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Every day, it seems, there is news of another business development company facing soaring redemption requests.
The same goes for interval funds—similar but structurally distinct investment vehicles that are also largely backed by retail investors and extend private credit loans to small and midsize businesses.
Some argue that mounting concerns about credit quality have eroded investor confidence in these retail-focused vehicles, prompting a flight to safety. This has largely been triggered by spiking fears about the impact that AI could have on the business models of software companies, major borrowers from BDCs.
Others say that a wave of negative headlines has unnerved skittish retail investors and triggered a run on these private credit funds.
I'm Madeline Shi, and this is The Weekend Pitch. You can reach me at madeline.shi@pitchbook.com or on X @Madelin94615831.
Whatever the catalyst, this episode has brought greater scrutiny to the redemption gate that limits how much capital investors can withdraw during a set period—commonly up to 5% of the net asset value at the prior quarter.
There is nothing special about this number. The first perpetually non-traded BDC adopted the 5% threshold, and others followed suit, according to Fitch Ratings credit analyst Chelsea Richardson. Over time, the figure came to be viewed as a “Goldilocks solution."
Recent events have tested the assumptions that underpin this number. It has led to the emergence of two groups of fund managers: those sticking rigidly to the 5% limit and those disregarding it to meet rising redemption requests. |
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| A message from Oracle NetSuite |
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| Building a strong CEO-CFO relationship |
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Effective collaboration is crucial for a strong CEO-CFO partnership. CFO-to-CEO promotions have hit a 10-year high (per the AI CFO Office Substack), and as the CFO position evolves to become more strategic, the lines between the two roles are blurring.
Download this guide to learn how to strengthen CEO-CFO alignment and explore the roadmap for CFOs aspiring for the CEO seat. |
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| (Chesnot/Getty Images) |
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AI world model startup AMI Labs secured Europe's largest-ever seed round last week, with a $1.03 billion investment at a $3.5 billion valuation. The startup is led by former Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun. What does the abbreviation in AMI Labs stand for?
A) Artificial Machine Intelligence
B) Advanced Machine Intelligence
C) Artificial Model Intelligence
D) Advanced Model Intelligence
Find your answer at the bottom of The Weekend Pitch! |
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A selection from our most-read articles of the past few days.
- Cliffwater is in market with a $1 billion private credit secondary sale. It's the latest GP-led deal used to manage a portfolio in a non-traded BDC or evergreen fund—a relatively novel type of secondary transaction for the asset class. Read more
- Private credit’s boom among retail investors is being tested as redemption requests climb and new inflows reduce. Fund managers are juggling liquidity controls and potential asset sales in a delicate bid to meet withdrawals without undermining portfolio stability. Go deeper
- EBITDA addbacks are swelling PE valuations. With adjustments nearing a third of the marketed earnings in some deals, buyers are questioning how real the projected leverage and returns really are. Read more
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“We are united in the conviction that today’s frontier AI systems present risks when deployed to enable domestic mass surveillance or the operation of autonomous lethal weapons systems. Those risks require some kind of guardrails, whether via technical safeguards or usage restrictions.”
—a group of AI researchers and engineers from OpenAI and Google DeepMind in an amicus brief regarding Anthropic's lawsuit against the US government. Read more about the lawsuit and AI companies partnering with the US government here. |
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Keep an eye out for these insights and research reports coming out this week:
- 2025 Annual US PE Middle Market Report
- Q4 2025 Construction & Engineering Report
- Q4 2025 Consumer AI VC Trends
- Q1 2026 Quantitative Perspectives: Venture Capital
- Q4 2025 Advanced Computing PE and VC Trends
- H2 2025 Gaming VC Trends
- Analyst Note: Mega IPOs Could Push Out IPO Comeback
- Q4 2025 Robotics VC Trends: Launch Report
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Answer: B
Yann LeCun's world modeling startup is called Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs, or AMI Labs for short. Read more about the company's $1.03 billion seed round here. |
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This edition of The Weekend Pitch was written by Madeline Shi and Nadine Manske. It was edited by Nadine Manske.
Were you forwarded The Weekend Pitch? Sign up at pitchbook.com/subscribe. |
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