'25% Will Go Bankrupt' Dan Rasmussen on the Coming Private Credit Reckoning

Written byAdam Shapiro
Monday, Nov 3, 2025 9:46 am ET1min read
Aime RobotAime Summary

- Dan Rasmussen warns private credit's "safe" label is misleading, with 10-12% yield loans likely to default 25-30% during crises.

- He criticizes institutions treating high-yield debt as investment-grade and lenders assuming "private equity can do no wrong," echoing 2008 mistakes.

- Rasmussen highlights risks of AI-driven capital spending and advocates crisis-resilient portfolios, challenging overconfidence in "expert" investing.

Verdad Advisers founder Dan Rasmussen warns that a big chunk of private credit has been mis-sold as “safe” despite being inherently risky, with yields that all but advertise future losses. He argues many institutions treated double-digit-yield loans like investment-grade paper, while a fast-growing cohort of lenders assumed “private equity can do no wrong.” In his words: “It should be relatively obvious that debt that yields 10 to 12 percent is going to default a lot more… In fact, it’s going to default at rates of probably 25 to 30 percent whenever any sort of crisis comes,” and the “cracks in the market are showing.”

Rasmussen, author of The Humble Investor, breaks down:

👉 Why private credit has become Wall Street’s most dangerous illusion

👉 How top-endowments and pension funds are repeating 2008 mistakes

👉 The myth of “expert” investing — and how humility beats prediction

👉 Crisis investing: building portfolios that can survive anything

👉 The risks of AI-driven capital spending and where real value still hides

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Adam Shapiro

Adam Shapiro is a three-time Emmy Award–winning content creator, former network news correspondent, and founder of the multimedia production company TALKENOMICS. At AInvest, he created and launched Capital & Power, a video podcast series designed to drive engagement and establish thought leadership, while also producing original live streams, financial articles, and investor-focused video content. Previously, as a correspondent at FOX Business, Shapiro established the network’s Washington, D.C. bureau, reported from the White House, Capitol Hill, and the Federal Reserve, and secured exclusive bipartisan interviews with influential leaders. His reporting helped solidify FOX Business as the most-watched business channel on television. At the same time, his original Talkenomics series drew tens of thousands of viewers per episode through insightful conversations with policymakers, economists, and thought leaders. At Yahoo Finance, he played a critical leadership role in expanding digital programming to eight hours of live, bell-to-bell financial news coverage, dramatically increasing traffic from 68M to 104M unique monthly visitors and growing ad revenue from zero to over $50 million annually. Yahoo Finance continues to benefit from the credibility of Shapiro’s exclusive interviews with former President Donald Trump and numerous Fortune 500 CEOs.

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