Adds graphics, details on fund in paragraphs 9-10

By Arasu Kannagi Basil

April 6 (Reuters) - A private credit fund managed by Barings capped withdrawals at 5% of shares after redemption requests surged, the latest in a series of similar moves by asset managers in recent months.

Investors in the $4.9 billion Barings Private Credit Corp (BPCC) fund sought to pull 11.3% of shares in the first quarter, according to a filing on Monday. The fund will fulfill roughly 44.3% of the repurchase requests.

Private credit funds have faced high redemption requests as jittery retail investors bolt for the door amid concerns over transparency, valuations and artificial intelligence-related disruption.

Most asset managers, including Apollo APO.N, Blue Owl OWL.N, Ares ARES.N and BlackRock BLK.N, capped withdrawals at 5% at their private credit funds in the first quarter.

The saga is reminiscent of the redemption requests wave that hit non-traded real estate investment trusts beginning in late 2022, when valuation jitters had unnerved investors.

Non-traded funds, like BPCC, offer quarterly liquidity through tender offers of up to 5% of shares. Such vehicles tracked by investment bank Robert A. Stanger have returned a record-breaking $7.4 billion to investors in the first quarter as of April 2.

Some market participants say periods of high redemptions are a feature of such semi-liquid vehicles, rather than a flaw. Analysts have also backed capping withdrawals as it reduces risk of large cash drawdowns or forced ⁠asset sales.

"As market conditions evolve, we expect differences in performance across managers to become more pronounced given that long-term results are driven in part by the importance of underwriting quality, portfolio construction, and balance sheet management," BPCC said in a shareholder letter.

Credit quality of the fund's portfolio remains strong and non-accruals - loans overdue on payments - were at 0.4% at the end of 2025, compared with the historical industry average of 0.9%, the fund said.

Cliffwater's flagship $33 billion private credit fund is one of the biggest stockholders of BPCC.