'I can do the math': Wall Street's private credit giants try to calm AI fears amid steep software sell-off

Core Viewpoint - An aggressive sell-off in the stock market is driven by investor fears that AI will disrupt the software industry, impacting major money management firms on Wall Street [1] Company Insights - Blue Owl reported $300 billion in assets under management (AUM) for the first time, but its stock fell about 4% following quarterly results, leading to nearly 30% losses over the past month [3] - Blue Owl's exposure to software loans constitutes 8% of its total private credit exposure, with about half of its AUM in its private credit platform [4] - Ares Management disclosed that its investment exposure to the software industry is less than 9% of its total private credit AUM, which crossed $600 billion in the fourth quarter, with over $400 billion in its credit platform [6] Market Dynamics - Concerns about the software industry are linked to the potential for significant losses, with estimates suggesting that a 70% value destruction in software companies would be necessary for current market losses to be justified [5] - UBS strategists indicated that private credit loans face the highest default-rate risk compared to other credit market segments in scenarios of aggressive disruption [5]