Pantheon and Coller Capital are leading a rising wave of private credit secondary activity, as market volatility prompts institutional investors to seek faster liquidity.

Pantheon has raised $5.2bn for a new fund dedicated to acquiring private credit positions, marking one of the largest capital raises in the sector to date. Rakesh Jain, global head of private credit at Pantheon, described current secondary market conditions as “among the most robust we have seen”.

This follows a $1.6bn portfolio acquisition by Coller Capital from U.S. insurer American National, focused on senior direct lending assets.

The shift comes as hedge funds and institutional investors adjust portfolios under pressure from President Trump’s trade war policies and subsequent market selloffs. Industry executives say the hunt for liquidity is intensifying, as many investors grow wary of high private market exposure amidst declining public valuations.

“We are hearing more and more from people seeking liquidity,” said Greg Ciesielski of HarbourVest. He added that the present moment marks “a real inflection point” for private credit secondaries.

Private credit, now a $1.5tn asset class led by Apollo, Ares, and KKR, has traditionally seen less than 1% of assets traded on the secondary market—far below the 2–3% seen in private equity. That balance may be shifting as investors confront what Fitch Ratings has called a liquidity squeeze, exacerbated by the “denominator effect”.

Unlike during the 2020 COVID-19 panic, when discounts hit 30–35%, recent private credit offers are being marked at roughly 95 cents on the dollar. According to Pemberton’s Symon Drake-Brockman, the current environment presents “an opportunity to pick up quality credit at a discount to par”.

While distressed selling remains limited, fund managers report an uptick in activity, especially from endowment funds typically reluctant to exit private positions. Secondary deal volumes, which reached $160bn last year, are likely to rise further as exit routes via IPOs and M&A remain constrained.

Fitch Ratings’ Greg Fayvilevich noted that heightened volatility is “making it clear that liquidity is not going to come in the short term”, reinforcing secondary markets as a critical outlet for cash-strapped investors.

Source: Reuters