Private Credit Managers Are Gating Redemptions. Here’s What They Owe Retail Investors.
David Goldstein, Director of Product and Fund Services, STP Investment Services | Featured in FundFire | March 26, 2026
As market volatility drives a wave of redemption requests from semi-liquid alternatives vehicles, private credit and interval fund managers are facing a communication problem — not just a liquidity one. FundFire spoke with David Goldstein, Director of Product and Fund Services at STP Investment Services, about what’s driving investor anxiety and why managers entering the retail space need to rethink how they explain their products.
The Redemption Pressure Building Across Private Credit
Heightened market volatility — driven by geopolitical uncertainty, interest rate concerns, and anxiety around AI’s economic impact — has pushed investors toward liquidity. Credit interval fund and BDC managers have increasingly made headlines by prorating redemptions and imposing gates as investors rush to exit.
The result is a growing tension between how these products are structured and what retail investors expect from them.
What David Goldstein Said
David framed the redemption gate problem not just as a liquidity management issue, but as a failure of investor education from the outset. As he told FundFire:
“The wave of managers throwing up redemption gates, and limiting the amounts that can be redeemed in any given period, doesn’t sit very well with investors who want their money back.”
His second quote goes further, identifying a structural gap in how private credit products have been marketed to retail audiences:
“A typical retail investor is not going to understand private credit, and any manager who is looking to break into that space as retirement accounts are allowed to invest has got to have the resources available to explain these products to a consumer that is really only familiar with the public equities market.”
The implication is direct: the problem isn’t just that investors are nervous — it’s that many were never adequately prepared for the liquidity characteristics of the products they invested in. Redemption gates feel like a surprise because, for many retail investors, they are.
What Private Credit Managers Should Be Doing Differently
David’s comments point to a proactive investor education obligation — not just a reactive communications strategy when redemption pressure spikes. For private credit managers expanding into the retail and retirement account market, three things matter:
- Set expectations at onboarding, not at the gate. Retail investors need to understand redemption limitations, gating provisions, and liquidity constraints before they invest — not when they try to exit. The disclosure may be in the documents, but disclosure and education are not the same thing.
- Build communications infrastructure before you need it. Weekly calls, portfolio manager updates, and plain-language market explainers — the firms managing redemption pressure best had these in place before volatility hit. Reactive communication in a crisis is far less effective than established cadences investors already trust.
- Treat retail differently from institutional. Investors accustomed to public equities bring different assumptions to private credit products. Managers who understand that gap and build their client communications accordingly will have fewer redemption surprises when markets turn.
About David Goldstein
David Goldstein is Director of Product and Fund Services at STP Investment Services, where he works with alternative asset managers and private fund advisors on fund administration, investor services, and operational readiness. STP provides fund administration, compliance, and investment operations services to registered investment advisers and alternative asset managers.
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