Private credit is beginning to look like the bond market

Private credit is starting to resemble the public bond market, as the rapid growth and development of the asset class blurs lines that have separated two financing channels. Once restricted to a niche corner of lending to mid-sized firms, private credit has expanded across sectors, borrower sizes and collateral types, prompting large allocators to treat it increasingly as part of the same opportunity set as high-yield bonds and leveraged loans, said experts. The private credit industry's assets under management are projected to grow to about $5 trillion by 2029, from the roughly $3 trillion at the beginning of 2025, a Morgan Stanley report showed . While that is a fraction of the overall bond market, it's similar to the size of the public high-yield debt segment, according to J.P. Morgan.