WSJ says Stepstone markups fuel valuation fears as investors exit private credit

Investors in private-credit funds keep heading for the exits, partly driven by worries that the underlying assets might be overvalued, The Wall Street Journal’s Jonathan Weil writes. While private-equity funds haven’t undergone a similar flight, their own valuation issues are comparable and often more extreme. Questions also persist about the valuations in those funds, even if they haven’t become as acute as those facing private credit. The author highlights that on Dec. 31, 2025, StepStone Private Markets booked a 15% gain on 34 investments it had just bought for about $164M, instantly boosting performance. The biggest jump came from marking up a stake in Odyssey Investment Partners Fund VI by 34%. Such markups are common in secondary-market fund purchases and can reflect discounts to official NAVs, but they also challenge the idea that an asset is only worth what a buyer will actually pay, the report adds.