Liquidity in Public and Private Credit Converging

Apollo Chief Economist

The total amount of corporate bonds outstanding is now over $10 trillion, and the primary dealer inventory of corporate bonds is $33 billion, see chart below.

This is not a liquid market. When credit markets are quiet and calm, it gives the impression that liquidity is fine, but if many holders of credit suddenly want to sell, liquidity will disappear. Even in quiet markets, finding a bond can take several days.

With more evergreen funds with monthly and quarterly liquidity in private credit, the reality is that the liquidity situation in public and private credit is converging, and in some cases, if you want to buy or sell a big amount of public credit without moving the price, private credit may be more liquid.

Liquidity is very thin in corporate bond markets
Source: FRBNY, Haver Analytics, ICE BofA, Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist

Download high-res chart(s)


This presentation may not be distributed, transmitted or otherwise communicated to others in whole or in part without the express consent of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, “Apollo”).  

Apollo makes no representation or warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the accuracy, reasonableness, or completeness of any of the statements made during this presentation, including, but not limited to, statements obtained from third parties. Opinions, estimates and projections constitute the current judgment of the speaker as of the date indicated. They do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Apollo and are subject to change at any time without notice. Apollo does not have any responsibility to update this presentation to account for such changes. There can be no assurance that any trends discussed during this presentation will continue.   

Statements made throughout this presentation are not intended to provide, and should not be relied upon for, accounting, legal or tax advice and do not constitute an investment recommendation or investment advice. Investors should make an independent investigation of the information discussed during this presentation, including consulting their tax, legal, accounting or other advisors about such information. Apollo does not act for you and is not responsible for providing you with the protections afforded to its clients. This presentation does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any security, product or service, including interest in any investment product or fund or account managed or advised by Apollo. 

Certain statements made throughout this presentation may be “forward-looking” in nature. Due to various risks and uncertainties, actual events or results may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in such forward-looking information. As such, undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of terminology including, but not limited to, “may”, “will”, “should”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “target”, “project”, “estimate”, “intend”, “continue” or “believe” or the negatives thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology.