Ares and Apollo cap private credit fund withdrawals as investor anxiety grows
Mar 24, 2026
Key Points
- Ares Management and Apollo Global Management cap private credit fund withdrawals at 5% after redemption requests nearly doubled that figure, signaling acute stress in the $1.8 trillion market.
- Shares of Ares, Apollo, Blackstone, and KKR each fell over 2% on Tuesday, erasing $10 billion in combined market value as investor anxiety accelerates.
- Both firms expect redemption pressure to persist into next quarter, while other asset managers resort to asset sales and capital injections to meet withdrawal demands.
Summary
Ares Management and Apollo Global Management have capped withdrawals from their private credit funds as investor redemption requests surge, signaling mounting stress in the $1.8 trillion private credit market.
Ares' $10 billion Strategic Income Fund limited withdrawals to 5% of shares after clients sought to redeem 11.6%. Apollo's $15.1 billion Debt Solutions fund imposed an identical 5% cap following 11.2% redemption requests. Both caps are tighter than redemption requests made earlier in the month at Blackstone and BlackRock, suggesting investor anxiety is accelerating.
Asset manager stock prices fell sharply on Tuesday. Shares of Ares, Apollo, Blackstone, and KKR each dropped more than 2%, erasing $10 billion in combined market value. Investment flows into non-traded business development companies have declined roughly 43% compared to the prior year.
Ares characterized the redemption pressure as isolated, stating that most requests came from "a limited number of family offices and smaller institutions in select geographies that represent less than 1% of our over 20,000 shareholders." The reference to select geographies likely points to Middle Eastern family offices and sovereign wealth funds, though the firm did not specify.
Ares projects granted redemptions will total roughly $524.5 million. The firm has $5 billion in undrawn capacity to cover withdrawals through debt facilities, repayments from existing investors, and a performing liquid credit sleeve. Both Ares and Apollo signaled they expect the pressure to persist and indicated they will again allow up to 5% withdrawals next quarter.
Other asset managers are responding differently. Blue Owl Capital has moved to sell assets. Blackstone injected employee cash to meet redemption requests. These moves reflect broader unease about private credit liquidity, lending practices, and exposure to businesses vulnerable to artificial intelligence disruption. BNY Mellon CEO Robin Vince suggested there is fire behind the smoke, echoing Jamie Dimon's earlier framing of investor jitters as symptomatic of real underlying risk.