BlackRock has limited withdrawals from its $26bn HPS Corporate Lending Fund after an increase in redemption requests, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The non-traded business development company received requests to redeem 9.3% of its shares but restricted repurchases to 5%, according to a statement on Friday. Based on year-end figures, investors will receive about $620m rather than the roughly $1.2bn that would have been redeemed if all requests had been met.
BlackRock said the liquidity management mechanism is a “foundational” feature of the retail-focused direct lending vehicle, known as HLEND, helping align investor redemption terms with the longer duration of the underlying private credit loans. Without such limits, the firm said, a structural mismatch could emerge between investor capital and the portfolio’s investment horizon.
A separate $2.2bn BlackRock private credit fund said investors requested redemptions equivalent to 4.5% of shares at year-end, which the fund will fully meet.
Other managers have taken different approaches to rising redemption pressure. Earlier this week, Blackstone fulfilled requests to tender a record 7.9% of shares in its flagship private credit fund, partly by having the firm and employees purchase shares to offset withdrawals. Meanwhile, Blue Owl Capital allowed investors in a technology-focused credit fund to redeem about $527m, or roughly 15% of net assets.
