Shares of Block (SQ) and Affirm (AFRM) fell by as much as 1% in midday trading after word circulated that a private-credit vehicle concentrated in consumer loans had seen unusually large redemption requests and restricted the amount it would return to investors.
The fund manager informed investors in its Alternative Lending Risk Premium Fund that recent redemption requests were so large that it would honor only 11% of the amounts investors sought to withdraw, according to an investor update reviewed by market participants. The firm made that disclosure to clients last week.
Known by its ticker LENDX, the fund purchases whole loans and securities backed by loans originated by fintech lenders. Its portfolio includes buy-now-pay-later loans from Affirm, personal loans from LendingClub (LC) and Upstart (UPST), and merchant loans offered by payments providers such as Block and Stripe to sellers using their platforms.
At the end of November the fund reported $2.4 billion in total assets and $1.6 billion in net assets. The vehicle is structured as an interval fund, which obliges it to offer to repurchase at least 5% of outstanding shares every quarter. In February the manager proposed to repurchase up to 7% of outstanding shares, with an additional option to buy back 2% more if the initial offer was oversubscribed.
The manager's client update did not state what share of overall LENDX holdings investors sought to redeem. That omission leaves the exact scale of investor demand unclear beyond the disclosed decision to limit repurchases to a portion of requested amounts.
Observers note that this episode highlights investor unease in private-credit strategies tied to consumer lending. The development broadens concerns about the health of parts of the private-credit market beyond funds focused on corporate borrowers and sectors targeted by rapid technological shifts. Unlike some private-credit strategies that recently experienced outflows and held loans to software makers or other corporate sectors, this particular fund's portfolio did not include loans to software companies or similar corporate borrowers.
Summary: An interval fund specializing in fintech consumer loans limited redemptions to 11% of requested amounts after elevated withdrawal demands, a move that coincided with intraday declines in shares of Block and Affirm. LENDX holds BNPL and personal loans tied to multiple fintech lenders and reported $2.4 billion in total assets as of late November.