XA Investments Reports Record Growth in 2025 in its Fourth Quarter 2025 Market Update
MWN-AI** Summary
XA Investments LLC (XAI) announced record growth in the non-listed closed-end fund (CEF) market in its Fourth Quarter 2025 Market Update released on January 15, 2026. The report reveals that the interval fund market has reached unprecedented levels, with 308 funds and a notable $233 billion in net assets. XAI's president, Kimberly Flynn, highlighted the increasing popularity of interval and tender offer funds, emphasizing the positive momentum throughout 2025, which is expected to continue into 2026.
Key insights from the report indicate that 67 new funds entered the market in 2025, marking a significant rise from the 50 launched in 2024. This growth is partly attributed to 36% of new funds being sponsored by newcomers like Blue Owl and Adams Street. The total number of unique fund sponsors has risen to 159, reflecting a healthy diversification in the market. Notably, while fund registrations and launches slowed down in Q4 2025 due to a government shutdown, the overall market maintained its momentum.
Flynn noted a strong demand for evergreen products and anticipated an increase in specialized fund strategies. The XAI Interval Fund Awards showcased leading funds and managers, reinforcing the report's positivity regarding fund performance. Among market leaders, the Cliffwater Corporate Lending Fund captured significant net flows, alongside other outstanding funds like the StepStone Private Credit Income Fund.
The report highlights a future-driven outlook with the expectation of continuous growth in 2026, aiming to provide greater accessibility and innovative structures in the interval fund sector. For further insights, the full quarterly report is available through XAI's research portal, which also accommodates inquiries about the evolving non-listed CEF market.
MWN-AI** Analysis
XA Investments' latest Fourth Quarter Market Update reveals significant strides within the non-listed closed-end fund (CEF) market, with record growth in 2025 indicating a robust trajectory moving forward into 2026. The interval and tender offer fund space saw net assets soaring to $233 billion, fueled by 67 new fund launches and increased participation from new sponsors like Blue Owl and Coatue.
With 57% of managed assets rooted in interval funds, the market is diversifying, driven largely by a fresh wave of fund sponsors. This diversification is pivotal; it brings innovative strategies that cater to an expanding investor base. As demand surges for evergreen products—investment vehicles providing periodic liquidity—investors should take note of these evolving structures, as they present unique opportunities for stable, long-term gains while accessing alternative strategies typically reserved for institutional players.
Investors considering entry into this market in 2026 should focus on established managers with proven performance, particularly those recognized by XAI's Interval Fund Awards, such as Oaktree and Cliffwater. These accolades offer valuable insights into the managers who are not only innovating but delivering strong results. Given the positive net flows and robust growth claims from leaders like the Cliffwater Corporate Lending Fund, continued investment in these funds may yield favorable returns, especially as the market anticipates sustained growth amid increasing accessibility and specialization.
However, potential investors should remain cautious, keeping a watchful eye on regulatory backlogs impacting new fund launches, which can influence liquidity and asset availability. As the SEC’s registration process normalizes, positioning within this dynamic space may present lucrative advantages. Ultimately, leveraging insights from XA's comprehensive market analysis and recognizing the shifting tides of fund strategies will be essential for capitalizing on the promising outlook in 2026.
**MWN-AI Summary and Analysis is based on asking OpenAI to summarize and analyze this news release.
CHICAGO, Jan. 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- XA Investments LLC (“XAI”), an alternative investment management and consulting firm, announced the publication of its latest research report, the XAI Non-Listed Closed-End Fund Fourth Quarter 2025 Market Update. The report covers interval fund market trends and recent developments, with expanded coverage of the XAI Interval Fund Awards recognizing notable funds and managers across the market in 2025.
“The interval and tender offer fund market has reached a new peak with 308 funds and $233 billion in net assets, showing the increased popularity of interval and tender offer funds in recent years,” stated Kimberly Flynn, the president of XAI. “The market’s trajectory was positive throughout 2025 and is expected to remain strong into 2026,” she added.
XAI’s market update is a comprehensive research report detailing current market trends and industry highlights. The non-listed closed-end fund (CEF) market includes all interval and tender offer funds. The report highlights new fund sponsors entering the interval fund market and gives a comprehensive market update.
“For 2026, XAI predicts strong demand for evergreen products, the market becoming more accessible to investors, and increased specialization in the fund strategies sponsors are launching,” Flynn said. Additionally, “XAI anticipates more Specialty Structures, continuously offered evergreen fund that offer periodic liquidity and are designed to be sold into the private wealth marketplace, to be launched, allowing the market to continue at an accelerated pace of growth in 2026.”
The non-listed CEF market includes 158 interval funds which comprise 57% of the total managed assets at $156.1 billion and 150 tender offer funds which comprise the other 43% with $119.9 billion in total managed assets. In 2025, 67 new funds entered the market, representing an increase of 17 funds compared to the 50 funds launched in 2024. Market-wide net assets increased $61 billion in 2025.
In total, there are 159 unique fund sponsors in the interval and tender offer fund space, which is an increase of 13 new fund sponsors from 146 unique sponsors at the end of 2024. The market has continued to diversify with 36% of the funds launched in 2025 sponsored by new entrants. Some of these new fund sponsors in the non-listed CEF market include Blue Owl, Coatue, and Adams Street.
“The number of funds in the SEC registration process decreased by three funds from 53 at the end of 2024 to 50 at the end of 2025. This shows the consistent momentum of the market from fund sponsors,” Flynn noted. “Both new fund registrations and fund launches were slower than expected in Q4 2025 with the recent government shutdown creating a backlog of funds,” she added. Newly launched non-listed CEFs spent around seven months in the SEC registration process, with the fund’s asset class continuing to be the main driver of time spent in the SEC review process. Specialty / Other funds were the quickest to launch in 2025, at 137 days on average spent in registration.
There are 55 fund sponsors that have two or more interval and/or tender offer funds currently in the market. Additionally, there are 21 funds in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration process from fund sponsors looking to launch another fund and 29 sponsors looking to launch their first fund. Only two fund sponsors have more than one fund on the top 20 funds (three Cliffwater funds and two StepStone funds), displaying the diversity in the interval fund market. In aggregate, the top 20 largest interval and tender offer funds accounted for 44% of total net flows including many of the market leaders such as the Cliffwater Corporate Lending Fund, Partners Group Private Equity, LLC, and ACAP Strategic Fund.
Many interval and tender offer funds delivered strong results in 2025 with positive net flows and large increases in fund assets. Some of these include the Cliffwater Corporate Lending Fund, which led the interval fund market in net flows during the first three quarters of 2025, as well as the StepStone Private Credit Income Fund and Coatue Innovative Strategies Fund, which experienced significant asset growth following their launches. The new XAI Interval Fund Awards also recognized innovative offerings from managers such as Oaktree and Blue Owl, along with top-performing funds across manager size categories.
According to Flynn, “Each Interval Fund Award given out is based on the extensive research XAI has done throughout 2025. These awards are a valuable insight into the growth and performance of the interval fund market as they are backed by our data, keeping the titles impartial.”
For more information on the interval fund market and to read our full quarterly report on non-listed CEFs, please visit the CEF Market research page linked here and click ‘Subscribe’ for access to XA Investments’ online research portal and pricing information. In addition, please contact info@xainvestments.com or 888-903-3358 with questions.
About XA Investments
XA Investments LLC (“XAI”) is a Chicago-based firm founded by XMS Capital Partners in 2016. XAI serves as the investment adviser for two listed closed-end funds and an interval closed-end fund, respectively the XAI Octagon Floating Rate & Alternative Income Trust, the XAI Madison Equity Premium Income Fund, and the Octagon XAI CLO Income Fund. In addition to investment advisory services, the firm also provides investment fund structuring and consulting services focused on registered closed-end funds to meet institutional client needs. XAI offers custom product build and consulting services, including product development and market research, marketing and fund management. XAI believes that the investing public can benefit from new vehicles to access a broad range of alternative investment strategies and managers. For more information, please visit www.xainvestments.com.
| CONTACT: | Kim Shepherd |
| kshepherd@xainvestments.com | |
| 312-623-5123 | |
Sources: XA Investments; CEFData.com; SEC Filings.
Notes: All information as of 12/31/2025 unless otherwise noted. Total managed assets is inclusive of leverage. The non-listed CEF market is subject to lags in reporting and limited data availability. Data such as asset levels, net flows, and performance are delayed up to 90 days after quarter-end and are not available for all funds. All data in the report is the most current available. Please contact our team if you have any questions about the non-listed CEF marketplace.
FAQ**
How does the performance of the XAI Octagon Floating Rate & Alternative Income Term Trust of Beneficial Interest (XFLT) compare to other interval funds in terms of net flows and asset growth throughout 2025?
Can you provide insights on how the XAI Octagon Floating Rate & Alternative Income Term Trust of Beneficial Interest (XFLT) has been impacted by the increased demand for alternative investment strategies in the current market?
As the interval fund market grows, what specific strategies or characteristics differentiate the XAI Octagon Floating Rate & Alternative Income Term Trust of Beneficial Interest (XFLT) from other funds in its category?
With the expected rise in demand for specialty structures, how does the XAI Octagon Floating Rate & Alternative Income Term Trust of Beneficial Interest (XFLT) plan to adapt its investment strategy to remain competitive in 2026?
**MWN-AI FAQ is based on asking OpenAI questions about Madison Covered Call & Equity Strategy Fund (NYSE: MCN).
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