CASE STUDY: PRIVATE CREDIT RATING
Private Credit Interval Fund, United States
This fund received an ‘A’ issuer credit rating from S&P Global Ratings, strengthening transparency and investor understanding of credit risk. The analysis highlights its disciplined leverage, diversification, and strong cash flows, helping expand access to scalable, cost-efficient capital.
What challenges do interval funds face when fundraising capital?
Interval funds are closed-end investment vehicles that offer investors periodic liquidity through scheduled share repurchase offers instead of daily redemptions. They enable institutional investors, high-net-worth individuals, and retail investors to access less liquid asset classes, such as private credit, within a regulated structure.
A primary challenge for interval funds is the historical absence of public credit ratings, which can limit debt market access and lead to higher borrowing costs. Maintaining financial stability and clear credit communication is also critical during periods of industry-wide market volatility and redemption pressure.
The Solution
In late 2025, the fund became the first interval fund of its kind to receive an 'A' issuer credit rating, from S&P Global Ratings. The rating recognized the fund’s fundamental strengths, including conservative leverage, strong asset diversification, and the ability to generate substantial recurring cash flow from interest and principal repayments. The fund also maintains a $4.74 billion revolving credit facility to manage its operational liquidity needs
The Outcome
The public rating established a transparent, independent assessment of the fund’s credit profile, helping communicate its creditworthiness to the market. Issuer credit ratings express our opinion of an organization’s relative creditworthiness, including its capacity to meet its financial obligations as they come due. The fund’s performance in the first quarter of 2026 highlighted its disciplined approach to liquidity and credit risk management, meeting redemption requests above regulatory requirements while maintaining low leverage and limited nonaccrual exposure.
By obtaining a public credit rating, the fund has established a transparent credit profile that can improve debt market access and attract a wider range of investors, including institutional stakeholders with regulatory mandates for rated securities.
