Stanger: Non-Traded BDCs Outperform Public Peers in Q3 2025
Aggregate net asset value for non-traded business development companies climbed to $127 billion in the third quarter of 2025, up more than 9% quarter-over-quarter and 45% year-over-year, according to investment banking firm Robert A. Stanger & Company Inc., underscoring the continued resilience of private credit strategies despite macroeconomic headwinds.
Over the past 12 months, fundraising reached $43.5 billion, concentrated among the top five sponsors – Blackstone, Blue Owl, Apollo, Ares, and HPS – accounting for more than 83% of total inflows.
Steady performance underscored the attraction of non-traded BDCs. The Stanger NL BDC Index gained 2.1% in Q3 and 8.6% over the past year, sharply outperforming the S&P BDC Total Return Index, which declined 5.9% in Q3 and managed only a 0.3% gain over the same 12-month period, mostly due to traded BDCs’ mean price to book value declining 7.5% year-over-year.
Over longer horizons, public BDCs outperformed non-traded BDCs, returning 56.8% total return over the trailing three years and 106.1% total return over the trailing five years, compared to 33.1% total return and 57.9% total return for the Stanger Index, respectively. Despite lower total returns, non-traded BDCs continue to demonstrate greater NAV stability and markedly lower volatility.
“The private credit market remains the most coveted strategy among private wealth investors,” said Kevin T. Gannon, chairman and chief executive officer of Stanger. “With nearly $35 billion raised year-to-date, publicly registered non-traded BDCs are providing investors access to institutional-quality credit and capturing the lion’s share of new allocations.”
“Including private-placement BDCs, total capital formation is on pace to exceed $60 billion by year-end, a clear signal that investors continue to favor flexible, income-oriented structures in today’s market,” Gannon added.
Per recent BDC-related reporting by AltsWire:
- BlackRock Private Credit Fund declared October 2025 gross distributions of $0.1966, a 0.51% decrease from September’s $0.1976. The NAV per share of each class of shares of the fund – Class S and Class D – was $24.07 as of Sept. 30, a 0.52% decrease from Aug. 31’s $24.1966.
- FS Specialty Lending Fund – previously a non-traded BDC sponsored by Future Standardand formerly known as FS Energy and Power Fund – completed its reorganization and is now a registered closed-end fund under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The converted fund continues to move forward with its previously stated goal to list on the New York Stock Exchange and has updated its timeline for listing as mid-November.
- Blackstone Private Credit Fund, also known as BCRED, reported a NAV per share of $24.97 as of Sept. 30, reflecting a 0.48% decline from the $25.09 recorded at the end of August. BCRED’s board previously declared its regular cash distributions for the month of October 2025, set at $0.20 per share, down from September’s $0.22.
Robert A. Stanger & Company, founded in 1978, is an investment banking firm specializing in providing investment banking, financial advisory, fairness opinion and asset and securities valuation services to partnerships, real estate investment trusts, and real estate advisory and management companies in support of strategic planning and execution, capital formation and financings, mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations, and consolidations.
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