asset value could be large and persistent.
• The rise of retail investment vehicles may also give impetus to the creation of secondary markets for currently illiquid private loans, which could erode the benefits of private credit as an asset class.