BlackRock, Blackstone and Blue Owl Tighten Withdrawals as U.S. Private Credit Funds Face Redemption Surge

BlackRock capped repurchases in its $26 billion HPS Corporate Lending Fund at 5% after shareholders sought to redeem 9.3% of outstanding shares, the Wall Street Journal reports. Blackstone's $82 billion BCRED vehicle faced record 7.9% redemption requests this quarter, exceeding its 7% legal limit and prompting employees to inject $1.5 billion to help meet demands, while Blue Owl Capital moved to sell $1.4 billion of private loans and saw its stock fall below its $10 SPAC listing price. PIMCO, which manages about $2.3 trillion in assets, warned in a recent client report that direct lending is approaching a "full credit cycle" with heightened default risk, citing looser underwriting, heavy software exposure and limited liquidity premia.