(El Mundo Madrid, Laura de la Quintana Madrid, March 16, 2026)
Investors are fleeing en masse from private equity and private debt funds managed by giants such as Blackstone, KKR, Apollo, and Blue Owl, causing stock market drops of up to 40% and redemption restrictions to avoid a run on withdrawals.
The main fear is the risk of failure of the small and medium-sized enterprises financed, often with inflated valuations and vulnerable to the impact of artificial intelligence, especially in the software sector which represents one fifth of the holdings.
The private debt market, valued at over 13 trillion euros globally, hides low-quality credits such as CLOs and junk bonds (16% according to S&P), with the ECB warning of possible systemic contagion despite limited European exposure.
The flight from illiquid investments
“There is fear that the companies financed by these management firms, which are usually developing SMEs, have a higher risk of failure or at least present somewhat inflated valuations considering the impact that artificial intelligence could have on the accounts of companies linked to sectors such as software.”
The stock market crash of large management companies
“In just the last month, stock market losses for large private capital management companies exceed 15% and reach up to 30% in the case of Blue Owl or Ares Capital […] They accumulate joint losses close to 150 billion dollars on the stock market among the four largest private capital management companies.”
The hidden risk in CLOs and junk bonds
“Jamie Dimon believes there are some ‘cucarachas,’ or low-quality credit, hidden in these portfolios […] S&P estimates that 16% of the debt of these companies is considered junk bonds, with a higher risk of default.”
The ECB’s warning on systemic contagion
“Banks provide liquidity to other institutions that may even be outside the regulatory perimeter […] any market shock can be transmitted or amplified throughout the entire financial system.”
The elephant in the room at the White House
“The big elephant in the Oval Office at the White House is not Iran, but rather the private funds managing assets valued at over 13 trillion euros where a real investor flight is taking place.”
(Excerpt from the newsletter by Giuseppe Liturri)
