Private debt began as a niche financing approach, but has ballooned into a $2 trillion industry over the past 15 years, funding everything from local home-repair shops to AI data centers.

Regulators and investors are taking note. Earlier this year, private debt evergreen funds that give retail investors a flexible way to back private companies made headlines for limiting withdrawals. And the Federal Reserve has cited increased pressure on the industry’s private credit segment as a risk that could “result in a tightening of credit conditions that could spill over into broader credit markets.” READ MORE