Johnathan Rickman | Blue Vault
Public and private fundraising for nontraded business development companies (BDCs) fell slightly in the fourth quarter of 2025, but the credit-focused industry ended the year with strong average rates of total return and distribution.
Credit-focused funds are a group that consists of nontraded BDCs, credit-focused interval funds, and credit-focused tender offer funds. Based on Blue Vault’s Q4 2025 research and most-recent filings, all private credit offerings covered by Blue Vault are paying an average 9.15% distribution rate.
Yet, the fourth-quarter results come amid palpable upheaval in the private credit space following recent high-profile bankruptcies and concerns about the business impacts of AI. Some investors have begun to back out of private credit amid a slow trickle of troubling headlines and news stories.
But what does the data say about nontraded BDC performance? Let’s take a closer look at the research, based on findings from Blue Vault’s Q4 2025 Nontraded BDC Industry Review and new, searchable research portal.
Capital Raise
As of December 31, 2025, Blue Vault tracks 22 open and 2 closed, publicly offered, nontraded BDCs.
Public capital raise for the nontraded BDC industry fell in Q4 2025, generating an estimated $8.0 billion, including DRIP proceeds, compared to $10.1 billion in Q3. That’s also lower than 2025’s second-quarter results of $9.6 billion.
Nontraded BDC Public Capital Raise by Quarter (in $ Millions)*
*As of December 31, 2025
Private fundraising also fell in the fourth quarter, generating an estimated $2.9 billion compared to $3.4 billion in Q3 2025.
The biggest fundraiser, Blackstone Private Credit Fund, has generated approximately $36.1 billion in its public offering since being introduced in 2021, including $2.1 billion in the fourth quarter. The two nontraded BDCs sponsored by Blue Owl — Blue Owl Credit Income Corp. and Blue Owl Technology Income Corp. — have together raised an estimated $23.4 billion in their public offerings since inception, including $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter.
Asset Levels
The nontraded BDC industry now has $247.0 billion in assets under management, up from $229.6 billion in AUM as of September 30, 2025, and up from $178.4 billion at year-end 2024.
Nontraded BDC Total Industry Assets (in $ Millions)*
*As of December 31, 2025
Not only is Blackstone the industry’s top fundraiser, but it has grown into a leading global investment manager with $1.3 trillion in AUM as of December 31, 2025. It’s nontraded BDC, Blackstone Private Credit Fund, reported $86.0 billion in AUM as of the same date—more than double that of both Blue Owl Credit Income Corp., which reported $37.0 billion in assets, and Apollo Debt Solutions BDC, which reported $25.9 billion in assets in Q4 2025.
Total Return and Distribution
Of all 22 open nontraded BDCs tracked by Blue Vault, 10 reported distributions exceeding the average of 9.15%. Of those, three fully covered their quarterly distributions with net investment income. All BDCs also have an average 7.16% one-year total return. That figure jumps to 8.12% when only looking at open offerings.
The three offerings with the highest 2025 distribution yield (I shares) are as follows:
- PGIM Private Credit Fund: 11.58%
- Kennedy Lewis Capital Company: 10.78%
- First Eagle Private Credit Fund: 10.40%
Double Down on Due Diligence with Blue Vault
Learn about Blue Vault membership and how our performance data can help protect your clients, and as such, your advisory practice. Our research includes historical and current data on nontraded REITs, nontraded BDCs, interval funds, tender offer funds, and preferred share stock. Our coverage also includes capital market overviews, financing outlooks, individual performance profiles, and updates on product launches and full-cycle events.
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