Partners Group backs gating as private credit redemptions test liquidity

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Partners Group, one of the largest players in the private capital industry, has warned it will impose limits on investor withdrawals if redemptions rise sharply, as private market retail funds come under increasing strain.

Steffen Meister, executive chair of the $185bn alternative asset manager, said the group had not yet needed to restrict withdrawals but would do so if outflows exceeded certain thresholds.

“If we see redemptions in these amounts above the gates, we will gate,” he told the FT.

Partners Group on Friday issued a first-quarter trading update after markets closed in Europe, which it said was intended to “offer transparency” for investors against a “complex” market backdrop. Partners Group’s shares have shed about 17 per cent since the start of the year.

The Swiss-listed asset manager invests across private equity, debt, infrastructure and real estate, and reported $8.3bn in new client demand in the first three months of the year.

That was equivalent to about $33bn on an annualised basis and at the upper end of its full-year guidance of $26bn to $32bn, Partners said on Friday.

Wealthy investors sought to withdraw more than $20bn from private credit funds in the wider sector during the quarter. The flood of redemptions hit firms including Apollo Global Management, Ares Management, Blackstone, Blue Owl and KKR.

This has prompted some large managers to activate so-called gating mechanisms that cap investor redemptions. Such moves have unsettled some investors, but others argue that the caps protect investors choosing to remain in the funds and prevent any fire sale of assets.

Meister defended the practice and said the use of gates by rivals was “absolutely” the right decision to protect long-term investors in inherently illiquid assets.

However, Partners Group also took a more cautious approach to dealmaking, investing $2.8bn in the quarter while returning $5.7bn to clients through asset sales. Meister said the group had been “more careful” on investments given elevated volatility and pricing concerns.

Partners Group declined to disclose detailed investment flows for its evergreen funds but said net flows in the firm’s flagship US evergreen private equity fund were broadly similar to late 2025.

The fund entered net redemptions for the first time last year and withdrawal requests reached $750mn in the third quarter, double the same period the year before.

Meister said a “herd mentality” had emerged among investors across the wider industry, with more established funds likely to see further withdrawals. Older funds made their investments at a time when credit conditions were easier and valuations higher.

He characterised the current position for private credit as a “managed outflow environment” driven partly by investors rotating away from the asset class as returns moderated, rather than a broader liquidity crisis.