Some of the world’s biggest investors in private equity are worried they could lose their special status as thousands of retail investors get invited into an asset class that had been reserved for sophisticated clients.

As Pete Stavros addressed the private equity industry’s yearly shindig in Berlin last month, the KKR & Co. executive’s words were slightly less headline grabbing than those of Apollo Global Management’s co-president Scott Kleinman. But they were just as troubling.

Apollo Global Management Inc.’s Marc Rowan said it’s getting harder for active managers to beat indexes in public markets and that it is easier for investors to find alpha in private markets.

Surging interest rates have made the coupons look meager, the Federal Reserve is shrinking its exposure, and the regional banking crisis left the regulator with about $100 billion of the bonds to sell.

Private equity titans including KKR & Co. and Thoma Bravo pursued unorthodox paths to dealmaking this year in response to a challenging environment likely to persist in 2023.

The war bonds pay 11%, even higher than the ultra-popular U.S. inflation-protected debt that earns 7.12%. But unlike those American savings bonds, Ukraine’s debt comes with significant risk as Russia proceeds with its invasion of the country. Some retail investors are willing to take on that risk — and earn that double-digit payout — but right now that’s easier said than done.

Rental prices for single-family homes grew an average of 7.8% in 2021, an all-time high, according to the most recent data available from CoreLogic Inc. In December, U.S. home rents jumped 12% year over year for the month, with Miami leading the way with a 35.7% increase.

For the better part of a decade, credit investors like David Sherman have been waiting for the market to come back down to earth.

The latest crash in oil prices is threatening to push $140 billion of investment-grade energy debt over the edge into junk.