Partners Group suffers surge in withdrawal requests and braces to cap more funds

Partners Group warned that its flagship private equity fund had been hit by a flurry of requests from wealthy investors, raising concerns the Swiss firm would have to cap withdrawals, a day after doing so on a major European fund.

Redemption requests at its $16bn private equity master fund reached roughly six per cent of its net asset value, the firm said on Thursday, breaching the five per cent threshold that enables it to restrict withdrawals.

The possibility of the Swiss firm capping withdrawals, suggests that the pressures private credit funds have faced over the past year is now creeping into private equity, marking a potential end to its ability to dodge investors fears.

Private credit woes seeping in

Similar to private credit, private equity funds have also turned to wealthy retail investors to boost growth, and courting them often comes with the promise of regular withdrawals.

Partners Group said that the “volatility” that has harmed private credit funds had “spilled over to private equity”, as it informed investors that it was prepared to cap more funds if needed.

The group said: “The firm is prepared to enact the respective liquidity limitation mechanism across other funds.”

Private credit funds scrambled to restrict withdrawals after investors became spooked by writedowns at some of the largest funds alongside fears that the software and technology firms that make up a significant portion of the industry’s loans portfolio could be damaged by the rise of AI.

Earlier this year, Blackrock limited withdrawals from its flagship $26bn debt fund while Blue Owl, JP Morgan and Clearwater also found themselves rocked by the crisis.

Plummeting share price

The warning from the group, which manages $185bn in assets, follows its decision to limit redemptions from its $8.6bn flagship European private equity fund.

The decision sent the group’s share price plummeting 16 per cent during Wednesday trading, with the group’s share price down 31.5 per cent since January.

But the Swiss group said that it expects strong fundraising this year and forecasts inflows across its private wealth platform will exceed outflows in the first half of 2026.

But it warned that redemption activity could reduce overall assets under management growth in the second half of the year and continuing into 2027.