This shift reflects deeper structural changes. Over the past 25 years, corporate lending has steadily migrated from banks to nonbank and private lenders. Regulatory reform and capital constraints have acceler- ated this trend, fuelling innovation across public and private credit structures.

To thrive in this new architecture, credit market participants must move beyond historical silos and embrace the full opportunity set with an integrated, agile approach.

Embracing public and private

Nuveen’s latest EQuilibrium survey shows that 94 per cent of institutional investors globally now hold private credit in their portfolios. This marks a significant jump over the last five years. At the same time, investors are re-engaging with public fixed-income markets with the recent rise in yields.

Almost half of investors surveyed by Nuveen indicated plans to increase allocations to public fixed income. Institutional investors are once again seeing opportunities in traditional bonds, with the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Index ending Q1 2025 at 4.6 per cent – approaching double its 2010-2019 average of 2.5 per cent. Investors who previously relied on private credit for yield now recognize that public markets can also generate robust income, with the added benefits of liquidity and transparency.

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