Evergreen Fund AUM Tops $534.6B in 2025 with BDCs Leading 31.2% Growth
Evergreen funds reached $534.6 billion in AUM by end-2025, up over 25% year-over-year with 98 new launches. BDCs led growth at 31.2% to $192.8 billion while direct lending topped strategy AUM at $236.7 billion and alternative credit funds added $50 billion.
1. Overall AUM Growth
Industry data indicates that by year-end 2025 evergreen fund structures held $534.6 billion in assets under management, reflecting a year-over-year increase of more than 25% driven by 98 new fund launches.
2. Segment-Level AUM Trends
Business development companies saw the largest segment rise of 31.2% to $192.8 billion, while non-traded REITs recorded the slowest gain of 3.0% to $92.8 billion; direct lending funds led by strategy with $236.7 billion, and alternative credit funds added $50 billion, nearing private equity’s $57.2 billion.
3. Redemption Pressures Intensify
Investors submitted redemption requests exceeding typical quarterly liquidity caps of 5% of NAV across private credit-focused evergreen vehicles, with BDC-linked funds experiencing the sharpest outflows and a prominent BDC income ETF losing 15% of its value in the first two months of the year.
4. Robust 2025 Fund Returns
Despite redemption pressures and economic uncertainty, evergreen funds delivered a net total return of 7.8% for 2025 and 7.2% since inception in 2014, with real estate strategies returning 5.5% and private multi-asset funds leading at 12.3%.