Deteriorating credit quality and rising defaults have been cited as the greatest risk to the private credit market in 2026 by fund managers.

Responding to a survey by S&P Global Market Intelligence, 53 per cent of GPs sid they thought this was the biggest risk to the private credit sector this year.

S&P’s 2026 Private Equity and Venture Capital Outlooka also revealed that fund managers are doubling down on value creation through operational improvements as they navigate economic uncertainty.

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“GPs are shifting their approach to value creation, with operational improvements now ranking as the top priority,” said Kevin Zacharuk, head of private equity, data & research at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

“However, our research reveals that many firms are constrained by fragmented data and limited visibility into the metrics that matter most for driving portfolio company performance.”

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