Key Takeaways
- • Kroll and StepStone Group (Nasdaq: STEP) launched three payment-in-kind (PIK) indicators within the Kroll StepStone Private Credit Benchmarks, covering more than 28,000 direct lending instruments, 18,000 deals and 13,000 borrowers with history back to 2012.
- • The indicators measure PIK as a share of interest income, the proportion of PIK loans by deal count, and the proportion of PIK loans by outstanding principal, across the U.S. and Europe and by sector and EBITDA segment.
- • Global PIK use is moderating: loans originated in the previous 12 months carried PIK equal to 2.86% of interest income as of October 10, 2026, versus 6.67% across the outstanding global loan cohort at end-Q2 2026.
- • Kroll's Michael H. Dolan argues that the cash-versus-PIK distinction matters for assessing liquidity, leverage, credit quality and value in private credit.
Summary
Kroll, the independent financial and risk advisory firm, and StepStone Group (Nasdaq: STEP), a global private markets investment firm, have launched three new payment-in-kind indicators within the Kroll StepStone Private Credit Benchmarks, according to a PR Newswire release. The measures are designed to give lenders, investors and analysts greater visibility into the use of noncash interest across private credit. The underlying dataset covers more than 28,000 direct lending instruments, 18,000 deals and 13,000 borrowers, with historical data extending back to 2012.
The indicators track loans with an active PIK component across the U.S. and Europe, broken down by sector and obligor-size segment. They use three metrics: PIK as a percentage of interest income, the proportion of PIK loans by deal count, and the proportion of PIK loans by outstanding principal. The release says the data captures variance in PIK activity across EBITDA segments, geographies and sectors.
According to the Benchmarks, PIK use on a global basis is currently moderating rather than accelerating. PIK represented 2.86% of interest income across loans originated globally during the previous 12 months as of October 10, 2026, compared with 6.67% across the global cohort of outstanding loans at the end of Q2 2026.
Michael H. Dolan, President of Financial Advisory at Kroll, said private credit and private capital markets have shown relatively solid fundamentals despite a prolonged period of higher borrowing costs and economic uncertainty. He added that PIK is an important part of understanding what sits beneath headline returns, and that the distinction between cash interest and interest added to debt matters when assessing liquidity, leverage, credit quality and value.
Marcel Schindler, Partner and Head of Private Debt at StepStone Group, said that greater visibility into PIK activity across markets, sectors and borrower sizes gives investors another dimension for assessing market dynamics, comparing opportunities and tracking how portfolios evolve over time. The Kroll StepStone Private Credit Benchmarks were launched in September 2025 and allow users to analyze private credit by market segment, sector and lien position. The new indicators are available within the Benchmarks, and the release invites readers to request a demo.
The indicators track loans with an active PIK component across the U.S. and Europe, broken down by sector and obligor-size segment. They use three metrics: PIK as a percentage of interest income, the proportion of PIK loans by deal count, and the proportion of PIK loans by outstanding principal. The release says the data captures variance in PIK activity across EBITDA segments, geographies and sectors.
According to the Benchmarks, PIK use on a global basis is currently moderating rather than accelerating. PIK represented 2.86% of interest income across loans originated globally during the previous 12 months as of October 10, 2026, compared with 6.67% across the global cohort of outstanding loans at the end of Q2 2026.
Michael H. Dolan, President of Financial Advisory at Kroll, said private credit and private capital markets have shown relatively solid fundamentals despite a prolonged period of higher borrowing costs and economic uncertainty. He added that PIK is an important part of understanding what sits beneath headline returns, and that the distinction between cash interest and interest added to debt matters when assessing liquidity, leverage, credit quality and value.
Marcel Schindler, Partner and Head of Private Debt at StepStone Group, said that greater visibility into PIK activity across markets, sectors and borrower sizes gives investors another dimension for assessing market dynamics, comparing opportunities and tracking how portfolios evolve over time. The Kroll StepStone Private Credit Benchmarks were launched in September 2025 and allow users to analyze private credit by market segment, sector and lien position. The new indicators are available within the Benchmarks, and the release invites readers to request a demo.
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