Preqin's Performance Pulse for H2 2026, dated 4 October 2026, says private credit returned 8.3% in the 12 months to Q1 2026 but grew just 0.5% in the latest quarter, while private equity remains constrained by weak exits and slow distributions.

TL;DR

  • Private credit: 8.3% return over 12 months to Q1 2026, slowing to 0.5% between Q4 2025 and Q1 2026.
  • Infrastructure: Preqin's index returned 11.2% over the same 12 months.
  • Private equity: buyout returns held up, but Preqin calls liquidity the key constraint.

What does Preqin's Performance Pulse H2 2026 say?

Preqin, the private markets data provider, publishes the Performance Pulse as a subscriber-only report comparing each private asset class with its public market counterpart. The public summary covers data through Q1 2026. It says buyout returns have held up fairly well, venture capital performance has steadily recovered on better sentiment, exit conditions and AI-related investment, and real estate debt returned 7.2% against 5.1% for core-plus over the 12 months. Preqin says investor interest in real estate is shifting toward value-added strategies.

Is private credit slowing down?

The headline 8.3% 12-month return sits beside a 0.5% gain between Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, per Preqin's summary. A separate Alternative Credit Council (ACC) update for Q2 2026, published on 16 September 2026 using Houlihan Lokey valuation data, found 85% of loans valued above 97% of par, median borrower revenue up 6.5% and median EBITDA up 7.4%. It also found 14.1% of borrowers with interest coverage below 1.0x. ACC global head Jiri Krol said the update is not an all-clear for the sector. Our earlier coverage (https://altassetasia.com/private-credit-valuations-hold-in-q2-2026-but-small-borrowers-show-strain-what-apac-investors-should-ask/) looks at that report in more detail.

Why does private equity liquidity matter for Asian investors?

Preqin says weak exits and slower distributions are slowing the recycling of capital. For Asia-Pacific allocators, including family offices and institutions that fund new commitments from distributions, that can mean fewer funds returned to be redeployed. Preqin's public summary carries no Asia-Pacific figures, so regional investors should treat the data as a global benchmark. See also our look at rising allocations and tight cash (https://altassetasia.com/private-markets-allocations-are-rising-but-cash-is-tight-what-preqins-2026-study-means-for-apac-investors/) and how wealthy investors' average allocations are slipping (https://altassetasia.com/72-of-wealthy-investors-now-hold-private-markets-but-average-allocations-slip-to-27-barclays-survey-finds/).

What is not confirmed?

The IRR and DPI figures, asset-class detail beyond the headline returns, and any regional breakdown sit behind Preqin's paywall and were not reviewed. The data runs only to Q1 2026, so it predates the Q2 figures in the ACC update. This article is not investment advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did private credit return in the 12 months to Q1 2026?

Preqin reports 8.3%, with growth slowing to 0.5% between Q4 2025 and Q1 2026.

How did infrastructure perform?

The Preqin Infrastructure index returned 11.2% over the 12 months to Q1 2026, which Preqin describes as resilient.

Does the report cover Asia-Pacific?

The public summary does not include Asia-Pacific data. Full report contents are subscriber-only.

Sources and Method

Based on Preqin's Performance Pulse: H2 2026 summary page (4 October 2026) and the Alternative Credit Council's Q2 2026 Quarterly Market Update release (16 September 2026). Figures are attributed to those publishers and were not independently verified. Paywalled content was not accessed.