What Happened
In the final months of 2025, individual investors increased redemption requests from some private-credit funds that offer periodic cash-outs. The Wall Street Journal reported that redemptions “soared” at the end of 2025 after performance weakened.
These vehicles are often described as “semi-liquid,” meaning exits are limited to scheduled windows and may be capped. A Northern Trust note dated December 2, 2025 cited XA Investments data showing semi-liquid and tender-offer fund assets of about $252 billion as of September 30, 2025.
On January 21–22, 2026, Reuters reported that Société Générale planned about 1,800 job cuts in France by the end of 2027, with reductions expected across 2026 and 2027.
On January 22, 2026, Reuters also reported that Goldman Sachs raised its end-2026 gold forecast from $4,900 to $5,400 per ounce, citing stronger private-sector demand and continued central-bank buying.
What Can Explain It
The private-credit story is easiest to read through liquidity and execution.
Liquidity is how easily something turns into cash without moving its price much. Execution is how a large sale actually gets done without taking a big discount. In a redemption window like late 2025, higher cash-out requests can make both issues visible.
Private credit is mostly loans made in negotiated deals, not traded on an exchange. Many loans trade rarely, so “price discovery” (finding a price through real trades) can be slow. When redemption requests rise in a defined period, funds may need cash and may sell loans. Those sales can create new reference prices and lead to changes in “marks” (the reported values used on statements). Marks can move in steps because the new information often arrives in bursts.
Semi-liquid rules can also make the mismatch visible. Many funds include a gate, meaning a cap on how much can be redeemed in one period. Gates are a mechanical tool for slow-to-sell assets, not proof that borrowers are defaulting. Still, during heavier redemption periods like late 2025, gates and more cautious marks can show up together.
The January 2026 job-cut and gold headlines fit a parallel “protect cash flow and hedges” frame, without claiming they drove private-credit redemptions. Reuters described Société Générale’s plan as a restructuring with cuts spread through 2026–2027. In the Reuters report on gold, Goldman linked its higher forecast to demand from private investors and central banks, framing gold as a hedge.
Why That Framing Matters
This framing separates two risks that can coexist in the same product.
Credit risk is whether borrowers can pay. Liquidity risk is whether investors can exit at a stable value when they want to. The late-2025 redemption surge highlights liquidity risk inside products that promise scheduled exits while holding assets that may not trade quickly.
Bottom Line
Late 2025 into January 2026 underscored a simple mismatch: semi-liquid wrappers can offer planned exits, but the loans underneath may be slow to sell at stable prices. When redemption requests rise, stress can surface through gates and through marks that adjust once real trades set new reference prices.
In the January 21–22, 2026 news flow, Société Générale’s job-cut plan and Goldman’s higher gold forecast added context around a broader focus on cost control, cash-flow protection, and hedging demand—even if each market has its own drivers.
