Credit Where It’s Due: The Persistent Rise of Private Credit

Private credit has been called a bubble, a black box, and the next 2008. It has also quietly become a core holding on some of the largest institutional balance sheets in the country. The headlines are loud and contradictory, but the data tells a story of continued growth.

In this report, the first of its kind, Clearwater presents a view grounded entirely in proprietary data and leverages our platform of over 1,000 institutional clients and $10 trillion in assets. We trace where private credit sits inside portfolios, how it has contributed to (or detracted from) returns, and whether systemic macroeconomic fears hold up under scrutiny.

What you’ll find inside:

• Why private credit is no longer a niche allocation and how the median insurer on our platform grew holdings ~110% since 2021
• How exposure differs sharply by investor type: insurers have leaned into privately placed bonds and direct loans, while private wealth exposure sits almost entirely in funds
• What private credit has actually contributed to returns across insurers, corporates, and private wealth — and which instruments did the heavy lifting
• A clear-eyed assessment of systemic risk: why the transmission mechanisms of 2008 are largely absent, and where the genuine pain points remain

About our data

This report draws on holdings and transaction data from institutional investors across the Clearwater platform — insurers, corporates, asset managers, and private wealth. The data is cleaned, anonymized, and aggregated in line with industry best practices and our legal obligations. While every portfolio is unique, the collective patterns offer a rare, real-time view into how institutions are positioning amid a fast-moving market. This report is a follow-up to our fall 2025 alternatives report, Are “alternatives” still alternative?