Danny Moses, a fund manager known for his portrayal in the film "The Big Short," stated that the move by private credit and private equity firms into retail products reminds him of the period preceding the subprime mortgage crisis. These remarks were made during a panel discussion at the iConnections Global Alts Conference in Miami Beach, Florida, on Tuesday. This comes at a time when business development companies that pool capital for direct lending are facing a surge in redemptions amid growing concerns over lending standards. In recent years, private capital firms have aggressively courted individual investors, heightening fears that a wave of withdrawals by ordinary savers could strain a market built on hard-to-sell assets.

Moses said, "What I always focused on during the financial crisis was who was getting incentivized, who was selling what to whom, and why they were doing it." He later worked with "The Big Short" investor Porter Collins at Seawolf Capital before founding Moses Ventures. "It feels a lot like the rhythm of that time, but it's not 'The Big Short'."

Moses noted that back then, it was subprime mortgages being sold to vulnerable borrowers. Today, corporations are pushing private credit into vehicles aimed at retail investors—products that promise liquidity but are backed by assets that are fundamentally illiquid.

Furthermore, many investors in private funds have not received distributions for years, as volatility in public markets and a slowdown in merger and acquisition activity have blocked exit routes. Conference participants pointed out that this gridlock began in venture capital, spread to private equity, and is now impacting private credit firms.