Private Credit Has a PR Problem. Here’s How to Fix It.
Private credit is now one of the largest categories in global asset management, with estimates placing assets under management north of $2 trillion. The category has grown from a niche strategy for a handful of specialist lenders into a core allocation for pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, and retail-accessible interval funds. And yet, for a category of this size and growing public attention, private credit has one of the weakest communications infrastructures of any major asset class.
Most private credit managers are still running press strategies built for the era when the category was genuinely private — small funds, institutional-only capital, limited public scrutiny. The category has outgrown that stance. Here is the communications reset it needs.
Why the category is behind
Three historical factors created the communications gap.
Private markets, private communications. For two decades, private credit firms communicated with investors, bank partners, and borrowers — not with media. That was a rational strategy when the category was small. It is not a rational strategy when your asset class is the subject of regulatory scrutiny, public attention, and retail investor access.
Regulatory caution. Private credit sits adjacent to bank regulation, insurance regulation, and securities law. Conservative counsel has often translated to conservative external communications. The result is that most private credit managers communicate less than they should, less specifically than they should, and less proactively than they should.
Lack of category infrastructure. Private equity has PEI Media, Private Equity International, Buyouts, and a well-developed trade press ecosystem. Hedge funds have Institutional Investor, Hedge Fund Alert, and others. Private credit has a thinner trade press infrastructure — Private Debt Investor, Creditflux, LCD News — and most large private credit firms under-invest in relationships with the outlets that exist.
The four audiences that now matter
Institutional LPs. Pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, and endowments. These remain the primary audience. What has changed is that these audiences now read mainstream business press coverage of private credit, not just trade press coverage. Communications strategy has to serve both.
Regulators. The SEC, OCC, Federal Reserve, and state insurance regulators have all increased attention to private credit over the last three years. Every major private credit firm needs a regulatory communications track. Most do not have one yet.
Retail-accessible channels. BDCs, interval funds, and private credit ETFs have introduced private credit to retail investors and retail advisors. This is a new communications audience with different information needs than institutional LPs.
Business and financial press. The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg, Reuters, and Institutional Investor all now cover private credit as a major asset class. The coverage is not uniformly favorable. The firms that are communicating proactively shape the narrative. The firms that are not are watching their category get defined by their most visible peers’ worst moments.
What private credit managers should be doing
Apollo, Ares, Blackstone Credit, KKR Credit, Oaktree, Golub, Sixth Street, and the dozens of other large managers face variations on the same communications challenge. The specific prescriptions vary, but the core moves are consistent.
Build a house-view communications franchise. The largest private credit managers should be publishing regular market commentary, credit cycle analysis, and portfolio performance data. Not digital marketing content — genuine analytical content. Oaktree built much of its institutional reputation on Howard Marks’s memos. That model is underused in the category. A regular analytical voice from a respected firm leader is worth more than a dozen deal announcements.
Own the transparency narrative. Private credit has a perception problem around transparency. Managers that lead on transparency — LP reporting frequency, portfolio monitoring disclosure, default and recovery data — differentiate themselves. The managers that communicate reactively when pushed on transparency issues lose narrative ground.
Communicate on risk, not just return. The category’s coverage risk is centered on two narratives: “private credit is a shadow banking system” and “private credit funds are chasing yield in ways that will end badly.” Managers that proactively address both narratives — with specific risk management frameworks, stress test data, and portfolio composition transparency — shift their coverage environment. Managers that do not are ceding the narrative.
What BDCs and interval fund managers should be doing
The retail-accessible end of the category — public BDCs, nontraded BDCs, private credit interval funds — has different communications requirements because it has retail investors and retail investment advisors as stakeholders.
Translate institutional performance for retail audiences. BDC and interval fund communications often read as though they are written for institutional audiences. The actual audience is a mix of institutional and retail. Communications strategy that differentiates content for both audiences outperforms strategy that treats them as one.
Build a financial advisor communications track. RIAs and wirehouse advisors are the distribution channel for retail-accessible private credit. Communications materials designed specifically for financial advisors — education, market commentary, product positioning — move capital more efficiently than materials designed for end investors. Most managers underinvest in this.
Own your NAV discount narrative. Public BDCs trade at premiums and discounts to NAV for specific reasons. Managers that proactively explain the drivers of their premium or discount to investors and coverage analysts shape sentiment. Managers that wait to be asked about it have less control over the narrative.
What direct lenders to middle-market companies should be doing
The relationship side of private credit — direct lending to middle-market companies — has an underused communications opportunity. Most direct lenders communicate with borrowers and private equity sponsors but do not build a public-facing narrative around their relationship model.
Publish deal case studies. The private credit deal that helps a business through a difficult period is a story worth telling. Most direct lenders have excellent material for this and publish none of it. A regular cadence of case study content builds both borrower-side reputation and LP-side trust.
Communicate on the sponsor relationship. Private credit managers that maintain repeat relationships with PE sponsors have a differentiated communications story. The specific PE firms that partner with a direct lender repeatedly are a reputation signal. Managers that communicate these partnerships publicly shape their category position.
The takeaway
Private credit grew from niche category to systemically important asset class faster than its communications infrastructure developed. The category now sits in the mainstream business press, the regulatory agenda, and the retail investor conversation. Managers that build communications capability commensurate with their size and systemic importance will shape the narrative. Managers that continue treating communications as an institutional-investor function will find their story written by reporters who do not have their data.
Rob Ford is a Managing Partner and Executive Vice President at 5W where he leads the Corporate Communications division as well as the Crisis Communications practice and helps direct the core operations of the firm day-to-day. Rob leads a team serving clients across real estate, financial services, fintech, enterprise technology, AI, legal services, health care, and defense tech – bringing senior-level strategic thinking and hands-on campaign leadership to every engagement.
