Some private credit funds trade on the stock market

Retail investors cannot directly invest in private credit funds—but other financial vehicles can offer exposure to the industry

For example, as some US regulations have loosened in recent years, retail investors have begun to get exposure to the private credit market via ETFs that invest in publicly traded financial vehicles with private credit exposure, such as BDCs.

Private credit is a nonbank loan made directly to a business

Similar to private equity, private credit is part of the private markets world. Both strategies offer illiquid, privately negotiated investments for privately held companies. Unlike private equity investors, however, private credit investors typically do not take ownership stakes in the companies they invest in.

Apollo Global Management and Blackstone are among the world's top 20 private credit fund managers

While Blackstone is the world's largest alternative asset manager, Apollo Global Management is a large private equity firm. Apollo had $480B in private credit assets under management as of January 2025.

Companies sometimes issue corporate bonds to raise capital

These bonds offer investors regular interest payments in addition to the return of the principal amount at maturity. They allow companies to raise capital without losing ownership.

Companies often use different share classes, like Class A or Class B, to structure ownership

Share classes refer to specific types of company stock that are distinguished by the rights they grant, such as voting power and dividend access.

'Payment in kind' is a compensation method that uses alternatives to cash

Companies can make payments using goods, services, or additional securities instead of cash, helping companies preserve their cash flow. Public BDCs receive roughly 8% of their investment income via PIK.

Special-purpose acquisition companies let companies skirt the IPO process

A video explains how private companies have taken advantage of this loophole, why investing in these companies isn’t always a good idea, and how blank-check companies (as they’re commonly called) work.

A direct listing is when a company goes public, listing shares on a stock exchange

A direct listing is when a company goes public, listing its shares on a stock exchange, rather than issuing new shares or raising capital. That means investment banks—traditionally serving as intermediaries—could lose out on some of the profits from these deals as more companies like Spotify opt for direct listings.

The number of publicly traded companies has decreased in recent years

In 1996, more than 7,300 companies traded publicly on US stock markets, but that number has recently dropped to 4,300. Economists point to two reasons: First, going public requires full disclosure of operations, exposing it to scrutiny from investors, competitors, and analysts. Second, the IPO process is expensive and time-consuming.

The world's 50 most valuable private companies

While public companies typically have the highest valuations, private companies get close. This list breaks down the top 50 as of 2025, with SpaceX at the top with a value of $350B, followed by ByteDance. Over three-fifths of the list are located in the US, with eight in China.

When compared to stocks and bonds, alternative investments are often less regulated

Alternative investments are also often less liquid than traditional investments; they carry unique risk, return, and tax considerations.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

Mutual funds are categorized as stock, bond, money market, and target-date funds

Each category has even more varieties of funds to choose from, but the biggest differences between these groups are the types of securities they invest in, their risks, returns, and entrance requirements.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Stock buybacks are when a company purchases some of its own shares of stock

This reduces the number of shares on the market and, therefore, makes the remaining shares more valuable. Buybacks have received a lot of criticism in recent years for many reasons, such as how they could artificially inflate share prices.

40 key stock market terms, explained

Liquidity. Forex. Capitalization. Blue chip stocks. These are just a few pieces of stock market vocabulary most people who don't spend all day on a trading floor might not know. Thankfully, we found a fun infographic that makes it easier to learn what 40 key stock market terms mean and why each of them matters.

What are business credit scores?

Businesses have credit scores the same way individuals do—with a few key differences. For one thing, business credit scores range from 0 to 100 instead of 300 to 850, and are based on factors such as bankruptcy and bill-paying habits.

The 'Two and Twenty' structure allows hedge funds and private equity firms to earn significant returns

With this structure, firms charge limited partners or "LPs" a 2% management fee for overseeing the fund (assets under management or AUM) and take 20% of the fund's overall profits (carried interest). Many private credit funds also operate under this structure.

Venture capital is a form of funding provided to early-stage companies with high growth potential, typically in exchange for an equity (or ownership) stake

Insider trading is the practice of trading a company's securities based on material, nonpublic information

"Material, nonpublic" information is essentially any undisclosed information that could have a substantial impact on an investor's decision to trade a security. While the practice is strictly prohibited on the stock market, it's now being discussed regarding less-regulated but increasingly popular prediction markets.

AB InBev’s stock ticker is ‘BUD’ in honor of Budweiser

Short for Budweiser, AB InBev had a market cap of roughly $130B in early 2026. See how its stock is performing on any given day here.

Venture capital is a type of financing that firms and funds use to invest in startups they believe have the potential for long-term growth

Household name companies such as Airbnb and Uber might not exist without venture capital, which is commonly referred to as "VC" for short.

Listen to a 2026 interview where Bumble's CEO said its stock is down 96% since its IPO 'for no reason'

CEO and Founder Whitney Wolfe Herd said the company is still performing very well. She added that the business makes $1B per year and referred to it as profitable. She went on to say "who knows what people trade stock on?" and that she believes the stock market has written Bumble off as if it were debt

The national debt consists of public debt and intragovernmental debt

The national debt consists of money owed to private investors who have purchased Treasury securities and money owed by one sector of the government to another. They’re respectively called public debt and intragovernmental debt.

Biotech ETFs allow investors to gain exposure to multiple promising companies in the industry

Biotech ETFs offer a diversified alternative to purchasing an individual biotech stock and gambling on whether an individual company’s clinical trial yields the next blockbuster cancer treatment or an absolute flop. This list of the top biotech ETFs in 2025 can help you learn more about them.

China operates multiple different sovereign wealth funds, primarily backed by profits from a trade surplus

Unlike other countries that primarily use profits from natural resources, China's sovereign wealth funds are fueled by the country's mounting trade surplus. Among the two largest are the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) fund and the Chinese Investment Corporation (CIC). China also operates the Silk Road Fund, a strategic investment initiative that backs infrastructure creation in developing countries.

The world’s first publicly traded company was the United East India Co.

In an effort to best Spain and gain access to valuable trade in Asia, the Dutch Republic launched the VOC, or the United East India Co. The company held an initial public offering in 1602, allowing “subscribers” to choose how much they wanted to invest in the new venture. It was open to all residents of the republic, making this the first opportunity for retail investors in the world.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

What happens when a hedge fund grows too big, too fast?

Dmitry Balyasny, who heads what has become one of the top US hedge fund firms, got a crash course in finance as a teenager, when he started trading stocks—and started losing money. Balyasny went on to lose a whole lot more money. But, this time, it wasn’t his to lose. To find out more about his firm’s remarkable comeback, read this article.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Ebola species have historically been named after where they were discovered, stigmatizing residents who live there, including Bundibugyo, in Uganda.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Corals are themselves not coral reefs—the term refers to the tiny marine invertebrates that build the rigid reef.

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.