Concerns about pension plans holding private credit are legitimate and worth understanding with real data rather than alarmist framing. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) insures private-sector defined benefit pensions and publishes funded-status data annually; the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) oversees fiduciary compliance under ERISA, including how pension trustees select and monitor investments like private credit funds.

Private credit — lending done outside traditional banks — has grown substantially since 2008, and the Financial Stability Oversight Council (chaired by Treasury) has flagged reduced transparency and valuation risk in the sector in its annual reports. That is a real, documented concern. It is not evidence of an imminent pension collapse.

If you have a pension, your Summary Annual Report (required by ERISA) discloses your plan’s funded status and asset allocation. Reviewing that document tells you far more about your specific exposure than any general claim about “Wall Street gambling” with retirement funds.