Credit Fundraising Falls 40% Through June as Hard Assets Gain 31%
Alternative investment fundraising totaled $89.7 billion through June 2026, down 11% from $101 billion in the same period of 2025. The decline, tracked by Robert A. Stanger & Co., was concentrated in credit strategies, where fundraising fell 40% to $32.4 billion. Excluding credit, fundraising increased 22% year-over-year to $57.4 billion, Stanger said.
First-half data extends a broader shift in capital formation. Hard assets with low obsolescence, or HALO strategies – consisting of real estate and infrastructure – raised $28.2 billion through June, up 31% from the first half of 2025, Stanger said. Infrastructure fundraising drove much of that growth, increasing 62% year-over-year, while real estate fundraising rose 9%.
“The first half of 2026 makes clear that investors are reallocating within alternatives rather than retreating from them,” said Kevin T. Gannon, chairman and chief executive officer of Stanger. “Credit fundraising declined sharply, while hard asset and other non-credit strategies continued to attract capital. Investors are becoming more selective about where they want exposure, and the data increasingly favors strategies supported by durable, long-term demand.”
Year-to-date 2026 gross fundraising by investment strategy, compared with the same period in 2025, is summarized in the following Stanger table.
The rotation accelerated in the second quarter. HALO strategies raised $15 billion in Q2 2026, up 42% from Q2 2025, while credit strategies raised $12.2 billion in the second quarter, down 54% from the same period last year.
It was the first quarter since Q1 2023 that hard asset fundraising exceeded credit fundraising, ending a 12-quarter stretch in which credit led every period. Business development company fundraising accounted for much of the credit decline. Combined publicly registered and private placement BDC fundraising totaled $4.8 billion in Q2 2026, down 69% from Q2 2025.
The second quarter also marked a broader shift in product structure. Stanger said private placement vehicles raised $20.9 billion in Q2, exceeding the $19.6 billion raised by public programs and accounting for 52% of total fundraising, up from 39% in Q2 2025. It was the first quarter in Stanger’s data set in which private placements exceeded public programs. The shift reflected a 6% increase in private placement fundraising alongside a sharper 36% decline in public programs.
“The second quarter made the rotation visible in both strategy and structure,” Gannon added. “Investors are changing not only what they are funding, but how they are accessing alternative investments. The question for the second half is whether credit fundraising stabilizes or the rotation accelerates.”
Year-to-date gross fundraising by product category through June 2026, compared with prior years, is summarized in the following table.
The top 20 sponsors by year-to-date gross fundraising are as follows: Blackstone, Ares Management Corporation, KKR & Co., StepStone Private Wealth, and Cliffwater.
Founded in 1978, Robert A. Stanger & Co. is an investment banking firm providing advisory, valuation, and capital markets services to real estate investment trusts, partnerships, and related entities.
Visit the AltsWire directory page.
