THE APEX TIMES
In a 2026 Global Alternatives Survey, limited partners cited rising defaults as the biggest risk to their private credit portfolios, underscoring how credit stress is reshaping sentiment across private markets.
Private credit investors are increasingly focused on the possibility of rising defaults, according to a 2026 survey by Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
The survey, released in the context of Goldman’s annual alternatives research, found that 53% of limited partners (LPs) identified rising defaults as the biggest risk to their private credit portfolios this year. LPs are the investors in private funds, typically institutions or high-net-worth investors, that commit capital to managers who then deploy it into loans and other private credit strategies.
Another 19% of respondents pointed to a different concern related to private credit conditions, though the report as described in the published market coverage did not specify the second risk in the available text.
The survey results come as private credit markets continue to draw capital from investors looking for yield outside traditional public bond markets. Private credit generally refers to loans provided by non-bank lenders, often to companies that either cannot access public debt markets at favorable terms or prefer private financing structures.
For Goldman, the survey also reflects the broader challenge facing the asset class: even when default rates remain contained, investors often adjust their expectations for credit performance, deal selection, and the pricing of risk. In practice, LP concerns about defaults can translate into tighter underwriting standards, more scrutiny of borrower covenants and collateral, and a heightened focus on how managers handle stressed situations.
A separate nuance is that private credit performance is typically evaluated over longer horizons than public markets, and disclosure of granular portfolio stress is often limited compared with registered public securities. The cited market report does not lay out additional detail on which loan segments or geographies drove the concerns, nor does it provide a breakdown by region, credit strategy type, or manager characteristics.
For investors and fund managers, the key question going forward is whether the risk perception captured by the survey turns into more concrete portfolio actions, such as changes in target allocation, pacing of new commitments, or renegotiations of portfolio construction. The next test will be whether borrower fundamentals and recovery outcomes align with the concerns LPs expressed this year.
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