* Partners Group leads slide in private equity-linked

shares

* Swiss company limits withdrawals on major evergreen PE

fund

* Selloff points to private credit fears spreading

* Cliffwater reports heavy second-quarter redemptions

By Oliver Hirt, Harry Robertson and Arasu Kannagi Basil

ZURICH/LONDON, June 3 (Reuters) - Partners Group

said on Wednesday it capped withdrawals from an $8.6

billion private equity fund, reigniting investor worries about

the risks of popular alternative investments and spurring a

broad retreat in the shares of global asset managers.

The Swiss-based middle-market alternative asset manager,

which oversees about $185 billion, cited industry-wide

volatility across open-ended evergreen funds since late 2025,

starting in private credit and spilling into private equity.

Evercore ISI analyst Glenn Schorr said the move was

significant because it was the first scaled private equity

evergreen fund to follow the redemption caps set by some private

credit firms after investors sought to pull funds.

"Investors are hypersensitive to any slowdowns in retail

trends given contagion risk beyond private credit," he said.

Partners Group said in a statement that net redemption

requests had exceeded 5% of the net asset value of its Partners

Group Global Value SICAV fund.

Until Wednesday, investors had been focused on problems

appearing in loans by private credit funds run by big asset

managers, focusing on valuations, lending standards and how

software companies can handle AI challenges.

The Partners Group disclosure shows private equity funds are

not immune to volatile valuations and anxious clients, and its

shares fell 16% to a six-year low in Zurich.

"Some of this redemption pressure that started in private

credit has started to make its way over into other asset

classes," Partners Group CEO David Layton told Bloomberg TV.

Individuals were behind most of the redemptions, but 80% of

the firm's investors are long-term institutional investors.

"Private wealth clients are the weak link," said Aneeka

Gupta, director of research at WisdomTree, adding they are

usually quicker to withdraw money than institutional investors.

"Evergreen funds were sold to retail investors as a way to

get private equity liquidity, but private equity is inherently

illiquid," she said. "When enough people test that promise at

once, the gates come down."

WIDER FALL IN PRIVATE EQUITY SHARES

Some investors have expressed fears about opaque valuations

and exposure to AI at private equity funds, which typically

invest in shares, and Wednesday's statement by Partners Group

further fueled those concerns.

Shares in Sweden's EQT were down more than 6%,

CVC Capital Partners fell 7.5% and Britain's

Bridgepoint Group was 10% lower, while in the United

States, asset managers Blackstone, KKR, TPG

and Ares Management each slid 4%.

Many of the firms are trading near the low end of their

52-week ranges, reflecting concerns about private markets

investments and fears problems there will hit other financial

firms. Goldman Sachs ( GS ) and Morgan Stanley ( MS ) dropped

2%, although both are trading near recent highs.

"The share price reaction implies that the outflows from the

Global Value Fund are merely the beginning and will spill over

to other investment vehicles," said Vontobel analyst Andreas

Venditti. "Given the current focus on private credit, the market

is highly sensitive to negative news."

Redemption windows at key U.S. non-traded private credit

funds for the second quarter began closing last Friday. The

closures will be spread across June and market participants are

closely watching for subsequent updates on withdrawal requests.

Cliffwater was first to report second-quarter redemptions on

Tuesday, with withdrawal requests at its flagship $31.3 billion

private credit fund rising to 17% from 14% in the first quarter.

Redemption requests across U.S. non-traded private credit

vehicles rose as high as 41% in the first quarter, prompting

most managers to enforce the typical 5% limit on withdrawal

requests, curtailing liquidity for investors.

Analysts have backed the move to limit withdrawals as it

would help mitigate the risk of forced asset sales.

Partners Group said the underlying fund's liquidity position

remains within its target, supported by ongoing distributions

from its underlying portfolio and an undrawn credit facility.

The Global Value Fund and the underlying fund continue to

invest and remain open for applications, it added.

Of the Global Value Fund's top 10 direct holdings, four are in

technology, a March filing showed. Layton said Partners Group's

exposure to software assets was under 10%.